Chapter 5
Honeypaw lifted her head from her mossy nest. She prodded her sister, Poppypaw, who slept beside her. The tortoiseshell and white she-cat yawned and looked at her sister. "Honeypaw, what is it?" she asked, stretched her paws outward, her claws unsheathed. "Remember, Thornclaw wants us on dawn patrol," she reminded her sister. Poppypaw was awake and nodded. The two sisters groomed their pelts and darted out of the den. Thornclaw and Sandstorm were talking to Ashfur, Lionpaw and Brambleclaw. Honeypaw tilted her head to one side and then saw Brambleclaw and Ashfur nod and turn away from the other two warriors and bound over to the fresh-kill pile. Then, she remembered Cinderpaw, her other sister, telling her and Poppypaw that Lionpaw and Hollypaw were having assessments. Who's going to watch Hollypaw's assessment? She thought to herself. She then saw Brambleclaw eyeing his daughter when she and Mousewhisker were play-fighting. She then guessed that Firestar would be watching Lionpaw's skills.
She and Poppypaw bounded over to their mentors. "Good morning, Honeypaw," Sandstorm said to her apprentice, her voice coming out as a purr. "We're going to be patrolling the western side of the forest, and then hunting for a while. Maybe some battle training too," Thornclaw meowed to the three apprentices. "Cool," Lionpaw mewed. Poppypaw sniffed the air. "Well, I can already smell a wren, so we better get moving," she mewed excitedly. The patrol exited camp and headed towards the WindClan border. Lionpaw seemed jumpy. Honeypaw narrowed her eyes and shrugged. When they came to the border, they saw a WindClan patrol. It contained the cats: Breezepaw, Whitetail, Weaselfur, and Harepaw. "What are you doing so close to our border?" Breezepaw snapped. Whitetail hissed to silence her apprentice. "Marking it, not that it's any of your business," Honeypaw snapped back. Sandstorm gave her a warning glance. Honeypaw looked down at her paws, obviously embarrassed. "What do you want, Breezepaw?" Lionpaw meowed calmly, but seriously at the same time, trying to sound like his father, Brambleclaw. "For your to get away from the border," Weaselfur meowed back. "This is our territory. We may go wherever we please," Sandstorm hissed to the ginger tom.
Harepaw let of a hiss. "Silence!" Whitetail hissed. "We aren't here to argue. We're here because we want to tell Firestar something," the white she-cat meowed. "And what might that be?" Thornclaw meowed curiously. "I told you… we wish to speak to Firestar," she mewed again, a little more fiercely. "Why did you bring a whole patrol?" Sandstorm inquired. "We brought who we wanted to bring. Let us speak to your leader now!" he hissed. Sandstorm and Thornclaw exchanged a glance. Lionpaw whispered to Thornclaw and Sandstorm, "Let's just bring Breezepaw and Whitetail." Thornclaw looked at Lionpaw with surprise as if it was a really good idea. Honeypaw nodded. Sandstorm nodded. "Whitetail, Breezepaw, come," Lionpaw mewed to them. Weaselfur and Harepaw let out hisses of disapproval. "Do you wish to speak to Firestar or not," Lionpaw said to them. "We will take Whitetail and Breezepaw," Thornclaw hissed to them. "But that's not fair," Harepaw snapped. "It is fair," Honeypaw said to them. "You'll get to speak to Firestar, then leave. That is all you came for, is it not?" Honeypaw retorted. Harepaw glared at her. Honeypaw didn't flinch, but held his stare without any signs of fear, but fierceness. Lionpaw had never seen her like that. Poppypaw nodded in agreement. "We will wait right here, then," Weaselfur meowed. "Lionpaw, Honeypaw and Sandstorm will wait here with you, then," Thornclaw meowed.
Poppypaw hissed when Breezepaw pushed past her. She stayed right beside him while Thornclaw stayed behind the white warrior. Honeypaw sat and curled her tail around her paws. Sandstorm said, "What was the meaning of the battle the other day?" Lionpaw glared at Harepaw who was unsheathing his claws and glaring at Honeypaw, who was sitting straight as if saying that they were in charge of the WindClan warriors. "It's none of your business," Weaselfur meowed calmly. "We took care of it," Harepaw mewed. Weaselfur hissed to him. "With our help," Lionpaw blurted out. "Barely. Most of it was us," Harepaw hissed. Lionpaw knew what he said was true, but still drew his lip back in a snarl. "Lionpaw, silence!" his grandmother snapped at him. He felt embarrassed. Honeypaw then said, "Are things well n WindClan?" Weaselfur stood straight. "Things are very well. We are ready to make new warriors and WindClan is becoming stronger than ever," he meowed. Honeypaw nodded. Lionpaw guessed she wanted to make them feel strong and important. But he couldn't help but wonder what was happening at camp. "Sandstorm, what do you think is happening back at camp?" he asked the warrior. "I don't know, but in the mean time, you can go and hunt. Just stay near here. After you've hunted for a little while, Honeypaw can go and hunt," the senior warrior told him. He nodded.
He turned and bounded into the forest. He wondered what Whitetail and Breezepaw were talking to Firestar about. Sighing, he shook his head to clear his thoughts and then scented the air. Instantly, he caught the scent of a squirrel. Dropping to a hunting crouch, he stalked his prey. When he saw the fat ginger creature sitting in a clearing, he licked his lips and then launched himself at it. It squealed and began running. He darted after it and clawed its side and brought it down, killing it with a swift bite to the neck. Then, he buried it and brought down a vole and a shrew. He was hungry, but knew he shouldn't eat and then decided he would go back to trade positions with Honeypaw.
Suddenly, he heard something in the bushes. He crept up to the noise and saw Whitetail and Breezepaw heading back. He scented Berrynose and Birchfall. He guessed that they had led them this deep into the forest and supposed that since he, Sandstorm and Honeypaw would be close by; they wouldn't dare go wandering off. He was about to walk out of the bushes, but stayed put when he heard the black apprentice mew, "That stupid old Firestar. Thinks he can do whatever he wants!" Whitetail sighed, but didn't say anything. "Those caves belong to us! Now that the flood water has died down, we should be able to have them. It's not like they can use it anyways," the tom snapped. "It's not like we can really make much use of them either, Breezepaw," the snowy white she-cat told her apprentice with a touch of fierceness in her tone. "But still, Heatherpaw found those caves and she belongs to WindClan. WindClan should get them. Who knows what they could provide for us?" he hissed. "Firestar said we should leave them open for emergencies only. I agree with him. It's no use fighting over something that either of the Clans doesn't really need unless it's for important usage. He said that he and Onestar would discuss it at the gathering, and that's that," she meowed. "He's not the boss of us!" Breezepaw hissed. "And nor are you," she snapped at Breezepaw. "Now come along. I know some of the others might want to fight over these caves and I will fight if Onestar says to, but for now, I hope it doesn't lead to that," the white warrior mewed. Breezepaw snorted and bounded forward. The apprentice scented the air and said to his mentor, "I want to show them that they can't boss us around," and looked in the direction of a rabbit. "I think not!" Whitetail hissed, but Breezepaw had already dropped to a hunting crouch. Lionpaw burst from the bushed and landed on Breezepaw's back. He sank his claws into his shoulders and bit into his neck. Breezepaw threw him off, but Lionpaw still held on. He pulled the black tom to the ground and jumped away before he could strike, but when the tom stood, he bit his leg and twisted it so he couldn't be struck by the black apprentice.
"Enough!" hissed Whitetail, sinking sharp teeth into Lionpaw's neck and throwing him off of Breezepaw. She clawed Breezepaw with an unsheathed paw. There was a bloody scratch on Breezepaw's ear where the white warrior had clawed him. "I cannot believe you, Breezepaw! I shall have Onestar confine you to camp for a moon and have you not go to the next gathering!" Whitetail hissed furiously. Suddenly, Cinderpaw and Cloudtail bounded into the clearing. "What's going on!" hissed Cloudtail. "Breezepaw was about to hunt on our territory," Lionpaw snarled. "I was not!" protested the black tom. "You were too!" Whitetail hissed. Lionpaw wondered why Whitetail was being so nice. He figured that she was just a good warrior who still believed in ThunderClan and WindClan friendship. Cinderpaw drew her lip back, revealing two rows of sharp white teeth. "We'll escort you to the border," Cloudtail meowed and the five cats began there move to the border. Breezepaw glared at Lionpaw, such fire, such hatred in the tom's piercing amber eyes…