Riverpaw and Wildpaw padded over to the exit of the camp, slipping past the entrance without being noticed.

Or Riverpaw thought they got out without them being noticed.

Horseplace here we come! Who needs Deeppaw, when we've got each other looking out for each other? He asked.

Sometimes, Riverpaw wondered why his clan had so little warriors. They probably had the least amount of cats in all five clans.

Though, right now was all about him and Wildpaw.

But, Riverpaw thought as the two's paw steps increased as they reached the mash-like part of their land.

"Quiet!" Wildpaw hissed as he slapped his tail over the gray tom's flank, stopping him.

Voices reached Riverpaw's ears.

They were familiar.

That's right. We don't want any of our clan mates finding out about this secret adventure, now do we?

Riverpaw flattens his ears and lowers his body.

Oh the punishments the two would get if they were found out about now. Proof that the neglect of a sister's love dragged them to go on a brotherly stroll to a place where no cat would want them to go.

One of the cats speaking was a well known cat, a brown-and-cream she-cat. Her name was Sapwhisker. She was the medicine cat of the clan.

It appears she is hunting for some sort of herb with Gingerbreeze.

The brown she-cat was searching with her green eyes for something too.

"Sapwhisker, so are you sure this is where they're supposed to be? I can't smell anything past the scent of fish." Gingerbreeze asked with a gentle Mew.

Sapwhisker gazed at the she-cat with green eyes in amusement.

"Keep smelling. You must get used to our scent and adapt to it." Sapwhisker advised her, dipping her head into the ground, taking in the scents of the water rippling nearby.

Sapwhisker's whiskers twitched.

"That's odd," she mewed.

"What is it?" Gingerbreeze wondered.

"Come on! I think Sapwhisker's scented us," Wildpaw hissed through his teeth. "We must get going to the Horseplace! I want to see all the strange creatures there!"

Wildpaw carefully pressed his paws forward. "When did you learn how to crouch and sneak like this?" Riverpaw whispered.

Wildpaw turned his orange-gray head towards his brother with a boastful demeanor.

Excitement glittered in the tom's Amber eyes as he explained himself to Riverpaw.

Riverpaw tilted his head.

"Hairfur taught me how to. It was a little lesson he taught me." Wildpaw commented.

"Oh. Well, you need to teach me that sometime." Riverpaw remarked.

"I'm sure Iceclaw will be glad to teach you how to sneak to hunt and attack soon." Wildpaw purred.

"I sure hope so," Riverpaw whispered back, the two sneaking as close to the ground as possible.

"Riverpaw and Wildpaw. I thought I smelled their scents. They're not supposed to be out of camp!" Sapwhisker exclaimed.

"Do we follow their scent?" Gingerbreeze wondered.

"Hurry!" Wildpaw hissed.

The two continued to sneak by the two suspecting she-cats.

Riverpaw pressed his belly to the ground, making sure not to rustle any leaves.

He was sure if he did they would surely hear them. The leaves would be crispy at this time. Or the leaves they did have.

It was more of a wet and squishy place than infiltrated with trees. There were some trees, but for the most part it was like WindClan's territory.

Except it was obviously better.

The two brothers snuck around as best as they could.

They weren't skilled ShadowClan cats that's for sure.

They didn't mask their scents at all.

It was a sudden decision. Might have been one of the more rash ones.

Riverpaw and Wildpaw hid in the grass.

Riverpaw could scent and spy a tree up ahead, but they were too far away to run towards it now.

"Yes, two apprentices out on their own? They're just begging for trouble," Sapwhisker meowed, licking a paw and drawing it over her ears.

Gentle strokes.

"I suppose it is our duty to watch over the young ones, but what sorts of danger and trouble are you talking about?" Gingerbreeze wonders.

Sapwhisker sighed.

"The apprentices were never told this, but there's dangerous cats within the Horseplace. We never allow them near the place, and since it borders us with WindClan we have no need to let them there anyways." The medicine cat whispered.

Riverpaw strained his ears to listen.

He couldn't make out the whole conversation. He just heard something about cats.

Cats! In the Horseplace?! Maybe we could recruit them and then maybe RiverClan won't seem so small! Riverpaw thought, almost bouncing with his excitement.

Of course he forgot to listen to the rest of the conversation, but these dangerous cats? Maybe they weren't so dangerous.

Sapwhisker is old. She only knows about how to worry for her clan. After all, she is the medicine cat, and she will be replaced soon by the next cat to be born and be made Apprentice.

Riverpaw flexed his claws.

The two she-cats padded away from the two apprentices who were hiding in plain sight.

They didn't appear to be that bright.

"Did you hear Sapwhisker?" He asked softly as he bounded after his brother.

"Yes," Wildpaw mewed in concern.

"Dangerous cats."

"Dangerous?" Riverpaw asked him.

"Sapwhisker sounded awfully worried about the clan." Wildpaw mewed.

"Maybe we shouldn't go."

"Are you mouse-brained?" Riverpaw hissed.

"You wanted an adventure. We got one. We could befriend these 'dangerous' cats. And then they might join us!" Riverpaw meowed.

"What?!" Wildpaw snapped, lashing his tail in anger.

"You're the mouse-brained one! You're saying we should make friends with dangerous cats?! Sapwhisker is wise. We don't stand a chance against them!" Wildpaw growled.

Riverpaw looked away.

"We should go back to the clan. This was such a bad idea. I don't want to deal with dangerous cats. The clan is already paws short already." Wildpaw meowed.

"But," Riverpaw began, eyes blazing with hope. Wildpaw snapped his head towards the gray tom. "That's exactly what we need. If we ask these cats to join us, then maybe we wouldn't have a hard time defending our borders. We would show those Fox-Hearted WindClan cats not to mess with RiverClan!" Riverpaw snapped, flicking his tail impatiently.

His head then dropped.

"Look, we are apprentices. Yes? Our duty is to help our clan by training to be the best warriors we can be, right?" He continued, kneading his paws into the soft, flesh-like, ground.

"Yes, but Riverpaw, throwing ourselves to some dangerous cats we know nothing about? That sounds like a load of fox-dung if we do this!" Wildpaw snapped.

Riverpaw's ears flattened.

He didn't want to fight his brother over this! But he was really curious. Were these cats really as dangerous as the worrywart Sapwhisker let on?

Did starclan tell this to Sapwhisker, or is Sapwhisker just being a crazy old she-cat?

Riverpaw has heard of cats such as Goosefeather, who interpreted signs from starclan wrong.

Could she be wrong about these cats?

Either way Riverpaw was sure there was only one way to find out.

He sighed.

"Well, I'm just curious. Are you not the same cat who wanted to go on an adventure with me? Tell me you're not believing the mouse-dung coming from that old bag of fleas?" Riverpaw snapped.

Curiosity was getting the better of him.

Wildpaw glances at his paws.

"No. Of course not! I'm surprised she hasn't fallen off her paws dead on the ground. It's just...if there truly is danger, then we could be in terrible danger. I just don't want us to be too rash on this," Wildpaw mewed.

Riverpaw places his tail on Wildpaw's shoulder.

He glances at the ground.

"Whatever we're getting into, we'll get into it together. I'm the rash one. You're just the wild one. Come on, you know you want to. You're starting to bounce. There's the brother I knew from my kithood," Riverpaw purred.

Wildpaw appeared to be bouncing all over the ground, leaving indentations to mark his little excited dance.

Was one of the mentors telling him to be more careful? Riverpaw wondered.

He liked his brother the way he is.

His brother was one of the more rambunctious apprentices.

He was the one who wanted to out and explore this place.

So why was he having second thoughts?

Is he growing more apart from me? I don't want that Deeppaw already does that for all three of us!

"Okay, but if we're outnumbered by four we are leaving." Wildpaw meowed.

"Of course!" Riverpaw purred lightly, smacking his brother with a paw.

Wildpaw seemed like he wanted to pounce on him.

Nope! Not today! Riverpaw though, launching himself forward to run faster.

His brother followed hard on his heels.

"Hey! What are you two doing near the human place with the horses?" A voice asked, mewing unfamiliar words to Riverpaw and his brother.

The two spun around, eyes meeting with yellow ones.

"Fox-dung!" Wildpaw hissed.

The two have been caught by a cream tom. A tough-looking, mean-looking tom with a scar on his face.
—————

Author's Note: Chapter five is out finally! Enjoy this! I'm sorry for the wait. At least it isn't nearly as bad as the others, right?

Who is this mysterious Tom, though? Is he one of the dangerous cats, or an entirely dangerous cat himself?

Tell me your thoughts in the comments.

Anyways, I'll be updating this perhaps once every day at least until chapter ten.

Thanks for reading and thanks for the support! 😘❤️😍