"That was a bit of a random challenge." Vixenpaw commented as the duo returned to camp again.

Gooseholly shook his head. "It may seem that way, but to be able to rule WindClan as Queen one day, you need to be kept on your claws and prepared to deal with unforeseen situations like that."

"I guess you're right."

Gooseholly left to go see how his kits, Oceanpaw and Seapaw, were doing. Once, Vixenpaw had asked her parents why they two older cats had names usually associated with RiverClan. Hawkstar had explained, rather sternly, about the rare situations some cats were put in where they must choose between their blood and their heart – Gooseholly tried to choose both. A long, painful story short, and a RiverClan she-cat named Rainstorm birthed his kits – Oceanpaw and Seapaw – a couple moons before I was born. Rainstorm had wanted to wait to meet in secret with her mate to decide names for their kits, but sadly passed away a few days after their birth from a strange sickness the medicine cat had been unable to cure – her last words exposing the father's identity.

The RiverClan leader and deputy then visited our camp to speak to Gooseholly and my parents about the situation – believing they should be informed about the situation, but insistent about keeping the kits in their mother's clan. Dreamstar, however, managed to convince them to live with their father – on the condition that the RiverClan leader would choose their names. Oceankit and Seakit were chosen, apparently to remind them of their 'true origins', as it was put.

Hawkstar made it clear she disapproved of Oceanpaw and Seapaw's heritage, but it couldn't be helped, obviously. She always reminded her kits to keep their sights well within their own clan when they were older, as looking to the others only brought pain.

"Hey, Vixenpaw!" A voice called jarringly, drawing the heiress out of her thoughts. It was Oddpaw. "Dreamstar and Hawkstar are waiting for us at Outlook Rock."

I'd nearly forgotten about talking with them. "Alright – shall we go?"

It was a little family tradition, sparked by Dreamstar one day, for all of us to meet together every now and then in private to have a little family time. They'd been doing it for ages, and Vixenpaw was constantly reminded by him that there'd be much less time to do it after their second litter was born.

Inkpatch, however, was not a fan. Vixenpaw wasn't sure on what specifically was going on, but she knew the younger warrior was going through a few issues both with herself and the King and Queen.

"Finally!" Tulippaw groaned from beneath Outlook Rock, nestled between Stonepaw and Hawkstar. "You two take ages."

"Is Inkpatch coming?" Hawkstar asked hopefully, but I knew she didn't really expect the answer she wanted.

Oddpaw answered her, luckily. "No, I think she's a bit tired tonight."

We settled in a small circle, chatting lightly about training and other casual things.

"I caught a crow the other day!" Stonepaw boasted heartily, puffing his chest forward for emphasis. "Boldheart said he'd never seen such a small apprentice carry such a big piece of prey!"

Oddpaw made a few comments about how his medicine apprentice training was going, smugly explaining how his 'jumper' made it even easier to crawl under prickly bushes to retrieve herbs. "I get hardly a scratch, where Oatfreckle would be torn to bits!"

Oddpaw occasionally ventured into the twoleg place to retrieve this thing he called a jumper, though I don't know what's particularly jumpy about it – a strange piece of twoleg material that wrapped around his torso and front legs, making up for the fur he didn't have – Inkpatch uses them too, occasionally. This helps them both with warmth and protection.

"What about you, Vixenpaw? Gooseholly told me training is going well, but didn't go into too much detail." Hawkstar asked, as Tulippaw animatedly explained how she was learning to mimic birds calls to attract prey to Dreamstar.

The dark red she-cat shuffled her paws. "It's going pretty well, I suppose. My memory is getting better, and tomorrow we're switching back to normal apprentice training." As the heiress, Vixenpaw was obliged to extra training to groom her for queenship on top of hunting and fighting. She then proceeded to have a little boast about how she managed to find Gooseholly hidden beneath the Thunderpath in her surprise scenario.

Stonepaw was already jumping into another new topic. "I can't wait to go to the Gathering tomorrow!"

Tulippaw rolled her eyes. "It's going to be our third, I don't think it's that big of a deal."

Vixenpaw felt a jolt of shock – she'd completely forgotten about the Gathering! "Doesn't make it any less fun." She told her sister. "I hope Harepaw and Umberpaw are there."

Hawkstar narrowed her eyes slightly, and the apprentice instantly knew what she was thinking. "Just remember what I always tell you..."

"Ew, Mammy!" Vixenpaw grimaced. "They're friends!"

"Hmm. Well, don't get too chummy with the other clans either way – as the heiress-"

Dreamstar cut in gently, always the peacekeeper. "Now, darlings, let's not turn our quality time sour. Discussions like these are for the future. Now – who can find me a pine cone first?"

A kit's game, clearly, to distract us – but as Oddpaw raced off competitively, Vixenpaw vowed not to lose and raced after him, Stonepaw and Tulippaw at her tail.

They skidded to a haunt nearby Fourtrees, scouring the ground for pine cones spared by the recent harsh winds. Stonepaw found one first, jeering, and raced away. Tulippaw got the next one, then Vixenpaw found hers and charged after them.

The three of them, neck and neck, almost galloped up the slope to Outlook Rock, stretching to beat the other two. Reaching the large stone, they collapsed side by side and panting before their parents, insisting they won.

"It was obviously me!" Vixenpaw declared, catching her breath first, glaring at the other two apprentices.

"Actually," Dreamstar grinned, "it was Oddpaw."

"Huh?" They chorused, looking up properly and seeing the smaller tom sitting proudly, a pine cone between his paws. "How?!" Stonepaw demanded.

The younger tom flicked his tail, embarrassed by the attention. "I sneaked through a tunnel I found when you weren't looking."

Vixenpaw shook her head in disbelief. "Smart. Nice!"

Tulippaw looked miffed she'd been robbed of a win, and attempted to rise above it. "Er, yes. Well done."

When they returned to camp, as it was growing darker, Vixenpaw failed to quiet her loud yawn, earning disapproving looks from her parents.

"Time to head to your nests, then." Dreamstar joked.

Hawkstar, usually a bit of a night owl, nodded wearily. "I'll say."

Gooseholly was waiting for them outside their shared den, so the four apprentices left them to discuss whatever and trudged to the apprentices' den – a large gorse bush making up part of the protection at the edge of camp. Inside, Oceanpaw, Seapaw and Twitchpaw were all sleeping soundly – well, the latter wasn't. His tail flickered all around, a living thing of its own, and he whimpered in his dreams – or, more likely, nightmares. Seapaw subconsciously shuffled closer, and Twitchpaw quietened a bit.

Vixenpaw plodded over to her own nest, the other side of the den and next to Oddpaw. Stonepaw and Tulippaw were a little further away, and practically fell asleep the moment their heads hit their nests.

"Night, Vixenpaw." Oddpaw murmured, his jaws gaping into a yawn, before he snuggled down into the moss beneath him, the pine cone still clutched nearby.

She chuckled quietly at the sight, and rolled onto her back. "Night, Oddpaw...".

---

"WINDCLAN, ATTACK!" A shrill voice screeched, piercing Vixenpaw's ears. She shot up with a gasp, glancing around fearfully and seeing her fellow apprentices doing the same.

A large commotion was coming from outside the den. Dazed with the traces of sleep, feeling as though she'd barely gotten to sleep moments ago, Vixenpaw crept out the den to investigate, the others right behind her.

The camp was a river of flying fur, claws, blood and fury – it was impossible to tell what was going on! Then, that underlying scent of rot and stale water...

"Foxes!" Oceanpaw hissed, drawing herself up. "We've got to help defend camp!"

Stonepaw gasped. "The nursery – they'll want Flutterflower's kits!" He darted away, Tulippaw following along. Oceanpaw charged after them, Oddpaw following brave-heartedly.

Vixenpaw went to step out after them, when she heard a shaky voice from behind her. "Please, don't you go too."

Twitchpaw was a mess of tears, shaking in his nest, eyes wide with horror at the scent burned into his mind. With a flash of guilt, she remembered his past with foxes, and crept closer. "Twitchpaw?"

His whole body shuddered, and the red apprentice noticed Seapaw huddled beside him for comfort. "He can't go out there." The older apprentice shot at her, getting the wrong end of the stick.

"StarClan, no!" Vixenpaw assured him. "I'll stay with you in case they try to get in."

They sat in an awkward silence, punctured only by Twitchpaw's sobs and the screeches of battling cats.

Vixenpaw couldn't take it. "Ironic how there're foxes out there, and I'm fighting them even though I'm named after one, isn't it?"

Seapaw looked horrified at my awfully-timed joke, but Twitchpaw managed to let out a wet chuckle and wipe at his face, smiling weakly. "Yeah, it is."

"I wonder what brought them here?"

"Who cares?" Seapaw answered roughly. "S'long as they go."

Vixenpaw felt compelled to check the state of the clan, and went to poke her head through the exit when a great big snout shoved it's way in – she shrieked and leaped back as it snapped towards her.

"Fox-dung!" Seapaw yelled, joke unintended, but no-one was laughing this time.

"We've got to drive it out!" The heiress hollered back, struggling to be heard over Twitchpaw's hyperventilation. Seapaw nodded.

They lunged simultaneously at the large fox as it attempted to break through the thick gorse bush, clawing its muzzle. The creature screeched in surprise and pain, backing away. Vixenpaw ran after it, unwilling to allow the damned thing to break in again and scare Twitchpaw half to death. Seapaw beside her, they assessed the situation.

Most of the rest of the clan was occupied with battling the other foxes – it seemed a whole den of them had broken in! – or retreating to the medicine den, bleeding in various places. The fox which had attacked the apprentices' den leered nearly, preparing to attack.

Seapaw swung first, lashing with unsheathed claws at it's ugly face and dragging them down. The fox howled and struggled to shake him off, striking out randomly and catching him in the face.

Vixenpaw raced forward, diving for the legs and biting down as hard as she could. The fox kicked her away, smacking its lean leg in her face and managing to dislodge Seapaw. Going in for a final blow, it slammed unsheathed claws at the heiress and fled, yelping.

Panting in exhaustion, stinging at the neck and shoulder, the apprentice slumped beside Seapaw to catch her breath. The grey tom breathed heavily beside her, silent, before he began to break out in a light laugh.

Vixenpaw stared at him, before laughter began bubbling up inside her and she just had to let it out. The two of them cackled away, leaking tears and blood, unable to find a single reason any of this was funny.

Seapaw sat up, so Vixenpaw did too, and he smiled. "Pretty good team we make, huh?"

"I guess we do, don't we?"

It looked like the rest of the foxes had been driven away too, but not before their stink filled the entire camp. Every cat was sporting some varying degree of injury, but none looked fatal and no bodies could be seen on the ground. They'd been lucky.

It was the first proper fight Vixenpaw had been in since starting her training two moons ago, and it'd felt great. She'd hardly had time to worry about whether she'd remember the key points to aim for, and how to defend herself, but in the heat of the moment it all came to her. Whether it was dumb luck or instinct, Vixenpaw was glad for it.

"Twitchpaw!" Seapaw gasped, racing into the apprentices' den. Vixenpaw trailed after him, the adrenaline wearing away and pain catching up with a more forceful punch.

The youngest apprentice was a nervous wreck, quivering on the spot and looking like he expected another fox to come in, licking his friend's blood from its curled lips. Instead, like soldiers in shining blood, Seapaw and Vixenpaw entered.

"Oh, thank the stars!" He cried, collapsing into Seapaw – careful not to press his face into Seapaw's injured one. "Thank you thank you thank you."

Seapaw murmured something Vixenpaw didn't hear, and Twitchpaw responded with a nod.

"You doing alright?" She asked, keen to escape but unwilling to leave without checking if he was alright.

Twitchpaw smiled. "So much better, now that I know you're both okay." He grew stricken. "But you're bleeding! You should see Oatfreckle."

"So should you." I argued back, meaning his panic attack. "Let's all go together."

The moment they crawled out the den, Gooseholly was in their faces out of nowhere. "Are you all alright? Is Twitchpaw okay? Where did Oceanpaw and the other apprentices go-?!"

"We're all fine, dad." Seapaw assured him calmly. "Just taking Twitchpaw to the medicine den."

"And ourselves." Vixenpaw added with a chuckle.

Gooseholly examined them. "Thank StarClan no-one got too badly hurt – we have no idea where that attack came from! It's like they decided to head straight for our camp out of nowhere." He eyed Seapaw's bleeding face, and Vixenpaw's shoulder and neck. "I can prattle along later. Get going!"

---

Later that night, when it was closer to sunrise than moonhigh, the entire clan had been treated and no major casualties needing treatment. Twitchpaw was sleeping in the medicine den, no doubt going to have nightmares – so on a high dose of poppy seeds to help. Seapaw was sat outside the den, ready to leap to action if he needed anything, Oddpaw and Oatfreckle nearby for the same reason.

Oceanpaw, Stonepaw and Tulippaw sat with their mentors, Inkpatch not far off, while a few cats remained guarding the nursery and the rest of the clan gathered beneath Tallrock to listen to the ongoing clan meeting.

"I think I can speak for everyone here when I say that attack took us all by surprise." Hawkstar was saying, a solemn expression on her face. "We heard rumours of foxes nearby, but were certainly not prepared for a complete attack on our camp when no traces of their scents were detected until tonight."

Dreamstar took over. "We must be better prepared in future. Who was guarding camp tonight?"

Blizzardbranch, honest to the bone, stepped forward. "It was me."

"What happened?" The King asked simply.

Blizzardbranch dipped his pale head, "I was sat on Outlook Rock, gazing towards ShadowClan to keep an eye out for the foxes. But I think they came from the complete opposite direction – the barn and circling round to us, or from the river directly."

"Surely not?" Hawkstar cut in. "They were seen by ShadowClan cats in their own territory, on the other side of the Thunderpath. Why would they, in one night, cross over to us and go the long way around camp where you wouldn't see before you got up on the rock, but wait to attack after you were comfortable up there?"

Blizzardbranch shrugged helplessly. "That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Dreamstar shook his head. "Baffling, but we must move on. I want extra patrols along all borders, and one to make sure the foxes are gone for good. Then, I want a group of cats to reinforce our camp against any future attacks, and more cats guarding camp each night until we're sure they're gone."

"We're lucky no-one was gravely injured." Hawkstar concluded. "Now get some more sleep – we'll need it for the Gathering tomorrow."

As the clan began to return to their nests, Vixenpaw thought to herself. What poor timing for an attack – right before a Gathering!