Lilypetal's POV

I watched, my tail up high and my heart welling up with pride as Cherrypaw, Molepaw, Goldenshine and Swiftflight made their way towards the medicine cat.

The fox attack had only happened moments ago, but I could already tell that this was something that my Clanmates would be buzzing about for days to come. Just the fact that a fox had nearly gotten its paws on the apprentices was mind-blowing enough, but the fact that Swiftflight had been the one to save them had made the situation even more memorable.

I had exchanged a proud, happy glance with Thornclaw from where I was sitting next to Squirrelflight by the warriors den. Looking into his pale blue eyes, I was able to tell that we were thinking the same thing after it had been made known that Swiftflight was the hero. We both knew that our daughter's son was trying his hardest to change after what the fox-hearted Ashfur had put him through in the Dark Forest, but I didn't imagine that he'd receive a chance to prove himself so quickly.

And along with that, as Firestar had mentioned - every cat had come out of it completely safe.

At least, that was the last that I've heard...

I quickly stood up as I tried to push down panic. "I'll be right back," I meowed to Squirrelflight, flicking my eyes towards the medicine den. "I want to make sure that Goldenshine and Swiftflight are okay." They seemed fine - they can clearly walk, but still...

Squirrelflight raised her tail up to stop me as soon as I had started walking. "I wouldn't right now. The last thing that Jayfeather will want is one more cat in there fussing over their kin," Squirrelflight pointed out, a bit of laughter in her voice. She purred with amusement as her gaze followed Poppyfrost, who practically dove into the medicine den at that very moment. "And he's about to be brought to his last nerve, I'm sure."

I let out a mrrow of laughter as I took a pawstep back. "True words," I agreed, sitting back down. "Okay, okay - I'll just bring them prey and some uplifting words in a little while."

Just a heartbeat after I'd spoken my last word, I lashed my tail and gave a nod in greeting as I noticed Brambleclaw and Firestar making their way to the very spot that Squirrelflight and I were sitting in.

Firestar's green eyes looked anxious, but his whiskers seemed to be twitching with amusement. "Well, Squirrelflight's pre-planned patrol will certainly be convenient right now, consider we might have an intruder on our territory."

I let out a small gasp and flicked my ears at Firestar's words. "Oh my goodness, that's right!" I exclaimed as I recalled the ominous words of Cherrypaw and Molepaw, claiming that a mysterious cat had only watched as they were nearly "eaten up" by a fox.

My fur then began to prickle with unease. "So... do we think that they're telling the truth?"

"We're going to give them the benefit of the doubt," Firestar replied, his gaze wary as he shrugged. "When it comes to a possible invasion, it's always best to play it safe."

I gave a sharp nod to the ThunderClan leader. "Very true!" I agreed. "It's especially concerning that this cat supposedly just watched while two cats were being advanced on by a fox." I certainly hope that it's no Clanmate of mine!

Brambleclaw almost exactly echoed my thoughts. "That's why I'm praying to StarClan that it's not any warrior around this lake," he muttered, his amber eyes dark.

Squirrelflight padded forward, brushing past her mate and then heading directly towards the camp entrance. "I second that," she meowed, then flicking her tail to beckon us. She looked back at Firestar, Brambleclaw and me as we then began to follow her. "So, we're thinking that this is probably a rogue or loner?"

"It seems so," Brambleclaw answered as he crawled through the gorse tunnel. He then lashed his tail in the air just once. "But I can't decide what would be worse - a bystander warrior, or a bystander rogue."

I flashed Brambleclaw a nervous, wary look in response to his words, and then proceeded to lower my head to the ground to begin searching for any possible foreign scent. It only took me a moment to notice the fairly fresh fox-scent. Thank StarClan, it was pretty clear that this fox was gone, and had stayed gone.

I was so immersed in my search for the stench of the mystery cat, that I flinched and nearly let out a startled yelp at Squirrelflight's voice.

"Hey!" the dark ginger she-cat exclaimed. I looked up to see her a few fox-lengths ahead of me, her nose in the air. "I think I've caught something."

Firestar immediately trailed ahead to stand by his daughter. I nervously watched as he gaped his mouth open and gave his ears a single flick just a moment later. "I smell it too."

At this, I immediately lifted my head into the air and took the biggest whiff that I could. Sure enough, I could detect a scent that was familiar - a cat - but I certainly hadn't smelled it often. And by Brambleclaw's bristling fur beside me, I could tell that he'd also caught wind of it.

I exchanged an anxious look with the ThunderClan deputy before looking back at Squirrelflight and Firestar. "Us too," I replied to them. "And it's definitely not a Clan cat."

Firestar's eyes slowly narrowed down into slits. "Hm, so it appears that a stranger has been here..."

After a moment's silence at the seriousness of this situation, Brambleclaw broke the tension by padding ahead and giving a lash of his tail. "Well, acknowledging it alone won't get us anywhere," the dark tabby tom called back. "Let's keep going."

And with that, all four of us quickly began to travel deeper into the forest, following this new, mysterious scent with our muzzles in the air and our fur bristled out.

Eventually, we found ourselves getting closer and closer to what I knew to be WindClan's border. I was following a scent that seemed to go along the stream when I noticed Squirrelflight pause just behind me.

"Hm, it goes beyond our territory," she then murmured, "Into WindClan. I guess it's their problem now."

I immediately lifted my head back up as I grew confused. That wasn't at all what I what I had come to conclude. In fact - the scent I was following seemed as strong as ever where I was standing. "Are you sure?" I questioning, reflecting my confusion to my friend. "Why do I still smell something strange over here?" Or maybe my nose just completely lost any frame of reference it had, and I sound crazy.

Firestar padded up to where I was standing and gaped his mouth open, and I couldn't help but feel a bit of relief when I noticed that he seemed to detect something as well. "You're right, Lilypetal - this scent leads in a completely different direction," the leader meowed. "Could there possibly have been two different intruders?"

"Uh, oh," I breathed just before taking another sniff. "And it's fresh, too." I then flitted my eyes around to meet each gaze of the cats in our patrol. "Whoever this was, was definitely around at the time of the fox attack..."

All four of us together then exchanged a nervous glance before proceeding to see where this new scent would lead us. What is happening? I thought worriedly as Firestar and I took the lead, while Brambleclaw and Squirrelflight trailed back just behind us. Two mysterious cats on our territory at once? This is fishier than the lake!

And it managed to feel even more fishy as our patrol seemed to be pulled further and further away from ThunderClan territory. In fact, we were now fairly close to a place I very much recognized - the path that led to the greenleaf Twoleg nest that I had once presided in, to my dismay.

Here, the new scent I had discovered was strong, and was becoming stronger with each pawstep I took. Our patrol surely would have turned back at this moment if we weren't so close.

Squirrelflight's yowls were really making me jumpy today, apparently - because I flinched for the second time as I heard her let out a hiss. "Everyone!" she meowed, lowering her voice down to a loud whisper. "Look up ahead!"

My gaze followed in the direction that Squirrelflight had indicated with her tail, and I looked ahead to see a somewhat steep hill, covered with short, soft-looking grass. It only had a few patches of dirt, and it was shaded over by the many trees that surrounded it.

Right in the center of the scene, I could just barely see the clear silhouette of a cat, seemingly wandering the area aimlessly with its tail up in the air.

Squirrelflight whipped herself around to reveal her green eyes blaring with excitement. "We need to chase after it!"

"But it's not even on our territory anymore!" Brambleclaw insisted, alarmed by his mate's enthusiasm. "We'd only be causing trouble."

Squirrelflight rolled her eyes and took a step closer to Brambleclaw. "But it was on our territory, wasn't it?" Squirrelflight replied. "And this might be the cat that watched Cherrypaw and Molepaw be attacked by a fox!"

Firestar gave a small nod from where he now stood next to Brambleclaw. "I have to agree. If this is the cat we're looking for, we must find out what their intentions were."

Squirrelflight looked smugly back at Brambleclaw. "See? Exactly!" she exclaimed before shifting her eager gaze over to me and flicking her tail. "Come on, Lilypetal - let's get this cat together!"

Agreeing with Squirrelflight's and Firestar's thoughts, I excitedly nodded back at Squirrelflight. "I'm with you!" I exclaimed. "Although, we can't exactly 'get' it if we're wanting to talk with it!" But it is technically an intruder... we should give it a little scare and not let it get off so easily!

I then padded up to Squirrelflight, not being able to help feeling exhilarated by the thought of confronting an intruder. "Here - we'll approach it at the same time, and if it begins to flee, I'll run ahead and trap it while you stay just behind them."

Squirrelflight gave a single sharp nod and touched my shoulder with her tail tip. "Got it," she muttered, lowering her voice again. "Now, let's go, before it catches our scent."

I turned back to Firestar and Brambleclaw before beginning to follow Squirrelflight, who had immediately trotted ahead. "We'll be right back!" I whispered to the two toms before crouching down and following behind.

The two of us then began to slowly but surely slither ahead, making sure that the mystery cat couldn't hear or see us approaching as we continued to follow it through the forest.

Soon enough, we were just a few tail-lengths away from the stranger, hiding in some bushes that hopefully weren't revealing us at all.

"Alright, Lilypetal - you give the signal," Squirrelflight muttered.

Oh, I get to give the signal! I acknowledged the she-cat with a flick of my tail before proceeding to carefully peer over the bushes. Luckily, the cat seemed to be paused where he was. Unfortunately, as close as it was to us, its appearance was completely unidentifiable through the darkness of the shade.

But that didn't matter. All that did was the fact that he was close, and his head was currently turned away from the two of us.

My heart was beginning to well up with determination and elation as I slowly began to stand up and brace to leap forward. "And... go!"

Squirrelflight and I immediately burst ahead and leapt out into the open. As expected, the cat immediately noticed us and began to run.

This, of course, was a moment where I was incredibly thankful that we had a plan.

Squirrelflight began to trail back just a bit while I picked up speed in order to intercept our pursuee. I will admit, it was actually a little more difficult than I thought it was going to be - this cat was fast, and seemed to have fairly long legs.

But by the grace of StarClan, I still managed to run past them, leap forward and gently pin them down, still keeping my claws sheathed.

I most definitely should have felt an overwhelming amount of triumph at what I had just done, but I most definitely couldn't.

Not when I very well recognized the face staring up at me, their eyes a reflection of my own - the color that I had been notorious for since I was a kit.

My jaw felt as if it should have dropped on this cat's neck by how wide my mouth opened. "Oreo?!" I exclaimed in complete shock.

I was at a loss for words still by the time that Squirrelflight had caught up to us. "Wait, Oreo?" she repeated, clearing having heard my surprised yowl. "Isn't that your brother? The one that you brought into camp a few moons ago?"

I quickly backed off of Oreo. "Heck yes, he was!" I then began to well up with so much happiness as I watched the black and white tom get back up on his paws. "Oreo!" I cried excitedly, then running up to touch noses with him. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that Brambleclaw and Firestar were padding up just behind Squirrelflight, but they weren't the cats that I was focusing on at the moment. "What are you doing here?"

I stared apologetically back at Oreo as I watched him shake out his fur. "Well, firstly - this was a place that I thought that I wouldn't be attacked in," my brother replied, his hazel eyes gleaming with humor. He then let out an amused snort. "I was wrong about that!"

"I'm sorry! We thought that you were an intruder," I replied, brushing a leaf off of Oreo's shoulder with my tail. And unfortunately, you might still be... "Did I hurt you?"

"Well, the pin-down was a bit forceful, but I'll live," Oreo teased as he flicked my ear with his tail. I was then surprised to see a bit of guilt in his eyes. "And actually, I hate to admit that I... was intruding."

My stomach twisted up into a knot, and I felt my fur began to prickle nervously. Surely it's not true... "Y-you were?" I asked Oreo nervously. Please, please don't be this heartless stranger that we've been searching for!

"Yes. I was actually trying to find you, but I couldn't for the life of me remember how to get to your camp," Oreo explained. "So, I went into a bit into what I thought was ThunderClan territory, but I felt about as lost as I could be, so I decided that I would have to maybe catch you on patrol at a later time."

My heart continued to pound hard in my chest, because none of that necessarily confirmed, or didn't confirm our suspicions yet. Please, please, please. I already have a father that thrives off of witnessing death - don't give me a brother too!

Firestar stepped up to stand in front of Oreo as I continued to try and stay calm. "You said that you thought you were on ThunderClan's territory," Firestar questioned, his eyes narrowed. "Were you actually ever near our camp, from what you could tell?"

I felt relief as if a badger had been lifted from back as I saw Oreo shake his head. "There were a lot of things I wasn't sure about in my travels, but if one thing was for sure, it was that I was nowhere near to finding your camp!" he meowed, his voice full of laughter. "I haven't been traveling for very long, anyway."

With those words, Squirrelflight, Firestar, Brambleclaw and I exchanged a half-anxious, half-certain glance as we concluded that Oreo wasn't the mystery cat, fortunately. Unfortunately though, that meant that the scent we had lost going into WindClan territory was probably the one that we needed to find.

I obviously was disappointed by this. Even though the real mystery cat wasn't in our territory anymore, it would still be nice to know who was horrible enough to not interfere in the middle of a fox attack. And I was so determined to find out who it was that I actually worried that it might have been Oreo, for StarClan's sake!

My disappointment didn't last very long, considering my brother was still standing right in front of me, the brother that I felt so incredibly close to even though we had only just found out about each other moons ago. "Well, I'm sorry that you got so lost!" I purred to Oreo. "Why were you looking for me here?" I then let out an amused snort. "Well, besides the reason of - you're my brother and wanting to see a sibling is kind of a given..." Some other cats in our Clan wouldn't have shown you much mercy if they'd found you instead.

I then tilted my head and flicked my ears as a new thought crossed my mind, one that confused me immensely. "Wait... weren't you supposed to return home with your housefolk a bit ago?" They were supposed to return to their home far away come greenleaf, I recall!

"Well, I was actually coming to explain why I didn't leave with them..." Oreo replied, his eyes warm and filled with excitement for a reason that I didn't know yet. "I left my housefolk, and I'm planning on finding another home in the Twolegplace nearby."

Wait... what?! I was immediately overwhelmed with a mix of bewilderment and happiness at this news. I happened to look back at Firestar, who's green eyes also reflected surprise. "Really?" I then exclaimed. "Why did you do that?"

Oreo shrugged and sat down. "Well, as you would expect... there's a lot of things I've discovered about myself recently," he began, his gaze growing solemn. "I have family that's only a few pawsteps away. I've always had friends, but never any blood kin that I knew of that I was close to."

My brother then paused for a moment, and then gave a single nod before continuing. "But now that I do, I don't want to leave them. You live in a Clan nearby, and..." Oreo's gaze managed to grow even darker. "And Mistpelt's spirit is here. It will always be here."

I suddenly found myself having to force down an almost unbearable amount of grief. I screwed my eyes shut as an attempt to trap my emotions inside. "Yeah..." I murmured, my voice cracking slightly. Great StarClan, it still hurts as if it's a fresh wound. "Yeah, it will."

I then took a deep breath, and my sadness seemed to slowly and gently fade away as I tried to focus on my brother's news. "Oreo, that's amazing. I'm so happy to hear that!" I replied more cheerfully. I then took a step closer to the black and white tom, flashing him a teasing, hinting sort-of look. "But..."

Oreo seemed to immediately guess what I was getting at, and reflected the same look I was giving him. "But...?"

"But wouldn't you rather join ThunderClan?" I pressed, cutting right to the chase. I then flashed the three cats behind me an uncertain, apologetic glance, as it was likely they wouldn't like this suggestion. But... I have to ask my brother if I'm getting the opportunity... even if he's rejected it before.

I then turned back to Oreo. "If you did that, you'd be even closer to your kin," I reasoned to him. "And I'm sure you'd love living in a Clan - getting to hunt for your own food, defending your territory with your Clanmates, sleeping under the stars... oh, Oreo, nothing could even begin to describe how much I love it." I then paused, shook my heart quickly and let out a purr. "I mean - how much you would love it."

As I had expected, Oreo hesitated greatly. But even though it was expected, I still felt disappointed as I watched my brother shake his head. "As true as that could be... I just can't do that," he replied, his hazel eyes apologetic. "A... Clan cat is not who I am, and I don't want to make it who I am."

"But you could try!" I meowed encouragingly. "That's exactly what I did!"

Oreo shook his head yet again, but his eyes were bright. "Nonsense, Lilypetal. You never had to make yourself into anything," he replied, peering behind me briefly to look back at the rest of the patrol. "A Clan cat is what you were meant to be. I can see that."

The tom then looked back at me as he gave an amused snort. "Me, however... well, this is the compromise for myself that I'm going to have to go with."

I sighed, finally giving in. "I completely understand, Oreo," I meowed warmly. I then felt my heart sink just a bit as our two hazel gazes locked. "But I hate to see you leave again." I really, really hate it!

"Hey, I'll be close!" Oreo reminded me as he briefly touched his nose to my ear. "Closer than I was originally going to be!"

"Thank StarClan," I breathed, actually feeling better at that thought. "How do you even plan to find new housefolk?"

Oreo snorted. "Oh, that'll be easy," he meowed smugly as he gave a wink. "All I have to do is stand at one of their doors, meow at an obnoxious volume, wait for them to open the door, and then I give them a pitiful look, and they won't be able to resist!"

I let out a mrrow of laughter and shook my head slowly. "Goodness, the things that kittypets do for Twolegs... blows my mind," I murmured half to myself before touching noses with Oreo. "Well, I wish you the best of luck... at doing something extremely humiliating."

Oreo purred as he pulled away. "Thanks... I think?"

After the two of us shared a laugh, I then took a glance back at the patrol as I realized that our conversation had surely taken up enough time already, now that we had figured out that Oreo wasn't the cat that we were looking for. "Sure!" I purred before slowly and reluctantly beginning to walk back. "I'm so, so glad that you're staying." More than I could ever tell you!

"Me too," Oreo replied as he looked warmly back at me. "Which means that I'd better see you soon!"

I gave my brother one single, definitive nod. "Count on it," I purred, then watching as my brother finally turned around and finally began to pad away.

But almost immediately feeling a sad tug, I turned around slightly and called back to him, "Hey!"

Once Oreo paused and turned back around, I took a step forward. "Maybe I'll bring my kits to meet you soon at your new home!" I called back to him.

My brother's eyes immediately lit up. "I've been anxious to meet those three furballs!" I purred. "Don't let me down."

I then forced myself to turn around completely after giving Oreo one last nod of farewell, as difficult as it was. I let out a sad sigh as I faced the patrol again. I'm so, so happy that Oreo is going to be close by... but how amazing would it have been for him to be next to me right now, returning to camp with us?

As I then padded up to the patrol, I felt instantly comforted as both Brambleclaw and Firestar touched the tip of their tails to my shoulder, and Squirrelflight gave me an affectionate flick on the ear.

Then, as we began to travel back to camp, Brambleclaw flashed me a sympathetic look and padded up to walk beside me. "It's difficult having kin that lives far away, I know that for sure."

As I was giving the dark tabby tom an appreciative look, Firestar then padded to my other side. "It is tough," the ginger tom meowed as he exchanged a glance with his deputy. "Brambleclaw and I both know that struggle very well."

Oh my gosh, that's right! I realized as I thought about Firestar's words. Each of them has a sibling that doesn't actually live with them. "My goodness, how do you all stand it?" I couldn't help but ask the two toms. I turned to look at Brambleclaw. "Don't you ever want to pay Tawnypelt a visit in ShadowClan?" I then looked to Firestar. "Or run all the way back to your old territory just to see Princess?"

As Brambleclaw gave a nod, Firestar answered me. "Of course. All of the time," the ThunderClan leader admitted before putting the tip of his tail back on my shoulder. "But I always have to keep this in mind whenever I feel that tug - the distance between us doesn't define a distance in our relationship. You're only separated by that physical distance, but never at heart."

Firestar's words couldn't have been more true, and they actually wiped away my grief just a bit. "You're absolutely right," I purred before flicking my gaze from Firestar to Brambleclaw back and forth. "Thank you, both."

"As much as I would love for these sentiments to continue..." Squirrelflight, who was a couple of tail-lengths ahead, called back to us. "There's a new fresh scent on our territory - the original one that we were following earlier."

Firestar's eyes flashed with alarm beside me. "What?" he nearly yowled before checking to see if his daughter was correct. "You're right," he meowed after a moment, his gaze darkening. "It's completely fresh."

Oh, no.

"And it's leading deeper into our territory," Brambleclaw added on, then running ahead to flank his mate. "Let's go!"

The four of us then nervously and urgently began to follow the very fresh scent - so fresh that it felt as if we were practically following the cat who had left it. And the tension we were all surely feeling continued to grow as we all seemed to realize that this scent was leading us straight back towards camp.

I was terribly scared of what we were going to find, and the sadness of Oreo leaving, and also the excitement of him living nearby had almost completely left my mind for the moment.

In fact, I could barely stand the anticipation and fear as I was feeling as we found ourselves making our way through the gorse tunnel, the scent still in front of us.

And then, the scent was as strong as it could be, and it was mingled by the many smells of my own Clanmates.

I could hardly believe who I saw among the cats gathered in the clearing. I immediately felt my fur begin to bristle and a growl begin to rise in my throat. I had never thought that I'd see this sickening, tall, calico figure again.

"Sol..." I muttered through gritted teeth as my claws slid out of their sheathes.