Chapter One

Redtail lay in the morning sunlight, warming his white and orange fur in the subtle heat. Tigerclaw lay next to him, looking blankly into the sky. Redtail loved to lie on the sunningrocks and watch the river. He enjoyed to watch the water glisten and look at the small ripples and splashes that fish would make. Tigerclaw liked to lie with him sometimes, the two warriors were close friends although they would often argue over small things. The dark tabby let out a yawn and stood up, shaking dew from his pelt. Redtail watched as he began to pad away. "Where are you going?" he asked drowsily. Tigerclaw Just flicked his tail and Redtail hissed in annoyance before continuing to sun himself, only to be prodded by his sister, Spottedleaf.

"Redtail, can you please move? Your crushing that perfectly good feverfew," she meowed to him, flicking her tail at a flower that he was lying on.

"Huh?" grunted her brother. "Oh, sure."

"As deputy, you really should be doing something more useful," Spottedleaf scolded him, picking up the plant in her jaws.

Redtail blinked, suddenly remembering his role. Bluestar, the new Thunderclan leader had made him deputy a few days ago after Sunstar had died. The leader's last life had been taken by a dog who had slaughtered him after he was too weak to run away due to an illness. Redtail shivered as he remembered the blood covered body, Sunstar's eyes lifeless and his tongue hanging out, blood dripping from him. The dog had literally ripped him in half, leaving his insides half-eaten on the ground beside him. Trying to forget the event, he turned to his sister, feeling energy surge from his ears to tail and straightened up. "Right," he meowed. "I'll go and organise patrols."

He turned tail and headed back to camp, his paws moving briskly across the muddy ground. Heavy rain had been a problem recently, they had to put extra lining on the roof of the dens, Featherwhisker had been trying to cure cats who had come down with the cold and gained fever although Spottedleaf seemed to be doing most after her mentor had recently developed whitecough which she was worried would become greencough in a matter of days. Willowpelt had caught whitecough too and Redtail was worried about her. Him and his sisters had always been close and Spottedleaf seemed to panic. She always seemed to know Willowpelt a little better than her brother. The rain seemed to have affected all the clans. Shadowclan's marsh had gained more puddles than usual and the rivers were swelling in Riverclan. Windstar seemed to be getting the least of the rain, being on higher ground had played a large part in that but they still got harsh winds that had ripped up some of the precious herbs their medicine cat, Barkface needed.

"Are you going to just stand there or what?" Redtail recognised the harsh voice of Thistleclaw who stood watching him with an irritated glare in his dark eyes.

Redtail blinked and realised he'd reached camp, looking around he saw Darkstripe, a new warrior glaring at his apprentice Longpaw with narrowed eyes. Redtail had never approved of Bluestar's choice to make the ambitious Darkstripe mentor of the feisty young apprentice, Longpaw. Bluestar had said they were similar when he had questioned her, stating they were both ambitious. But in very different ways. Darkstripe had that strange vibe about him that scared Redtail while Longpaw just wanted to be the best warrior he could. A sharp cuff to his ears woke him from his daydreams again.

"Hello? Are you deaf?"

Redtail sighed. He didn't mind Thistleclaw but he could be a little pushy and impatient. The grey and white tom reminded him of Bluestar, they were the same but different. Not that Bluestar would agree.

"Right Thistleclaw, you lead a patrol," stated Redtail, knowing that would put him in a better mood. "I'll come and we'll bring," Redtail paused looking around. "Darkstripe and Longpaw." Redtail called them over.

Darkstripe looked up, his cold gaze making Redtail flinch. "Come on Longpaw," he meowed in his low silky tone that seemed to make any cat shiver. "We're going on patrol."

Thistleclaw turned to Redtail and hissed in his ear. "Why Darkstripe? Why not Whitestorm, he's a much better warrior than Darkstripe!"

Redtail murmured in the ear of the huge tom, "Trust me I don't like him much either. At least it keeps him busy."

As Darkstripe and Longpaw joined the patrol, they padded into the forest, walking through countless puddles, Redtail's three white paws were drenched in mud while his one tabby paw was a little cleaner. Longpaw bounced around and ended up splashing mud onto his mentor who snarled in annoyance. Longpaw took no notice though and continued to happily bound along the ruined ground. Redtail heard a squeal from the pale brown tabby as he slipped into a puddle, his pale fur now brown with mud. Thistleclaw let out a snort of laughter and ended up getting mud flicked at his nose by Longpaw who laughed back at him.

Redtail had to supress a snort of amusement at the mighty grey warrior, now covered in sticky mud. They paused near Sunningrocks to hunt and Thistleclaw told everyone where to go. "Darkstripe, you go toward the river and look for water voles or whatever-"

"What about my apprentice?" snapped Darkstripe.

Thistleclaw lashed his tail. "Your apprentice will go with Redtail further into the forest. I'll go towards the brambles."

Darkstripe just flattened his ears and stalked off. "Looks like Grumpy-stripe is in a huff!" whispered Longpaw to Redtail.

"Seems like it."

As Darkstripe and Thistleclaw disappeared from sight, Redtail let Longpaw lead the way, testing the apprentice's skills.

"I smell mouse!" squealed Longpaw excitedly.

Redtail hissed, "Well be quiet or there will be no mouse!"

Longpaw winced and for a moment Redtail thought he had been a little harsh. He was relieved when Longpaw just happily sniffed about and flicked his tail after sniffing the bottom of a berry bush. Longpaw leaped into the shrub and moments later he came out with a limp mouse in his jaws. It was scrawny and would only be enough for a kit or an apprentice but he had done well to find it in this weather. "Did I do good?" he asked.

Redtail nodded. "Great! When we get back to camp, give it to Poppycloud- I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

Longpaw nodded enthusiastically. "Mouse is her favourite!"

Redtail went to reply but heard a thump and turned around to see a nest had fallen, the mother bird in it too, her neck was twisted and broken. She must have died from the fall…

Longpaw noticed to. "Oh my Starclan! That's loads! That'll feed all the queens and kits!"

Redtail murmured agreement, eggs would be difficult to get back to camp, especially since they were all the way at Sunningrocks but Longpaw was right and it would feed all the cats in the nursery. A rustle in the brambles made Redtail turn around and he saw Thistleclaw with a plump thrush, pushing through the thorns. "Great catch!"

"It was worth these thorns," he muttered, making Redtail notice a load of thorns in his pelt.

"You wouldn't notice with fur like that!" Redtail retorted, flicking his tail at Thistleclaw's spiky fur that stood up just like the thorns themselves. "That pelt of yours is just a load of thorns!

Thistleclaw hissed and clawed his ear, just enough to make a few marks.

Longpaw's eyes widened and he backed away, scared of the huge tom who towered before him. Redtail looked around at him, he must have been scared by Thistleclaw. "It's ok, Longpaw, It's not bleeding, see?" To prove his point Redtail swiped his paw over his ear a few times and showed his pads to Longpaw. To the lean apprentice's relief, it wasn't bleeding.

"What's this?" Thistleclaw had found the fallen nest.

"Oh, it fell out of a tree!" exclaimed Longpaw.

"If I knew prey was caught as easy as that I wouldn't have chased this thing through the brambles, he muttered grumpily.

Redtail let out a mrrow of amusement at Thistleclaw's blank expression. "We'd better take it back to camp," Redtail mewed, pulling a lead off of the beech branch that had fell with the nest and wrapping it around an egg to lift it. Only three out of the five eggs had survived the fall and one of the three was cracked. The other two had split open and Redtail felt a pang of sorrow for the unborn chicks. Do foxes and badgers feel this way when they kill pregnant queens?

A fox had killed Robinwing recently, she was about to have Patchpelt's kits- their second litter but when she was out for a walk last moon, a fox had attacked and left her dead and she was left similar to how Sunstar was, split in half by the gnarling jaws of the fox.

Redtail blinked and found himself away from Robinwing's body and back at the bird's body. "Longpaw, why don't you show Thistleclaw the mouse that you caught?"

Longpaw puffed out his chest and his eyes beamed with pride as he showed Thistleclaw the scrawny mouse. Thistleclaw opened his mouth to give a rude remark but stopped when Redtail shot him a warning glance and instead he mumbled, "Good catch."

Longpaw straightened up. Praise from Thistleclaw was as rare as finding fish with paws. Redtail grabbed his leaf bundle with the three eggs and Longpaw grabbed the mouse, Thistleclaw picked up both of the birds and they began to go towards Sunningrocks to look for Darkstripe. "I'm beginning to wonder if he actually caught something or just lay on the Sunningrocks when he should have been searching for prey," murmured Redtail with his mouth full.

"Hypocrite!" Redtail saw Tigerclaw come up beside him. "Tell them what you were doing this morning?"

"You were doing the same, Tigerclaw!" teased Redtail.

Tigerclaw snorted. "I'm on hunting patrol with Whitestorm and Mousepaw, I got told to come this area."

Redtail nodded and couldn't help but feel sorry for Mousepaw who had completely lost her sense of smell in an attack. The poor apprentice had to be retrained not to rely on scent, she had also sustained serious injuries and was stuck in the medicine den for moons, Runningwind had insisted on having his warrior ceremony delayed too but Bluestar had denied the request, stating that Thunderclan needed more warriors and now her making of a warrior was getting put back even more because Bluestar says that she can be made a warrior when Longpaw is ready. Redtail still strongly disagreed though- he had been an apprentice at the same time and Runningwind and Mousepaw.

"Right well we were just about to-"

"Riverclan! Attack!"

Woop First chaper complete, currently writing Chapter two for you all

Leak for Leopardstar's Mistake.