It was past sunhigh. The sun was no longer directly overhead, and as it crawled lower into the sky, the forest began to cool. In the pinkish light of the approaching evening, a broad-shouldered cat shape stalked slowly through the undergrowth, muscles rippling beneath its dark tabby pelt. Glowing amber eyes burned through the undergrowth as the cat surveyed the area around it. The cat paused and tasted the air. He was in ThunderClan territory now, near Snakerocks. The cat, Tigerstar, had once been a ThunderClan warrior, previously named Tigerclaw, but his own ambition was too powerful and he secretly murdered cats of his own Clan in order to move up in rank. He was exiled when it was revealed that he had conspired against his Clan and its leader, Bluestar. He went to ShadowClan after that, power thirsty once more. Nightstar had died, and without a leader, ShadowClan readily accepted Tigerclaw’s persuasive promises of peace. He became their leader, taking on the name Tigerstar.

Tigerstar padded up to the rocks, named for the adders that inhabited them. Opening up like a mouth was a crevice in the rocks, large enough to shelter big animals – including dogs. A pack of dogs had gotten loose in the forest, and they were making their temporary home there, as Tigerstar knew. He had observed them living there, and been bringing them dead rabbits each day as a meal for a while now. No other cat knew about his daily feedings. Tigerstar disappeared back into the underbrush, and reappeared with a dead rabbit hanging from his jaws. He laid it at the entrance of the cave and disappeared once again, this time reappearing with two more rabbits. These he lay slightly farther from the cave: one, then the other a few tails lengths away. He continued this for quite a while until he had made a trail, leading all the way to the entrance of the gorse tunnel that led into the ThunderClan camp.

Tigerstar had been surveying his work, when suddenly he scented another cat. It was approaching his position, and he crouched low in the grass, his tail twitching, his burning amber eyes staring straight ahead towards the direction the scent was coming from. There was a rustle, and out from the undergrowth came a pretty she-cat, padding silently up towards his position. Tigerstar recognized the tortoiseshell she-cat as Brindleface, a ThunderClan queen who was mother to three young warriors; two hers, one adopted but loved just as much. The tortoiseshell paused abruptly as if she had scented something. Her eyes grew wide as she recognized Tigerstar’s scent, even though it must have been mostly mixed with ShadowClan scent by now. Brindleface cautiously stepped forward, but before she could go a considerable distance, Tigerstar sprang at her, pinning her down without giving her time to even yelp in surprise. The she-cat struggled, biting Tigerstar on the foreleg with plenty of strength. The pain made Tigerstar flinch, but he had superior power over the small queen. Without hesitating, he leaned down and gave her a killing bite to the throat. The queen struggled very briefly for a second or two more, before she went limp underneath him. Wasting no time, Tigerstar stood and picked up Brindleface’s body in his jaws. He silently padded forward, and lay her body down at the entrance to the camp. The trap was set; the trail of rabbits would lead the dog pack right up to the camp, where they would find Brindleface’s body, giving them a taste for cat blood. His revenge on ThunderClan was inevitable. He surveyed his work for a second longer, then sprang away into the bushes.