"Well? What did you find out?" Coal demanded, his yellow eyes flashing excitedly.

Whisper and Ember looked at Mallow, who had whined the entire way back about how much he really wanted to be the one to tell Coal about what they had found. The she-cats kept quiet while he spoke, his usually boisterous and sarcastic attitude replaced with a calm and serious tone.

"So, we found the border that Whisper had scented, and followed it until we could smell some different cats. We think that's the boundary between the two groups. We explored a bit, and then Ember caught some prey, so we took a short break to eat. Then, when we were almost finished, we could hear some other cats, so we tried to find where they were, and there was this stream, with woodland on one side and moorland on the other. There was a group of cats on each side, yowling at each other about boundaries and prey-stealing and such, then the group of cats that were on the woodland side crossed the stream and they all fought. It was pretty impressive. They know what they're doing," he finished, shooting Whisper an arrogant glance to try and rub it in her face how amazing he thought he was.

Coal sat still, contemplating and thinking over the new information. The three younger cats waited silently and patiently for his response, so the only sound was the gentle rustling of leaves. Whisper secretly hoped they would be sent on another task. She loved the thrill of it all, the way she never get caught and always succeeded. It was like she was made for these jobs, for this life, even if it wasn't the most pleasant. She had never thought about it being bad that she was taking away other cat's lives. She just knew that Coal wanted it done, and if she didn't obey, there would be serious consequences. Serious, painful consequences.

"I'm going to talk to Blaze, Hawk and Fern about it. I want you three to go visit the queens. Branch's kits are almost old enough to be taught, and Tansy should've had hers by now. Be back before the sun sets," he ordered, then he got up and disappeared into the undergrowth, his strong muscles rippling impressively under his dark pelt. Whisper stared in awe, but a trickle of fear crawled down her spine at the same time. That just backed up her need to obey, no matter what she was ordered to do. Getting in a fight with a cat that powerful; she would be fresh-kill for sure.

Without any hesitation, Whisper began to saunter her way out of the clearing, with Ember and Mallow on either side of her. Ember's small calico body was itching to push in front of her and sprint to their destination; Whisper could tell. Her whiskers twitched in irritation, and she kept trying to accelerate the pace, but she hated straying from a group or being alone, so Whisper knew she wouldn't leave them. Whisper stifled a sigh, and quickened to a trot.

It wasn't long before the three cats had left the forest behind them; they were now travelling on blank, grassy hills, rolling into the distance, each one almost identical to the next. There was a few clumps of wildflowers growing, but that was the only living thing other than the grass on the bare mounds of meadow.

"Why do we have to go see them? If Coal really wants to check how they're doing, can't he just go himself?" whined Mallow, glaring at the ground. Whisper flicked his side lightly with her tail.

"Coal has stuff to do," she informed him for probably the hundredth time. Mallow opened his mouth to say something, but Whisper cut him off. "Besides, we don't exactly have a choice. He told us to. So now we're doing it. Gotta problem?"

Mallow turned his bright blue eyes on her, narrowing them into slits. "What if I do?" he asked, making his voice as deep and 'menacing' as he could.

So quick he didn't even know it was coming, Whisper crouched down in the long grass, then sprung herself forwards and onto the dark gray tom. She kept her claws sheathed, and landed heavily on his back so that his body collapsed onto the soft earth and the wind was knocked out of his lungs. She repositioned herself so that he was pinned down and unable to move or get up, and smirked at him while he gasped for breath. When he started breathing regular, he fixed Whisper with a look of vehement fury, slightly baring his teeth.

"I always win, Mallow. So don't even try," she teased, then stepped lightly off of him and turned to Ember, who had sat down to watch their scuffle with a slightly amused, slightly annoyed look on her face.

"Let's g-" Whisper's mew was cut off as Mallow pounced at her from behind and sent her toppling to the ground. Her green eyes flashed and she bit lightly on one of the paws that now held her down. Mallow jumped back and cried out in surprise, and while he was distracted, Whisper jumped up and thwacked him over the head with one of her dainty paws. She raised her other paw, preparing to hit him again, but he backed up and sighed dramatically.

"Fine. You win," he admitted, and looking quite disgruntled, began walking again.

Ember trotted up beside him and nudged his side with her nose. "Don't feel too bad. You were doing pretty good before she completely murdered you!" she taunted playfully, and Mallow bumped her with his hip.

"Better watch out Ember, I might have to tackle you next," he retorted, and Whisper rolled her eyes.

Soon the landscape was becoming more decorated with plants and rocks, making all three cats feel more comfortable and less vulnerable. They came to a wide stream that tinkled merrily as it splashed over stones and onto the sandy banks. The cats split up to hunt, and soon they were off again, following the stream left. It was quiet, except for some quiet chattering once in awhile, and their trip progressed quickly. Finally, they arrived.

In front of them was a large, steep hill, covered with thick grass and a couple of wildflowers. Near the bottom of the slope were some large stones in front of a cave that was too dark to see into. The stream they had been following curved off sharply to the right, into a new forest that Whisper had never been in.

Ember darted forward, toward the opening of the cave and called out in her soft, high voice, "Tansy? Lavender? Branch?"

A cheerful, vivacious voice replied, echoing from inside the cave, "Ember, is that you?"

Thanks for reading, I'll hopefully update soon-ish, like around Tuesday or Thursday depending on how busy I am. I hope you liked it, please review!

-Sky