"I challenge your Clans to a battle for the control of this forest," the leader of the rogues announced, showing himself.

"Does he have rabbit droppings for brains?" Falconpaw exclaimed. "We totally outnumber them and they could be easily defeated."

"They may have a trap or plan for the Clans," Hoppaw pointed out.

"Or they are just simply arrogant," Mosspaw mewed.

Kinkpaw looked excited. Facing every cat, he mewed, "Do you know what this means?"

"A battle?" Troutpaw spoke up.

"Yes!" Kinkpaw mewed enthusiastically. "It will be our first battle!"

"Battles are dangerous," Shadowpaw mewed as the leaders continued talking to the rogue. "We could lose our lives before being made warriors!"

"At least we will go down fighting," Falconpaw mewed.

Hoppaw nodded in agreement and the apprentices turned their attention to the Clan leaders.

"In three moons time, my cats will be waiting at this every place to fight," the leader continued.

"How can we trust you?" Pouncestar growled.

"Oh, you just have to," the rogue replied smoothly. "I will not be expecting you to just leave this place, therefore, I strongly advise you to prepare."

"Is the rogue arrogant or overconfident?" Falconpaw wondered out loud, focusing his attention on the branch where the rogue was on.

"They mean pretty much the same thing," Leafpaw mewed.

"What are you all talking about?" Sorrelpaw asked, reappearing.

Falconpaw realised that she went somewhere else while they were discussing about the prospect of battle.

As Kinkpaw explained things to the BrambleClan apprentice, Falconpaw suddenly thought of his parents and instantly, he felt worried that they may get seriously injured in the battle.

They must be thinking about the same thing about me, he thought.

The rogue left before the leaders could respond to his threat. The leaders spoke to each other in hushed voices while the other Clan cats talked among themselves.

The leaders did not say anything about the rogue and gathered their cats to return to their respective camps.

Rivernight was ushering the SunClan cats together. Before Falconpaw could follow his Clan, Jaypaw ran up to him, panting.

"We need to meet up," he explained when he caught his breath. "Here, in the Oaks, tomorrow night. No time to explain; I have to get back before any cat misses me."

Jaypaw ran off without giving an explanation. Falconpaw frowned, wishing that the RookClan apprentice could at least explain why he wanted to meet him.

"Come on, Falconpaw!" Rivernight called him. "Every cat is waiting for you!"

"Coming!" Falconpaw ran over to his mentor and headed back to camp with his Clan.

As his Clan hurried back, he could have sworn he had seen some cat with rather distinctive blue eyes watching from the bushes.

~~~~

The next day, Falconpaw was tasked to change the bedding in the nursery. The bedding had grown stale since there were no queens expecting kits at the moment.

He was bored out of his wits. Silently, he wished that Ashwhisper, the oldest cat in the Clan, was still alive.

Ashwhisper had the best stories, and taught the kits many valuable lessons. Falconpaw remembered the time when he was still a kit, young and native, constantly wanting to venture out of camp.

Once, he explored so much that he got lost. Luckily, Swiftshade, his father, managed to find him stuck in a pool of mud.

He was so crossed that he sent Falconpaw - then Falconkit - to care for Ashwhisper, who was the only elder at that time.

Falconpaw fondly remembered his wise, calm voice as he told the story of the first leaders of SunClan.

The first leader was a she-cat named Zephyr. She was just an ordinary loner who liked going on the moors to feel the cool, welcoming wind.

She formed a small group of cats which eventually grew to what every cat know as SunClan today.

There was one particular detail that Ashwhisper told Falconpaw. Many thought that Sunstar was the first leader, when actually, he was the second one.

Sadly, the rest of the story had been lost through the generations. Falconpaw wished that he could find out more about the past.

"Falconpaw, stop daydreaming!" Kinkpaw's voice snapped him out of thoughts. "You have been staring at the wall for ages. Shadowpaw and I had already finished."

"You know what that means," Shadowpaw added with a meaningful smile.

"You will have to do all the apprentice chores for a day," Patchcloud, Shadowpaw's mentor, finished for them.

Falconpaw immediately regretted his actions.

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What do you think about the rogue? Will he set up a trap for the Clans or is he simply arrogant?

By the way, did anyone notice a certain cat with rather distinctive blue eyes in the previous chapters?

Any feedback is appreciated! :D