A/N: This is reposted, because I accidentally messed it up last time I posted it.

Anyway, I think I did alright on this. My inspiration for this one-shot came pretty suddenly, and definitely unexpected: from the song "Hate Not Gone" by Stone Sour on my iPod. Weird, right? :)

Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, I don't own any of the characters mentioned, no copyright infringement was intended, I'm (sadly) not making any money off this one-shot, and... yeah, that's about it. :)

Trespasser

Hollyleaf dropped her prey on the fresh-kill pile, feeling self-conscious. In her hunting patrol, Birchfall had brought back a blackbird and a mouse; Berrynose had caught a thrush and a vole; Cinderheart had added a plump starling to the pile; and even Icepaw had done well, bringing back two mice.

But what had Hollyleaf caught? A single scrawny vole. For StarClan's sake, it was mid-newleaf! The prey was running wildly, yet that was all she had managed to catch.

After setting down her prey, Hollyleaf trotted over to Brambleclaw, who was busy organizing more sunhigh patrols just below Highledge.

"Squirrelflight, lead a patrol on the ShadowClan border," the deputy was saying.

Squirrelflight nodded, running off and calling, "Foxpaw! Whitewing! Lionblaze!"

Brambleclaw then turned to Hollyleaf. "Do you need something?"

"Yes," she said. "Can I go on a solo hunting patrol? I hardly brought back any prey just now."

Brambleclaw blinked. "Hollyleaf, you're one of ThunderClan's best hunters. I'm sure you'll do better next time, and besides, the Clan has plenty to eat right now. But if you feel like you need to, then go ahead."

Hollyleaf dipped her head. "Thank you." Then, without another word, she padded toward the camp entrance and then made her way through the bramble screen, out into the forest.

Hollyleaf opened her jaws, taking in the scents around her. After a moment, she detected something that made her mouth water: thrush. She fell into the hunting crouch, silently moving toward the prey that was not yet visible to her. She could hear it going toward the WindClan border.

Finally, the thrush came into sight, sitting peacefully on a dark tree root. She stalked toward it, about to leap. But then it opened its wings and began to flutter away.

No! Hollyleaf jumped at it, trying in vain to catch it midair. But it was already too high up, and just barely escaped her claws.

Hollyleaf landed back on the ground, annoyed. Then another scent hit her, distracting her away from her emotions: mouse. She turned around as quietly as she could, guessing from its scent that it was about two tree-lengths away. She followed the scent, and soon spotted the plump mouse resting on a rock. She carefully stalked it, leaping when she was close enough. But she didn't land quite right. Rather than slamming her paw down on the body of the mouse, she slammed her paw on the very tip of its tail. It squeaked, yanking its tail away and skittering off. Hollyleaf, determined to lay it on the fresh-kill pile, gave chase. But just as she thought she had it, she stumbled over a tree root, falling onto her belly and giving the rat just enough time to escape.

Hollyleaf stood back up, suddenly consumed by her frustration. Without thinking, she furiously unsheathed her claws and slashed one paw across a tree trunk, sending pieces of bark flying. It had been like this all day! She would get so close, but the prey would always manage to escape her! Earlier, she had suspected that the prey was accidentally being alerted by the cats on her hunting patrol, but apparently that wasn't the case.

Hollyleaf stood there for a moment, fuming. Then she sighed, sliding her claws back in. She shouldn't lose her temper like that. Brambleclaw was right: she was a good hunter; today just wasn't her day. She decided that she would make up for it tomorrow, and catch a hawk if she could. But she wanted to bring something back to the camp right now, so that it wouldn't seem like she had been wasting time coming out here...

There was a sudden, loud rustling just behind Hollyleaf - the sound of a chase. She spun around, slightly startled. A black pelt flashed past her. She didn't recognize the cat, but she recognized the scent that it carried.

WindClan! A WindClan cat had crossed the border!

Hollyleaf furiously chased after the cat, snarling, "Hey, rabbitface!"

The cat stopped dead in its tracks, just as it had its paw over a squirrel, its claws digging into the prey's back. The cat lifted its paw, freeing the creature. The grateful squirrel scurried away, blood welling on it where the cat's claws had been.

The black cat, a tom, turned to her. "What did you call me?" he growled.

Hollyleaf ignored his question. She recognized this arrogant tom now. "Don't you have enough prey on your territory, Breezepelt?"

"Yeah, but we could always use more."

Hollyleaf growled, leaping at him. She landed on his shoulders, digging in her claws. He yowled in pain, squirming wildly and escaping from her grasp, backing away from her.

He gave his ruffled pelt a shake. "You think that hurt?" he taunted.

"Judging from the way you cried, yeah," Hollyleaf said smoothly, crouching down. Some of her anger from earlier was beginning to flood back into her, and it felt great to have someone to vent it out on.

Before he could reply, she leaped at him again. He dodged out of the way, and she landed on her belly on the ground.

"You have no right to be here!" Hollyleaf spat furiously, scrambling back onto her paws.

Breezepelt fixed her with a mocking amber stare. "Why not?"

Hollyleaf glared into his eyes, breathing hard, half-crouched where she stood. They held each others challenging gazes in silence, sizing each other up. But after a few moments, a funny, light feeling began to stir in Hollyleaf's belly. For some reason, she couldn't hold his eyes any longer.

She broke their stare. "Because you're not a ThunderClan cat," she stated, not as strongly as before. She hated the way his eyes seemed to be making her melt.

He surprised her by taking a step closer to her. "Hollyleaf..." His voice suddenly sounded uncharacteristic, almost pleading. Hollyleaf briefly wondered if he had felt the same strange feeling right now.

In response, she thrust herself at him, knocking him over and roughly swiping at his exposed belly.

"Ow! Ow! Let me go!" he shrieked, struggling to escape her grip.

Giving him one last hard bite on his shoulder, Hollyleaf pushed him away from her. "Get out of here! I'm reporting you to Firestar!" she snarled.

Breezepelt glared at her. "Fine," he huffed. He met her eyes one last time before slinking away through the trees.

Hollyleaf could barely focus on her hunting after that little incident, but she was lucky enough to catch a squirrel with bloody fur on the way back to camp.

A/N: Don't forget to review! Reviews make me happy!

~Blazingstar

~A.K.A. Instant Noodles