Fireheart led a border patrol consisting of Swiftrunner, Sandstorm, and Runningwind over near the RiverClan border. It had been a peaceful day so far, but the flame-pelted warrior wasn't about to let himself relax. Over the past few days, the patrols had reported picking up a ShadowClan warrior's scent inside their territory, but no one had seen who it was. Bluestar had ordered that every single scent marker be re-marked daily, including the borders for their other neighbors as well.

As they drew closer to the border, Fireheart spotted Graystripe on the other side of the river. The gray warrior was glancing around anxiously, but he didn't look as though he were hunting or patrolling. Instead, he looked as though he were looking for something. The rest of Fireheart's patrol came to a halt, staring across the bank at their former Clanmate.

"What's he doing?" Swiftrunner asked incredulously. "Typical RiverClan cats. He's just lazing about!"

"No idea," Fireheart meowed, deciding it wasn't worth his time. "Come on, let's just remake the scent markings and be on our way."

Unfortunately, it seemed that StarClan had other ideas in mind. At that moment, Graystripe finally spotted his patrol. Before anyone could say or do anything, the RiverClan warrior had jumped into the river and was swimming across to their side of the bank. He climbed out of the water, shaking his fur off to dry it.

"Get out!" Sandstorm spat, jumping back as she was hit by the spinning droplets. "This is ThunderClan territory, in case you hadn't noticed! You don't belong here."

"I know," Graystripe meowed urgently. "But there's something I need to talk to you about."

"What is it?" Fireheart asked suspiciously. Graystripe did sound worried about something, but he knew better than to trust a traitor. "This had better be good. We have a patrol to finish, and we don't need you wasting our time."

"It is, I promise," the gray tabby meowed.

"Get on with it, then," Swiftrunner snapped.

Graystripe glanced over at the younger warrior and meowed, "The other day, Tigerstar tried to come to our camp to pay Crookedstar a visit. He's been ill recently, and Tigerstar said that he wanted to pay his last respects. None of our warriors would let him in and he left eventually, but I thought it was strange, so I decided to let you guys know."

For a moment, the ThunderClan cats merely stared at him. Finally, Runningwind meowed, "It doesn't sound as though it's anything that could concern us, though. Whether or not Tigerstar chooses to visit Crookedstar is between ShadowClan and RiverClan alone."

"You have a point," Graystripe admitted. "But don't you think it's a bit strange? I mean, Tigerstar doesn't seem like the type of cat who would want to pay his respects to anyone. He'd probably just tell Crookedstar that the fact that he's dying shows weakness."

Fireheart had to admit that his former friend could be on to something, but he knew he couldn't put his Clan at risk by investigating whatever it might be. Runningwind was right; what happened between ShadowClan and RiverClan was none of their concern. There was no doubt that Tigerstar was up to something, and he didn't need a visit from Graystripe to tell him that. But he had more important matters to worry about in his own Clan, and he didn't have time to worry about what the leader of ShadowClan was doing at any given moment.

"Thank you for telling us, but I'm afraid this is something you'll have to work out on your own," Fireheart meowed at last. "We have matters in ThunderClan that we need to take care of first. Until Tigerstar's visit proves to affect us in any way, we're going to stay out of this one."

Graystripe dipped his head. "I understand," he replied.

Fireheart nodded, and Sandstorm hissed, "Go! Now, before someone else finds you here!"

The gray warrior turned around and climbed back into the river, swimming across to his own territory. Once he was gone, Fireheart turned away and led the patrol further along the border. His mind was still spinning from the conversation with Graystripe. Although he wasn't interested in getting ThunderClan involved, he knew that he would have to inform Bluestar of what had happened. The last thing they needed was to be caught off guard by a surprise alliance between RiverClan and ShadowClan, and knowing Tigerstar, it was far more likely that he was after that instead of trying to pay his last respects to Crookedstar.

Fireheart let out a sigh, the weight of his troubles making his paws feel heavy. Every single day, it seemed as though there was a new threat arising from somewhere in the forest. He was beginning to feel as though they wouldn't have a single moon of peace ever again.

"Is everything okay, Fireheart?" Sandstorm asked, her pale green eyes shining with concern.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, everything's fine," he meowed, shaking himself off. "Just thinking, I guess. Graystripe's story has me a bit worried."

"I know, I feel the same way," his mate admitted. "But I don't know what else we can do. We don't know for sure what Tigerstar was up to–I mean, we can probably make a good guess, but we still don't know anything for certain–and anyway, it doesn't sound as though his plan worked out the way he wanted. RiverClan is still completely against Tigerstar's leadership, just like the rest of the forest. As long as that continues, I don't think we'll have anything to worry about."

"You're probably right," Fireheart agreed. "Still, I'll feel a lot better when this is all over."

"I think we all will," Runningwind spoke up. "Especially if it means being able to cut down on the number of border patrols. I haven't had a proper night's sleep in days."

"Well, you could always try going to the nursery and telling the queens you've had a nightmare if you're having trouble sleeping," Fireheart suggested jokingly. Swiftrunner and Sandstorm chuckled.

Runningwind, for his part, merely rolled his eyes. "Very funny, Fireheart, very funny."

Back at the camp, Fireheart brought the news of Graystripe's story to Bluestar. His mother listened intently as he told her what they had learned, her blue gaze growing troubled as he went on. As soon as he finished the story, she began pressing him for more details.

"Did Graystripe tell you anything else?" she asked. "Did Tigerstar say that he was going to come back, or did he agree to leave them alone?"

"He didn't say," Fireheart admitted. He knew that most of the reason for Bluestar's concern was worry over her older kits, Mistyfoot and Stonefur. "But I doubt Tigerstar will stay away for long. He isn't the type of cat to give up easily."

"No, he isn't," Bluestar agreed, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "This is definitely concerning."

"What do you think we should do about it?" Fireheart asked.

"Right now, there isn't much we can do about it," the blue-gray molly replied. "Our first priority needs to be the safety of our own Clan, and that starts with keeping our borders strong and training our apprentices. If we're lucky, perhaps this will turn out to be of no concern to ThunderClan after all. But if it turns out to be our problem, we'll figure out what to do when the time comes."

That sounded like a reasonable plan, so Fireheart nodded and turned to head over to the fresh-kill pile to grab something to eat. It had been a long afternoon, and he was looking forward to relaxing for a while. Before he could get very far, however, he was stopped as Bluestar rested her tail-tip against his shoulder.

"Fireheart?" she asked.

"Yes, Mother?" Fireheart replied, glancing back over his shoulder.

Bluestar looked him straight in the eye, her own blue gaze filled with all of a mother's worry for her kit. "Promise me you'll stay safe," she meowed softly.