((LMAO, sorry I forgotted XD))

Darkleaf's claws slid out. With his temper, he wasn't about to be the voice of reason. "You can shut your mouth before I 'accidentally' poison you in your sleep," he snarled ferociously. "Sit still before I pull ticks out with my claws instead of teeth, you mangy, rotten furball." 

"As you should be," Darkleaf teased, his temper cooling. He took a quick smell of Pippen's breath. He could still smell the blood from her last meal. He stiffled a growl of agitation. He should have eaten earlier today. Of course, eating would only remind him of how Goldstream nearly choked to death on a rabbit bone. And he had asked her to. He shivered at the thought of accidentally causing the queen's death as he continued his lengthy examination. "Your feet look a little scraped up, do you normally live in the mountains?" Darkleaf asked, honestly curious about the rogue. "Wingpaw, grab some marigold and cobweb please."

Fatepaw froze when he smelled something odd. It wasn't a hawk. His heart pounded, and he could hear a deep and loud growl of something much bigger than he was. He lifted out of his hunting crouch, and his fur stood on end. A fox! He didn't know what to do How would he handle a fox? He looked around helplessly, hoping for some sign of an elder warrior to tell him what to do. Nothing. Then, his fur flattened and he growled. He could be brave! He secretly wondered if foxes were edible as he stood over the dead mouse protectively. He took it in his jaws, and pretended he was about to fight, before turning and running towards where he had smelled Blackpaw first. He could hear the barking fox racing after him, but the petite Fatepaw was too quick. 

Fatepaw whirred around, dropping the beaten up mouse. He stared wide eyed at the fox. He was torn between obeying orders and helping his mentor. I don't know what to do! Fatepaw didn't even bother to bury the scrawny mouse before sprinting towards Blackpaw. He could see the other apprentice now. Fatepaw didn't care about prey anymore. "Fox!" he yowled urgently to the older apprentice.

Sageburn came out of hiding immediatly, rushing past Blackpaw and to Fatepaw. "Go home, now," she ordered, not even stopping as she pas.sed. She paused again after taking a few steps. "Come on Blackpaw, you are nearly a warrior!" she yowled before continuing again towards the stench of fox.

Thunderbird will be alright then. Fatepaw told himself, though he couldn't feel relieved until he reached camp. So he ran. As fast as he could, praying to Starclan that he didn't loose his way.

---

"Another clan?" Darkleaf said worriedly, "There's another clan in the valley?" This was news to Darkleaf. He took the marigold in his jaws and chewed, rubbing the first dosage to Pippen's front right paw. 

Darkleaf gave a worried huff, "Are they large in numbers?" he asked. He wrapped her aw and moved on to checking for ticks, especially around the scruff; that was the hardest place for a lone cat to reach. He parted the fur with his paws and gave a look of slight disgust, seeing three ticks leeching the blood from the she-cat. "Wingpaw, do we have any mouse-bile left?" he asked, "Or did we use it all on Angeltouch when she got fleas?"

Sageburn sprung as the fox, narrowly avoiding having her tail bitten off as she landed on the back of the vixen's neck; she hooked her claws as deep as she could , clawing with her back claws at the fox's eyes, and keeping her tail well out of reach.

Fatepaw bounded into camp, out of breath. He couldn't even speak.

"Fatepaw! what happened?" Minnowfoot demanded, immediately noticing Fatepaw, "Where is Sageburn and Thunderbird?"

Fatepaw was only gasping for breath.

"Come with me, you must be seen by Darkleaf," Minnowfoot declared, his tail lashing in anxiety. He was probably just scared by a hawk or an eagle, Minnowfoot comforted himself.

"But there's a fox!" Fatepaw managed to gasp, wobbling on his legs.

Minnowfoot stared at Fatepaw. "Go to Darkleaf," he ordered, quickly heading to Gladestar in the elder's den. "Gladestar!" he said urgently.

"What is it Minnowfoot? Is something wrong?" Gladestar meowed.

"Fatepaw just arrived, he said that a fox attacked," Minnowfoot answered, distressed.

"A fox?" Gladestar said, more confused than anything, "They hardly ever venture into the mountains, we left the valley to them and the other animals."

"Well it's here, and it could be a danger to Goldstream if they fail to kill it," Minnowfoot said.

Gladestar nodded and then leaped up to the High Falls. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey, gather beneath the high falls for a clan meeting!" she yowled, her tail flicking with impatience.

Darkleaf forgot about the mouse bile and peered out of his den curiously. Fatepaw had just arrived. Now, Darkleaf was worried. "Pippen, pay attention, this could be important."

"No kidding!" Sageburn yowled savagely, her throat raw with the blood of her enemy- swallowing was unavoidable when trying to control her breathing. She gave a growl of annoyance as the fox bit down on her tail, hard. She could feel the blood running freely, and the bones crack. She clenched her jaw and yanked her mangled tail out of the fox's grasp, only to loose her balance and fall to the side. Thinking fast, she got up and ran out of the fox's range, keeping an eye open for another opening. She quickly dashed forward, though not at full speed with caution. She hoped that Darkleaf would be able to fix her tail. She dug her claws into the fox's haunch.

This was more than the fox could take. It was already bleeding everywhere, and the pain was unbearable. She gave a bark of frustration and started to run, with Thunderbird still on her back.

"There's a fox in our territory!" Gladestar yowled once the cats had gathered. "It has to be killed as soon as possible. To my understanding, Sageburn and Thunderbird are keeping it occupied. Winterfrost, I want you to lead Minnowfoot and Ashflight to kill the fox before it can find us at camp, I'll be coming as well. Bladeheart, I want you, Flareblink, Orangepaw, and Fatepaw when he's better to guard the nursery and Goldstream.  Let's go!"  And with that, Gladestar ran as fast as she could, following Fatepaw's scent. It wasn't long until she could smell the stench of the fox.

---

Darkleaf gazed after the running warriors wistfully. "I was supposed to be one of them too..." he whispered softly, watching the fit and trained cats dash out of camp to the rescue. He turned to Fatepaw with a sigh. "Wingpaw, I want you to watch carefully, this is a trick that Ap-- a friend of mine taught me." Darkleaf raised a paw, and then bluntly whacked Fatepaw in between the haunches. Fatepaw dropped instantly, asleep. "It takes a long time to perfect, and is only to be used on young cats who can stand a little bruise when they wake up."

((Littlestar or Gladestar? XD))

"I'm fine," Sageburn said sarcastically, "My tail's only giving away a river of my blood right now!" she said. She lifted her tail slightly off the ground, but half of it still drooped and dragged anyway, only causing pain. "I hate tails," she complained. She sniffed slightly, and then wobbled. "I think I'm getting a bit light headed..."

Flareblink stood tall and protective at the nursery entrance, his fur spiked and his tail lashing, mentally daring a fox to come near his mate and unborn kits.

Minnowfoot and Ashflight tore after their leader and deputy at full speed, Ashflight racing ahead of even Gladestar. She slowed to a trot when she could smell cat blood as well as fox blood. It wasn't another second she saw Thunderbird and Sageburn and the fox whimpering as it ran with its tail between its legs.

"Winterfrost, take Ashflight and Minnowfoot after the fox!" Gladestar ordered, hurrying over to the injured warrior. "What happened?" she asked Thunderbird. Sageburn was loosing blood quickly. She ducked under the other cat right before she fell, now carrying Sageburn.

Minnowfoot nodded at Winterfrost and disappeared into the brush, carefully rounding around to the fox's rear to surprise it. He unsheathed his claws and then let out a fierce battle yowl, sending the fox yipping straight into the trap. He leaped on it from behind as Ashflight and Winterfrost got at its front and chest area. The fox was already weak from battling the others

Ashflight hissed at the fox, her fur fluffed up to twice her size as she clawed the vixen's face.

---

"I don't believe his sleep is very deep, it's just natural. He was already tired, and now his heart rate will slow back to normal faster. I'll teach you how to do it next time," Darkleaf answered belatedly, too busy sniffing the apprentice for injuries. "He's uninjured," he announced, "Wingpaw, could you move him to one of the nests so I can find some mouse bile and get those ticks off of poor Pippen?"

---

"Are you hurt as well?" Gladestar asked quickly, starting to walk towards camp. She didn't want to risk Sageburn's falling by running, though her pace was not slow at all. "Come on Blackpaw, you need to be examined as well. We'll send warriors to gather your kill." 

Darkleaf shrugged. "I can handle her," he said simply, taking the mouse bile and trotting over to Pippen. "Hold still," he ordered, holding his breath because of the smell.

Gladestar didn't reply, because they entered camp a few minutes after. She carefully lay Sageburn on the ground, unable to carry the cat much longer.

Darkleaf frowned, "Wingpaw, handle Pippen," he said, dropping the bile and sniffing Sageburn's tail. "This isn't good at all; the fox got her?"

Gladestar nodded in response, "and Thunderbird too."

Darkleaf sniffed the other warrior's gash curiously, "Ugh! That'll hurt in the morning," he said. "Can you walk fine? Follow me into my den."

"What about Sageburn?" Gladestar meowed.

"She's obviously not about to move on her own, Gladestar," Darkleaf said, lifting his tail as he trotted over to his stores. He tutted at the amount of marigold left, but decided it would be enough to treat both cats properly.

Gladestar sighed, and picked Sageburn up yet again, placing her in one of the soft medicine cat dens.

---

Ashflight clawed her way around to the top of the fox, hanging on its back as it whimpered in pain. It was almost unfair when she gave the killing strikes (one wouldn't be enough for such a large fox). The vixen finally fell, giving up on life entirely. Ashflight hopped off of the body gracefully, licking the blood from her muzzle and paws. "That wasn't too hard; Thunderbird and Sageburn know how to put up a fight."

"And Blackpaw too, right?" Minnowfoot asked, sitting next to his sister to examine the fox.

"I think so," Ashflight replied dismissively.

"Winterfrost, what should we do with the fox?" Minnowfoot asked the deputy.

Ashflight examined the vixen more closely. "Yikes, this one was pregnant! Look at its belly! It's a good thing it didn't get away. Mother foxes are more aggressive, aren't they?" 

Darkleaf rolled his eyes. "Nonsense," he said, "There's plenty for both of you, now stop fussing." Darkleaf sniffed Sageburn's tail; the last quarter of it was hanging only by the skin. Darkleaf winced and sliced the portion off with a careful claw, discarding the ginger stump. He hastily wrapped the first la
yer of cobwebs on the wound, and then added chewed marigold so that his saliva wouldn't risk infecting the open and dangerously bleeding wound. He wrapped the tail with cobweb until there wasn't even a spot of red showing. He mumbled a quick prayer to Starclan and then went over to Thunderbird. "Hold still and cooperate, or there'll be consequences," Darkleaf said with a light threat on his voice as he inspected the shoulder wound more closely.

----

"I feel sort of guilty to be honest," Ashflight said, picking up the fox by the scruff, "It's kind of like if Goldstream were bombarded and killed by rats," she mumbled through the fur.

Minnowfoot grabbed the loose fur on the fox's rump. "Foxes don't have mates, nor feelings," he stated simply, his voice likewise muffled.