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| - "I can't believe we're stuck on guard duty. Why couldn't Oakstar pick us to go talk to Claron?" I ranted, snapping a twig in half. Minkpaw eyed the twig sympathetically. "Probably because we're just apprentices, and if he can only pick three cats, he'd want to pick bigger, stronger cats." "Yeah, well, that makes no sense," I said grouchily. The both of us were seated by the camp entrance, keeping guard over the camp to prevent the rogues from trying anything while they held a "truce meeting" to see if they could figure out a treaty. Though I hoped they would, I highly doubted it. Claron seemed like the type to try something nasty on us, and even if she did play fair, I didn't think she'd settle for anything less than SpringClan's territory in return. And Oakstar would never consent to such a ridiculous request. Clearing her throat, Minkpaw gave me a cautious glance, as if she was about to say something very delicate. And then, just like usual, she blurted it out insensitively and with no more finesse than asking what was for dinner that night. "So, you're with Specklepaw now? And Daisypaw's really mad at you, huh?" I sighed and tucked my tail around my paws. "I guess." Her eyebrows went up. "What do you mean, 'I guess'? That's all you have to say about it?" "I don't even know why I said yes to Specklepaw," I admitted honestly. "I really do like him, but I've never ever felt a spark between us. Ever. It was all impulse, really. I didn't want to hurt his feelings." She stared at me, incredulous. "Breezepaw! He's going to be more hurt when he finds out you don't really like him!" Defensive, all of a sudden, I curled in on myself and glared at her with hostile eyes. "Well, that's his fault for pushing me into an awkward situation. You know I don't like relationships and all that, Minkpaw." Bluebird's face popped into my mind, and I shoved it away. That had just been a silly, girlish infatuation- I'd liked him for his looks and nothing else. Obviously nothing but disaster could've come from it. "It'll only take a little while for Specklepaw to realize we're totally not made for each other, and that he only liked me as a cool friend, not in a romantic way. Then you'll help me get him back together with Daisypaw, and everyone will be happy." "Why do I get roped into this?" she protested. "Because," I said self-righteously. "I said so. Now, can we move back to more important topics, like the fact that Oakstar is out there conversing with a crazy rogue?" Minkpaw was silent. Then, on a completely unrelated, unforeseen note, she said, "Why did you do it? Why'd you help Blackheart leave the Clan to be with Lilyshade?" When I just stared at her like she was nuts, she blushed and glanced at her paws. "Sorry. It's just been bothering me ever since we solved the case. Only a few cats would take compassion on Lilyshade and Blackheart after what happened." I shrugged. "I had a dream... it sounds weird, but I just knew Lilyshade's life would end in disaster without someone to be by her side. And Blackheart had always loved her - and the Clan never truly appreciated him the way he deserved to be anyway, including me - so it seemed like the perfect getaway." I let my gaze travel to the stars. "No matter what the consequences." "Oh. Er-" That was when both of us heard the rustling of the ferns outside the camp entrance. Oakstar's patrol was back. And judging by the scent of blood, things hadn't gone well. Goldenburst and Yellowsun emerged first, with Oakstar's limp body draped across their backs. Mintwhisker trailed behind, gazing at the body of her mate with stunned, glassy green eyes. "What happened?!" I yowled, while quick-minded Minkpaw instantly raced for the medicine cat's den to get Lionpatch and the now-mostly-healed Blossompaw. "He lost a life- but he also lost a lot of blood," panted Yellowsun as Oakstar's form slid to the ground. "It was no treaty meeting. It was an ambush. They kept us waiting for a while, till we let our guard down, and then..." She shook her head. My heart was still pounding in fear, even though I knew technically Oakstar had to survive. He still had lives left. But how many? Could he afford to lose this one when a battle was obviously coming up with the rogues? Lionpatch arrived, with Blossompaw limping after him, and I stepped back to let them do their work. Already, despite the late hour, cats were peeking out of their dens and clustering outside to take a look at what happened. Bluebird and Cranelegs were snarling to themselves about what they would do to those "mangy, scurvy rogues" if they got their paws on them. Duskwatcher was giving out "I told you sos" to anyone who would listen- which was no one, really, so basically anyone who walked past him. "Those rogues are killers," he snarled to me when I happened to catch his eye(on accident). "I told the Clan, but they wouldn't listen." Giving him a curt nod, I hastily turned away, instead meeting Bluebird's gaze. He gave a bitter look towards his brother, but then his face softened a little as he glanced at me. At first I almost let myself be sucked into the void of his blue eyes, but then I remembered how he'd treated me when I'd tried to comfort him, and turned my back on him instead. Suddenly I felt light tan fur brush mine, and heard a familiar voice say, "What happened? Did those rogues plan an ambush?" Daisypaw. She's talking to me? Trying to hide my surprise, I said, "Yeah. I guess we should've known. But Oakstar's so trusting, and you know how he always wants to try the peaceful solution first." With my eyes, I asked her a silent question: Are you still mad at me? Not a glimmer of malice showed in her gaze, though there was a tinge of sadness. Giving my paw a squeeze, she said, "If he likes you, you can have him. It's not your fault." Despite the current circumstances around us, I felt a purr rumbling through me. "You really are the best friend ever." I considered telling her I truly didn't like Specklepaw, but I didn't want to seem dismissive and heartless, so I kept that to myself. "I know I am," she replied daintily, licking me on the ear lightly. Dewfrost, my mentor, began padding towards us, moonlight shining on his pale fur. "You two should go to sleep," he said, jerking his head towards the apprentices' den. "Oakstar's all right. He just needs to rest a bit, and he'll be good as new." The tom's eyes betrayed his worry, but I didn't argue. "Are we on morning patrol tomorrow?" I asked. He nodded, ruffling my fur with a paw. "Which is why I recommend you get some shut-eye, or you'll look like a badger who just sat on a beehive tomorrow." It was good advice. I decided to take it. Nevertheless, though I had gone to sleep when told to last night, waking up was torture. I had to practically pry my eyelids open when Dewfrost called my name from outside of the den. Jealously, I glanced at my other denmates, all fast asleep, before trotting outside to greet the dawn. "Is it just the two of us on dawn patrol?" I asked sleepily, joining Dewfrost by the camp entrance. Flicking his ears, my mentor nodded. "Oakstar wants everyone else trying to think of plans to counter the rogues' attacks, but he also wants our borders secure." Something about that didn't seem right to me. "But shouldn't we have bigger border patrols, then? Because if it's just the two of us and we get attacked..." "Oh, don't worry about that. We're only attending to the borders on the opposite side of the rogues' campsite. That means nowhere near High-Rock or the plains." Well, that seemed reasonable. I felt more at ease about the mission now. Upon reaching the border, Dewfrost motioned for me to take the left, already headed in the opposite direction. "Meet back here in about twenty minutes!" he called. "Oh, and feel free to hunt too, if you find any good trails." "Okay!" I called back, before turning and padding along the border. After all the recent drama with Shinecloud's murder and then the rogues, it felt good to be doing something as normal as a border patrol, with no unforeseen interruptions or complications. Oops. I had spoken too soon. Because as soon as I was out of earshot from Dewfrost, a cat leaped into my path. Instantly, I followed my first instinct, which told me it was a rogue. As such, I pounced on the intruder, slammed them into the ground, and was about to start shredding when a familiar voice yelled, "Hey! Lay off Breezepaw! It's just me, Ryan, and contrary to popular belief, I don't mean you any harm." Flustered, I stepped back and studied him suspiciously. He got to his paws and brushed dirt off his fur with a rueful smile. "You really don't give a guy much leeway, do you?" "No," I agreed, feeling a little abashed. "I'm sorry though- I'm just on edge with everything that's going on with Claron." Grimacing, he glanced at his paws. "Lily told me she heard about the whole ambush thing. I'm sorry, I didn't hear about it in time to warn you." I tilted my head to the side, half out of curiosity and half out of suspicion. "Would you have warned me anyway?" "Of course," he said, looking offended that I'd even had to ask. "I'm not a total scumbag." "You never know," I said, shrugging, but I smiled to reassure him, and butted my head against his shoulder affectionately. I didn't know why, but it felt good to speak to him again, when I thought he had left SpringClan territory for good. "So, are you, Lily and Cammy sticking around here for now?" I asked, trying to keep my wishes from showing through in my voice. Ryan paused for a second, as if trying to pick out an answer from several in his mind. "Er... we're not sure yet. Lily wanted to hightail it out of here, but we're scared that the rogues might find us if we venture out too much. Also, we don't think we should just ditch you guys to face Claron and the rogues." Ditch you guys? Who is he referring to? I thought he hated the Clan... "What do you mean?" Uncomfortably, the tom stared at his paws. "I just... It was Cammy's idea anyway," he blurted. "Anyway, I'm here to ask your advice, because I'm pretty confused." Sitting down, I nodded towards him. "Shoot. You can tell me anything." Still looking embarrassed, he blurted out, "If we help SpringClan fight off Claron and the rogues, will we be expected to join?" "Join the Clan, you mean?" I clarified, surprised by the question. "Of course not. I mean, it'd be nice, and I'm sure Oakstar would love to have you guys." So would I. "But it wouldn't be mandatory, obviously. We would be grateful for your help. Just one question. If you hate the Clans so much, why would you be willing to help us." "Because I hate Claron more now," he replied straightforwardly. My eyebrows went up. "Really? Even though they agree with your perspective on Clans?" "Hurting cats is not the way to get the point across." Okay, I wanted to be polite, but he was really confusing me. "Then how do you think you should get the point across?" I cried, throwing my paws in the air. "If you don't agree with Claron, who do you agree with? Because no Clan will ever give up their territory willingly or peacefully! So if you ask me, you make no sense. At all." Anger flashed in his eyes, and when he spoke his voice was tight and hostile. "I didn't ask you. And like I told you before, you just don't get it. I hate the Clans. But..." Some of the fury faded from his face. "I don't hate you. And I don't want you or your friends to get hurt because I was silly enough to come here with Claron and her rogues." Wow. He didn't hate me. Was that a genuine compliment? I decided to take it as such. "So what are you going to do?" Just as he opened his mouth to reply, I heard a screech of pain and terror from nearby. My stomach heaved as I realized who it was. Dewfrost. Without saying anything, I turned and raced towards the direction of the sound. Ryan raced after me, but I was known for my speed(if nothing else), and managed to reach the site before him. What I saw made me so angry I could hardly think straight. There were three rogues. Three full grown cats, all gathered around Dewfrost. I didn't know what they were doing in this part of our territory, nor why they were so cowardly as to attack three-on-one, but I did know that this was mostly my fault. For not being alert, and for gabbing with Ryan when I should've been hunting and doing my job keeping guard. Ugh. I really was disgusted with myself. Well, now I had to fix this. "Over here, tail-chasers!" I yelled, waiting till one of them had turned his head in my direction before tackling the rogue into the ground. To my delight, Ryan joined in, slashing at the other rogue and prying him away from Dewfrost. "Thanks!" I panted- right before my opponent slammed me into the ground and knocked the breath out of me. "No problem," he grunted. "I said I would help." Together, Ryan, Dewfrost and I formed a back-to-back fighting stance, gaining the upper hand against the rogues. However, my mentor was already pretty badly cut up from his prior fighting. We had to get out of here, quickly. If we were lucky, another SpringClan patrol would come along and help us. If we we weren't... Thankfully, I did hear another patrol. It wasQuailfeather and Yellowsun, and neither of them stopped to ask any questions before tearing into the rogues. The tides quickly turned, and we managed to send them packing. Before they leave though, one of them, a brown she-cat with blazing yellow eyes(who reminds me a lot of Chamomile, actually) turned and yelled, "You haven't seen the last of us, SpringClan! We will destroy you!" Glaring at Ryan, she spat, "Same goes for you and your sisters, traitor." At least he'd been recognized as part of the group this time, I reflected, though I wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Once the rogues had left, Quailfeather snapped tersely, "We have to get Dewfrost back to the camp quickly." "I'm fine," the gray tom shot back, steadying himself and giving a weak smile. I glared at my mentor; he obviously wasn't fine, and pretending wouldn't get him anywhere. As if just noticing Ryan, Yellowsun jerked her head towards him. "Breezepaw? Who is this?" I supposed that was a better response than her just assuming he was a rogue and attacking him. The last thing I needed was for my Clanmates to prove themselves worthy of his dislike. "This is Ryan. He and his sisters were part of the rogue group, remember? They're the messengers that first came to tell us about- well, anyway, they don't agree with Claron anymore. Apparently they didn't know anything about the attack on Blossompaw, or on Oakstar, at least, not until it was too late." Seeing my Clanmates weren't convinced, I added, "You can trust them. I swear." Quailfeather sighed. "So, Ryan, is it? Would you like to come back to our camp and speak with Oakstar, our leader?" "I- er..." He certainly didn't look so cocky talking to the Clan cats he supposedly hated. "I'll have to talk to my sisters. But one thing- we won't be staying, even if we do join you guys to fight Claron. I want to make that as clear as possible. We. Will. Not. Be. Staying." Clearly taken aback, Quailfeather stammered, "O-okay. Um... drop by the Clan camp when you have your sisters, then. We'd love to have your help." With that, she motioned to the rest of us to get going. Before I followed my Clanmates back, I shot one last glance at Ryan over my shoulder. He gave me a thin smile, and I winked back at him. Then I walked away. "Hey Breezepaw." I looked up into Specklepaw's green-gold eyes, and felt a stab of guilt so strong it made me want to puke. "Er... hey." His expression was part hopeful, part cautious. "Do you want to grab something to eat?" "Actually, I can't right now, I have to go check on Fuzzears- she has a cough she still hasn't gotten checked," I said hastily. Even though it wasn't a lie, I loathed myself as I trotted towards the elders' den. When would I stop playing games? I was acting like a total- "Fuzzears? Can I come in?" "Sure, Breezepaw," Creamflower called, motioning with a paw. I noticed the worry lines creasing her face, and instantly knew something was wrong. The cream-colored she-cat padded over to me and whispered, "I'm glad you're here, Breezepaw; maybe you can convince Fuzzears of how ridiculous she's being. I was just going to get Lionpatch right now. She's really sick, and she won't do anything about it..." As my eyes adjusted to the darkness in the den, I made out Redbelly and Grayfinch bent over their denmate. When my eyes landed on Fuzzears, I realized why Creamflower was so worried. The elder's patched fur was spiked with sweat, and her eyes were tightly closed. Even from a few steps away, I could feel the heat and shivers racking her body. "I'll stay with her," I said in a tense voice. "Creamflower, please go get Lionpatch as quickly as possible." When the elder had disappeared, I sunk to the ground, closed my eyes, and began to pray to StarClan with all my heart.
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