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 after the scare with the fresh-kill, the large tabby was weary of hunting close to the camp. luckily no one had gotten ill, thanks to sparrowpelt but smokeheart knew that it could've ended far worse than it had. that thought alone drew his paws from the heart of the pine marsh to the outskirts. carrion place had been a tempting place to hunt, but horror stories from elders about sicknesses that those rats could carry wouldn't let him hunt in good conscience. no, shadowclan was quickly becoming a dangerous place to hunt in the warriors opinion and while most of the fur covered creatures they hunted hailed from thunderclan across the path, smokeheart still wasn't confident in their viability.

the border between shadowclan and windclan was not one of the more heavily patrolled crossings, but smokeheart knew that even though windclan had reportedly been pushing the boundary, meeting a windclan cat was low. even if he did, he thought with a smile, he could single handedly take on an entire patrol of those flea bitten prairie cats. he would be lying if he said he didn't wish for it to happen.

as his paws met solid ground, a welcome reprieve from the wet that the late summer rains turned the marsh into, he let his jaws part, welcoming the scents that this part of the territory offered. an overwhelming scent of windclan assaulted his senses and the brutes' lipped curled as he clamped his jaws shut once more. he was still very much so on his side of the border, but the smell of windclan was too strong to let it slide. interestingly enough, however, there was only one scent that stood out to him, as opposed to a mixture that would signify a patrol. intrigued by who the wayward wanderer was, the shadowclan warrior sank low to the ground, feeling the slight tug at his belly as the fur grazed the earth. with one paw placed carefully in front of the other, smokeheart felt for a fleeting moment just how exposed he was without the shelter of the pines.

"you are treading awfully close to the border." his chest rumbled with a growl, vibrating through his body and his claws worked their way into the earth. he prayed that the cat would wander across the border so that he could rip his claws into something but as he came into view of the cat, he groaned heavily. "aspenstar. to what does shadowclan owe this honor?" smokeheart had really hoped it was a selfish warrior instead of windclans' leader. the chances of her crossing the border was pretty low. so much for an afternoon squabble. 

the shadowclan warrior regarded the windclan leader with a questioning gaze. there was little to no hostility coming from the black and white she-cat, and he found that rather . . . odd. he was simply a warrior, and he had just challenged blatantly challenged her. smokeheart had always known windclan to be the clan that posed the least amount of threat to shadowclan, but he didn't think that they learned it from their leader. smokeheart was more than little confused to say the least. at the mention of dogs, the tom felt the fur along his neck begin to rise. he had little to no experience with the creatures, but even he would be a fool to disregard the elders' warnings about them. even if aspenstar seemed to be a cat with no back bone, her concern meant that he should be concerned as well.

"dogs, hey?" he raised his eye brows, trying to draw attention away from the fear that was beginning to creep into his belly. looking around, and making a show of sniffing the air, he shrugged his shoulders and smirked. "i don't smell any dogs, so it looks like you wasted a trip." he may have been pushing it, testing the waters with the new windclan leader. he knew what he could, and couldn't get away with when it came to onyxfeather and darkstar, but it was always to push the boundaries with those who weren't directly involved with him. "border pushing?" the tom stiffened, this was the first he had heard of it, but oh how he wished he could've sank a few claws into whoever was dumb enough to try something like that with the cats of shadowclan. "haven't noticed that either. zero for two aspenstar." his tone was mocking, and his smirk turned into a sneer.

"i'm not that stupid, aspenstar." glaring at her, his claws slid from their protective sheaths and into the earth. he'd be damned if he let the she-cat trick him into believing what she had just said. "i will not be played for a fool, and have you turn around and come after shadowclan. you may appear meek, and weak willed, but do not mistake me for an apprentice." his words dissolving into a growl, he laid his ears back and bared his teeth.