Patchpaw and Snakepaw both slept in late the next morning. It wasn't until after sunhigh that Snakepaw was woken up by Bluepaw, who was carrying a crow in his maw.

The other apprentices had already woken up and left.

Snakepaw gave Bluepaw a friendly glance as he blinked the sleep from his eyes. Groggily, he moved over to the side of his nest to allow Bluepaw to sit beside him.

He dropped the crow in front of Snakepaw, giving him an expectant look. "How'd the gathering go?"

Snakepaw bit into the crow, speaking between his swallows. He was starving; he hadn't eaten since before his trip to the island.

"ThunderClan has a ton of new apprentices, and they're all skinny."

"Leafbare must not be treating them well," Bluepaw's eyes shone with worry. Snakepaw didn't understand how Bluepaw could so easily sympathize with the other clan's struggles.

"Sugarstar had a nasty temper, too. She cut off Elmstar before he finished, and he let her!" Snakepaw nearly dropped a bit of prey from his maw.

Bluepaw tilted his head slightly. It seemed like he was trying to envision the gathering for himself.

Snakepaw lapped up the last of the crow and nosed the bones under the earth beneath his nest.

Bluepaw started to groom the fur between Snakepaw's shoulders. To Snakepaw's dismay, their peaceful moment was short-lived.

A yowl broke from the clan clearing, and Snakepaw quickly stood and exited the den to find the source of the outburst.

Silverpaw stood with his long fur on end. Twigrush was at his side, trying to calm him down.

Snakepaw couldn't make out what she was saying. Elmstar stood in front of Silverpaw, remaining calm but listening seriously to the apprentice's concern.

"They're stealing, I can prove it!" Silverpaw squeaked. "Twigrush was there. The stream is absolutely covered in ThunderClan stench!"

Snakepaw paused to think for a moment. If the ThunderClan cats truly were lying, was their prey shortage bad enough to push them to hunt inside another clan's territory?

Was Sugarstar really willing to spill blood over something like that, before even trying to ask for help?

Bluepaw pushed through the apprentice's den entrance and padded up beside Snakepaw.

The calico tom wanted to run to the stream to see for himself what Sliverpaw was so upset about, but Elmstar seemingly read his mind. "We already sent a patrol to confirm," the old tom spoke.

His tail slowly swept over the earth beneath him. His expression was calm, but his eyes seemed clouded in worry.

Is he just trying to keep Silverpaw from starting trouble?

Snakepaw hadn't noticed, but his own fur was sticking up. Bluepaw rested his tail on his flank to calm him.

"Elmstar won't start a fight over nothing. Especially not from the word of Silverpaw alone."

Snakepaw gave Bluepaw a small nod of appreciation while his eyes scanned the camp for Patchpaw. He couldn't see her, but he didn't see Crowwatcher either.

Snakepaw and Bluepaw were settled near the fresh-kill pile once the patrol returned. Rednose entered the camp first, followed by Adderthorn, Crowwatcher and Patchpaw.

Snakepaw tried to read the expression on Rednose's face, but he couldn't make out anything.

The patrol padded over to Elmstar, who was still in front of the hollowed oak with Twigrush and Silverpaw. Patchpaw turned her head over her shoulder and spotted Snakepaw.

She gave a look to Crowwatcher, who dismissed her. She bounded over to Snakepaw and Bluepaw, her eyes wide.

"Elmstar sent me and Crowwatcher out to check the stream border," she explained, gesturing lightly with her tail.

"Silverpaw made a scene about it," Snakepaw murmured. "He said ThunderClan scent was everywhere on our side of the stream."

"Well he was right!" Patchpaw exclaimed, raising her head.

"We found no evidence that they trespassed, but there's no way that much of their scent crossed the stream on its own. Something weird is going on."

Patchpaw's expression seemed odd to Snakepaw. She seemed more interested in the situation rather than frustrated their territory had been invaded.

"Is there any sign they took prey?" Bluepaw asked, the tip of his tail flicking in interest

"No, but I can't think of any other reason they'd want to cross the stream."

"And they didn't go past the pines?" Snakepaw asked.

"Nope! Just along the stream."

"Do you think they were just crossing to get to the island? We did just have a gathering.."

Patchpaw's fur rose. "I'm just telling you what I know!" She said in a half-yowl, hopping up on her paws.

"Elmstar will decide what we do about it. No more questions!"

"Sorry," Snakepaw murmured with his head low. Patchpaw stormed off with her fur still ruffled.

Bluepaw didn't take his eyes off of her until she slipped into the apprentices' den.

Snakepaw turned his attention back to the returning patrol. He could tell by Silverpaw's expression that he was not happy with their report.

After a few words toward Elmstar, the large apprentice padded off, heavy on his paws. He made his way toward Laurelpaw, who was positioned in a secluded corner of the camp.

After the she-cat greeted him, they both made their way toward the apprentice's den.

Snakepaw shuffled uncomfortably on his paws as he stood, stretching out his back. Bluepaw remained laying on the ground with his paws tucked under him.

Snakepaw could already hear Silverpaw rambling on about the trespassing ThunderClan cats despite being nowhere near the den.

The remaining warriors gave Elmstar an unsure glance. The leader turned and retreated into his den.

Snakepaw couldn't seem to get Silverpaw's outburst out of his mind.

By the next morning, he found himself awake before the other apprentices.

He carefully maneuvered between the sleeping cats, slipping out of the den silently.

Rednose was organizing the dawn patrol near the hollowed oak. Elmstar was tucked away inside his den.

Snakepaw only knew he was there due to the tip of his tail sticking out. Mistfall was positioned just outside the nursery, giving her fur a thorough clean.

Tawnyflower was sat just a tail-length away from her. Snakepaw shook out his pelt, the cool air of leaf-bare refreshing his senses as he padded away from the apprentices' den.

The snow had finally begun to melt and any additional snow-fall didn't stay on the ground for long.

Adderthorn, Crowwatcher and Geyserwing made their way toward the clan exit, passing Snakepaw without much acknowledgement.

Snakepaw gave a nod to Rednose as he approached, sitting and resting his tail over his front paws.

"We're going to hunt with Twigrush and Silverpaw today," Rednose began, wiping his paw over his cold nose.

"Silverpaw's tantrum has the whole clan on edge."

At Least I'm not the only one still thinking about it, Snakepaw thought, his whiskers twitching.

Rednose rose to his paws and stretched, shaking out his coat.

"Twigrush and Silverpaw are already hunting by the Greenleaf Twolegplace. We should get going if we want to meet them there before sun-high."

Without waiting, Rednose started to pad toward the camp exit. Snakepaw followed, light on his paws as he trotted to keep up with the larger warrior.

It was easy for Snakepaw to get lost in his thoughts as the two traveled through the dense pine forest.

If Silverpaw's claim was right, and ThunderClan was encroaching on their territory, what did that mean for ShadowClan? What did that mean for Snakepaw and Patchpaw?

The tom's fur ruffled as he envisioned Patchpaw being thrown into the heat of battle against an intruding ThunderClan patrol.

The enemy clan had many more apprentices in training, and if that was normal for ThunderClan, they likely outnumbered them in warriors, too.

Snakepaw couldn't imagine fighting the scrawny-looking cats he saw at the gathering without some sense of remorse.

Silverpaw and Twigrush were speaking among themselves as Rednose and Snakepaw approached.

Twigrush gave Rednose a friendly glance. Rednose returned the greeting with a dip of his head as Snakepaw padded up beside him.

Silverpaw seemed mildly bothered that their conversation was interrupted but didn't say anything.

Twigrush was the first to speak. "Rednose and I will be hunting on the far side of the territory near the bridge. You two can hunt around here. Meet us at the bridge once you've caught at least one piece of prey each."

Twigrush dismissed the apprentices with a flick of her tail. Silverpaw stood and turned, stalking off toward the marshy part of the forest. Snakepaw followed close behind.

"Should we split up?" Snakepaw asked with a small tilt of his head.

"I don't care," Silverpaw muttered, not looking back at Snakepaw.

I'll just stay close incase he changes his mind.

Snakepaw broke away from Silverpaw, heading more toward the center of the territory. He kept his head low, parting his maw to take in the surrounding scents.

The cool air carried the smell of the damp earth beneath him, but he caught a whiff somewhere within that had a trace of mouse.

Lowering his stance, he began to lurk toward the scent, keeping his belly high enough to not pick up the melting snow and mud beneath him.

Snakepaw followed the scent trail for a few fox-lengths. He padded along the roots of a large pine tree, trying to keep his claws from scraping against the bark as he searched for the mouse.

He followed his nose until the scent trail became more clear.

He heard the scurrying of a rodent echo in his ear and in an instant he pressed himself against the earth.

His gaze scanned the ground until he saw the mouse. It was standing up on its haunches, using its tiny paws to pull down and nibble at the top of a dandelion.

Snakepaw waited until the mouse was fully occupied by its search for food to spring forward.

With a slam of his paw, the mouse was in his grasp. He bent down and nipped the mouse in the spine, picking up the small creature in his mouth.

Snakepaw carried the mouse to the base of a nearby tree, digging a hole in the ground with his paw and dropping it.

He nosed the dirt over the mouse, making a mental note in his head of its location. Staying low, Snakepaw turned away from the tree and continued to search for any prey scent.

The sound of an acorn dropping caught his attention. He dropped down as he saw a squirrel.

It was a fair distance away, far enough to where he hadn't smelt it, but the squirrel had clumsily dropped the acorn it was trying to take back to its den.

He slowly crept toward the squirrel. Two or three warriors could be fed from this single catch, and Snakepaw knew it.

Snakepaw tensed as he heard a rustling ahead that didn't come from the squirrel. He lifted his head, his hackles rising.

The squirrel saw him and darted off. He cursed under his breath, still searching for the source of the noise.

Before Snakepaw could see his attacker, he was thrown to the ground and pinned under heavy paws.

"You mouse-brain!" The cat snarled, the tips of its claws sinking into Snakepaw's back. Snakepaw twisted under the weight of the cat, glancing over his shoulder.

"Silverpaw?" Snakepaw yowled. He tried to buck the tom off of him, but was no match for Silverpaw's strength.

The gray tom stepped off, his tail held high and his fur ruffled. "You scared away my squirrel! That could've fed half the clan!" Silverpaw spat through bared teeth.

Snakepaw slowly lifted himself back onto his paws, his back stinging. "I didn't know you were there," he rasped, still trying to overcome the shock of the sudden attack.

He kept his posture low and non-threatening, but the tip of his tail was rapidly twitching in agitation.

"I hope you've at least caught something," Silverpaw growled

He turned harshly, his claws scraping the ground as he walked away. Snakepaw shook out his pelt, steadying his breathing as he tried to convince himself he was safe.

For a moment, Snakepaw thought the cat attacking him was a rogue or enemy warrior, and he would be no match for a fully trained cat.

Part of him was relieved it was just Silverpaw, but he couldn't understand why a clanmate would be so outwardly aggressive toward him.

His muscles ached from his struggle, and he could feel tiny punctures on his back stinging furiously.

He turned back toward the tree where he'd buried the mouse and swept it out from under the dirt, picking it up with his maw and heading toward the bridge.