A/N- Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy this chapter and please comment! :D

Chapter 2

The ShadowClan medicine cat apprentice woke up alone in the sandy floor of her den. She had a pounding headache and the world spun as she rose to her paws. She blinked confusedly. "Was it all a dream?" she murmured.

"No," a voice responded from behind her.

She whipped around to see Goldenfur standing behind her. "What happened?'

The senior warrior met her gaze with calm eyes. "Mossfur knocked you unconscious and left you on the border. I went out to go hunting again and I heard yowling from the border. I suppose it was then that I guessed that you were in trouble. When I arrived, Mossfur was gone but I detected his scent on your pelt. I apologize for being too late to help."

The apprentice sighed. "It's not your fault. Where's Aspenshadow?"

"She hasn't been back since yesterday, when she disappeared with Lunarstar. I thought that you'd know where she is."

***

Leafnose padded into camp with a terrified Lilyscar following close behind. When the deputy spotted Morningstar sitting by herself in the camp eating a rabbit, she broke into a run and raced down the hill. "Morningstar! Morningstar!"

Lilyscar skidded to a halt, breathless due to chasing after Leafnose, who was the fastest runner in the Clan.

The WindClan leader looked up, startled. "What's wrong?"

"I scented ThunderClan on the border!" Leafnose declared.

Morningstar's fur bristled. "What? Why is RogueClan trying to invade our territory? Do they think they scare us just because they outnumber us?"

Leafnose shook her head. "I don't know."

"How many cats did you scent?"

"Only one. But an important one though!" Leafnose's eyes glittered with rage. "It was Hawkflight, the ThunderClan deputy!"

Lilyscar trembled with fear, worried that she had been scented too.

Morningstar's eyes narrowed. "We must find out what is going on. At the place that you scented Hawkflight, we will go and find him now. We are going to wait as long as it takes. Hawkflight must be taught a lesson."

Lilyscar felt a surge of relief that her scent had not been noticed, followed by a pang of worry for her secret mate. Her blood turned to ice when she heard her name in Morningstar's next sentence.

"I will take you, Leafnose, Lilyscar, and Swiftpaw with me."

***

Redstar, Breezestorm, and Birchpaw escorted the three intruders into camp. As hostile meows came from the ThunderClan cats at the sight of the trespassers, the ginger rogue raised her head defiantly, not showing one scrap of fear. Redstar realized that she was trying not to look like a prisoner since Breezestorm and Birchpaw were flanking her on both sides.

Behind her, Aspenshadow padded onwards. Despite making an attempt to appear confident and unworried, she flinched under the stares of the enemy warriors. To her right, her sister hesitated at the camp entrance, not wanting to go into the stone hollow but unwilling to let her stubborn sister go alone.

Redstar climbed onto the Highledge. She would have summoned the Clan but they were already there.

"Not more rogues joining! Is there any Clan blood left in ThunderClan?" Grayfur growled.

Frostwhisker's cold glare rested on the ShadowClan cats. "What are THEY doing here?"

Not all cats were so unwelcoming. Some of their gazes contained only a mild curiosity.

Redstar stared calmly at the ShadowClan cats. "Rogue, whatever your name is, we will address you in a moment. Lunarstar, Aspenshadow, what are you doing here?"

***

A frail old she-cat with russet fur padded up to the RiverClan leader. "Greetings, Silverstar," Appleblaze croaked. "I remember the days when I was still your mentor. Those were the good old days, don't you agree?"

Silverstar dipped her head to Appleblaze. "Yes, they were. Don't worry though. I'm still the fish-brained apprentice I used to be!"

Appleblaze opened her jaws to speak but stopped as Silverstar froze. "StarClan are speaking to me...ThunderClan and ShadowClan are fighting right now! They-they said it'll soon become RiverClan's problem! Oh, ShadowClan and ThunderClan used to be decent Clans!"

Appleblaze chuckled. "What are you talking about? ThunderClan and ShadowClan, as well as WindClan, have been and always will be mouse-brained fools!"

Silverstar nodded. "Yes, that's true but...well, I don't want to interfere and it'd be a long way to travel but I wish we could do something! I don't want to see cats get hurt!"

"Always trying to help other Clans," Appleblaze purred. "That's part of what makes you a great leader but it's also your greatest flaw. RiverClan does not need to get involved with all of the affairs of the other Clans."

"But one thing there is certain to worry about; what they will say at the Gathering." Silverstar's eyes clouded with worry. "Appleblaze, I wish it would be like it used to be, where none of the clans had rivalries, and it was peaceful."

Appleblaze snorted. "And what time was that? The Clans have been rivals since I was born at the start of time!"

Littleflame was passing by and his whiskers twitched as he heard Appleblaze's comment. "You're not THAT old!" the tom purred.

Appleblaze cuffed her kit on the ear, purring loudly.

Silverstar sighed. "I know they were rivals, but they didn't show it as much as ThunderClan and ShadowClan do now."

Appleblaze tipped her head to one side thoughtfully as Littleflame laid down on the ground to join in the conversation. "I suppose that's right. Well, it isn't our problem! Let's just relax and enjoy this gorgeous day! The fish in the river are plentiful and we are healthy and well-fed."

Littleflame leaned forward, his eyes gleaming. "So ShadowClan and ThunderClan are fighting!" Like all of the RiverClan cats, he didn't realize only two cats from ShadowClan were involved. "Let's take advantage of this opportunity and attack ShadowClan's camp! We'll then move the border the next day when they're still recovering from our attack! This would be brilliant!"

Silverstar stared at Littleflame in astonishment. "No! Do you realize just how that could affect RIVERCLAN?! I'm not putting RiverClan in danger!"

Appleblaze glared at her son. "How could you take advantage of a time like this?"

Littleflame looked mildly embarrassed. "Well...it's just leaf-bare is rapidly approaching and when the river freezes we'll be short of prey. It would be nice to have extra land..."

Silverstar rolled her eyes. "It's alright Appleblaze. He's just a warrior. And warriors don't know best."

Littleflame pretended to look insulted. "HEY!"

While the cats of RiverClan relaxed in the camp, a battle was about occur in the stone hollow, as inevitable and unavoidable as snow in leaf-bare. As dangerous as a roaring monster approaching on a Thunderpath.