Windy: Oh, god… I cannot believe it! Two review when only 27 people read(FFF, also known as FanFiction Fail. They forgot to put it on the top of the warriors page…)!? AWESOME! Please continue supporting us, so review, favorite, and follow! Any constructive criticism is highly appreciated, too. We both have a lot to learn, for we are still very, very young. Naturethorn is unable to add her comments, so I'll say "Thank you" for everyone who read for her!

Special thanks to:

MeowKitty1912, with her advice!

Raven that flies at night, for her support and praise!

And no, Raven's Wing, you're a friend! That does not count!

I wonder if anyone reads Author's Notes XD

Anyhow… Onward!

Written By: Windbritsle

Edited By: Naturethorn

Chapter 1

Moonpaw woke to a harsh kick to her stomach. "Ow!" She complained, cracking open an eye. Above her was a cloud of black fur with two glowing, warm amber orbs. "Nightpaw!" She grunted and tried to lift herself up. "Let me goooo!" The small black paw did not retreat, though; instead, it planted itself even harder on her flank and refused to budge. "Now there's a lazy apprentice!" Her best friend teased. "C'mon," She added, finally lifting her paw and finally letting a spiky-furred Moonpaw go. "Dewstripe wants you for patrol!" Moonpaw's ears perked up at the last word. She and her friend had been made apprentices just three suns ago, recieving their clan names instead of just "Youngster" for Moonpaw and "Nightkit" for Nightpaw. They had a lot in common. They were both orphans without parents, and they made great rivals for one common lifegoal: to become the best warrior ever.

On that thought, she bounded out of the den entrance, now eager, with Nightpaw. For a moment, the bright sunlight blinded her; but as she blinked her eyes to adjust, she could make out the clan deputy, Dewstripe, organizing patrols. "Yellowdawn, I want you to take three warriors on a hunting patrol. Try the area near the lake, but don't ruffle RiverClan's fur!" At the mention of RiverClan, the tabby she-cat's eyes darkened. One of the RiverClan warriors was discovered to having secret meetings with the medicine cat, Clearsight, ten moons ago; the news led to both cats being exiled, leaving an inexperienced apprentice, Cherrypaw, as the ThunderClan medicine cat. After that, the clan leaders decided that every clan medicine cat will train two apprentices, littermates, one tom and one she-cat, whether they like it or not. Apperantly, the shadow of that time was still far from being lifted from the cats' minds. Yellowdawn was silent in thought for a moment, then proposed, "Can I have Grasstail, Lightfoot and Flowerdance?" Dewstripe took a swift glance at the three cats the ginger warrior had mentioned, then nodded briskly. "Sure." She watched as the four cats eagerly pushed their way out of the thorny camp entrance. "Frosttalon, take Leafheart and Sunnose to the WindClan border. Make sure to patrol the nearer half of the RiverClan border," she continued. "Watch out for the RiverClan cats especially! Falconflight, take Hawkeyes and both of your apprentices to the ShadowClan border, the other half of the stream, and the twolegplace border. I know it's a lot of work," She added kindly to an astonished Moonpaw. "But we don't have enough warriors after the... You know, the event from 9 moons ago. And especially after we lost Snakefang last sun." Her voice quivered at the mention of her dead mate, but Moonpaw was not listening.

I don't know! Moonpaw wailed silently. None of you speak of it, and I wasn't there! She licked her nose, then nodded and forced sympathy into her eyes, pretending that she knew what the tabby deputy meant. "Yeah. That event. Right. I totally know what you're talking about." She muttered, her voice dripping with sarcasm, after padding away with the other three cats, and felt a tail flick sternly over her ears. "Do not speak about your deputy like that!" Hawkeyes exclaimed, his tail waving. "Yes, Hawkeyes. Can we go now? I want to get back before Poolpaw gobbles up everything in the fresh-kill pile," Moonpaw added. "Yeah, remember that squirrel, the mice, half a shrew, and a bird's wing!?" Nightpaw piped in. Hawkeyes glared at the two apprentices, while Falconflight simply watched with amusement in her eyes. "We might as well get going..." She announced with a warmer smile. "We do want to get our patrol done before sundown, right?"

"Oh, yes!" Nightpaw squealed. "Remember the time when Sunnose decided that he wasn't going to finish what he called 'the longest patrol since StarClan'?"

"Of course!" Moonpaw grinned deeply at the reminder. "Dewstripe made him go on dawn patrol for twelve suns! But he deserved it," she added. "I can't believe that Foxtail, the nicest cat ever, can become mates with the biggest pain in the tail of all times!"

"Enough chatter!" Hawkeyes scolded sternly. The two apprentices fell silent immediately. They finished the first part of their patrol at the ShadowClan border in complete silence, as every time one of the apprentices opened her mouth to start chattering like a squirrel, he glared with a "I-will-shred-you-if-you-talk" look in his eyes.

Normally, Moonpaw wasn't very glad to see twolegplaces; it just reminded her of how her former caretaker, Lily, had died. Ran over by a monster, she thought, the horrible scene of death replaying in her head.

Shaking her head to rid herself of that dreadful thought, she bounded after her friend, who was far in the lead. When she was directly behind Nightpaw, she matched her pace to the black apprentice and flared her nostrils, searching for strange scents. Suddenly, Nightpaw stopped dead in her tracks, causing Moonpaw to bump harshly into her. "Ouch," Moonpaw complained. "why did you stop?" She padded around NIghtpaw, and saw her eyes widened and her mouth gaped. Following her gaze, her heart skidded to a halt. Resting on the roof of a black monster was a cat who could have been her; the silky, silver fur; the shape of the darker tabby stripes, and the eyes, clear blue like the sky. "Wha-" She stammered, then realized with a jolt that that cat was a young tom. The tom clearly saw her, too. He stared at her with huge, curious eyes, giving her a twice-over. Then he gracefully leapt down from the monster, and strolled towards the patrol serenely. Is he a threat? Why does he look so much- no, exactly like me? Why is he on top of that monster? As many questions as there are stars flooded into Moonpaw's head, making it pound in pain. Beside her, Falconflight arched her back and hissed, hackles slowly rising, Hawkeyes doing the same. Nightpaw simply stood and watched, dumbfounded. "Stop right there!" Hawkeyes hissed as the tom placed a paw over the border. "What do you want?" The tom seemed taken aback, then answered, "Um, I just wanted to take a look." He licked his chest fur, embarrassed. "Well, it's not every day you see a cat almost exactly like yourself, right?" He took another step, this time more hesitant. "Don't move." Falconflight ordered, authority pouring into her voice. She would make a great leader, Moonpaw thought out of habit of gossiping about cats with Nightpaw.

"Um, okay." The tom gulped, then saw the cat's thorn-sharp claws. "Please don't hurt me! I'm just curious!" And as he backed away slowly, he added, "Are you the wild fighting cats?" Hawkeyes searched him for a sense of hostility, then snorted. "We don't just fight!" He puffed out his chest in pride. "We are warriors of ThunderClan! We hunt for our clan, work with our clanmates, and take care of our sick and weak!" Then he narrowed his eyes, realizing he was in control, and had no reason to explain. "Leave our border." He spat. The tom stepped back and out of ThunderClan soil. "There." Falconflight announced. "Do not come back again." With one last look at Moonpaw, the tom broke into a run and disappeared behind a fence.

"Kittypets." Hawkeyes snorted in disgust. "I didn't see his collar under all that thick fur. Can't believe I figured him a threat," He added.

"But it is strange." Falconflight murmured, then turned her gaze to Moonpaw. "Moonpaw, did you know of any kin? Maybe he's kin of yours," Moonpaw shook her head helplessly. "I don't know." She sighed; slouching. "But I wish I did." On that, they headed for the RiverClan border.

The rest of the patrol was completely silent, even the cat's breathing a whisper, blending in with the wind. When they got back to camp and reported to Dewstripe, none of them mentioned the tom. When it came time to eat, Moonpaw and Nightpaw just picked at their shared vole, leaving most of it. Later, she and Nightpaw took the vole to Hollyflower, who devoured it earnestly. They watched as the elder tore from the carcass; Hollyflower watched them too, and, after licking her whiskers clean, questioned: "I see uncertainty in your eyes, 'paws. A touch of fear, too. What is it?" Nightpaw opened her mouth to answer, but Moonpaw glared at her and shook her head. "Nothing, Hollyflower." She responded in fake cheerfulness. The elder squinted in a concerned way, then sighed. "You can always find me if you need to ask something." She told them. "After all, we are the eldests, and we have seen a lot-too much to be pleasant." With a meaningful glance, she settled down and began to snore. The apprentices watched for a while, then exited in silence. "Who do you think he is?" Nightpaw asked while they were waiting for Dewstripe's Sunhigh patrols. "I don't know!" Moonpaw snapped in a way even she was surprised about; Nightpaw, with a hurt look in her eyes, replied, "I guess not…" As if there wasn't enough silence this sun, Moonpaw though bitterly. Why is every cat so quiet? Then, suddenly, Cloudsplash burst through the entrance with Leaftail and Yellowdawn hard on her paws. The patrol leader had a few light scratches, Leaftail had a nasty scratch on her shoulder, and Yellowdawn had a shredded ear. "You just left a few heartbeats ago!" Dewstripe exclaimed, her fur puffed up so she looked twice her size. "What's the matter?" The three cats took a while to recover, then Leaftail wheezed, "We were just near the border… and Yellowdawn here," She gestured weakly with her tail "found some foxes in our territory… And it's got a kittypet!"

Review! For... Over-friendly kittypets?