Erin Hunter - Sunset

Brambleclaw felt a growl rising in his throat. With his patrol behind him, he stalked across the clearing and skirted the brambles. The reek of the ShadowClan scent markers flooded over him after a couple of tail-lengths.

“Those are fresh,” he hissed. “If we follow them we should be able to catch up to the patrol and ask them what they think they’re playing at.” Whirling around, he added, “Birchpaw, run back to camp as fast as you can. Tell Firestar what’s going on, and fetch help.”

The apprentice took off, racing back along their trail with his belly close to the ground and his tail streaming out behind him.

Brambleclaw checked the scent markers to discover which way the ShadowClan patrol had gone, then bounded off in pursuit, with Sandstorm and Thornclaw a pace behind. The ShadowClan scent became stronger and stronger, until Brambleclaw reached the top of a gentle slope and spotted the patrol setting more markers in the hollow on the far side.

Bristling with fury, he paused for a couple of heartbeats to size up the enemy patrol. There were four ShadowClan cats: Russetfur, Oakfur, and Cedarheart—the same three who had watched Berrykit struggling in the fox trap—and Rowanclaw.

The ThunderClan cats were outnumbered, but Brambleclaw knew there wasn’t time to wait for reinforcements to arrive.

“Russetfur!” he called to the ShadowClan deputy. “What are you doing here?”

All four ShadowClan cats whipped around to face the ThunderClan patrol.

“What does it look like?” Russetfur mewed insolently.

“It looks like you’re trying to steal our territory,” Thornclaw hissed.

“The Clan boundaries were agreed on long ago,” Brambleclaw reminded them. “Every cat knows the extent of their territory.”

“That was then,” meowed Cedarheart.

“ShadowClan needs more space.” Russetfur narrowed her eyes at Brambleclaw. “And ThunderClan is too weak to defend it anyway, ever since the badgers attacked your camp.”

“What do you know about the badgers?” Sandstorm asked, taking a step forward.

“Enough,” Russetfur replied. The tip of her tail twitched.

“We know that you are all too badly injured to fight us right now. You’re too busy repairing your camp to watch over your borders. And you lost your medicine cat.”

For a heartbeat Brambleclaw was utterly bewildered. How could ShadowClan have found out about the badger attack?

Then he remembered that only three nights earlier Leafpool had paid her half-moon visit to the Moonpool. She must have revealed ThunderClan’s weakness to Littlecloud.

His claws sank into the ground; there was no time to think about that now. “Get out of our territory,” he snarled at Russetfur. “Or we’ll show you the same welcome we gave the badgers.”

Russetfur curled her lip. “I don’t think so.”

Letting out a fearsome screech, Brambleclaw hurled himself down into the hollow. His first rush landed him on top of Russetfur; his claws raked across her shoulder. She tried to fasten her teeth into his throat, but he pushed her off with one paw on her chest. She writhed under his weight, her eyes blazing with anger.

Brambleclaw caught a glimpse of Sandstorm locked in battle with Oakfur, her hind paws battering his belly, while Rowanclaw and Cedarheart had Thornclaw pinned down between them. Brambleclaw aimed one more blow at Russetfur and sprang to help his Clanmate, only to feel Russetfur’s claws score his haunches as he bounded away.

Birchpaw, get a move on!

He leaped on top of Cedarheart, gripping the dark gray tom’s neck fur in his teeth. Russetfur bit his tail; he lashed out with his hind legs to beat her off. He rolled on the ground in a tangle of fur and mingled scents, hardly knowing which cats were his enemies.

Then he heard a yowling in the distance that rapidly grew louder. Russetfur, her face pushed close to his as she clawed his neck, spat, “Fox dung!” and leaped away from him.

Cedarheart wriggled out of his grip. Brambleclaw staggered to his paws to see Firestar and a fresh patrol of ThunderClan warriors racing down into the hollow.

Firestar leaped on Russetfur, caterwauling a challenge, and fastened his teeth in her throat. Russetfur scored her claws across Firestar’s shoulder, but she couldn’t struggle free.

Squirrelflight rushed straight at Cedarheart, carrying him off his paws and pinning him to the ground. Just behind her, Dustpelt leaped on top of Rowanclaw, sinking his claws deep into the ShadowClan warrior’s fur. Oakfur let out a screech of terror as he saw Spiderleg and Rainwhisker surging through the bracken toward him; Sandstorm aimed a last blow at his haunches as he scrambled over roots and through brambles, heading for the ShadowClan border.

“Back off!” Russetfur yowled. She managed to stagger to her paws, leaving tufts of fur in Firestar’s teeth and claws. She was bleeding from her throat as she retreated.

Firestar flicked his tail, ordering his own warriors to let the ShadowClan cats go. Squirrelflight bit down hard on Cedarheart’s ear and sprang away from his flailing paws.

Dustpelt rolled away from Rowanclaw and came to his paws snarling. Both ShadowClan warriors turned and fled, but Russetfur stood her ground a few heartbeats longer.

“Don’t think you’ve won, Firestar,” she spat, her sides heaving. “ShadowClan will set a new border.”

“Not here in ThunderClan,” Firestar retorted. “Now get back to your own territory.”

Her eyes glaring hatred, Russetfur let out a furious hiss before turning to flee after her Clanmates. Spiderleg and Rainwhisker followed hard on her paws, letting out fearsome screeches as they pursued the invaders out of sight.

“Thanks,” Brambleclaw gasped as Firestar shook his rumpled fur and padded up beside him. “And you, Birchpaw,” he added; the young apprentice, bright-eyed and panting, flanked his Clan leader. “That was well run. You brought help just in time.”

Rapidly he explained to Firestar how Birchpaw had found ShadowClan scent marks a long way inside the border, and how he and the rest of the patrol had come across the ShadowClan warriors stealing even more territory. “They thought we’d be too weak to stop them, after the badger attack,” he added.

“Are you hurt?” Squirrelflight asked, pushing forward to reach Brambleclaw. Her green eyes were full of concern, and she stood with her pelt brushing his as she examined him for wounds.

Brambleclaw took a moment to check their injuries. To his relief, his wounded shoulder was no worse, though he had lost several pawfuls of fur from his flank, and his tail stung as if Russetfur had done her best to bite it off. Sandstorm had a clawed shoulder, and blood was trickling from a scratch on Thornclaw’s throat.

“You’d better all come back to camp and let Leafpool see to you,” Firestar meowed.

“I’m fine,” Brambleclaw insisted. “We need to set our scent markers along the proper border, just in case ShadowClan feel like having another try.”

“I’m okay too,” Sandstorm added. “But Thornclaw, I think you should go back. That throat wound looks as if it could turn nasty.”

Thornclaw just nodded; he looked too battered to argue.

“Then I’ll come with you,” Squirrelflight mewed to Brambleclaw. Her eyes gleamed as she flexed her claws. “And if another ShadowClan cat dares to put one whisker across our border, I’ll show them they just made the biggest mistake of their life!”

When Brambleclaw and his patrol returned to camp after renewing the scent markers, his ears pricked at the wails of outrage coming from the stone hollow. He slipped through the thorn tunnel to find Firestar standing on the Highledge, with the rest of the Clan gathered below.