TRESSPASSING LIKE A BADARSE

A tuxedo tom, perhaps the size of a young warrior, padded lightly across the damp ground to the bank of the river. The ThunderClan cat traced the river with his eyes, scanning the banks of both sides and muttering under his breath. His fur was fluffed up against the bitter winds that sliced him like claws, and his eyes narrowed at the rushing water. I'd better be careful... Falling into this water could be deadly, especially with no one else around... He spotted his target leaning over the water's edge, seemingly staring at its reflection. He crouched lowly and pulled himself forward, controlling his breath so that it was nearly soundless. A few more steps... It won't see me coming! He pounced on his target, a silly grin spreading across his face.

He picked up the bundle of marigold in his mouth, then gave a muffled sigh. I crushed them! I'm going to have to find more somewhere. I think I saw some on the other side of the river. He dropped his 'prey,' the now crushed marigold flowers, onto the ground and scanned once more the opposite bank of the river. "Aha! Thought you could escape me, did you?" There they were, a bunch of yellow-gold flowers leaning lowly over the water. They were a refreshing splash of color against the dreary background- the clouds overhead were gray and told the tom of approaching storms and the grass and reeds surrounding the delicate flowers were a dead brown color. He cocked his head at the stormclouds, wondering if they meant anything. Nah, I'd know if it was an omen.

He bounded downstream, enjoying the feeling of freedom he hadn't felt since the troublemaking duo, Tigerpaw and Specklepaw, broke their legs. Well, Tigerpaw sprained his, but it was the same general idea. He couldn't help but let out a few mischievous giggles, either. The black and white tom picked his way to the stepping stones, balancing his weight on the first stone. The river was moving faster at the middle, he noticed as he reached the middle stepping stone. Dewstar will be so proud of my dangerous journey! Oops. He forgot to tell her that he'd left for RiverClan territory! Well, too late now... The thought flashed through his mind as he landed on the other bank after leaping from the last stone. He dashed back upstream, kicking small stones into the river and scaring fish and water voles alike fleeing.

"Better not crush these." He said aloud when he found the flowers. He gripped them by the stems and pulled, one by one, until he'd made himself a miniscule pile of marigold. They were smaller than usual, a sign of the oncoming Leaf-bare that would soon drain him of his precious herbs.

It didn't take long after the apprentice bounded on the wrong side of the river for a loud hiss to resonate through the air although it was just audible enough to be heard over the sound of the rushing water. Without thinking much of it, a lithe, black she-cat rushed out of the reeds, instantly getting in the small tom's face, her paw landing just barely beside the small pile of marigold. In complete honesty, the she-cat never even saw that he was picking herbs. She wanted him off of her territory. How dare he trespass without even a single thought about it! Standing tall and looking down at the apprentice with claws unsheathed, she looked pretty intimidating. "Excuse me, what do you think you're doing on my territory?"

"Hi there!" He said with surprise when the black she-cat jumped seemingly out of nowhere. This cat was tall. He looked nervously at his pile of marigold, praying to StarClan that she hadn't crushed or kicked away any of the flowers. "I'm Swiftpaw, ThunderClan's medicine cat. I'm gathering herbs so I don't run out this Leaf-bare. Are you hunting, or on a patrol? I need some help finding coltsfoot and some fennel leaves. More marigold would be great, too." Though the RiverClan cat was no doubt very frightening, he was certain she wouldn't hurt him. And apparently, this she-cat was not here to play. He thought maybe getting right to the point would suit her style more, and she could even use her long claws to dig up the roots. Oh, those claws are very long...

"So you're a medicine cat, huh?" she asked, although in her voice it was kind of obvious she didn't really care. It was kind of bad since she didn't really know what he was talking about when it came to Marigold and Coltsfoot. She wanted this cat off of Riverclan territory. He had no right to be here, medicine cat or not. This was out of the way of the moonstone, so she had every right to chase him off. And even so, he didn't seem scared. A Riverclan warrior was here in his face, and he introduced himself and asked for help? She was very quickly losing her patience. Digging her claws into the ground, she crouched down to his level, mainly to get ready for an attack, and stared him straight in the eye. "Well, Swiftpaw," she spat. "Medicine cat or not, you are on the wrong side of the river. Get. Out." She growled. "This is your only warning."

Though his ears flattened against his head, a peculiar smile seemed to be glued to his maw. "Er, well, I hate to be a bother, but I stand apart from Clan rivalries and hurting me could get you in a lot more trouble than a few plants are worth." Surely this cat understood the consequences of messing with one of StarClan's prophets? Either way, he had to get the herbs, even if it meant being pulverized at the claws of some careless RiverClan warrior. I should have told Dewstar! Maybe she would've sent a warrior with me, or come herself. Yeah, I can imagine this cat trying to challenge me and the leader, and it wouldn't end well for anyone...

"Standing apart from clan rivalries doesn't make you any less of a trespasser. You are not here on business with our medicine cats, nor are you going anywhere near the Moonstone. You are on Riverclan soil going after plants that you could very well get on your own territory." She responded quickly, now simply having to hold herself back from ripping this cat to shreds, even though that's what she said she was going to do just a few moments ago. It was an apprentice. A very obnoxious apprentice, but one nonetheless. He really didn't seem to know much better. In some ways, she was just hoping to scare him off... which obviously wasn't working. If only someone else would show up and take care of this. A Thunderclan warrior was one thing. She wouldn't hesitate for a moment, but an apprentice... a medicine cat apprentice at that. She couldn't find the courage to do anything about it, but at least the expression on her face was like stone. That was one thing she had learned to do well: make herself unreadable.