Here comes the long chapter! Or at least, I think it's pretty long. Your opinion?

Not surprisingly, Cloudtail was chosen. The tracker was rather excited about the way everything was turning out, even if he didn't show it with his serious air and sarcastic comments. Brambleclaw, annoyed and exhausted as he was, didn't walk any farther than he had to. Luckily, Sandstorm came up to the deputy just as news had come to him. After having overheard all, Sandstorm stubbornly decided to come along. Maybe she needed to stretch her paws. Even Berrynose, arrogant as he was, just couldn't keep himself from asking to come. Brambleclaw, although he was faintly annoyed by his former apprentice, smiled.

A ginger figure trotted up to the growing group of cats. The dark brown tabby tom almost jumped out of his own fur, but stopped himself. This was no fox planning to attack camp when Brambleclaw's back was turned. It was Foxpaw, who had grown quite a lot. Yet he was still too small to cause any damage like a fox if he ever became traitorous. Not that he ever would. In Brambleclaw's opinion, the young apprentice seemed very devoted to his Clan.

"May I come?" he asked, not too sure why all of the cats were gathered there but thinking it was some kind of large patrol. He liked all patrols, no matter how big or small. As long as he didn't have to go on a patrol with Hazeltail, who was so boring!

An older warrior stalked up to the apprentice.

"I told you, Foxpaw, you just got back from the hunting patrol!" Dustpelt growled.

"That was a long time ago, and I'm not tired!" retorted the young tom hotly.

"I think you should rest, Foxpaw, and I'm sure you wouldn't mind guarding the camp."

The ginger apprentice shook his head. "It's either this patrol or nothing, Dustpelt. I want to help the Clan. And besides, aren't there many able warriors in camp already? There'll never be anything wrong here, or the warriors'll handle it. Besides, RiverClan wouldn't be as fox-hearted as to attack anyway."

Berrynose looked a little confused. "Sure, they've already invaded."

The deputy ignored him, chuckling. "You can come, Foxpaw. Thornclaw mentioned that we needed more paws."

Dustpelt sighed and rolled his eyes. "Don't blame me if you fall asleep on the battlefield, son."

Foxpaw turned away, rather rudely, but at least Brambleclaw could understand him. Young apprentices never really listened much.

Another ginger animal approached, too far away for Brambleclaw to determine what it was, cat or fox. Brambleclaw sincerely hoped that it was not the latter, although you could never be sure.

"Hello," said the animal, who upon closer inspection was a little taller than Foxpaw. It was a cat, with striking green eyes that resembled Hollyleaf's. The deputy noticed the similarity a long time ago, but the truth was that these two cats were not as closely related as he had thought.

Brambleclaw missed having a daughter, even if it was never really his own. Hollyleaf really believed in the warrior code, unlike the rest of her kin. Or so it seemed. Leafpool had somehow got it into her mind to break the warrior code with Crowfeather, and her sister had to cover it up somehow. Without telling her mate, Squirrelflight had become the "mother" of Leafpool's kits. She had raised Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf as her own. Brambleclaw had believed he was really their father, but really nothing could be further from the truth. He looked at Squirrelflight with a suspicious look on his face. Now he was not going to be such a fool.

"I think we should surprise the RiverClan cats," she said, as though the deputy was not even there. "Maybe split into two patrols or something? Perhaps I'll lead one, and Foxpaw will probably like to go with me. Mousewhisker, Brightheart..."

The dark tabby's fur bristled. This was completely not his plan! Who died and made this she-cat leader? Or deputy, if it made any difference.

Of course, Squirrelflight didn't pay attention to her mate. Any love between them was all in the past. If she had a real mate, he would have to understand her. He would have to stand up for her. So far, Brambleclaw hadn't done anything but stare at her with a hostile look on his face. But maybe she deserved it.

"Not a bad idea," Cloudtail observed,"but last time I checked, there was only one deputy."

"Sorry, Cloudtail," Firestar's daughter murmured. "But cats could be dying now..."

The white tom, prickly as he was, seemed to understand the urgency in her tone and what it meant.

"Maybe we should get moving then."

Brambleclaw knew it was the right thing to do, but his paws were frozen to the ground. Where was Squirrelflight as he had known her, as he had loved her!

"Cinderheart could come as well," he meowed. "ThunderClan, onward!"

Cloudtail nodded, but Squirrelflight still looked unconvinced.

"And Cloudtail will lead the second patrol." Brambleclaw couldn't bear to see the look on the ginger she-cat's face.

The gray tabby she-cat dipped her head and took her place in the rear of the patrol.

Brambleclaw, not too happy about this, tried to remind himself that this was all to protect his Clanmates and the territory they called home.

They walked in the forest, careful to keep their scent away from possible detection. Cloudtail, meanwhile, was tracking the intruders down. He had his nose to the ground, sniffing at something. Eventually, Brambleclaw recognized a pile of bones. They looked like they belonged to some prey which was now long gone. RiverClan scent radiated off of them in waves. Why would these cats steal prey, Brambleclaw had no idea. They had to be pretty dumb, though, if they did.

"The mouse-brains!" Dustpelt exclaimed, clearly thinking a similar thing.

The dark brown tabby tom nodded. "Hopefully they haven't eaten more."

"Well, Brambleclaw, they have," Cloudtail informed him. He was standing next to even more bones, who were covered in the same lingering, fishy scent.

Brambleclaw's head boiled with anger and rage. This was food that ThunderClan desperately needed, especially Firestar. RiverClan would pay for this once he found them!

"The more reason to hurry up," he replied. He picked up his pace. Squirrelflight ran after him, running like the wind. Brightheart and Cloudtail were not far behind, with Foxpaw and Dustpelt at their heels. When Brambleclaw looked back, the latest arrival had already caught up to them. It was Mousewhisker. All of the cats seemed pretty determined, and the ThunderClan deputy was proud of them.

Once they reached a small river, the cats split up into two groups. Brambleclaw took Mousewhisker, Dustpelt, and Foxpaw. Brightheart, Cinderheart, and to Brambleclaw's insistance, Squirrelflight followed Cloudtail. The white warrior waited until the deputy was just a small speck north of them. Then he swerved a little to the WindClan border and followed, hoping to attack from the side. In his past experience, RiverClan seemed more vulnerable from that direction.

Cinderheart and Squirrelflight, surprisingly, had time to chat.

"Why does Brambleclaw have to be such an annoying furball?" Squirrelflight muttered in Cinderheart's ear.

"I have no idea," replied the gray she-cat calmly. "I guess he just woke up on the wrong side of his nest."

"I think you'd better concentrate," Brightheart stated, her one good eye on Cloudtail.

Cinderheart took this as a sign to be quiet, so from then on Squirrelflight had nobody to talk to. She walked on, rather bored. Emotion radiated from her like rays from the hot afternoon sun. Nothing bad could happen, RiverClan cats were pushovers. But when she reached the battle, Squirrelflight wasn't so sure. Graystripe swiped at a black tom she recognized as Reedwhisker. Lionblaze was trying to fend off Mistyfoot and get to Icepaw at once. He, though, was failing. And the sight that most surprised her was the appearance of a dark gray warrior. Crowfeather stared straight at her, not flinching. This frightened her, but she was Leafpool's sister after all. And then she noticed... WindClan was here!