Firewind padded over to Creampuff and stretched. "I really think you meant what you said first," he teased. Her invitation made him feel good for two reasons. First, he always liked warriors who took the initiative to start a patrol and second, he had been wanting to spend some more time with her. Other than causal greetings in passing, they haven't really been together since that trip to the White Tree. And ever since then he kept thinking about the fun-loving she cat. It seemed she was often in his thoughts.

"A patrol would be good. And we can kill two mice with one paw swipe too by making it both a hunting and border patrol. The western border needs to be checked. Some have reported rogue scents near there. I want to make sure they're staying on their own side."

"The flood did do a lot of damage but there's places that seem to be recovering," Firewind replied. "Perhaps not so much to support a large clan but small groups of rogues, maybe three or four cats, could find some hunting there." He paused and then added, "With excursions into our territory." He never minded rogues and loners living next to NightClan just as long as they kept to their own side of the border.

He smiled at Creampuff as he played with his thoughts. Too many cats didn't take her seriously because of her playful nature but standing before him was an intelligent cat. Her last statement proved that to him. There was more to her than what she let others see and that intrigued him. He noticed her sudden shyness and wondered if she thought more of him than just her deputy. The thought made his heart jump in his chest and sent butterflies soaring in his stomach. Suddenly he wanted to go on this patrol more than anything else.

He playfully tapped the top of her head with the tip of his tail before leaping forward. "Let's get started. We've got to teach some rogues a few lessons about trespassing."

(That's fine. It's entirely up to you if you want Creampuff to be injured too. But despite their injuries, I'd like to send the rogues packing )

Firewind hadn't even noticed the lack of prey as they continued onward. His thoughts were centered around the beautiful she cat who was traveling with him. He never noticed until now how her soft golden fur seemed to float around her like a shimmering mist in the sunlight. Watching her made him feel so warm inside like no other cat had ever done to him.

It was the odor of strange cats that finally brought him back to the present. They weren't quite to the western border yet so he shouldn't be smelling their scent. "Hey, Creampuff," he called. "Hold up. There's something here we should investigate."

A pair of eyes glinted then narrowed as they watched the two clan cats trotting casually through the forest. The owner of those eyes was safely hidden behind some thick foliage part way up at tree.

"Yes," Firewind meowed. The meaning to the simple one word answer was much bigger than the tiny word itself was. He sensed Creampuff's nearness. He sensed how his feelings toward this beautiful she cat were changing. He sensed something wonderful growing between him and her. He gave his head a small shake to clear it. He had to keep focused on the problem at hand. And yes, he sensed the presence of another cat, one who shouldn't be in NightClan's territory.

"We're being watched," he said softly so only Creampuff could hear. He felt piercing eyes penetrating his fiery fur. "Might be in a tree. Notice how the birds aren't singing in the trees here but they are over there?" He looked in the direction from where the birdsong could be heard. Those trees were much farther away.

The stranger shifted slightly. He knew that those clan cats detected him but he also knew they didn't know where he was yet. If only I could hear what they were saying!

The complement Creampuff gave him sent a thrill up his spine. She really thinks I'm smart! he thought as a smile broadened across his face at her playful way of confronting danger by taunting the enemy. He looked at her build and the way she carried herself and was thankful she was his clanmate. He wouldn't want to meet her as an enemy warrior.

"I'm going to climb up this tree here and see if I can spot him," he whispered to her. "With any luck we'll flush him out of the trees." He leaped up and sunk his claws into the tree bark and began to climb up slowly.

The stranger felt a vibration though the tree in which he was hiding and sighed inwardly. How did they know which tree he was in? Carefully he peeked though the leafy foliage and saw the orange tom ascending from below but it didn't seem to the rogue that the warrior knew he was hiding here. The orange tom was looking into the surrounding trees but not up into the one he was climbing. I'll just wait until he gets closer and drop down on him. The stranger watched in silence as Firewind climbed slowly up.

Firewind froze in place and looked up for the first time. How could I have been so mouse-brained! he chided inwardly. He was so concerned about what might be lurking in the surrounding trees that he forgot to check this one.

Knowing his cover was blown, the stranger, an all black tom with old battle scars crisscrossed in his fur, dropped down on top of Firewind, causing him to lose his grip on the tree trunk. The two plummeted to the ground, turning in the air as each sought to land on top of the other. Fortune was smiling this day on the black tom. He managed at the last moment to spin on top of Firewind just before they crashed to the ground.

Firewind sunk his claws and teeth deep into the enemy's flesh as they fell, hoping it would serve as a distraction. He was doing his best to be on top when they landed and thought he'd accomplish it just until the very end. Suddenly they hit the ground. Along with the wind being knocked out of him, he felt and heard a sickening snap and a sharp jolting pain shot through his right hind leg. He laid there in a heap stunned.

The black tom rolled off of the orange tabby and tumbled across the ground several times before coming to a stop. He wasn't as injured as Firewind because the deputy had taken much more of the impact. But be as it may, the black tom staggered to his feet and gazed at the female as he tried to clear his vision. "What'r you starin' at fluffball?" he snarled.

The black tom was taken aback by the ferocity exhibited by this strange female. Other she cats he was familiar with didn't act in this manner, even when provoked into anger. He had expected to see this she cat wail in misery over the calamity that had befallen her friend not to attack him like a badger protecting it's den.

Stunned as he was from the fall, he was unable to flee so his only recourse was to fight back. But that turned out to be a feeble attempt at best in face of this she cat's furry. He felt each blow leave fresh wounds on his already scarred body.

Firewind watched the scene unfold before his eyes like a spectator who was detached from any involvement with the participants. It wasn't until he heard Creampuff shout the words, 'You hurt my Firewind!' that he came back to his senses. With a mighty effort, he forced himself up onto his paws. The pain in his right hind leg was excruciating so he stood on his remaining three as he tried to keep himself from passing out.

By now, the black tom had managed to get away from Creampuff's initial attack and was landing blows of his own on her. Seeing this burned away any remaining mind-fog Firewind had. Adrenaline coursed through his veins. His Creampuff was being attacked! "LEAVE MY MATE ALONE!" he roared as he came running as fast as he could on three legs.

The black tom gazed at Firewind in amazement with his paw raised for a devastating strike against the fluffy she cat. Frozen in place, he had thought for sure the tom was killed in the fall and now to see him undead and charging at him unnerved him completely. "You're dead!" he wailed. "Don't hurt me!"

The black tom shivered with fear as he laid pinned under the fluffy she cat. All the fight was out of him now after the fall from the tree and the skirmish afterward. "P-p-please don't kill me," he mewed with fear scent wafting off of him in waves.

"Maybe I should let her," Firewind growled. "That'll keep you from stealing our prey." He stood beside Creampuff, his anger radiating off him like the sun's heat off of hot rocks in Greenleaf. This cat tried to kill him and wounded Creampuff in a fight. And not to mention his mangled leg which kept sending waves of pain though his body.

"I'm sorry. Please don't kill me," the black tom said. "My mate and kits are having a hard time finding food so I thought I'd try my luck over here. We were hungry."

Is this cat telling the truth, Firewind wondered, or is he just making up a sob story to play on our emotions? By now the adrenaline was fading and he was feeling weaker. The last thing he wanted to do was to collapse in front of the enemy. Summoning up the remainder of his strength, he replied, "I don't know whether you're telling us the truth or not. But rogues are not allowed to cross our borders and hunt on our lands. What do you say, Creampuff? I'll leave it up to you. Let him go or send him to Dark Forest?"

Although the black tom was hurting from his ordeal, he was up on his feet in a flash and dashed off quickly without casting one backward glance. "I'm outta here!" He wanted to get away from these fierce tiger cats.

Firewind watched until the rogue disappeared out of sight. He was well on his way to the border. "We did it," he meowed shakily, as he turned his eyes on Creampuff. "You scared him off." The surge of adrenaline he had was all gone now that the emergency was past. Suddenly black spots began to fill his vision and the whole forest started to spin. That was the last thing he remembered before collapsing to the ground.