Maplefur let out a huff of exasperation.

"Larklight, you minnow-brain!" Maplefur growled. She hopped in after Larklight.

"Uh- Sorrelfur, you might want to take a look at that." Foxpaw meowed apprehensively to Sorrelfur. Sorrelfur whipped her head toward the river.

"Fox dung!" Sorrelfur cursed. She arched her back, claws unsheathed, ready to attack. Redpaw did the same, and Foxpaw looked unsure of what to do.

Ripplereed was far ahead and was nearly at Sunningrocks. She hopped up once she arrived at her destination, not walking toward the ThunderClan cats. She waited for them to make the first move.

"What are we waiting for?!" Redpaw hissed. He lunged at Ripplereed.

"No!" Maplefur screeched. She put on a burst of speed swimming. Larklight's paws churned through the water, and she hopped up onto Sunningrocks. She lunged at Sorrelfur.

Ripplereed sidestepped swiftly, leaving Redpaw off-balance on the edge of Sunningrocks. Ripplereed kicked him in the face with her hind legs, knocking him into a shallow part of the river. Ripplereed hopped in after him, landing squarely on top of him. She hooked his ear with an unsheathed claw, leaving a nasty cut.

As soon as Redpaw got his face out of the water to gasp for air, Ripplereed raised a paw and slammed it directly on top of the apprentice's head, knocking his face back into the water. The apprentice gasped for air, but he couldn't breathe underwater. He shot his head upwards, but Ripplereed smacked his head right back down. Redpaw's limbs flailed as he tried to resurface and breathe.

Larklight jumped at Sorrelfur and clawed at Sorrelfur's face, leaving a nasty scratch. Sorrelfur snarled, and leapt back. Sorrelfur reared on her hind legs, ready to strike her paws down onto Larklight's head, but Larklight stepped to the side, and, taking advantage of her exposed belly, Larklight swiped her unsheathed claws vertically down Sorrelfur's belly. Sorrelfur hissed in pain and dropped down onto all fours. She swiped at Larklight's eye, cutting her eyelid and leaving a scratch. Larklight growled.

Sorrelfur turned to hit Larklight once more, but was distracted by Ripplereed attacking Redpaw brutally. Redpaw hadn't managed to even give Ripplereed a scratch. Ripplereed watched, unfazed as Redpaw gasped for air. Ripplereed was considerate enough to let Redpaw gasp for air once, but once Redpaw had inhaled, Ripplereed slammed his head back down, into the water. Sorrelfur gasped, and ran over to the two cats.

Maplefur, meanwhile, was battling Foxpaw. Maplefur had given Foxpaw a couple of nasty scratches, but Foxpaw had managed to land a blow on Maplefur's belly, which had left a deep gash. Larklight swiveled around and charged at the ThunderClan apprentice, scratching her right on the muzzle. Foxpaw screeched in pain, and whipped her head toward Larklight. Foxpaw aimed a blow at Larklight's eyes, but missed, instead hitting her ear. Foxpaw hissed in frustration, and crouched down, her tail waving in the air. Foxpaw bit down hard on Larklight's hind leg, feeling he metallic taste of blood on her tongue and feeling a hard, smooth surface- the bone. She bit down harder, and Larklight screeched in pain. Larklight swiped at Foxpaw's face, swiping wildly. Maplefur watched helplessly, but then saw Foxpaw's tail, sticking up in the air. Maplefur took advantage of Foxpaw focusing on Larklight and Foxpaw's tail being unattended to, and bit down on her tail. Maplefur yanked as hard as she could.

Foxpaw screeched and led go of Larklight's leg.

Larklight blinked the blood out of her eyes. She slashed at Foxpaw's nose, cutting it. Foxpaw yanked her tail away from Maplefur's jaws, and swiped back at Larklight, hitting her nose. Foxpaw let out a yowl.

"Sorrelfur! Help!" Foxpaw yowled. Foxpaw backed up, and when Sorrelfur didn't come, she whirled around and raced off toward the ThunderClan camp.

"Serves you right, you prey-stealing little-" Maplefur called after her, but was interrupted by Larklight's tail being slapped across her mouth.

"Maplefur!" Larklight scolded the warrior. Maplefur looked very sheepish.

"Anyways, come on! Let's go help Ripplereed!" Larklight meowed, turning around toward the river, and racing off, limping harshly because of her leg wound. Maplefur followed, hissing in pain from the belly wound.

Ripplereed had received a scratch on her muzzle and chest, but nothing too major. Ripplereed had managed to get Sorrelfur pinned down. Meanwhile, Redpaw, who had been knocked out, lie in the shallows of the water by Sunningrocks, tongue lolling.

Sorrelfur had been pummeling at Ripplereed's belly with her hind legs, but had only managed to land a scratch. Ripplereed reared up on her hind legs, and Sorrelfur moved to escape, but she was too late. Ripplereed landed a hard blow on her head, knocking the ginger she-cat out cold.

"That's all of them." Ripplereed sniffed triumphantly, with a hint of indigance. "That'll teach them not to fish in our river."

"Are you sure it was necessary to knock them all out? With the exception of that tawny apprentice..." Maplefur asked tentatively.

"Of course it was. Plus, now the apprentice can tell them to stop fishing!" Ripplereed snapped.

"Don't you mean attempt fishing?" Maplefur snorted.

"Yes, whatever." Ripplereed rolled her eyes. "Now let's get back to camp and tell Troutstar what we found."

The two other cats nodded, and the three set off for camp.

___________________________________

"But, like Maplefur said, are you sure it was really the best idea to knock those two cats out?" Larklight asked. "After all, it may spark some conflict and grudges from ThunderClan."

Ripplereed snorted. "We don't need other Clan's help."

Larklight opened her mouth to reply, but thought the better of that idea and closed it. As they got closer to camp, Larklight saw Gingerpaw with her head in a bush.

Larklight grinned and rolled her eyes. "Gingerpaw, I highly doubt you'll find any herbs in there."

Gingerpaw whipped around, her light green eyes shining with curiosity- and was that a hint of fear in her eyes? Perhaps it was, but what for? After all, what was there to be afraid of in a bush?

"Well, maybe I will!" Gingerpaw retorted, her light green eyes reverting to their usual sharpness and spontaneousness. "Besides, what would you know?! You're not medicine cat, or a medicine cat apprentice like me!"

And with that, Gingerpaw turned on her heel and stalked off toward camp.

"What's up with her?" Maplefur whispered to Larklight. "I mean, she's really sassy all of the time, but she was even more sassy this time. And that's saying a lot, considering it's Gingerpaw that we're talking about here."

"Agreed." Larklight whispered back. "Maybe I'll try and squeeze it out of her later."

Maplefur was about to respond, but was interrupted by a sharp meow from Ripplereed.

"Get moving, you slow slugs! We still have to report to Troutstar!" Ripplereed barked, her eyes just challenging either of them to defy her.

Maplefur nodded quickly, and meekly kept following Ripplereed.

Larklight, however, stayed behind to investigate the bush. She padded over to the leafy green, peering into through the leaves and branches. She swatted some stubborn branches that wouldn't go away, only for them to just hit her in the face. Again. And again. And again.

She growled in frustration, and shoved her head into the bush, ignoring the branches that slapped her. She shook her head, and was about to yank her head out of the bush when she felt something sharp graze her muzzle.

"Ow!" She yelped, jumping back. "What in the name of StarClan was that!?"

She put her head back into the bush, searching for the thing that had scratched her. She was about to give up once more, but then saw a rotting rose- the same one she had seen during her hunting assessment.

She gasped, and saw the rose up close. It's petals had decayed, rotting away and shriveling, a shell of the former beauty it had been. The stem had blackened and browned, making it look sickening. The only thing that seemed alive, the thing that seemed to thrive when the rest had given up- were the thorns. The thorns were needle sharp, and were green as the greenleaf grass. Larklight wanted to grab it to show the Clan, but she that if she did, the thorns would scratch her mouth.

She pulled her head out of the bush, and slowly started padding back to camp.

What was that?

Wasn't that the same rose I saw while I was hunting a day ago?