A/N: Next chapter! Plot starts to show a little bit!

Chapter Four

The grouse was pecking at seeds on the ground at the base of one of the few trees in the meadow, its black-striped tail feathers flicking in the cool wind. It's beady eyes flicked around it as it watched for any threats. There was a soft rustle and it froze, head cocked, soft clucking noises escaping its throat. There was a sudden movement above it, and the grouse barely had time to shriek before the young brown tabby landed on it, teeth sinking into the back of its neck as it thrashed, claws digging deep into the plump sides, sending feathers into the air.

Sparrowpaw purred as her prey finally succumbed, yanking her head just to make sure it was dead. She'd been hunting solo for a week now, as all able hunters were bringing in as much food as they could to build up their bodies for the upcoming winter in several moons. She'd been rather successful thus far, to the point where Palestripe no longer felt the need to follow her and check up on her. Of course, with Leaffall bringing the harsh chill down from the far away mountains, the Clan needed all its able hunters working, rather than watching their apprentices. And, with another batch of kits nearing their sixth moons, the Warriors were going to be spread even thinner, something the Clan couldn't afford.

When Leafbare came, so would the larger predators, and their Clan would need as many fighters as they could.

Carrying her grouse straight into the camp, she dropped it off at the Fresh Kill Stone and then disappeared again into the grass, determined to catch some more prey before she would be forced to return to the apprentice den and rest. She didn't like it much, but she understood better than to try and push herself at a time like this. Tired Warriors Make Deadly Mistakes. It was something Palestripe had told her on more than one occasion during the past two moons, and something she knew she would follow.

It was a little while past sun-high, now, however, and that left her plenty of time to hunt.

She crept through the grass, ears swiveling, mouth open so she could taste the scents around her better, focusing on ever little sound and rustle as she moved. Technically, with the catch of the grouse, she wasn't required to hunt for the rest of the day, such a large meal being worth the reward. But, if she was honest with herself, Sparrowpaw knew she loved to hunt. She loved the thrill of leaping on unsuspecting prey, the taste of blood on her teeth, the excitement when larger prey fought back. It was exhilarating, like that first robin at the secondary camp before she landed in the creek. She hungered for it, that rush of excitement, and so she would continue to hunt. It helped that the added foods made her Clanmates strong, of course.

The sun slowly moved across the sky, and Sparrowpaw caught two ravens, a gray jay, and a chipmunk. Carrying the prey to camp carefully, having buried it temporarily so she could catch more, Sparrowpaw finally decided that she had caught enough, settling down to eat her chipmunk.

"So, you caught a grouse, huh?" An irritated mew asked behind her; Sparrowpaw flicked her ear back but continued eating.

"Mm," she managed affirmatively, cracking her meal's bones between her teeth.

"I bet I could catch bigger prey than that," the intruder boasted; Sparrowpaw absently flicked her tail towards him.

"If you say so," she mumbled around the last bite of chipmunk. Te cat behind her hissed and swatted her on the head, which had Sparrowpaw finally turning to look at him, hissing back, ears pinned irritably. "Will you just go away, Nightpaw?" she yowled, getting up, her tail lashing in agitation. The all black tom, now ten moons old, hissed again, green eyes narrowed.

"Not until you accept my challenge," he growled; Sparrowpaw hissed again.

"Why would I accept your stupid challenge, when I've already proved myself to the Clan, which means more to me than your opinion?" She growled; Nightpaw's tail lashed.

"Fine then, mouse-brain!" he hissed, turning, nose in the air. "I'll just go and challenge your brother. At least he will accept, like a real Warrior!" As he walked away, Sparrowpaw growled lowly, rising to her paws and stalking after the tom, tail lashing. Nightpaw paused and sent her a narrow-eyed look, whiskers twitching up smugly.

"What's your challenge?" she hissed harshly; he huffed and sat primly, licking his paw smugly as he did so.

"There's a bushy area on the edge of WoodClan that's filled with all sorts of larger prey at this time," the older apprentice told her arrogantly. "I say we go hunting there, and, whoever catches the most prey wins."

"Wins what?" Sparrowpaw demanded; Nightpaw paused a moment, looking thoughtful, before his ears perked up and he turned to look at the female apprentice with a smirk.

"Winner gets to pick one duty for the loser to do, for a whole week." Sparrowpaw stilled, ears flicking with sudden interest as she, took sat up.

"…Can the one duty change every day?" she asked after a moment of consideration; Nightpaw blinked, and then nodded thoughtfully.

"And the only way for the loser to get out of it is if their mentor or one of the senior Warriors gives hem another duty," he said firmly; Sparrowpaw nodded in agreement.

"Lead the way, then," she mewed; tail high, Nightpaw did just that, leaping through the tall grass silently, with Sparrowpaw just behind him. Birds were startled as the two young cats ran, flying into the air with startled cries, and Sparrowpaw felt her ears pin back in irritation for the carelessness of the tom in front of her. He was so focused on the challenge he'd given her, he'd forgotten that the two of them were going near enemy territory, and that alerting a WoodClan patrol would be foolish. They were two unblooded apprentices, after all, and their first fight shouldn't be so isolated from backup…

They finally came to a large, dense bunch of bushes, barely staying on the MeadowClan side of the Border. The bushes were large and thick, perfect hiding places for nesting birds and smaller creatures. The two of them paused, mouths open and carefully scenting the air. The thick scent of a recent WoodClan patrol filled their senses with the smell of pine trees and upturned earth, making it hard to smell anything else, which made Sparrowpaw uneasy but also a little pleased. After all, the challenge had just gotten harder.

"Shall we start?" Nightpaw mewed; Sparrowpaw shook herself and licked her chest fur thoughtfully, glancing at the sun.

"We can't be here too long," she warned, eying the sky. "And no leaving the bushes," she added with a sharp look at the older apprentice, who growled at the insinuation.

"Let's start, then," he hissed; she growled back, and the two of them slunk into the bushes.

Right away, Sparrowpaw found herself struggling. The strong scent of WoodClan covered the softer smells of prey, and scared the smaller ones off. She managed to catch a vole and a small sparrow, but more prey was scarce. Slinking around the bushes, she ignored the glimpse she got of black fur on the other side and slipped underneath a bush to crawl towards an unsuspecting mouse.

She was close, almost upon it, ready to pounce, when Nightpaw let out a startled, pained screech and scared off everything within the bushes. Sparrowpaw lunged out of the bush, startled by the hurt, scared sound from her sometimes-rival, and leaped nimbly over the bush between her and the sound, landing in an empty space just in time to see the older apprentice being mauled by a larger black tom with a tattered ear. Yowling, she lunged for him, and managed to knock him away from the badly bleeding cat, taking him into a rolling, screaming tussle, ignoring the pain that shot through her shoulder as he snarled, and twisted. Fur flew off as fangs and claws sank into flesh as they fought.

Abruptly, the two broke apart, and Sparrowpaw snarled, quickly backing away until she was standing beside and slightly over the mewling form of her Clanmate, barely glancing at him to see that his shoulder, chest, and head were gushing blood from deep wounds. She focused her gray eyes on the intruder, silently cursing the WoodClan patrol that had so thoroughly scented this particular area, because she could only smell their scent and the fresh blood, though she'd noted the scent of dog faint in the toms fur as they fought.

"You're trespassing in MeadowClan territory," she snarled at him, fur puffed, ears flat and fangs bared. "Leave, before our Clanmates tear your mangy hide to shreds!" The tom hissed at her, and, for the first time, Sparrowpaw noted that he was nearly as large as WhisperStar, and she unconsciously stepped over Nightpaw to cover his injured form more.

"I don't think so, little queen," the tom growled lowly, and the bushes on either side of her rustled, before two more toms joined them. One was small but lean, with heavy scars breaking up his dirty white fur and a single, glaring blue eye. The other was nearly the size of Stonefang, with thick orange fur and pale brown tabby stripes, gold eyes narrowed.

Sparrowpaw felt dread curl in her stomach as she curled protectively over Nightpaw, her next hiss more fearful than angry, as she took in the larger forms of these enemy cats. In her haste to defend her Clanmate, she'd forgotten Palestripe's warnings from her first day as an apprentice.

Always check for more enemies before you attack.

A/N: Sorry for the length & Cliff-Hanger, but I've discovered that it's actually harder to stick to the plotline-plan I have (which lists how many chapters this will have, and what needs to happen in each chapter, at least generally or as close to it as possible). Ugh, it's hard to write this way…

Also, re-read Into The Wild to get ready for this, and my writing style is so different I just kinda want to whimper. I never realized how hard it is to write cats instead of humans. They just don't think or do or "speak" the same way and I feel like I'm overly humanizing them and ugh…

Anyways, please Review!