Clearlight's POV:
As the sun rose, Clearlight trudged out of the Warriors den. His paws dragged on the ground and he yawned. A pang of hunger from his empty stomach made him flinch momentarily.
Throughout the past three days, prey had drastically decreased and hunting patrols were lucky to even catch the whiff of a mouse anymore. Clearlight sent out patrol after patrol but every time they came back with nothing. Even the Leaf-bare Hunting Grounds were empty.
Border patrols were rarely sent out more than once every two days and Clearlight was worried the other clans might take their territory if they didn't start strengthening their borders.
"Clearlight?" Dawnheart's voice whispered from behind him and he twisted around to face the grey and silver she cat. Her fur wasn't groomed well, her eyes were tired and her ears drooped. "Shall we send out the patrols?"
"Yes." Clearlight dipped his head and was about to raised his voice to call the other warriors out but Nutwhisker interrupted him.
"Silverstar lost a life!"
Clearlight gasped, "When?"
"Just past moonhigh!" Nutwhisker blinked his green eyes rapidly and leaned closer to Dawnheart and Clearlight, "She only has one left!"
Dawnheart reeled backwards with a shocked yowl, "One?! At this time? When both leader and deputy are sick and the rest of the clan is starving to death?!" She glared up at the sky, "Great Starclan we won't survive much longer of this."
Clearlight dipped his head solemnly, "But we will go down fighting if the worse does occur."
Nutwhisker spoke up, "We need catmint. Without catmint, every cat will die."
"But we don't have any catmint in our territory." Dawnheart meowed with a confused look at the medicine cat.
"Exactly. We need to look outside our territory." Nutwhisker twitched his whiskers.
"The other clans will never give us any herbs." Clearlight growled and unsheathed his claws. He didn't want to talk about herbs. He needed to send out the hunting patrols.
So they can waste their energy and bring back nothing? Clearlight's pessimistic side thought.
"Who said anything about giving?" Nutwhisker grinned. "I've planned it out. I know it's breaking the Warrior code but since Starclan isn't around anymore, we don't have to listen to them. We send a patrol of maybe three warriors plus me and Shinepaw-"
"Shinepaw? You're bringing your apprentice into this?" Dawnheart questioned with a nervous flick of her tail.
"It would be a great experience for her." Nutwhisker replied. "Anyway. The patrol would go into Monsterclan, since they haven't yet shown any aggressiveness to us, and steal some of their catmint."
"You know Nutwhisker," Dawnheart remarked. "Sometimes I really worry about you. You have a weird way of looking at things at times."
"But if it works, then everyone is saved." Nutwhisker retorted.
"But," Clearlight countered with a blunt expression, "if it doesn't work? We get attacked and killed by a Monsterclan patrol."
"It's worth the risk." Watersplash's voice sounded as she approached them. "Without catmint, we are doomed."
"Without prey we are doomed!" Clearlight yowled.
"Yes, but with catmint we can heal our sick and get more warriors hunting. Ever thought of that?" Watersplash raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Oh come on Clearlight. I know you want to do this."
Clearlight sighed. "Fine. I guess we could do it... But I get to be on the patrol!"
"Of course! You are the only fit cat left with powers." Nutwhisker hissed.
Dawnheart rolled her eyes. "Now, when are we doing this?"
"Tonight." Nutwhisker and Watersplash meowed in unison.
"Very well." Dawnheart smiled. "Tonight it is."
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Nutwhisker's POV:
At night began to fall, the patrol got ready to head out.
Nutwhisker stood with Clearlight, Dawnheart, Bumblestrike and Shinepaw . Only three fighting cats and two medicine cats. Five cats in total. Nutwhisker was glad Clearlight and Dawnheart chose Bumblestrike. The grey tom was strong and ready for a battle but also stealthy and a brilliant stalker.
Dawnheart and Clearlight stood by the entrance as Nutwhisker and Shinepaw apprached them. Bumblestrike trotted from the warriors den, shaking his head sleepily.
"You okay Bumblestrike?" Nutwhisker asked the tom as he reached their side.
"Fine. I'm just a bit tired." He added, "And hungry.."
Clearlight nodded grimly, "We're all hungry. But hopefully by collecting these herbs, we can heal our sick and get more cats hunting."
"Correct." Dawnheart agreed and swept her silvery-grey tail across the ground. "Let's go now. The sun has set."
Clearlight turned and trotted out towards the forest with Dawnheart following closelt behind. Nutwhisker stayed close to Shinepaw to make sure she was okay. Bumblestrike took the rear.
They trotted quickly in silence. The only sound was the quiet thrumming of their paws on the forest floor. The moon shone eerily down on them, casting light through the trees overhead.
As they neared the border, Nutwhisker felt something cold fall on his muzzle and he sneezed. He shook his head and looked up and gasped. "It's snowing!"
Everyone looked up and Shinepaw gasped, "Whoa snow looks awesome!"
"This means Leaf-bare is upon us." Dawnheart meowed. "Let's hope it doesn't snow too much tonight."
Clearlight grunted, "Keep quiet now. We are going to cross over." The grey tom slowly edged forwards and sniffed the air. Dawnheart followed his lead and after a few heartbeats, Clearlight flicked his tail behind him. It was the signal to cross over.
Clearlight dived over the border and into the cover of the bushes. Dawnheart stalked behind a tree. Bumblestrike slunk behind a clump of bushes beside Dawnheart. Nutwhisker watched the three grey coloured cats before choosing his and Shinepaw's spot. A nice and thick bush stood close to where Clearlight was and Nutwhisker padded slowly towards it with Shinepaw following.
The overwhelming scent of Monsterclan told Nutwhisker he had officially crossed the border and he felt his fur bristle. It felt wrong to be doing this. But his clanmates were dying, they needed the catmint.
"This way." Clearlight's whisper sounded and the grey tom slunk further into Monsterclan's territory. Nutwhisker followed, keeping his nose in the air to try and find catmint. He didn't know where Monsterclan's herbs were.
Shinepaw meowed softly, "This is scary..."
Nutwhisker could feel his apprentice quivering beside him and he twisted around to see they were that far from the border yet. "If you want, you can cross back over to our side and wait for us there. You can keep watch for patrols too."
Shinepaw nodded, "Thanks Nutwhisker. Good luck." She mewed and scurried away, back to Lightclan's side of the forest.
Nutwhisker watched her go, making sure he saw her cross over safely. Then he turned back and trotted to catch up with Clearlight, Dawnheart and Bumblestrike.
"Is this catmint?" Clearlight meowed as he sniffed at a herb.
Nutwhisker sniffed the air and shook his head. "Nope, that's just mallow."
"Do we need it?" Dawnheart asked.
"Yes," Nutwhisker meowed. "But we can't steal all of their herbs. That would be a full-on attack on their herbs. Then what? They'd be in our camp and attacking us in our nests in an instant."
"Fair point." Dawnheart mused and quickly looked around them in case there was a Monsterclan patrol about.
Suddenly, Bumblestrike burst forwards and a loud screech of a squirrel was heard before the warrior came back carrying a plump squirrel in his jaws.
"Nice catch." Dawnheart meowed with a small smile.
"Thanks." Bumblestrike smiled back.
Clearlight sighed quietly from beside Dawnheart, "We can't search their entire territory for catmint in one night. Our scent would be everywhere and that wouldn't help matters at all..."
Nutwhisker pricked his ears. "Wait! I think I can smell it!" He sniffed the air and gasped. "Yes! That's it! Catmint! Follow me." He took off at a quick trot towards the scent and soon he came upon the herb. He smiled and immediately took a few in his jaws.
Clearlight and Dawnheart arrived a few heartbeats later and Nutwhisker pawed them their own bits to carry. Nutwhisker picked up his bundle. He made sure to leave enough for Stripeleaf and Jaysong to take. He didn't want to leave them with nothing.
"Let's go back." Clearlight mumbled between his catmint bundle and trotted away, keeping his body low to the ground.
The rest of the patrol followed closely behind him and soon they reached the border. They crossed over and Nutwhisker saw Shinepaw running towards them from further along the border. "Monsterclan patrol!" She yowled in panic and ran deeper into the Lightclan forest.
Nutwhisker gasped and nearly dropped his bundle of herbs but quickly regained his hold on them and took off after Shinepaw. Clearlight and Dawnheart raced slightly ahead of him and Bumblestrike right behind.
"Come back here you prey-stealers!" An angry yowl came from further back and Nutwhisker cast a glance behind him to see a patrol of three Monsterclan cats pacing at the border, not crossing over it thank Starclan.
"Faster!" Shinepaw's fearful gasp was heard from ahead.
Nutwhisker meowed, "They aren't following us!"
"Oh!" Clearlight slowed to a stop along with Shinepaw and Dawnheart. Bumblestrike and Nutwhisker veered sideways so that they didn't crash into Clearlight's rear.
The patrol stood, panting. The Monsterclan patrol stood stiffly at the border, their gaze plastered onto them. Nutwhisker felt uncomfortable under their hard gazes and he meowed, "Shall we head back to camp?"
"Yeah. But no need to run this time." Clearlight answered and took off at a slow trot.
Nutwhisker followed slowly after.
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