A light mist dampened the apprentices' fur. Dapplepaw shivered, stepping out of the forest and onto the sandy river bank. The river shimmered like a mirage in the moonlight, with the trees from the other side casting shadows across it.

"Are they here?" Dapplepaw whispered to his brother, who was sniffing the air.

"I don't know," Duskpaw replied, taking a step forward.

"To answer your question, yes."

Both cats jumped in surprise, and whirled around, searching for the owner of the voice. They found it, a glowing white cat standing partly in the forest.

"Frostpelt?" Dapplepaw asked.

The cat nodded, and stepped onto the sand, revealing his sleek fur.

"I need you two to go on a mission, if that's what you would like to call it. On the other side of the FireClan-LeafClan border, there's a stone. It's hidden in the shallow part of the river, not far from the border. I need you to get it and bring it back here."

Dapplepaw's jaw dropped open, and his eyes grew wide. Duskpaw spoke his exact thoughts.

"You want us to cross into FireClan's territory? What if we get caught? We can't do that!"

"But you need to. We need you to. I thought you wanted to help us?"

Dapplepaw looked at the ground, and pawed nervously in the sand. Maybe they had gotten in over their heads? He glanced at his brother. Duskpaw was still, staring across the river. His face showed no emotion, no fear, no uncertainty. Dapplepaw knew what that meant.

"We'll do it," Duskpaw mewed.

Frostpelt nodded, "good. See you back soon."

Duskpaw set off across the sand, following the river towards the FireClan border. Dapplepaw bounded after him, trying to catch up.

"Do you realize what we're getting into?" Dapplepaw mewed.

Duskpaw only nodded.

The two cats journeyed towards the border, listening to the sound of the crickets and the rippling of the stream.

FireClan scent filled Dapplepaw's nose, choking him. The ground underfoot had turned from sandy to mushy, and now the apprentices were walking in the edge of the creek, the ice cold water numbing their paws.

"We must be near," Dapplepaw murmured, searching the bottom of the creek.

"Yeah."

Dapplepaw felt a chill crawl up his spine as an owl hooted in the distance. FireClan territory wasn't much different from LeafClan territory, but even so, he could still feel the land was not his to roam.

"I found it!" Duskpaw hissed.

Dapplepaw waded up next to his brother, who was pawing at a pearl white stone that appeared to be… glowing?

"Ok, let's grab it and go!" he said, scanning the dense forest surrounding them. Dapplepaw sniffed the air, and his eyes grew wide.

"We need to get out of here."

"Hold on," Duskpaw replied, his voice accompanied by the splashing of water.

"No. We need to leave now," Dapplepaw whispered, beginning to back up towards the border. "There's a patrol coming."

Duskpaw's head jerked up, and in his mouth, he held the stone. "Run!" He managed to mumble, before spinning around and dashing upstream with Dapplepaw hot on his heels.

"…maybe we should assign the apprentices to fishing tomorrow…"

"… use the practice… aren't very good."

Dapplepaw's heart thudded in his chest, and his legs quivered. If they got caught chances were that FireClan warriors weren't going to let them go.

As they splashed through the river, Dapplepaw kept scenting the air, waiting for the odor of LeafClan to fill his nose. It didn't happen, and only adrenalin alone fueled the apprentices numb limbs. The longer they were in enemy territory, the more they risked.

Suddenly, Duskpaw slammed on the brakes, and Dapplepaw almost plowed into him.

"I dropped the stone!" he hissed.

Meows drifted through the trees, and Dapplepaw tail twitched, his mind going into overdrive. Should they leave without the stone or search for it and take a risk? Duskpaw obviously chose the latter option.

"Go," he said as he pawed through the bottom of the creek. "Go!"

Dapplepaw started forward, but stopped. They were brothers. He wasn't going to leave Duskpaw.

The voices grew louder, and Dapplepaw started scanning the bottom of the creek.

"I found it!" he dunked his head into the freezing cold water and grabbed the white stone. When he resurfaced, both cats bolted upstream and barely a fox length away, LeafClan scent engulfed them. But they kept running, Dapplepaw carrying the stone and Duskpaw right alongside him, not believing what they had just done.

Thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoyed this chapter of Cheating the Stars!