"What!" Yowled Barkstar.
"How dare they!" All of the cats began to murmur. Softpaw exchanged a startled glance with Lilyflower. Mudwhisker hobbled out of the Warriors den, "I'll help with the attack!"
Sageberry snapped her head up "you most certainly will not!"
mudwhisker huffed but said nothing else. Softpaw padded slowly towards Barkstar. "Softpaw!"
Lilyflower hisses. Softpaw ignored it and continued to his leader. "Barkstar, I have an idea."
The entire clan turned their heads towards Softpaw. He breathed. Then began, "you said that Riverclan was stealing correct?"
The patrol nodded. "So you must have smelled Riverclan scents?"
A cat from the back, foxfeather, shouted above. "Are we really taking advice from an apprentice?"
Barkstar sent him a stern glance. "Yes we smelt Riverclan on the prey."
"But they have the river, unless it's frozen over, was it?"
"No."
"And at the gathering echostar kept on saying how well shadowclan was doing, but they were all thinner than a wind clan cat."
Barkstar looked at the apprentice. "What are you implying?"
"I am saying would if shadowclan rubbed themselves in river clan scent to either make us think it's them stealing our prey and shadowclan is innocent, or so we get mad at Riverclan and be to busy with that not to notice shadowclan move their boarder into our territory."
The entire clan murmered to each other. "Now thats not very likely softpaw! They would have to find riverclan scent and I highly doubt they would risk a fight with two clans just for a strip of thunderclan territory!"
Yowls of approval rose from the crowd. Softpaw's pelt grew hot and he backed into the elders den. Stumpypelt was laying there, he carefuly manuvered arounf the tabby elder and settled in his new nest. Thoughts whirled around him, Patchpaw, riverclan, shado- no its just riverclan. He got out of his nest and intercepted with lilyflower. "There you are! We are going on a patrol to check out the riverclan scents."
Softpaw sat upright. He stretched his hind legs. "Oh, and softpaw! We are not to fight if we find riverclan. If it does get to that return back to camp."
"But-"
"No buts! You have not even started battle traning, or anything! Be lucky you are coming on this patrol!"
Softpaw reluctantly nodded then followed lilyflower to meet up with the border patrol of brackenfeather, lionfur, and birchspring, three of the warriors who were on the patrol that found the scents. The clan deputy flicked his tail and the patrol padded through the gorse bush. "This is sunning rock,"
Murmered lilyflower. Softpaw looked at the light rocks heated by sunlight. Just below them was a rushing current of dark water, "and thats the river."
Softpaw padded twards the river, a fishy scent hit his scent glands. "Is that the riverclan border?"
"Actualy the border is on the other side of sunning rocks, this is where we found the riverclan scents. You would have smelled this at the gathering if you had attended."
Brackenfeather sniffed around the area. "Look!"
Shouted Birchspring, "there is more!"
The patrol raced up to birchspring. "Come on, we need to tell barkstar this!"
With that brackenfeather raced back twards camp followed closely by lionfur. As the deputy went to patrol the border, lilyflower and softpaw went to the sandy hollow.
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Softpaw found himslef in a green clearing surrounded by green undergrowth and the tempting scents of prey. He padded around and spotted a mouse, he went into a hunters crouch which he had practiced that day and leaped landing squarely on the mouse. "Good catch, but try not to move your tail so much."
Softpaw whipped his head up and saw a starry silver tom starring at him. "Wh-who are you?"
The starry tom blink
"great destiny awaits you Softpaw, just don't let the power overtake you."
Softpaw cocked his head,
"What do you mean? Who are you?"
The tom lowered his head, "a familiar but forgotten face."
And with that the tom disappeared. Softpaw woke up in his nest hearing gorseleap snore. A dark brown tabby poked his head in. "Softpaw? Are you in there?"
Softpaw padded out and found his father Bushclaw staring at him. "Yes, what is it?"
Bushclaw flicked his tail towards a beautiful she-cat, dawnheart, softpaws mother. "We want to take you to our favorite place we went to when we were apprentices!"
Softpaw glanced excitedly at his parents.
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Juniperpaw glanced longingly at her brother, as he passed to the entrance following her parents. Ever since she had announced her apprenticeship with sage berry, her parents talked to her less and less. Sageberry flanked her, "why don't you go look for some coltsfoot, we are running low."
Seeing the understanding in her eyes she nodded and raced to the tunnel. The smells of leafbare were complimented with the sweet smell of green things. New leaf is coming. Thought juniperpaw. She rushed to the ravine and headed towards the great sycamore.
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Softpaw gazed wonder struck at the beautiful sight. They had taken him to four trees and climbed one of the great oaks looking over the territories. "Is there more do you think? Does it go on forever?"
Bushclaw gazed up. "Forever."
