Riverpaw huffed, not voicing how much he didn't want this mouse-brained loner to come with them. He didn't want to be rude to Pearl, after all he was only looking out for him.

But he's literally stalking me like a piece of prey!

"Alright, then." He growled lowly.

"If that's all, then let's go! I can't wait to taste fish tonight!" Zinnia purred loudly, her eyes shut in enjoyment. Her usual golden yellow eyes narrowed to just her brown-red furry face.

Her orange-red striped tail swaying to-and-fro like she was making it seem like a couple of river reed.

Gecko nodded, her yellow eyes glowing bright in the sunset. It was the perfect time to hunt.

Riverpaw just hoped they didn't run into trouble. As much as he wanted to be friends, he wasn't sure if he could handle being in too much trouble. Just the right amount.

A gray tom with Amber eyes padded up next to Zinnia with a smaller—yet somehow more menacing—similar looking tom besides him.

Were they brothers?

Curious, Riverpaw approached them. The gray tom with Amber eyes got startled for a moment.

It was clear this tom was way older than most of the cats here. He almost seemed like an elder to Riverpaw.

"Hello!" Riverpaw chirped to the two. "I don't believe we met. I'm Riverpaw." He meowed, dipping his head respectively to the two toms.

The gray tom with Amber eyes immediately looked away. " I know who you are." He mumbled, turning his head towards Gecko. "And...that's unfortunate."

Riverpaw tilted his head in confusion.

The other gray tom immediately spoke. "My brother doesn't seem to want to talk. I'm Stream. Nice to meet you Riverpaw. Stripes, why don't you say hi to the rogue's new friend?" The gray tom meowed softly, shoving the apparent Stripes with a shoulder.

"I don't see why I should. He should go back to his clan." Stripes mumbled, glancing at the ground.

It was weird. Riverpaw didn't understand what he did to the tom to make him hate him right away. And it's rude to ignore someone, especially someone who just wants to be your friend.

"Why? Why should I? I'm having so much fun here, Stripes." Riverpaw meowed, trying out the toms name.

Stripes just stared at him with his light Amber eyes, emotions clearly welling in them that were unknown to Riverpaw. Riverpaw didn't know why this tom was acting so weird around him.

He never got this far with the tom, though. For that, he was celebrating on the inside.

Why was the tom called Stripes? Because he had a white stripe going down from the top of his head to the beginning of his nose.

"Well, whatever." Stripes mumbled, glancing at his brother—his brother just confusingly gazed back at Stripes, his similar light Amber eyes blinking at him.

"Is he usually like this?" Riverpaw asked Stream. Stream's ear twitched at the sound.

Stream sighed. "Nope. He's usually willing to meet others. I don't know why he doesn't want to meet you."

Zinnia bounces nearby. "Are we going? Are we going?" She asked, her excitement for the hunt clearly showing.

Gecko chuckled. "Yes, if that's fine with Riverpaw, Stripes, and Stream." Gecko remarked, eyeing Stripes and Riverpaw like there was something going on.

Riverpaw ignored her gaze, nodding with confirmation. "Yes. We can go." He meowed, turning his head to see what Stream and Stripes thought.

The two kin nodded their heads. "Fine by me." Stream meowed. "Yes. We can leave. The sooner the better." Stripes meowed, lowering his gaze to Riverpaw's. His eyes betrayed reminiscence for a second before the tom shook his head.

There was something familiar about Stripes to Riverpaw, but he couldn't place his claw on what it could be.

He knew they both had similar pelts and their bodies seemed similar.

Riverpaw didn't question it further when Gecko's tail tip pressed against his nose. He sneezed.

"Got your head in the clouds, Riverpaw?" Gecko asked. Riverpaw ducked his head away.

"Sorry. We should get going." He meowed as Gecko purred. "Lead the way." She meowed.

Riverpaw nodded. He took a deep breath, gulping a bit. Fear gripped his heart as he took the first paw step back into his territory.

I hope no one sees us, he prays as he slinks closely to the ground. It was as if he was hunting land prey.

Riverpaw knew well enough how to catch fish. He caught his first piece half a moon ago. And his skills got better with each practice and each hunt.

I might be a young apprentice, but I've got the true hunter skills of a great warrior! He thought as he carefully halted.

His fur stood on end as he recognized a Dusk Patrol from a couple of fox lengths away.

"Hide!" He hissed, whispering as quietly as possible.

The cats behind him scattered in a panic. They hid behind trees, in the grass, anywhere. Riverpaw wasn't sure if they were hidden enough, but he pressed himself in the tall grass, feeling wet water cling to his dry fur.

Luckily, they were on the other side of the river, so even if the patrol noticed they wouldn't be spiteful that the rogues crosses into RiverClan territory.

Pearl was the only cat who was standing up.

The patrol consisted of Sharktooth—his eyes were scanning everything carefully, Moonshine and his apprentice Deeppaw—who finally seemed to not be around Melonpaw this time, and Chargefoot.

Marigoldpaw wasn't with them either. Sharktooth must have taken her out earlier.

"That's a small patrol," Zinnia whispered from besides Riverpaw. "Yeah." Riverpaw meowed bluntly.

"They must be short on cats," Stripes meowed with sympathy, his Amber eyes fixated on Riverpaw's mother, Chargefoot.

"That's so sad!" Gecko exclaimed, her breath still coming in whispers.

"We could easily topple them and get rid of them." Kelp meowed.

"Hey!" Riverpaw quietly spat.

The rogues attention was caught when Stream hushed them. Sharktooth's nose was in the air, deeply inhaling a scent.

His dark green eyes searching for the source of the scent.

His eyes found their way on Pearl, who was just looking around with his yellow eyes. He was obviously protecting Riverpaw from his clan's search.

The idea the cream tom was willing to pretend he wasn't there was heartwarming to the young gray tom.

He's way too loyal for a loner. Riverpaw notes, continuing to hide. He pressed himself into the grass as close to the earth as he could.

Sharktooth indicates to the patrol to follow him with a light twitch of his tail. Chargefoot, Moonshine, and Deeppaw followed him, their pelts beginning to bush out.

Pearl's not even on our territory! Why are they approaching him like he's going to cross the border?! Riverpaw wondered, feeling the fur on his neck fluff up.

Sharktooth and the rest of Riverpaw's clanmates leaped over the River to meet with Pearl. Aggression showing in every single eye except Deeppaw's, of which shown confusion.

Sharktooth skidded up to Pearl. The tom's dark eyes sharp with anger.

"What are you doing so close to RiverClan territory?" Sharktooth demanded, ears flattening and teeth bared.

Sharktooth was prepared to attack if needed.

Sharktooth was obviously trying to assert his dominance over Pearl.

Despite Sharktooth's aggression and threat to attack, Pearl's demeanor didn't change. The calmness in his eyes showing Sharktooth his question was futile in trying to spook him.

"What? Can't a loner just hang by the river because he's thirsty? You would keep this river to yourself just because you want territory?" Pearl quires, lifting a paw to his jaws.

Pearl gave a couple of licks to the tips of the paw before pressing it against the top of his head to smooth the fur sticking up from it.

Sharktooth unsheathes his claws. "Well, don't think about crossing this river. And hunting in this river is prohibited. Only RiverClan is allowed to hunt here." Sharktooth snarls, dogging his claws into the ground, making intentional marks.

Pearl dips his head. "Of course, only clan cats can hunt there." He meowed  friendliness in his voice.

Sharktooth growled. "You should probably leave." The tom meowed.

Pearl's tail twitched playfully. "I will. I don't need watching over by strange cats, but thanks for the warning." He meowed.

Sharktooth scoffed and he turned tail, clan mates following him.

Why was Sharktooth so mad thinking Pearl could cross into RiverClan territory? What does he know about Pearl? Riverpaw wondered as the clan cats became dots in the horizon.

After the dots disappeared, Pearl sighed, relaxing. "They're gone, Riverpaw. Your clanmates are scary." Pearl meowed, shivering slightly.

Riverpaw lifted himself back to his paws.

The cats around him let out breaths they've been holding.

"Is everyone alright?" Gecko asked, shaking out her brown tabby pelt before searching with her golden yellow eyes for her rogues.

Artic popped up, shaking water out of his white pelt, his Amber eyes filled with disgust. "Let's not do that again please!" He meowed squeamishly.

The red she cat with a white chest purred with amusement. Her Amber eyes glowed with it. Riverpaw remembered her name was Petunia. She was really nice when she wasn't sleeping.

Junco let out a Murrow of laughter, as well as the brown tabby she-cat Whale.

Riverpaw just rolled his eyes. These rogues have a weird sense of humor. He thought as he turned his head towards the sun, which was lowering and the moon was rising higher, shining on the river below.

But I like it, he ponders with a small smile.
—————

Authors note: If I made any serious mistakes like eye colors please let me know.

Anyways, thank you to everyone who voiced their opinions on the covers from chapter 11. So far it seems the second one might be a winner...

Though I'm not sure. I might wait for a few more opinions.

Anyways, what do you think of Stripes and Stream? And what do you think of Petunia and Kelp? Let me know your thoughts on all the characters so far.

Also, I'm not sure how important the other four clans will be in this story specifically, but would you guys like for me to show the other clans and such? If yes I might need help choosing leaders and which cats from my apprentice naming book to include. I'm think Shrew, Rabbit, and so on.

Anyways, thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy! ❤️❤️❤️ I appreciate all the support so far, and can't wait to see how this grows!