Warriors: The Third Strike: Book Five: Trail of Malice

Chapter 5

[Heronwing's POV]

I was called to go onto a border patrol to check on the TideClan border. Robinheart and Desertpaw had been exploring the territory and ran across from TideClan warrior scent on our territory. Robinheart led the way, and I trailed behind him with Cherrywisp by my side. Desertpaw stayed near her mentor. I still had not truly decided if I liked Robinheart or not, but I had to defend my clan either way with this. It would be my chance to finally prove myself to Venomstar and even act like a hero in front of my mate. 

As we got closer to the border, I could smell the TideClan scent. It was fresh as well. I stayed on high alert as we slowed down to figure out where the scent was coming from. I tried following it, but it seemed to go over the border again, but I heard Desertpaw yell for us. 

"Over here! Help!" The small apprentice yowled. The three of us warriors rushed over to see four warriors standing over her, one of them with their paw on her tail. 

I let out a hiss, but Robinheart stepped in front of me. "Let her go and get off our territory. If you refuse to let my apprentice go, then I will have to go get Venomstar." The tom lashed his tail and showed his teeth in a snarl. The other warriors just stared at us and snarled back. 

The black tom that had his paw on Desertpaw's tail let out a snarl. "You have taken more territory from us anyways! We need that bit of territory back or we are going to starve!" He yowled in outrage.

I readied myself for any attack that could happen. We would be slightly outnumbered with Desertpaw not knowing too many fighting moves, but that black tom did seem a bit older. I didn't even remember our clan taking territory from TideClan. 

"What do you even mean, Batbreeze? We have not taken any territory from you except when LilyClan and SmallClan moved in. We had to take some territory or we would have very little room." Robinheart explained in a hiss. I watched as Desertpaw squirmed from under Batbreeze and it made my blood boil. I had known the female since she was born. "Anyways, doesn't your clan have that ocean to it's side. You can go fish! I am sure that there are plenty of fish over there!" Robinheart hissed out again. 

"The water has not been letting us have so many fish as usual, so we have to depend on our land! This is not going to be the last you hear from us if you do not give us some more territory." The black tom hissed as he lifted his paw off of Desertpaw's tail. The tan colored female raced back over to us and hid behind me with a whimper. 

Robinheart stepped up to the black tom. "Come onto our territory again and we will have to fight. This is the territory we agreed upon, so if you have a problem, tell the leaders at the gathering." He hissed before watching the TideClan warriors head across the border.