Blind

Blind is a fanfiction by IcewrathXFeatherswirlXCraneheart with a bit of help and ideas from Avalanchestrike. A/N: *PLEASE READ* I am converting the story to first person, so PLEASE don't point out that it goes from 1st to 3rd. I am doing it in little chunks. THANK YOU!

Characters

Mysteryfeather: Mysteryfeather is a skinny, sleek, long-furred reddish-brown she-cat with lighter brown speckles on her face and bright green eyes. She is intelligent, incredibly smart, and is socially awkward, but athletic. Unlike most, she would rather spend her time learning new things instead of hanging out and she will try anything at least once. She is daring, aggressive, and has a rebellious streak, but for the most part keeps to herself. She is quite quick to anger, and has sharp wit and sharp tongue, incredibly resourcesful, and analytical. She knows most things about most cats, likes to go on missions, and nothing will stop her from getting the job done. Mysteryfeather does most things with her best friend, Strikebird, another close friend, Mapleshine, and has a small group of friends aside from them, Foxflash and Oakshard. At times, she will hang out with Swiftfrost. She has two brothers, Snakejaw and Eaglepaw.

Strikebird: Strikebird is a pretty, dainty long-furred calico and white she-cat with turquiose-colored eyes. She is very quiet, reserved, and intelligent. Because of this, she loves to watch things in nature, but kind of mysterious and fiercely independent. She has many talents, but, like her best friend, Mysteryfeather, she is kind of an outcast. She and Mysteryfeather are very close, sharing most secrets with each other and doing most things together.

Mapleshine: Mapleshine is a golden brown she-cat with green eyes and long legs. She, like her two good friends Mysteryfeather and Strikebird, is a bit socially awkward, which gets worse when she talks to toms. She is very open about her feelings and supportive of her closest friends. Mapleshine is intelligent, loyal, and funny, but can be impatient.

Foxflash: Foxflash is a long-furred, sandy-ginger colored tom with luminous blue eyes. He is kind and sweet, pretty popular, and hangs out a lot with Mysteryfeather and Oakshard. He is brave, honest, honorable, and one of the Clan's best fighters. He is responsible and respects all cats. Foxflash has a large sense of humor and loves to chat and joke around with his friends. He is kind of smart and incredibly charming, and will do anything to protect the ones that are closest to him.

Oakshard: Oakshard is a long-furred, dark brown colored tom with deep brown eyes. He is almost just like his friend, Foxflash. He is kind of smart, a skilled fighter, funny, and kind. His two best friends are Foxflash and Mysteryfeather. He is in a relationship with Darkmist and she is pushing for them to become official mates, but there is only one thing stopping him that nobody knows about.

Redstorm: Redstorm is a short-furred russet colored tom with amber-brown eyes. He is an athletic, intelligent and very outgoing tom. He is also headstrong, but is very reliable when it comes to something serious. He is also a natural-born leader. Even though he often likes to socialize and is rather rebellious, he likes to be independent and prefers to hang out with his best of friends, which includes his brother, Reedstone.

Reedstone: Reedstone is a short-furred russet colored tom with amber-brown eyes. He has a personality similar to that of his brother's, Redstorm. His fur is a bit shorter than his brother's which is how they are told apart to most cats.

Nightwing: Nightwing is a black tom with brown eyes. He is playful and enjoys nature, so he often listens to the birds or storms and takes walks. He is a skilled and graceful fighter, very loyal, and intelligent, though he can't keep a conversation going.

Swiftfrost: Swiftfrost is a light sandy brown colored, long-furred tom with black speckles and hazel eyes. He is athletic, strong, and agile, which makes him a dangerous opponent in battle. His recovery skills are excellent and he is very hard-working. He loves the cold and is very helpful, kind, and funny, and will sometimes hang out with Mysteryfeather.

Snakejaw: Snakejaw is a brown furred tom with green eyes. He is very shy and quiet, but a bit of a slacker. He isn't really much like his sister, Mysteryfeather, but hangs out with her a lot. He is very strong and silly, and has lots of she-cats after him. Lots of the time, he is with Mysteryfeather, or his younger brother, Eaglepaw.

Eaglepaw: Eaglepaw is a small brown-furred tom with brown eyes. He is the most popular tom apprentice in the all of the Clans. Most of the she-cats adore him. He is very aggressive, and anything can set him off, but he is also very sweet, funny, and kind. He likes to stick with his sister, Mysteryfeather, and brother, Snakejaw, but most of the time, he tries to go his own way.

Darkmist: Darkmist is a fluffy, black she-cat with brown eyes. She is very hostile and protective, and very prissy. She goes nuts if another she-cat even sits next to Oakshard. She is pressing for them to become mates, but Oakshard is holding out. She is patient, which is why she lets Oakshard delay her plans, but she senses something is amiss.

Shadestrike: Shadestrike is a short-furred black tom with brown eyes. He is quiet and mysterious, but is very friendly. He can be shy, but once you get to know him he opens up. He has a half-sister, Darkmist, who is just a bit older than him. They share the same father. He is also an incredible fighter.

Prologue

The gray tabby's blue eyes flicked around wildly, every step confident, but cautious. The smell of frost hung in the air and the tom shivered, his short pelt trying to fluff up against it. He planted his paws on the ice-crusted ground and took a deep breath, letting his breath cloud the air in front of his muzzle more than the white mist that permanantly hung over his blue gaze.

"There you are," a ginger tom bounded over. His green eyes shone with youth, clear and free of the pain and frustration the gray tabby tom had felt all of his life.

"Flametail," the tom greeted the ginger cat curtly, dipping his head as guilt stabbed him. Memories swirled in his head as he remembered how Flametail had died, and he felt frustration claw at him.

"Where are the others?" Flametail asked, oblivious to the emotions radiating from his companion.

"Do I look like I know?" the gray tabby snorted, pushing away his feelings of guilt and snapping back to reality.

"Sorry," Flametail mewed apologetically, dipping his head.

The gray tabby shuffled his paws as silence fell over them, wincing as dried leaves crackled under his half-frozen paws. Again, he tried fluffing his pelt against the chill of the wind, and he waited patiently for the other two cats to arrive

Shortly, the two toms heard panting, "I'm here!" A brown-gray tom broke through the bushes, twigs criss-crossing his white splotches.

"There you are, Kestrelflight," the tom mewed, sniffing the air non-chalantly. He nodded, sure it was Kestrelflight that he was talking to.

"How did you know?" Kestrelflight asked, staring at the gray tabby tom incredulously. He took a few deep breaths, flicking his ears while waiting for the tom to reply.

"Duh, I can smell you," the tom shook his head. Flametail bit his lower lip, trying hard not to laugh at the grumpy tom cat.

"Oh yeah," Kestrelflight shook his head to clear it as his pants gradually slowed and quieted, leaving the clearing and the three cats in another silence.

"Here's Willowshine," the tabby tom announced, snapping his head up to where a beautiful dark gray she-cat emerged from the bushes.

Willowshine mewed, "Yes, I'm here now. What do you want?" She sat down between the gray tabby and Kestrelflight. As she sat, her scent wreathed around the tabby tom and a mixture of emotions prodded at his heart and mind. He closed his cloudy blue eyes, trying to push the emotions away before it drove him nuts.

Once the tom regained control he started, "Well, I have a message.... mostly it involves me and Willowshine..." The tom threw Willowshine a glance and the she-cat stiffened visibly.

"So, why did you invite us?" Kestrelflight asked, looking up in surprise at the them.

"I felt like I had to."

"So what's this whole thing about," Flametail queried. He tilted his head to one side and he studied the tom and Willowshine carefully. There was something about the way they acted, he knew, but he just couldn't pinpoint exactly what it was that he sensed.

"I was sitting by one of the pools, and I recieved something," the tom sighed. "And-"

"What did you see?" Flametail broke in excitedly, abruptly pushing aside his questions and suspicions.

"I didn't see anything!" the tom snapped, his eyes narrowing in frustration.

"Sorry, Jayfeather," Flametail apologized, wrapping his fluffy ginger tail around his paws.

Jayfeather tossed his head and continued, "I heard something. A whisper: The shining feather falls, trying to be seen in the blind hemisphere.

"What does it mean?" Kestrelflight asked.

"Willowshine, what is your input?" Flametail turned to the pretty RiverClan medicine cat.

"I... I..." she stammered.

"You and Jayfeather had kits didn't you?" Kestrelflight's eyes glittered, confirming the fiery colored medicine cat's suspicions, "You do know that it's against the medicine cat code..."

Willowshine looked away and Jayfeather nodded, rearing back as memories swirled in his mind; memories of the love and kindess he had shown Willowshine, memories of the warmth he had felt when she had his kits, memories of guilt and anxiety as he lied to his Clan. All of it came back and swelled inside of him like a raincloud.

"Aaaand now there's a prophecy about your kin?" Flametail guessed.

All the cats stayed silent for a moment, letting it all sink in. A cold breeze whistled through the trees and Jayfeather shivered.

Jayfeather turned to gaze at the three others with his cloudy blue eyes. He murmured gravely, "All I know is that something is amiss in RiverClan. And our kin is involved. There is a pawful of RiverClan cats that are blind.... blind. But not in the way that you would think..."

Chapter 1

"Mysteryfeeeeather!" a voice echoed in my ears, slicing through the gentle swirling sounds of my dreams, "Myyysteryfeather!" I wished the voice would stop, but it kept nagging.

I finally stretched my eyes open, staring into wide, green eyes almost identical to mine. They were glowing, alert and triumphant... probably because waking me up is a big chore, so many say.

"What do you want, Snakejaw?" I groaned, rolling over in my moss nest. I pressed my ear against the dirt, hoping that Snakejaw would get bored and leave me alone so I could get some more rest.

Snakejaw poked me with a paw, "Come on! We have to go on patrol!" He now sounded slightly irritated and I stifled a growl. StarClan forbid I get enough sleep. Scrunching up into a ball, I covered my ears with my paw and tried to ignore him.

"Come on!" Snakejaw's pleading voice was muffled, then he knocked my paw from my ears and I glared up at him with a sliver of my green eyes. He smiled mischievously, then threatened, "Or I'll have to get Eaglepaw!"

"I'm up! I'm up!" I sat up quickly, groggy, but awake. Eaglepaw is the worst thing to wake up to, believe me. He will do almost anything to wake you up. It didn't take me long to figure that out.

"Good!" Snakejaw purred, padding out of the warriors' den.

I glared after him with venom in my eyes, then started to shake my head to clear it of the sleep and anger.

I would rather eat crowfood for a moon than get woken up by Eaglepaw, I thought, conjuring up the memories of earlier wake-up shenanigans. One time, early in my apprenticeship, Eaglepaw, Eaglekit then, had somehow managed to drag me into a shallow part of the stream in order to wake me up. One of the most horrible wake-up calls I have recieved from my youngest brother, was when he woke me up, frantic, claiming that I needed to investigate something about ShadowClan. I, bedraggled, yet excited ran into ShadowClan territory, climbed a pine that overlooked their camp, and started to spy.

The next thing I knew, I was being woken up by ShadowClan warriors and taken to be imprisoned in their camp. Eaglepaw must have given up the charade, and told everyone where I went, because later, my friends Strikebird, Mapleshine, Foxflash, Oakshard, Snakejaw, Swiftfrost, and Eaglepaw came to vouch for my innocence in the matter.

And I won't fall for that again! I was still a bit angry at myself for the whole ordeal, especially since I was smarter than that, and I should have known Eaglepaw by then. 

"Come on, Mysteryfeather, let's go!" I heard a shout from the clearing. I shook my head one last time, then padded out into the heart of RiverClan's camp, squinting in the bright early morning light. I spotted Eaglepaw trotting around a group of warriors next to Snakejaw near the entrance of the camp, then stomped over to them.

"Finally!" Eaglepaw shouted, skidding to a halt and looking up at me with impatience in his brown eyes.

I ignored the yell of my younger, and rather loud, brother with the flick of my ears. I swung my head around to face the rest of the patrol when I heard Snakejaw's triumphant sneer next to me.

"Not the morning type, eh?" he smirked.

"Shush!" I snapped, narrowing my jade green eyes. I lifted my paw to box his ear, but he scampered away and stood by Eaglepaw before I could, and I slammed my paw back to the ground.

My two brothers burst into laughter and turned toward each other to get a grip on themselves. Once they finally stopped laughing, I rolled my eyes. Sometimes, my brothers can just be as annoying as a tick where you can't reach it.

"So, where are we going, Reedstone?" I asked, gritting my teeth in irritation.

Reedstone, the patrol's leader, swung his head around to face me, "We're headed to the WindClan border. Coldstar thinks that WindClan are gradually moving their border so they can aquire some of our territory."

I nodded, then asked, "Is all of our patrol here?"

"Yeah," Snakejaw reported, "We have you, me, Reedstone, Strikebird, and Eaglepaw." He pointed his tail to each cat he named, as if I wasn't able to tell who was who and I bit my lip. Snakejaw was probably just doing that out of habit, or might have been counting the cats for himself, so I guess I didn't have much reason to take offense, despite the fact that he did like to irritate others.

"Let's go!" Eaglepaw bounced on his toes impatiently, flexing his claws at the prospect of a fight.

"Good idea, Eaglepaw," Reedstone nodded his head at his apprentice.

I plodded out of RiverClan's camp, along with the rest of our patrol. After crossing the stream and making our way to open ground, a breeze ruffled my reddish-brown fur, and I, unable to control myself, let out a long, soft purr. One thing I love about RiverClan is that we have nice, gentle breezes, soothing, cool streams, and a mix of open land and trees, bushes, and other forest growth right at our paws. As the cool wind continued to brush past my pelt, I closed my eyes, letting the feelings of annoyance that my brothers gave me melt away.

A tap on my shoulder diverted my attention back to the patrol. I scowled, assuming it was Snakejaw or Eaglepaw coming back to rag on me a bit more, but as I turned my head and opened my eyes, I saw that it wasn’t my brothers, but Strikebird, one of my best friends.

"Do you really think there is going to be a fight?" Strikebird whispered to me, her turquoise eyes fixed on me and looking both worried and excited at the prospect.

"I don't know," I whispered back, "But it’s very possible. Have you noticed how WindClan have been giving us stony silence at Gatherings?"

"A little..." Strikebird admitted.

I thought back to when Snakejaw had received his warrior name about a moon ago. It had been announced at the Gathering the next day, and all the Clans had cheered.

All of them, that is, except for WindClan; they were as silent as an empty nursery. And I knew right then and there that something was up, but I tried not to think about it too much. If I did, I know I would try to investigate it, and if I investigated, StarClan knows how that would go.

“Mysteries are dangerous things,” my mother, Citrusdrop had told me when I was a kit, “You’re father was almost killed…” She had trailed off, since I already knew the rest of the story. I have a somewhat rebellious nature, so I solved all the mysteries I could anyway, but for once, I decided to let my mother have some peace of mind, especially with Eaglepaw being a bundle of trouble.

I bobbed my head, returning to the present and confident that I had made the right choice to keep out of the situation between RiverClan and WindClan. I looked over to Strikebird, whose nose was wrinkled in disgust.

"Rabbits..." Strikebird groaned, "Ugh..."

I chuckled at her, twitching my whiskers in amusement at her disdain for the scent.

Strikebird threw me a playful glare, “Just because you’re more accustomed to eating any type of prey from solving mysteries…”

“Cut it out!” Reedstone ordered briskly, cutting Strikebird off.

We fell silent and threw each other silent glances. I knew that she was trying to say that Reedstone would be Reedstone: brisk and focused on getting any job done perfectly.

After a few moments, our patrol stopped abruptly and I almost crashed into Reedstone. I let out an impatient sigh, “Why are we stopping, Reedstone? The border is a bit farther than this.”

Snakejaw rolled his eyes, “Well, if you were listening, Reedstone wanted to stop and check out a small fox den he saw yesterday.”

My fur prickled with angry embarrassment and I turned away from them and started sniffing along the ground, trying to keep myself occupied and useful while Reedstone was checking out the fox den.

Suddenly, a pungent scent hit me like the stream after a storm. I curled my nose at how strong it was and I shook my head. I stared at the ground, knowing it would do me no good, but I knew that something was wrong.

Could I be mistaken? I asked myself. Warily, I bent my head toward the ground again and took a good long sniff, no matter how much the smell bothered me. Nope… I decided. It was definitely…

WindClan’s border.

I felt myself beginning to bristle, a hot stone of anger and despair sinking in my belly. I snapped my head up and looked at the rest of the patrol, who were basically doing their own thing.

"Where is our border?" I blurted out, deciding not to wait for my Clanmates to notice for themselves that WindClan had placed their border inside our territory.

Reedstone, Snakejaw, and Eaglepaw looked up at me. I could feel their confused gazes burning into my pelt and I knew what they were thinking: “What is that crazy Mysteryfeather talking about?” And I knew that they were answering their own questions, too, with: “Probably just imagining something else to investigate.” I have earned that stare one too many times.

"What are you talking about, Mysteryfeather?" Eaglepaw snorted, rolling his eyes as I knew he would.

"No, wait, she's right..." Reedstone said, his pelt prickling with alarm, "Our border isn't here!"

Brilliant deduction, Obviousstar, I snorted in my head.

"Maybe it's been a while since our border was marked," Snakejaw suggested, visibly trying to keep his eyes from growing wild.

I shook my head, bewildered at how clueless my brother could be, especially since this wasn’t the place where the border was.

"But that's impossible, Snakejaw! Our border isn’t supposed to be marked here, it’s supposed to be over there, and we just remarked that border yesterday at sunhigh!" I protested, waving my tail and pointing it to where our border should be.

"I went on the patrol myself!" Strikebird added. Mysteryfeather scanned WindClan's territory with her sharp green eyes, looking for proof of WindClan's actions. Her eyes fell on a large willow, inside WindClan's territory.

That was our willow! she growled inwardly. She heard Strikebird and Snakeslash arguing.

"Doesn't that lone willow look to be too far inside WindClan territory?" Mysteryfeather blurted out.

"Our willow!" Eaglepaw hissed, rage filling his brown eyes.

Mysteryfeather saw Strikebird smirk at Snakeslash. She smiled. He had it coming! "She, and Eaglepaw, are right. That's our willow," Reedstone confirmed, "Let's go find our old border, then report this to Coldstar."

Mysteryfeather opened her mouth to protest and say that they should report the problem to Coldstar first, but she knew there was no arguing with the older warriors. She bit her tongue and followed her companions tentatively across WindClan's new border.

"I found it!" Strikebird called. Mysteryfeather looked up, ready to go report it to Coldstar. Reedstone padded over to where Strikebird was standing.

"That's our border all right," Reedstone scowled, "On the wrong side of WindClan border."

"Let's go!" Mysteryfeather urged them.

"Quit being so impatient, Mysteryfeather," Eaglepaw snorted.

Mysteryfeather sighed and rolled her eyes, deciding to watch out for any cats that may be coming. She scanned the moors again, and she caught sight of a patrol.

They're running right toward us! she moaned to herself.

"Ummm... guys," she butted into the other cats' discussion, "WindClan!"

"Oh, StarClan," Snakeslash murmured, seeing the WindClan warriors.

Mysteryfeather scowled at Reedstone, "What a great idea you had!"

Reedstone growled, then hissed, "Now we can only try to reason with them."

The WindClan cats stalked face to face with the patrol. "What do you think you're doing on our territory?" Fernface, the WindClan deputy, growled.

"Fernface, you know as well as I do that this is rightfully the territory of RiverClan," Reedstone said.

The WindClan cats bristled and snarled and Mysteryfeather unsheathed her claws, sinking them deep into the soft ground.

This isn't working, Reedstone! Give it up!

"This is not your territory!" a WindClan apprentice snorted promptly.

"Why you little...." Eaglepaw snarled, bunching his muscles to tackle the WindClan cat. Mysteryfeather sprang forward and grabbed her brother by the scruff. Eaglepaw's claws slashed at the air.

The WindClan apprentice smirked at Eaglepaw and Mysteryfeather was tempted to let her brother give the arrogant WindClan cat what he deserved, but she held on to him tight.

"Grasspaw is correct," Fernface meowed dryly, "This territory does not belong to RiverClan."

Mysteryfeather stumbled to the side as Strikebird pushed between her and Snakeslash, "Come on! You can still smell our scent marks here!" Strikebird flicked her tail toward the ground.

"We're no fools," Mysteryfeather added coldly.

Fernface curled her lip, "Surround these liars!"

Mysteryfeather started to panic as she saw the WindClan warriors enclose her in a space too small for her to bear. She bunched her muscles to attack, but instead shouted, "Eaglepaw! Run! Tell Coldstar!"

Eaglepaw didn't need to be told twice. The small, clever tom slipped under a large warrior and bolted back to RiverClan territory, disappearing into the cluster of bushes.

"Great! The little runt got away!" a WindClan warrior snarled.

"Barkclaw! Harepelt! Get him! The rest of you, forget about him," Fernface snapped as two WindClan warriors sprang after the RiverClan apprentice, "Let's take them back to our camp before a RiverClan patrol arrives."

There are too many warriors, Mysteryfeather scolded herself, Why didn't we run when we could?

She looked up at the hills that loomed before her, almost stumbling as a WindClan warrior thrust her foreward abruptly. Mysteryfeather curled her lip, then looked back down at her paws.

I just hope Eaglepaw can warn the others before the WindClan cats catch him...

Chapter 2

"You thought you could just walk into our territory without us knowing?" Hillstar sneered. The WindClan cats started to howl with laughter at the RiverClan cats.

Mysteryfeather bristled with anger and parted her jaws. "That was our territory!" she yowled.

"Oh, yeah?" one large apprentice challenged.

"Yeah!" she retorted, "Our lone willow was on your territory! Our border was right in the middle of your so-called territory!"

"Mysteryfeather, don't make things worse," Reedstone growled. Mysteryfeather snorted, but went silent.

"So what if we did take your territory?" Hillstar asked, "It's not like you're using it."

Reedstone stayed silent. Mysteryfeather rolled her eyes, and stepped up boldly, "Brambleclaw, Mistyfoot, Crowfeather, and Tawnypelt carved out these borders in peace! Do you think we're about to let you ruin it?"

Strikebird nodded in approval, "That's right!" Snakeslash grinned at Mysteryfeather.

"Yeah, but they're dead! Long dead! Who knows if they even existed?" Hillstar shook his head.

Fernface flicked her leader's shoulder with her tail, "Hillstar, if we don't prepare for battle and hide our prisoners, we could lose. Harepelt and Barkclaw might come back without the apprentice, Eaglepaw, which means we could be open to attack."

"Good thinking, Fernface," Hillstar praised his deputy. Mysteryfeather could only watch and listen as the cats assembled battle lines and shouted orders.

Fernface barged in on Mysteryfeather's side and she growled. Mysteryfeather whipped her head around to face the WindClan deputy and hissed, "Eaglepaw could outrun you hare-brains anyday."

Fernface lashed her tail and shoved Mysteryfeather with her shoulder, pushing her into a dark underground den. Mysteryfeather wrinkled her nose as the scent of badger hit it. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as her friends fell into the den beside her.

"Who knows if we're going to get out of here!" Strikebird moaned.

"I just hope Eaglepaw makes it," Snakeslash whispered.

Mysteryfeather nodded, her eyes solemn, then a noise caught her attention.

"Quiet!" she hissed, pricking her ears. The others did the same.

"Now, kits," she heard the whisper of Hillstar, "Make sure not to tell anyone what is in that cave if RiverClan warriors find you. Defend it with your lives if you have to."

"Yes, Hillstar," one of the older kits mewed.

Mysteryfeather's eyes flashed in rage, How dare he think that RiverClan would hurt kits... and how dare he make kits guard something in the middle of a battle...

A cold silence fell over the prisoners and, for what felt like moons, they just exchanged solemn glances.

Mysteryfeather sighed and started pacing impatiently, Reedstone growled at himself, Snakeslash lashed his tail, and Strikebird observed some underground plants.

Mysteryfeather was just about to snarl in frustration when she heard a yowl from the main part of camp.

"Eaglepaw reached the RiverClan camp! We are under attack!"

Thank StarClan! Mysteryfeather felt a wave of relief wash over her. "Guys!" she squeaked, "We're going to be rescued!" Mysteryfeather watched her patrol unsheathe their claws, and she did the same, waiting for for the fight to come to them. She started to pace, growling readily. Reedstone and Snakslash exchanged glances, while Strikebird slashed at the air.

The ground thumped above them and the four cats drew in their breaths, pricking their ears.

"What are you kits doing here?" Mysteryfeather heard one cat ask.

"Our mothers hid us here," one of the kits squeaked in reply.

"By a badger set?" the RiverClan cat snorted.

"It's abandoned," Mysteryfeather could hear the kit swallow audibly and she smirked.

"Then you won't mind if we have a look," a second cat mewed promptly. Mysteryfeather heard pawsteps coming closer to them. She heard small scuffles and pants.

"No! Nonononono!" one kit wailed.

"Get off us!" one RiverClan cat snarled.

"Go away!" another kit hissed.

Mysteryfeather sat listening, hearing more small thumps. Finally, one of her Clanmates burst in followed by several more.

One cat thundered up to her and touched his muzzle to her shoulder in a friendly manner.

"Friend, not foe, I take it?" Mysteryfeather laughed, her eyes glimmering with recognition.

"You've cracked this mystery wide open," Oakshard purred. "Let's go!"

Mysteryfeather raced after Oakshard, into the warmth and light of the sun. She and Oakshard darted into the bushes and watched the mouth of the den for the other RiverClan cats. The kits were nowhere to be seen.

Probably warning some warriors... she thought.

Shortly came Redstorm with Strikebird, Eaglepaw with Snakeslash, and Leafwhisker with Reedstone.

"We're all here?" Oakshard whispered.

Mysteryfeather made a quick count, then nodded. Oakshard gave a signal and they crept along the bushes at the foot of the hill. She flicked a leaf out of her way with her ear and peered out of the bush. The fighting cats had come into view. The group parked themselves near a few fighting cats.

"Ok," Oakshard turned to Mysteryfeather as the other cats began to devise plans, "You see Foxflash over there?"

Mysteryfeather spotted the sandy-ginger colored tom brawling with a large black tom. She nodded quickly.

"I'm going to run and attack his opponent," Oakshard explained, "You will run with me, but instead, you will run to Foxflash and he will get you back to camp. Then we'll all meet up again later."

"Sounds good to me," Mysteryfeather nodded again. She bunched her muscles and locked her eyes onto Foxflash.

Foxflash was growling at the tom, claws sinking into the black tom's shoulders. Mysteryfeather noticed that the blood pouring from the wound was making his claws slip.

He's going to lose him!

Foxflash's claws slipped and the black tom got the upper paw, ramming Foxflash onto the ground and pinning him there. Mysteryfeather watched Foxflash's blue eyes widen in surprise, his chest heaving. The black tom snickered, and parted his jaws for the killing bite. Mysteryfeather opened her mouth for an angry wail.

"Go!" Oakshard howled, flicking her forward with his tail. Together they, burst from the bushes. Oakshard sent the black WindClan warrior flying onto his back as Foxflash scrambled up. Mysteryfeather bolted after Foxflash, across WindClan territory.

"Are you ok?" Mysteryfeather asked, looking over at him.

"Yeah, are you?" he called.

"Yeah," Mysteryfeather nodded as they passed the WindClan border.

"I don't know," Foxflash mewed warily, "You kind of look like you're limping."

Mysteryfeather smiled, "I'm fine. I just stumbled a few times." She breathed in the familiar scent of RiverClan territory and the water.

Within a few minutes, the two skidded to a halt inside of the RiverClan camp. Mysteryfeather took some weight of her paws by lifting them into the air one by one.

"So, tell me what happened," Foxflash pressed.

"We went on patrol, obviously," Mysteryfeather told him, "I noticed that the border wasn't where it shouldn't have been, so Reedstone had us check it out.... Against my wishes," she added with a scowl.

"That's annoying isn't it?" Foxflash shook his head. "So in the end that got you captured," he concluded.

Mysteryfeather nodded, "Yeah, I don't know why Reedstone thought..."

"Hey! Oakshard's back!" Foxflash cut in, angling his ears past her.

Mysteryfeather followed his gaze to the entrance where Oakshard was coming back with the battle patrol. She felt a prick of annoyance that her friend didn't seem interested in what had happened, but she supposed she couldn't blame him. Foxflash and Oakshard had been born within the same hour of each other and have been very close.

But I still kind of feel left out...

Chapter 3

"Hey, someone never got to hear what happened on yesterday's patrol," a voice called.

Mysteryfeather looked up from her rippling reflection in the stream, breaking the gaze that she had locked on to her reflection's green eyes.

"So, what happened?" Oakshard swished his tail expectantly.

"Why do you want to know so badly?" Mysteryfeather laughed.

"Foxflash got to know!" Oakshard protested, throwing a playful glare at his ginger-gold pelted friend. Foxflash chuckled and held Oakshard's brown gaze with his deep blue one.

"What if Foxflash is better than you!" Mysteryfeather teased, narrowing her eyes.

"Ha!" Foxflash grinned at Oakshard.

Oakshard shrank down as if his feelings were upset, "Hurtful!"

Mysteryfeather and Foxflash giggled as Oakshard straightened up again.

"No, seriously, what happened?" Oakshard asked.

"Fine!" Mysteryfeather shook out her reddish-brown fur, growling good-naturedly. She saw Oakshard twitch his whiskers in triumph.

"We were on a patrol, and I noticed that our border was missing. Further evidence proved that WindClan had taken our territory, so Reedstone told us to check it out..."

"And she thought it would have been a better idea to tell Coldstar first!" Foxflash broke in. Mysteryfeather nodded.

She watched as Oakshard took it in, nodding slowly, "Then your patrol kind of crashed from there."

"Right." She unsheathed and resheathed her claws, "I don't know what WindClan has against us..."

"Let me guess: you're going to start analyzing?" Foxflash smiled.

Mysteryfeather opened her mouth to protest, but Oakshard broke in, "Hmmmm... Guess who wants to investigate?"

She let her friends' teasing go by her and she chuckled, "I'm glad you guys know me well enough to predict that our problem with WindClan won't go unnoticed... by me at least." She smiled to herself, thinking of all the different happenings she had investigated over the moons since her apprenticeship started.

"You think we wouldn't?" Oakshard snickered, "I've known you for longer than Dar-"

"Oakshard!" a she-cat's commanding voice split our humorous conversation down the middle, leaving us in a deathly silence. Darkmist padded out of the berry bushes, her black pelt smooth and shining in the late morning sun. Mysteryfeather watched warily as the she-cat padded over to Oakshard and left a single rose at his paws. She saw Oakshard stiffen and Foxflash cringe. Darkmist had always left an unpleasant feeling behind when she swept Oakshard away. Mysteryfeather didn't really blame Foxflash for recoiling.

Mysteryfeather snapped back to reality, noticing Darkmist toss her head slightly, then gliding off.

Making sure Darkmist was gone, Mysteryfeather listened for her departing pawsteps, then she rolled her eyes, "Oh, brother..."

"And.. and how could we forget the times that you dragged us on your investigations?" Oakshard's voice grew noticably more quiet and desperate with every word.

Mysteryfeather gave a weak shrug, "I thought you guys wanted to come with..."

"Yeah..." Foxflash's voice trailed off, too.

Fox dung, Darkmist! Mysteryfeather cursed silently, her paws scraping angrily at the ground. Darkmist had just ruined another good time with two of Mysteryfeather's closest friends. She wanted to get the conversation back to normal as much as she could hear that Oakshard wanted to, but she knew that Oakshard would probably have to leave.

"Yeah, I guess I have to go..." Oakshard narrowed his eyes, "I'm sorry, but I guess she wants me to spend a little 'quality time' with her." Mysteryfeather noticed his face contort in rage, "She couldn't wait..."

Mysteryfeather felt a prick of anger, but bottled it up inside her, "Yeah, see you." Foxflash gave a nod as Oakshard got up and padded away.

As soon as he was gone, Mysteryfeather turned back to the river, "Well, that blows!" She swiped her claws across the surface of the water, leaving temporary scars before they disappeared into a clear perfect surface.

"I know," Foxflash grumbled, standing up and stretching his legs.

"So, I suppose you're leaving, too?" she mewed, looking up at the older warrior.

"Nah, I think I'll stay," Foxflash shrugged, sitting down near her at the river's bank.