The scent of RiverClan was strong. Quickfoot tasted the air, worried about coming across a patrol.
"This is where I say good bye," Orangepelt mewed, casting an awkward glance toward Quickfoot.
"See you later," Goldenheart growled impatiently.
Quickfoot looked across at the marshy territory. She thought she glimpsed a few cats rustling around in the tall cattails, but their silhouettes vanished as a soft voice whispered in her ear, "Hurry, Quickfoot. RiverClan must be warned."
She realized the cats were StarClan warriors, urging her onward through the journey.
"We should hurry," she murmured.
Goldenheart quickly trotted over the border, with Birdfoot close behind. Darkpaw trailed behind them, checking over his shoulder to see what his mentor was doing. Without even a glance back at Orangepelt, Quickfoot raced into RiverClan territory. After a few slower steps, she looked back to see Orangepelt, his eyes full of longing.
"See you soon!" she called.
He twitched his ears and padded away with a dragging tail.
"What does ThunderClan want now?" Salmonstar meowed, his tail twitching irritably.
Quickfoot explained the prophecy once again to RiverClan's leader.
"This is very grave," he said, "We will need to patrol everywhere. Especially the horseplace. The Twolegs have been more active lately."
His deputy, Grayface stood next to him rigidly. A few of the senior warriors stood of to the side, their eyes wide.
"Could they be endangering us?" one of the apprentices piped up.
"Perhaps, Mistpaw, but I've seen them going into WindClan territory quite often."
Quickfoot was thankful for Salmonstar's understanding. What was even better was that he was showing worry for WindClan.
"Should we inform WindClan on our way back?" she asked.
"If they don't already know. But Skystar can be ignorant at times. You probably should." Grayface replied.
After some chat with a few warriors and the medicine cat, Lazyheart, the ThunderClan patrol made their way back through WindClan territory. Quickfoot was excited to see that Orangepelt hadn't gone far since he had escorted them.
Her heart fluttered at the sound of his warm "Greetings." And yet she wished it didn't.