Sandra awoke to see Kyoya missing. She scanned camp to see him heading out with Ivypool, Birchfall, Mousewhisker, and Masemune. Sandra tilted her head in confusion as they disappeared through the camp entrance. They're all training in the Dark Forest. Are Kyoya and Masemune getting trained there too? Sandra shook the thought away. Of course they aren't! They know better than to trust Tigerstar and his lies!

"Sandra!" Sandra looked up as Brambleclaw called to her. "Will you join Lionblaze's patrol? They're checking the ShadowClan border."

Sandra smiled and nodded. "Sure, Brambleclaw! Anything to help out!" Brambleclaw smiled and Sandra headed over to where Lionblaze was. He nodded to her, and turned to look for the rest of his patrol. Gingka came over along with Icecloud and Cloudtail.

"Brambleclaw asked me to go too," Gingka meowed. Sandra nodded as Lionblaze got up and led them out of camp toward the border. When they got there, Lionblaze, Icecloud and Cloudtail began to mark the border while Gingka and Sandra kept a lookout.

"It's hard to scent them coming. There scent is all over their territory," Gingka commented.

"Just look for fresh scents and stale scents," Sandra meowed. "It's like looking for prey."

Gingka nodded and tasted the air again, narrowing his eyes as he did. "Fresh scent." He then pricked his ears. "I can hear the crunch of leaves. There's a patrol heading directly at us."

Lionblaze, Cloudtail and Icecloud moved away from the border and stared into ShadowClan territory. Sandra and Gingka did the same. Soon a patrol burst out of the undergrowth, snarling at the ThunderClan patrol. Gingka leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Who are they?"

"Oakfur, Toadfoot, Tawnypelt and Starlingwing, but I don't reconize the other two with them," Sandra whispered back. There was an unfamiliar white tom with red patches and amber eyes, and an unfamiliar light brown she-cat with green eyes. Sandra narrowed her eyes. There's something about them...

"Does ShadowClan think we're going to mount an attack? They have six cats on one patrol," Cloudtail growled silently.

"Hush, Cloudtail! Do you want to start a fight?" Icecloud snapped.

Lionblaze nodded to the two before looking at Oakfur. "ThunderClan better not have crossed the border!" Oakfur growled.

"ThunderClan has done nothing of the sort. We're just remarking it," Lionblaze assured him, his voice calm. He began to lead the patrol away but Gingka remained where he was, staring at the unfamiliar cats with narrowed eyes. The patrol stopped and looked at him. "Let's go, Gingka! Don't start a fight!" Lionblaze ordered. Gingka was about to obey when the unfamiliar tom spoke.

"Gingka? This day just got a whole lot more interesting!" he growled.

Sandra gasped and ran to Gingka's side. That voice... "Ryuga?!" Gingka gasped.

"You know them?" Toadfoot asked, staring at the two unfamiliar cats.

"If that's Ryuga then...Emma!" Sandra exclaimed, staring at the unfamiliar she-cat.

"Yeah. Sandra?" Emma meowed. "What are you doing here?"

"Sandra, Gingka and their friends are all old friends of ThunderClan," Cloudtail answered in a growl.

"Yeah, but you two weren't here before," Sandra meowed. She cast a glance at Gingka, who was keeping his gaze fixed on Ryuga. Ryuga had his claws out and was smiling slyly, as if he was about to attack.

"Well, we're here now," Emma replied. "My question is why."

"I don't care why. Let's just get on with the patrol," Lionblaze growled, clearly getting impatient.

"Let's go Gingka," Sandra meowed, looking at Emma. "We'll talk later," she added in a whisper. Thankfully only Emma heard her. Emma slightly nodded as the ThunderClan patrol began to walk off. The ShadowClan patrol began to walk the other way but Ryuga stayed where he was. Sandra and Gingka stopped. Sandra saw his battle hungry eyes and flinched a little. Gingka met Ryuga's gaze.

"Follow your patrol, Ryuga. Don't go picking a fight here. No cat crossed the border," Gingka growled.

"I don't care about the borders," Ryuga sneered. "I can't battle you here like I usually would, but I can fight you!"

"Ryuga, they didn't cross the border," Tawnypelt reminded him.

"I don't care! Gingka is my rival, and I will fight him when I want!" Ryuga snapped.

"Gingka, don't do it," Sandra whispered to him. "You can't fight right now. The tensions between the Clans would rise, and Jayfeather doesn't want any injuries at the moment, I'm sure."

Gingka nodded and turned to follow her to where the rest of the patrol was waiting. "Coward!" Ryuga shouted. "Running from a fight!"

"Ryuga!" Tawnypelt snarled. "Let's go!"

They were soon a pretty good distance from the ShadowClan patrol. Cloudtail fell back to join Sandra and Gingka. "So you know those two?"

"Yeah, the tom is Ryuga, Gingka's rival, and the she-cat is my rival, Emma," Sandra replied.

"Ryuga is...well...he's always looking for a fight," Gingka added. "Especially if it's me."

"I could see that," Cloudtail meowed. "You don't think he'll come looking for you, do you?"

"With Ryuga, you never know," Gingka sighed. "I'm going to be up all night waiting for him to attack me."

"I stay up and watch for him if you want, Gingka. That way you can get some rest," Sandra offered.

"Thanks Sandra, but if Ryuga were to fight with you and actually hurt you Kyoya would be really mad at me," Gingka pointed out.

The mention of Kyoya made Sandra remember him and Masemune heading out of camp with the Dark Forest apprentices. Sandra looked at her paws, her mind deep in thought. What was he doing? Around this time the Dark Forest apprentices were heading out together to train with the Dark Forest apprentices of other Clans. Could it be possible that Kyoya and Masemune are training in the Dark Forest? Maybe I should discuss this with Gingka.

"Cloudtail, go on ahead," Sandra meowed. "We'll catch up."

"Alright but hurry, or I'll have to come back and see if that Ryuga character attack you," Cloudtail meowed, dashing forward to join Lionblaze and Icecloud. Gingka halted beside Sandra.

"What's wrong?" Gingka asked.

"Well, around this time in the Clan's lives, the Dark Forest cats are training some living cats to fight in their dreams. The Dark Forest is where cats who are rejected by StarClan go when they die," Sandra explained. "The Dark Forest warriors have tricked the cats they are training into thinking that they are training them for the good of their Clans but what they are really being trained for is the destruction of the Clans. Today the Dark Forest apprentices were supposed to go out and meet with the Dark Forest apprentices of other Clans, but when I saw them this morning Kyoya and Masemune were with them."

"Why would they be with them?" Gingka asked. "They couldn't possibly be training there, could they?"

"I hope not. If they are, they've been tricked like the others," Sandra answered.

"Why are you telling me and not the others?" Gingka asked. "Shouldn't you tell us all so we know not to get tricked.

"The others should all be fine, but I don't want to make everyone worry, but at the same time I need someone to help me figure this out. Plus, I only saw it this morning and your the first one I've seen today," Sandra explained.

Gingka nodded in understanding. "I'll help. And if they are training in the Dark Forest, we'll make them see what's really going on," he vowed. "We need to keep an eye on the two until we say anything, though."

Sandra nodded her agreement. "Thanks, Gingka. Now let's catch up to the patrol." Gingka nodded and the two dashed through the trees in search of Lionblaze's patrol.