Hunting for scraps [For Sleeps]

There was something rotten in the way that Thunderclan had to take shelter at Sunningrocks. A few moon before, they were one of the biggest clans in the territories, they could take out anyone easily. Warriors spoke of how they took on Riverclan with ease, crushing the fish faces cats so they ran from their own camp with tails tucked between their legs. To Shrikepaw, there was no greater clan than the one that she called her own, and it irked her that they were skulking about.

They were eating crowfood and scraping around Sunningrocks for prey. Without the forest, they had no where to hunt. No prey to feed the queens and kits, no herbs to heal the injured.

Spottedstar had broken her spine! And yet there was little they could do to help cats injured like her. Duskfall ordered them to stay within Sunningrocks, to stay away from the forest in case some trees chose to collapse. And naturally to stay away from Riverclan since their was tension between the two clans.

But who would notice? The Riverclan cats looked fat with their fishes, they probably didn't need to feast on mice or voles. They probably couldn't catch them, she thought as she snuck over the border. She waded through the shallow part of the river that she found after a few missteps. Climbing onto the bank, she sniffed around for something to catch, being wary of a patrol.

ThunderClan. So thick and smug that they thought they could hunt and stalk in RiverClan's territory better than a RiverClan cat, and deluded in their own arrogance to think nobody would notice them sloshing through the water to cross the border. Knowing how ThunderClan carried themselves, strutting about like pheasants, this one probably thought she could take on anyone who challenged her anyways.

There was a tinge of amusement watching her, Sparrowleaf's fur blending in with the stones and reeds, but there was buried fury too. Every movement was an outrage. This was their land, their prey...

"I always knew ThunderClan didn't have the wits StarClan gave a fish," she droned, "but I didn't know they were blind too. Tell me, did all that fire fill your brain with smoke, or does ThunderClan teach their kits that the whole world is their stomping ground? The big wet blueish-green thing is the river, moron. But I guess I shouldn't expect a ThunderClan cat to know anything about rightful borders."

She unsheathed her claws, watching every movement. They were alone. ThunderClan cats are too full of themselves. They wouldn't even notice if someone else went missing.

"Who's there?!" The little calico yelped, turning around to where the noise came from. Her eyes strained through the shadow of the reeds to see who was there. She didn't need her nose to guess it was most likely a Riverclan cat, but she was hoping it was someone who wouldn't tear her a new ear for being here. She could barely make out who it was, but the voice was familiar from the last gathering.

"Oh, it's just you, Sparrowleaf." She spoke as though she saw no threat in the medicine cat. After all, medicine cats were healers, not fighters. What could Sparrowleaf possibly do other than yowl at her and tell on her to Fishstar?

"It's not like you Riverclanners need this land to hunt. All you do is eat fish. We need this more than you do." Shrikepaw relaxed where she stood, tail lowering, as she expected no attack. There was conviction in her voice as she truly did believe it was doing the right thing, and she knew what she was going on about.

"We don't need our own land?" Her eyes flicked over to where smoke rose in the distance, a grisly reminder to the fire they'd seen happen across the border. They still had to exploit that, eventually, if Fishstar would ever listen to her. "StarClan obviously didn't think you needed yours either. ThunderClan's punished for their crimes, and they take it as a sign to go steal what isn't theirs. You're everything I despise, you know."

Her guard was down, her claws sheathed, standing there arrogant and brazen and unapologetic. A confessed trespasser and thief, and she still acted like she was as righteous as any noble warrior in the forest.

Even a medicine cat had claws, though.

Sparrowleaf stood up, and in one fluid motion, almost lazy, she swiped her claws over Shrikepaw's eyes. "Just me, you're right," she whispered, and shoved the apprentice into the water.

"Agh!" The apprentice squealed, her eyes blinded by the swipe. While she managed to close her eyes before the medicine cat's claws raked over them with ease, the blood effectively blinded her. And falling into water didn't help matters.

For a few tense seconds, she was frozen in shock and fear. Never before been in a fight, or having felt real pain. But eventually adrenaline coursed through her and her fight instinct kicked in.

She couldn't bring herself to throw the medicine cat off, after all Sparrowleaf had the home ground and size advantage. But that didn't mean the calico was absolutely helpless. Blindly, she unsheathed her claws, raking at whatever she could reach. Her jaws snapping at the unseen enemy that held her down.