Slatepaw awoke the next morning at dawn. There, he saw a blue-grey she-cat sleeping peacefully in front of him. He didn't wake her up, for he didn't want to get slaughtered for his first full day here at this new clan. The Siamese tom slowly arose, glancing upon the somewhat-trying-to-be apprentice den, not many apprentices stared back at him. What caught his eyes was a golden tom. A golden tom also sleeping peacefully. Everything was peaceful, until...
    "Juniperstar! It's Toothpaw! He's... He's..." The booming voice woke up majority of the apprentices den, a silver tom still sleeping. "What is Rosethorn rambling about now?" The golden tom from before groaned, obviously annoyed. The blue-grey she-cat chimed in, "Brackenpaw, no need to be annoyed... Besides, Rosethorn sounds like it's urgent.." She perked up, immediately standing up. The apprentices, besides the silver tom from before, trotted out of the den.
    There, in the bright dawn light, laid a yellow-white apprentice corpse. Juniperstar trotted out of her den, her eyes widening. Slatepaw glanced around, confused. A bunch of questions ran across his mind as cats exited their dens to see what was happening. The she-cat apprentice immediately ran over to the corpse, crystal tears running down her face as she yelled out the cat's name, "Toothpaw! Toothpaw... What happened, Rosethorn? How did he die?!" She said urgently. The lily-white she-cat named Rosethorn's eyes scanned the ground, as if she were searching for the right words to say. "He... A Thunderclan warrior! They slaughtered Toothpaw!" She exclaimed, Juniperstar and a light brown tom with white spots in his pelt perking up. "We need to teach them not to kill our clan members, Juniperstar! We need to teach Thunderclan lesson!" He hissed, Juniperstar nodded. The she-cat leader ordered, "Leopardstep. You and Sandrunner are going to bury the body. Me, Leafstorm, Longtuft and Slatepaw are going to talk some common knowledge into Narrowstar." A leopard-furred tom nodded, standing. He and a sandy-colored tom trotted towards the body. Slatepaw glanced at Juniperstar, the she-cat gritted her teeth as her emerald green eyes shot a look at Longtuft.

    "Where is Narrowstar?" Juniperstar hissed as they entered Thunderclan's camp. Slatepaw glanced around the camp, his ears flattening. This place was way different from Juniperclan's camp, like way different. "Junipertongue... I heard that you're here for Narrowstar. Why do you want to see her?" A cream tom with dark green eyes and white tail tip hissed at Juniperstar, Leafstorm's ears flattening. "Don't talk to Juniperclan's leader like that, Thunderclan leaf-brain!" He spat, the other tom's tail flicked violently as he trotted into a den. "Juniperstar? What's happening?" Slatepaw asked, concern and fear shaking in his voice. The creamy she-cat sighed angrily, resting her gaze on the newest apprentice. Slatepaw swiftly glanced up at Longtuft, to which he flattened his ears against his head. "You see, Slatepaw... I'm about to make Narrowstar into Crow-food." The leader hissed angrily as a pale brown she-cat stumbled towards the cats.
    "Ah! Junipertongue! I haven't seen you since you were 57 moons!" The she-cat meowed, unusually delighted to see Juniperstar. The way that the cat purred her name sent chills down Slatepaw's spine, although he felt safe near Longtuft. Juniperstar hissed at her, "Why are you killing my warriors, Narrowstar?! They are in our own territory, not yours." Narrowstar had a shocked expression on her face, as if she didn't know her warriors were slaughtering Juniperclan cats. Juniperstar's claws unsheathed as she asked one more time, this time Narrowstar responding, "There is absolutely no reason to complain to me, Juniperstar. This isn't a twoleg's nests. We don't claim territory and everyone goes along with it. This is the wild, and in the wild, you have to battle for your territory." Narrowstar narrowed her eyes at her, Leafstorm boiling with rage. "We did battle for our territory! But we don't have much since you Thunderclan leaf-brains keep stealing ours!" The tom deputy spat, Juniperstar turned towards Slatepaw and Longtuft. Slatepaw had a bad feeling that Juniperstar was going to tell him to prepare for war, but instead of her saying "get prepared", she whispered to the apprentice, "Go get the rest of Juniperclan. The only exception will be Morningwind, since she's a queen." She then whipped her head towards Longtuft, "As for you, Longtuft, go get our ally, Shadowclan. Make sure that they know you're from Juniperclan, as they will murder you if they don't know."

    Slatepaw and Longtuft entered their clan's camp, several cats rushing towards them. "Where's Juniperstar and Leafstorm? Are they dead? Does Halfheart need to appoint a new leader?" A silver tom apprentice ran up to them, a sinister smirk on his face. Slatepaw instantly became scared, Why would he be smirking? Did he want Leafstorm and Juniperstar gone? He thought to himself. Longtuft sighed, taking Slatepaw out of his thoughts. "Leafstorm and Juniperstar are fine. They just want us to go get the clan, since they're about to battle Thunderclan..." The tom apprentice's smirk fell from his face, as if he were disappointed by them not being dead. "Alright... Come on, Morningwind, we have a war to attend to... Another one." A dusty brown tom whipped his head towards the only queen in the clan. "No, Juniperstar said she could stay, since she was a queen." Slatepaw muttered, the tom facing him, "I'm not as gullible as you think, kittypet. I know what Juniperstar would order and what she wouldn't. I know, for a fact, she'd want every single cat present." He snapped, the queen leaving the nursery and padding towards the tom.

    "Well, that was a nightmare..." Slatepaw mumbled to Longtuft. The mushy grounds of Shadowclan territory filled him with disgust, but it didn't seem to bother Longtuft, so the Siamese apprentice acted like it didn't bother him, either. "Yeah, it was..." Longtuft replied after a moment of silence, flicking his tail as his large paws stomped through the muddy grounds. A dark grey tom approached the two, an angered look on his face. "What are you two doing? Planning to attack Shadowclan?!" He yowled, his claws unsheathed. Longtuft shook his head, denying the cat's assumption, "No, we aren't. We're only here because Juniperclan needs your help." The cat arched his back, lifting up his head as he heard Longtuft's words. His bright hazel eyes scanned the two, his tail flicked violently as he narrowed his eyes. Slatepaw flattened his ears as the cat's chilling words crept down his spine, "So, let me guess, Juniperclan and Thunderclan are going to go back to war due to territory issues, correct?" Longtuft sighed, explaining the situation to the warrior, "That's a bit of the reason... Here's a quick summary; Thunderclan warriors are slaughtering Juniperclan cats, Juniperstar claims that they are on their own territory, Thunderclan was apparently stealing ours, and I'm assuming that the argument is getting more heated and about to get violent." Slatepaw nodded, confirming the long-haired tom's words.
    "Who's this, Rockslip?" A dark grey, almost black, she-cat asked him as the three trotted into the clan's camp. The somewhat brown tom whipped his head towards the she-cat, narrowing his eyes and responding with, "Where's your mate, Smokeleap? Oh, right, running with Starclan. Let me guess, you're going to try to convince this Juniperclan warrior to be your mate, correct?" The dark grey she-cat hung her head as if that was what she was going to do. "I thought so. Listen, he-" The tom was cut off by the she-cat approaching Longtuft, narrowing her eyes and flicking her tail, "So, I assume you're in Juniperclan... And that's the only reason why Rockslip didn't slaughter you on the spot... Correct?" She whispered, Slatepaw nodding. He didn't want to be involved in this conversation, he just wanted to tell Shadowclan's leader to help out his clan.
    "What is happening over here, Smokeleap? Rockslip?" A long-haired, dark grey tom trotted over, along with a black she-cat with white patches. Slatepaw stared in shock, Is this the leader of Shadowclan? He thought, He does look scary... And who's the cat next to him? His mate? Rockslip's eyes swiftly made their way over to the cats, "Ah, Stormstar, Badgerclaw... You see, Juniperclan cats are here to explain a war currently happening between Thunderclan and their own clan." He mewed, the black she-cat arching her back as she spoke to Slatepaw and Longtuft, "Ah, another war, huh? Well, Shadowclan's at your side, Juniperclan cats. Now, lead us to the war." Stormstar glanced at her. "Badgerclaw, I am Shadowclan's leader, and I make the-"
    "Slatepaw! Longtuft!" A blue-grey Juniperclan apprentice rushed into the clan's camp, multiple fresh scars on her. "Oh- Shadowclan! Hurry to Thunderclan immediately!" Stormstar ordered, multiple cats running as fast as they could to the territory. "Paleleap, take care of this apprentice. When she is doing better, send her back to Juniperclan." Badgerclaw ordered, a pale yellow tom exited the medicine den, staring right at the blue-grey apprentice. "Ah, alright, come on in." He meowed, her trotting into the den. Stormstar faced Longtuft and Slatepaw, narrowing his bright blue eyes as he meowed, "As for you two, you shall repay Shadowclan for our kindness." Slatepaw flicked his tail, confusion filling up his facial expression, "What..? What do you want us to repay you with? Aren't we allies?" Badgerclaw barked out a laugh, replying with, "Shadowclan doesn't work like that, apprentice. For every time Shadowclan helps someone, they have to repay us. It might be fresh-kill from their clan's territory, or it could be a cat. It's a bit of a mystery." Stormstar nodded, his tail swayed slowly as he explained what he wanted from Juniperclan, to which Slatepaw and Longtuft stared in shock. "W-what?! No way! We're not giving up our clan's deputy!" Longtuft hissed, Stormstar's eyes narrowed at him, as if he had just made mistake.