Bronzepaw padded at the back of a patrol led by Thornclaw. The patrol consisted of her, Sunheart, and Dovewing. They had just remarked the ShadowClan border and were heading home. Bronzepaw tasted the air and detected mouse. "Can we hunt a little before we go back?" she asked, looking at Dovewing.
Dovewing looked at Thornclaw. "A little extra prey can't hurt. I'm sure the elders would be happy to see an apprentice so eager to hunt."
Bronzepaw smiled and dropped into her hunters crouch. She crept toward the mouse, tasting the air every so often to make sure she was heading the right way. She saw the mouse and smiled, narrowing her eyes. She pounced on the mouse and killed it with a swift bite to the neck. She smiled proudly and breathed in the scent of her prey, but as she did another scent reached her nose. She tasted the air more carefully, trying to identify the scent. Before she could red fur flashed in front of her and sharp fangs snapped. Bronzepaw leaped away just in time. She then turned tail, forgetting all about her mouse and ran. She saw the patrol still waiting for her.
"Fox!" she shouted as she ran past them. It wasn't long before fighting broke out. Bronzepaw stood frozen as she watched Thornclaw and Dovewing fight the fox. Sunheart nudged her to a bush.
"Stay here," her mother ordered. Sunheart then turned around. Bronzepaw looked past her and gasped in horror when she saw both Thornclaw and Dovewing struggling against the fox. The fox was so much bigger than them. How could they possibly beat it?
"Hey!" Sunheart charged toward the fox. "Leave them alone!" Sunheart leaped on top of the fox and sunk her teeth into the fox's shoulder. The fox snarled at her and tried to grab her in its jaws but Sunheart leaped off just in time. The fox glared at her with hate filled eyes. Sunheart returned the glare.
That fox is going to kill her! Bronzepaw could see a scar going all around the fox's muzzle. It looked like a pretty old scar, but it still looked sore.
With a bark of rage the fox leaped at Sunheart. Sunheart slid under the fox's paw and clawed its underbelly. The fox howled in pain and whipped around quickly, biting deep into Sunheart's shoulder.
"No!" Bronzepaw exclaimed as Sunheart yowled in pain. Dovewing and Thornclaw tried to help but they could muster the strength. Sunheart's all alone!
Sunheart turned her head and bit down on the fox's muzzle, right where its scar was. The fox whimpered and let go of Sunheart's shoulder. Sunheart whipped around. "Nobody messes with my Clanmates or my daughter!" she growled, leaping at the fox again. The fox yelped in fear and ran. Sunheart let it go, turning back to the others. She ran up to Bronzepaw. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Bronzepaw answered, staring at her mother in aw as she went over to Dovewing and Thornclaw. How did she do that?
"Let's get back to camp and tell Bramblestar about that fox," Thornclaw rasped, forcing himself to his paws.
"Easy now," Sunheart soothed. "You wore yourself out. You and Dovewing. We'll take it one step at a time. Bronzepaw, I need you to run ahead of us and tell Bramblestar what happened. If you can get some warriors to come back and help Thornclaw and Dovewing."
Bronzepaw nodded and raced back toward camp. When she reached camp she ran up to Bramblestar. "What's wrong, Bronzepaw?" her leader asked. "And where's Thornclaw, Dovewing and Sunheart?"
"They're on their way back. Sunheart told me to run ahead and tell you that we were attacked by a fox. Sunheart chased it off," Bronzepaw explained.
Bramblestar nodded, his gaze serious. "Thank you for telling me, Bronzepaw." Bronzepaw nodded before running off to find two warriors. She tried to find Firestorm, Swiftheart or Hawkfur but they were nowhere to be seen. So instead she ran up to Lionblaze and Ivypool.
"Bronzepaw? What's wrong?" Ivypool asked.
"Thornclaw and Dovewing need help getting back to camp," Bronzepaw answered.
"What about Sunheart?" Lionblaze asked, looking worried for his daughter.
"She just has a shoulder wound. A fox attacked us," Bronzepaw replied.
Lionblaze and Ivypool nodded, getting to their paws. "Lead the way, Bronzepaw," Ivypool meowed, calmly. Bronzepaw nodded and led the two warriors out of camp and she followed her scent trail from before. They found Sunheart supporting both Thornclaw and Dovewing. She seemed to be having a little trouble with both cats. Ivypool went up and took Dovewing and Lionblaze took Thornclaw. Sunheart nodded to them gratefully. She then smiled at Bronzepaw.
"Good job, Bronzepaw," she meowed, licking Bronzepaw on the head. Bronzepaw purred at this. She then fell into step beside her mother as they all headed back to camp. Although, she still wondered how her mother was able to fight off the fox and get away with only a shoulder wound.
When they got back to camp, Bronzepaw finally saw Firestorm, Swiftheart and Hawkfur sitting and talking beside the warriors' den. Despite being born and raised in WindClan, Hawkfur seemed to be settled into ThunderClan as if he had lived here his whole life.
"Hey!" Bronzepaw called as she ran up to them. "You won't believe what Sunheart did!"
"What happened?" Hawkfur asked, concern in his eyes.
"Our patrol ran into a fox and Sunheart fought it off single-pawed, getting away with only a shoulder wound!" Bronzepaw explained.
"She did that?" Swiftheart gasped in shock.
"How? I thought only Lionblaze could defeat a fox by himself," Firestorm piped up.
"I'm just glad she didn't get anything worse than a shoulder wound. Foxes are pretty hard to beat by yourself," Hawkfur meowed.
"I really want to know how she did that," Bronzepaw meowed.
"We all do," Swiftheart added.
"We'll talk to her later. Right now she needs to take care of her shoulder," Hawkfur meowed. He then got up and headed to the medicine den in search of Sunheart.
"He's right. We can talk to Sunheart later, but right now we have duties to perform. I'm sure Dovewing would like it if you went and checked on the elders," Firestorm meowed.
Bronzepaw nodded and dashed over to the elders den.
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