Ravenclaw woke up, blinking out the sleep from his eyes. He looked over to his left, and saw Tawnywing just starting to stir. He prodded her with his paw, and whispered "Come on Tawnywing, we have to get our travelling herbs". The two warriors padded out of the warriors den, and slipped into the underground tunnel that led to Tigerpelt's den.
"Here" Tigerpelt said, as she placed their travelling herbs on the ground. "Have some fresh-kill before you eat these, or they will just make you sick". Ravenclaw nodded his thanks, and crawled back through the tunnel that went outside.
Ravenclaw and Tawnywing were laying on the ground, sharing a rabbit, when they heard someone running towards them. Ravenclaw looked around to see Mintpaw heading towards them. He smiled at her, but her face was stern. "I'm coming with you" she replied suddenly. "What?" Ravenclaw asked. "I said I'm coming with you, and don't say I have to ask Miststar, because she gave her approval, she just said to ask you". Ravenclaw was taken aback by her arrogance. This wasn't like Mintpaw, and it made him slightly worried. "Of course you can come with us" Ravenclaw said "But you don't have to be all nasty about it". Mintpaw looked at him with sorrow in her green eyes "I'm sorry, it's just Squirrelpaw is my best friend, and she could be in grave danger". Ravenclaw felt a pang of sympathy for Mintpaw, and he rested his tail on her shoulders. She purred, then said "I'd better go get some herbs from Tigerpelt then" and she darted off.
The three cats padded away from the camp, with Ravenclaw in the lead. He tried to ignore the bitter taste of herbs that lingered in his mouth, and focused instead on getting to the place where Squirrelpaw was kidnapped. He leaped over a log, and waited for Tawnywing and Mintpaw to do the same. "Where do you think the twoleg took Squirrelpaw?" Mintpaw asked, as they ran towards the place. "Maybe the twoleg took her to its nest?" Ravenclaw guessed, not exactly sure himself. "I wonder why it would do that?" Mintpaw said, half to herself. "Because twolegs are mouse brained!" Tawnywing said with a laugh.
Ravenclaw sniffed at the place where the bush den had been, until he picked up the twoleg scent. He started following it, with Tawnywing and Mintpaw just behind him. Ravenclaw carried on following the trail, until Mintpaw yowled behind him "RAVENCLAW LOOK OUT!" Ravenclaw looked up, and saw a loose branch fall from an oak tree. He rolled to his right, and the branch landed exactly where he had been standing. Ravenclaw sighed with relief, and caught his breath. Tawnywing butted him with her head "Are you ok?" she asked with concern. Ravenclaw purred and nodded, then got to his feet.
The three cats carried on tracking, until they came to the Swampclan border. Tawnywing looked at the border, then at Ravenclaw. "What do we do now?" She asked. Ravenclaw thought for a moment then said "We will just have to go through, we don't have time to wait for a patrol" "But won't we get attacked?" "Not if we move fast" "But we can't move fast through a swamp" "We will have to do our best". Ravenclaw took a deep breath, then stepped over the border, and watched as Tawnywing and Mintpaw did the same. He signalled with his tail, then they bounded away. Ravenclaw tried to ignore the marshy ground that his paws seemed to sink into. Mud and dirt went between his toes, and he kept tripping over rocks hidden in the swamp water. Swampclan's territory looked really creepy, with leaf-less trees, half hidden in marshy water, and algae covering the various bogs around. Suddenly he heard a furious screeching behind them. Ravenclaw spun around, and he saw four Swampclan cats, sprinting straight towards them through the mud. Ravenclaw let out a hiss, and leapt In front of Mintpaw and Tawnywing. The Swampclan patrol showed no signs of stopping, and Ravenclaw realised that they would have to fight. Ravenclaw unsheathed his claws, and ran straight at a tabby Swampclan warrior. The two cats locked in a whirlwind of tooth and claw, scratching and biting furiously. Ravenclaw raked his claws across the warrior's side, and nipped his tail. The enemy warrior grabbed Ravenclaw by his scruff, and pinned him to the ground on his stomach; Ravenclaw was squished by the tabby warrior's weight. Ravenclaw let his body go limp, and the enemy's jaws instantly relaxed. Ravenclaw then heaved up his shoulders, sending the enemy rolling through the mud. Ravenclaw screeched, and went after the warrior, clawing at his back legs, until the warrior fell to the floor. Ravenclaw leapt up into the air, then landed straight onto his enemy's shoulders, sinking his claws into them. His enemy yowled with pain, and limped away. Ravenclaw looked over at Mintpaw wrestling with a ginger apprentice. Ravenclaw hissed with anger, and bounded up to the apprentice, knocking her off of Mintpaw. The apprentice let out a snarl, but realised she was outnumbered, and fled. Ravenclaw looked over, as Tawnywing slashed at a large black tom, and at the same time, kicked a dark grey she-cat. The warrior and apprentice, ran over to help. Ravenclaw pounced on the grey she-cat, and sank his teeth into her ear. The scent of blood filled his nose, and he let go, watching as the she-cat stumbled over her own tail, desperate to get away. He heard the last frightened yowl, as the black tom staggered away. "Come on!" Ravenclaw hissed breathlessly, as Tawnywing and Mintpaw growled insults at the fleeing warriors. The three cats dashed away, still following the twoleg trail.
