Ripplespots sprang from the ground and pounced neatly on the squirrel, killing it with a sharp bite to the back of its neck. He stood up again with the squirrel in his jaws and turned around.
"Nice catch!" Twigtail mewed as he stepped out of the undergrowth.
Ripplespots dropped the squirrel. "Thanks," he mewed.
Twigtail flicked his tail. "Shame that I didn't catch the finch earlier. Finches are Firemoon's favorite."
Ripplespots shrugged. "Maybe we'll find another one." He glanced at his brother. He had really fallen for the dark ginger she-cat. But Ripplespots knew that Firemoon was growing close to Stormsky, and it was hard to compete against those odds.
"Hey, Twigtail, I was wondering," Ripplespots murmured. "Have you never been curious about what's beyond our borders?"
Twigtail snorted as he scraped the soil away from the two mice he had caught earlier. "What's beyond our borders?" he scoffed. "No. Thunderclan is my home. And so is it yours, Ripplespots."
Petalshine padded out of the undergrowth. "What are you talking about?" she mumbled around the thrush in her jaws.
"Nothing," Ripplespots mewed, and at the exact same time, Twigtail meowed, "Ripplespots just asked me if I ever thought of what's beyond our borders."
Petalshine pricked her ears and looked worriedly at Ripplespots. She dropped her blackbird. "What did you tell him?"
"I said no, of course. Thunderclan is our home. We're happy here, we have our family, our clanmates, and our mother is having more kits." Twigtail glanced at Petalshine. "Mind you, I've noticed you getting closer to Iceheart," he teased her.
But Petalshine wasn't amused. She glanced at Ripplespots again. "You're not really thinking of leaving, are you?"
Twigtail cocked back his head. "Why would you even think that? Ripplespots wouldn't leave us."
"I wasn't asking you!" Petalshine growled impatiently at her brother, who stepped back with surprise. "Are you?" she then asked Ripplespots again.
Ripplespots gazed at Petalshine. He could never tell her the truth. "No," he then lied. "Of course not."
Petalshine narrowed her eyes, as if she was deciding whether or not to believe him. "Well then, let's get back to camp so we can join Firemoon, Ravenheart and the others to go find costumes for the Night of Shadows."
"Find anything?" Iceheart asked, bounding over to him.
Ripplespots shook his head. "No, nothing," he answered.
Ripplespots, Iceheart, Twigtail, Dewslip, Ravenheart, Petalshine and Firemoon were out looking for costumes. They had found a lot of leaves, mud, twigs, bark, flowers, feathers, rocks and bindweed.
"You don't think this is enough, do you?" Iceheart mewed as Ripplespots snatched up the flowers he had gathered.
Ripplespots shrugged. He didn't really care. He wouldn't be with them on the Night of Shadows.
"I'm so excited for the Night of Shadows! I was wounded last time, so I couldn't join everything, so this will be my first time," Iceheart told him.
Ripplespots dropped the leaves he had gathered in the pile of other stuff they had found.
"Whoa, I found a lot of feathers here!" Dewslip gasped.
Iceheart bounded over to him. "What kind?" he asked.
