DarkMoss padded through the clearing. Adderclaw, Brambletail, Sorrelleaf, And Shrubberry all were with her, the brown tom, Adderclaw was in charge of the border patrol. The five cats went out of camp, and turned sharply to one side to get to the ravine. It was early dawn, dew wiped itself on the cats, soaking their fur before they got out of the forest. BirchClan sent a border patrol once a day, from dawn til about dust. The territory was so big that new apprentices couldn't make the trip. DarkMoss shook out her pelt when the patrol came to the ravine, all of their pelts were slick to their lightly shivering bodies.

Small mummers rippled through the wet cats as they walked by the ravine. DarkMoss peered down the cliff, where the light drizzle was lost in darkness. She strained to see the bottom where a river collected the rain and taking it to somewhere the clan didn't know. "DarkMoss, come on." Adderclaw's mew was light, but a little bit stern. The rest of the patrol stopped as he spoke. DarkMoss hadn't realized she was day dreaming. She laid her ears back as heat flooded them, she quickly caught up to them. It was a little bit before they had to start marking. Eventually they made it to the one spot where they needed to mark; the twoleg bridge. The bridge was the only spot for anything to cross for countless tree-lengths. The dusty brown she-cat smelled the border, only rouge scent tainted her tongue. They marked the one spot before heading a few fox-lengths before turning away from the ravine.

It was sun-high before the border patrol made it to Great Oak. The large tree covered most of of this side of the territory. It's large, wide spread branches reached far and the leaves were nearly as large as cats. The base of the tree was as wide as the BirchClan camp. DarkMoss caught a faint scent, but she was unable to identify it. Opening her mouth, she knew exactly what it was. Fox.

"Adderclaw, I smell fox over here." DarkMoss called out. "It's fresh too."
"I thought I smelled fox. Can you and Brambletail track it, meet us back at camp before dusk if you can." He replied, sniffing the air himself. DarkMoss and Brambletail nodded. The two cats took off, their mouths slightly open to keep track of the fox's path. Their ears where pricked for any sounds of the fox. Bushes and thorny vines slowly took over the dense forest. Smaller trees that where closer than in clan territory. The further the cats got away from the territory, the harder it was for them to walk. They followed the fox's sent under brambles, around thorns and over fallen logs.
"Why can't foxes just listen to our boundaries?" DarkMoss started. "We could do so much more hunting."
"They're mouse-brains, or would that be fox-brained?" Brambletail questioned herself.
"They're just fox-hearts. But anyway, it can't be that far ahead of us, the trail is still fresh. But it feels like we've been tracking this stupid thing for moons."

"Now how can a fox climb a tree?" Brambletail said, looking around. The trail from the fox had disappeared.
"I don't know. I thought they could, but I could be wrong. Let's hunt for a moment, so we can get something to eat, and the trail might be a bit easier to tell where it leads to." DarkMoss stated, giving a final sniff, before sitting down.
"Sounds good, and I'm starving. Where do you want to hunt?" Brambletail started, "I'm hunting over there." She pointed her tail tip to a small clearing, surrounded by berry bushes and plenty of cover and sents of mice.
"Have fun with the berries, and I'll hunt over here. Meet up here when you catch something." DarkMoss joked, she padded off under some brambles before her friend could respond.

DarkMoss screwed up her eyes when she ducked under a thorn bush. Thorns tugged at her face and pelt, ripping small bits of fur that got snagged. She finally got out of the treacherous bush. A large oak tree, not quite as big as great oak made a small clearing. It's large roots weaved in and out of the ground. DarkMoss creeped up to a root, ducking behind it to hide her brown fur.

She waited a few moments before a small shrew came out. It looked around for food but was unaware of the cat that was a tail-length away. DarkMoss moved into a crouch, She wriggled her haunches before landing on her prey. She reached down and gave a quick snap to it's neck. She picked it up warm blood started to trickle into her mouth, her mouth started to water a bit. Picking up her prey, DarkMoss padded under the thorn bush again. Within a few more steps she was in the same spot as before. She laid down and began to eat her prey. Before long, it was gone. DarkMoss licked her chops, even though it was small, it diminished her hunger. The dusty brown she-cat sat up, wrapping her tail around her paws. Movement in the bushes next to her caught her attention. Before long Brambletail pulled herself from the bush.

With a slight smirk, DarkMoss commented, "Was berry hunting any good?" Brambletail gave a slight glare before shaking her pelt out.
"Not funny, but I did catch a mouse." She looked around for a second before continuing, "Did your root hunting go well?"
"Yes, I caught a a vole. Any sign of the fox yet?"
"No, I thought I heard something but it was just a deer." Brambletail said between bites.
"Looks like it's going to rain here soon. I bet the fox went to whatever it calls home. Do you think we should head back?"
"Maybe when it gets dark. We still have a chance on finding it." Brambletail gave a quick glance at the darkening sky.
"Alright," DarkMoss started, pulling herself onto her paws. "Let get on that way, I think we should stick together this time."

Brambletail sniffed the ground while DarkMoss held her mouth slightly open to catch any sign of the fox. The headed parallel with the border, heading along side the lake. Brambletail paused, she opened her mouth a bit more, sniffing the air and the ground. DarkMoss did the same. Faint prey trails touched her tongue but the smell of a fox trail hit her mouth. The trail slowly getting stronger. The two cats had only went a couple of fox-lengths before the trail nearly doubled the strength.
"How did that happen? Could a fox just make it's sent double like that?" Brambletail questioned. She didn't stop her pace continuing to follow the trail.
"Maybe there was two of them, but I always thought that foxes preferred to be alone. But I could always be wrong." DarkMoss replied.

Pine trees started to take over. The dense undergrowth slowly weaved it's self to nothing, leaving a pine needle covered ground. The fox's trail weaved through the trees, only stoping to nibble on a berry bush. The trail slowly lead into a turn. Before long the foxes lead DarkMoss and Brambletail beside their old trail.
"Looks like the Fox knows that we're here. And we must not be too far behind it." DarkMoss started. She shook out her pelt. The sky was becoming dark with rain, and night wasn't too far off.
"I don't know how much longer we can track this guy, I'm tired." Brambletail complained.
"If it turns away from the territory again, we'll just head back. I'm tired as well." DarkMoss gave a long yawn. They walked beside the lake once again. They were only a tree-length away from the border, and getting closer every stride.
"We still haven't seen the fox yet." DarkMoss reported.
"But we don't know how far ahead it is either." Brambletail added. DarkMoss gave a quick sniff, making sure that they were following the fox still. The sent drifted to a side then disappeared.
"What the?" She replied to the disappearance.
"What," Brambletail started, she sniffed the trail and realized what had happened. "How?"
"Did it role in some-," DarkMoss stoped. A twig had snapped behind her. She lashed around. A large red fox faced her, a smaller grey fox stood behind it. With a yowl, she lunged herself at the red fox.