"Mosspaw, Mosspaw, wake up!" Fernpaw's voice cooed as Mosspaw awoke. The sun filtered through the den, shining directly on Fernpaw as if she were a StarClan cat.

            "W-what? What is it?"

            "Smokestar's putting us on patrol today," Fernpaw announced.

            "Oh, okay," Mosspaw said, getting up from his nest. That's really nice that Fernpaw woke me up, he thought. No, stop thinking about her, he thought again.

            Padding out into the sunlight, Mosspaw realized it was only sunrise and that the cats were heading out on morning patrol. Moonpaw had been put on patrol too with her mentor, Featherwing.

            Fernpaw padded over towards Waterdrop while Mosspaw spotted Smokestar near the head of the patrol. Leaving Fernpaw and Moonpaw, he padded over towards Smokestar.

            "Ah, there you are, Mosspaw," Smokestar smiled. "Is everyone here then?"

            "Yes," Waterdrop replied.

            As they took off, Mosspaw stayed back a little to walk by Moonpaw and Fernpaw. The two she-cats talked excitedly about their warrior ceremony and exams that would take place soon, and Mosspaw felt anything but included.

            As they walked, he looked around, spotting that nearly every cat was chatting while he was the only one padding alone, just watching others talk.

            As they walked, Moonpaw suddenly looked over, spotting Mosspaw. "Oh, hey, Mosspaw!" she spoke, her green eyes gleaming. "I didn't know you were here. Fernpaw and I were just talking about what it would be like when we're warriors!"

            "It's so exciting!" Fernpaw squealed.

            "Yeah, sure is," Mosspaw sighed.

            As the two she-cats continued to talk about all the exciting things they would do when they were warriors, Mosspaw glanced around, hoping to find some sort of prey to impress Smokestar.

            As they neared the clearing where Smokestar had scented the NightClan cats, a suddenly yowl split through the air.

            Mosspaw turned, seeing Cloudstar, the leader of NightClan, with an army of NightClan warriors, all lined up against the clearing.

            "SMOKESTAR!" Cloudstar hissed, his yellow eyes glaring at Smokestar.

            Smokestar growled, stepping forward. "What is it you want, Cloudstar?"

            "This clearing, of course," Cloudstar growled back. "You barely use it."

            "You have plenty of prey, Cloudstar! What more does your clan need?!"

            "There's never enough prey to go around, especially during leaf-bare," the deputy, Stormfur, spat.

            "NIGHTCLAN! ATTACK!" Cloudstar hissed.

            Yowls of cats split through the air, and SnowClan began to run towards the NightClan cats. Mosspaw glanced around, realizing there were more NightClan cats than SnowClan cats. It was a lost cause.

            Smokestar must've noticed this too, for when he looked at Mosspaw, he began to speak. "Go run back to camp! Tell them that NightClan is attacking!"

            "But..." He couldn't leave Fernpaw all alone with these cats. What if she got injured? Or what if she...No, Mosspaw wouldn't think about that. "I will!" Mosspaw said, turning around.

            As he soared through the forest, he couldn't help but think of that night when the fire had blazed through the woods. He couldn't help but think of his mother and Tooth who could not move forward, for only Mosspaw could. And Mosspaw raced and raced, like he had done when the fire was right on his tail.

            This time, however, he got to his destination further, arriving back in camp within a few minutes.

            Out of breath, he shouted, "NIGHTCLAN IS ATTACKING THE CLEARING!"

            Cats' eyes widened, and Cloudfur immediately began ruling cats out who would help with the fighting.

            The cats gathered quickly, and they all ran back into the woods, Mosspaw leading the way as they came to the clearing.

            As cats ran forward to join the fight, Mosspaw stood and watched, seeing the blood fall on the grass, seeing the cats fight and claw at each other. He had never seen so much hatred in one place.

            Suddenly, he was knocked over by a NightClan cat. Rabbitpaw! The cat he had seen at the gathering.

            Oh, but this cat was no longer his friend, this was his enemy. Mosspaw hissed at him, knocking the large tom over.

            The gray tom struggled underneath him, and Mosspaw slashed at his pelt, hissing and screeching at the tom.

            As soon as Rabbitpaw had squirmed out from under him, he ran off, blood dripping off his pelt.

            Mosspaw glanced up, noticing a large she-cat attacking Fernpaw. "FERNPAW!" Mosspaw shrieked, running towards her.

            As Mosspaw dashed towards her, he suddenly realized how much he cared for Fernpaw and how much he truly loved Fernpaw. He couldn't deny it anymore. He loved her.

            Suddenly, the she-cat swiped at Fernpaw's pelt, and Fernpaw began to stagger, falling over unconscious as her wounds began to bleed over the forest floor.

            "NO!" Mosspaw hissed, leaping at the she-cat. He struck his claws against her throat. The she-cat gasped in pain, and Mosspaw heard a yowl behind him.

            Letting the she-cat go, Mosspaw turned, seeing Graystorm, one of the senior warriors. "No, Mosspaw! We don't kill!"

            Mosspaw sighed, looking down at his bloodstained paws. He was in such shock that this cat had harmed Fernpaw that...he had forgotten the warrior code. He looked up, seeing the she-cat stagger away, though she did not fall and die like Mosspaw had thought.

            He ran to Fernpaw's side, licking her affectionately. He then slowly dragged her away from the battle scene, placing her on the other side of a bush where she would not be harmed. He stared at the unconscious she-cat one more time, then whispered, "I promise I'll come back."

            He ran back to the battlefield, noticing Stormfur fighting some of the other SnowClan cats. He gazed at Stormfur, noticing the large amounts of wounds on his pelt, but the tom continued to fight.

            Dodging a cat from time to time, Mosspaw watched as Stormfur ran from the SnowClan cat, falling straight into Featherwing and Waterdrop.

            This was the first time Mosspaw had seen the two sisters working together. They attacked the tom, hissing and clawing at his already-bloody pelt.

            Stormfur attempted to put up a good fight, but soon he ran off, disspearing into some trees.

            Mosspaw turned, seeing Cloudstar and Smokestar fighting and clawing at each other.

            "YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN  BEAT ME, SMOKESTAR?!" Cloudstar hissed.

            "WE ALWAYS WILL!" Smokestar hissed in return. "I WAS THE ONLY ONE WHO SURVIVED IN MY LITTER, CLOUDSTAR!"

            "YOUR KITHOOD IS NOT A CONCERN TO ME!" Cloudstar spat in return, clawing at the tom. He had pinned Smokestar down, his claw raised over his throat. Before he could claw at Smokestar, however, a wail came from Silverstripe, a NightClan warrior.

            The silver she-cat was holding a body, screeching. Suddenly, Mosspaw recognized who the cat was. It was Stormfur.

            "STORMFUR IS DEAD!" she wailed.

            Suddenly, NightClan cats gasped, glaring at Featherwing and Waterdrop.

            "MURDERERS!" Silverstripe hissed, striding towards Featherwing and Waterdrop. She attempted to lash at them, but was held back by another NightClan warrior.

            "I'LL KILL YOU!" she hissed. "YOU'VE KILLED MY MATE! I'LL KILL YOU!"

            Featherwing and Waterdrop stood in fear, and Mosspaw knew that the silver she-cat was not joking around. If she wasn't being held back, she would surely kill Featherwing and Waterdrop.

            Smokestar suddenly pushed Cloudstar off of him and hissed at the tom. "If your two SnowClan cats had not killed my deputy, we would've won! NIGHTCLAN, RETREAT!" Cloudstar hissed.

            In a flash, the NightClan cats scampered away, Silverstripe carrying her mate's dead body.

            As they disappeared, cheers erupted from the SnowClan cats. "WE WON!" they shouted.

            Mosspaw turned, seeing Featherwing and Waterdrop. They were anything but happy. Obviously they were going to get some type of punishment...maybe even exile. Would Smokestar really do that to his two daughters?

            Suddenly, Mosspaw remembered Fernpaw, and he ran towards Waterdrop. "Fernpaw is injured! I hid her behind the bush!"

            Waterdrop quickly followed, and they headed behind the bush, finding the still-unconscious Fernpaw. Her wounds had stopped some, but she still needed help.

            "I'll take her back," Waterdrop said, grabbing the she-cat.

            "Be careful," Mosspaw whispered as she laid Fernpaw on her back and began to walk away with Featherwing.

            Mosspaw stayed back and waited for Smokestar who had wounds of his own too. Mosspaw looked down at his own body, only finding minor scratches. Had he really just survived his first battle?

            "I didn't know you were the only one that survived in your litter," Mosspaw admitted.

            "Well, I was the only one," Smokestar replied.

            "You said you had siblings, but you only mentioned one. What were their names, Smokestar? If you don't mind and all."

            Smokestar stopped in his tracks, but then began to pick up his pace again. "There was Mousekit. She-she was killed when we were kits. MoonClan had spread throughout the forest, and my ex-mate, Lilywhisker, and I wanted to fight them. Mousekit didn't want to come, but we dragged her along. The tom tried to kill me...but Mousekit stopped him, and she died because of it. Mousekit was always annoying and grumpy, and I wish I had known how much she cared for me."

            "I'm so sorry," Mosspaw said.

            "There was Oceanpaw as well. She showed up after Mousekit's birth. Oceanpaw and my father had been separated from my mother, sister, and I. We were born in a different clan, you see. Oceanpaw showed up with Wavestorm. Apparently they had gone on a long journey together. But Oceanpaw died in the battle of MoonClan."

            "Wait, you were born in a different clan?"

            "ForestClan. My mother and father lived there. When my mother had her first litter, the one with your mother in it, she traveled to SnowClan, leaving her mate behind. But Olivetail visited her from time to time, and she then was expecting another litter. Scared of MoonClan, she ran off to ForestClan to safely have us, leaving your mother and her siblings behind. Then a fire came in ForestClan, and that's how they were separated. My father died in the fire, leaving Oceanpaw alone, but my mother got Mousekit and I safely to SnowClan where she waited for my father and sister's return..."

            "Oh, sort of sounds like me, I guess. With the fire and journey and all."

            Smokestar laughed. "Sort of." He looked up, seeing the cats walking into the camp. "Well, I better get to Spottedmask. These wounds won't heal themselves."

            He then padded away into the medicine cat den, leaving Mosspaw to worry about Fernpaw.

            He waited outside the medicine cat den, and after the cats with serious injuries had been treated, the minor ones began to come in, and Mosspaw was the first to come.

            "Just a few, Mosspaw?"

            "That's right," Mosspaw replied. He watched as Spottedmask gently applied medicine to his wounds. There was not even a sting. She really was the best medicine cat.

            Tawnypaw worked on some other cats, and when Mosspaw was done, he looked over at Fernpaw who still slept.

            "Can I go look at Fernpaw?" he asked.

            Spottedmask nodded, and Mosspaw padded over towards her. Sighing, he laid down next to her. "Oh, Fernpaw. Please wake up," he whispered. He suddenly felt pawsteps behind him, and he turned, seeing Tawnypaw.

            "Will she be alright?" he asked.

            "Yes," Tawnypaw replied. "She'll be fine. You must care about her very much."

            "I do," Mosspaw replied.

            "I'll let you know when she wakes up," Tawnypaw said.

            "Thank you." He then padded out of the medicine cat den into the apprentice den. The other apprentices began to ask about the battle, but Mosspaw was too tired and worried to tell any stories about it, so he shooed them away and attempted to rest.