Kagome and her friends were at school having fun. It was recess and they were out of bounds. they were at the front of the school up near the road. Kagome and her best friend Sango didn't care about getting into trouble but their other friends did, Ayame went back into the school yard and Koga, Miroku and Inuyasha followed.

Kagome and Sango shrugged, their friends hated getting into trouble because of their strict parents.

Sango sat down by the gutter and held out a can, pretending to be homeless and begging for money.

As if on a signal a black van stopped in front of them, a man got out and shoved Sango aside as she got up and he grabbed Kagome, shoving her in the van before taking off again.

Kagome opened her eyes, she was in the back of the van with two men in the front, "Who are you and what do you want with me?" she asked.

"Shut up," one man said, "We're hitmen, and your parents are dead."

Kagome shrunk to the back of the van, Are they gonna kill me to? she thought.

Then she looked out the window, she saw the forest, she always wondered what the forest contained and what it would be like to live in it, but now she had other things on her mind, like escaping.

Then as if someone had sent it to her she had an idea, when the men weren't looking she kicked the side door open and jumped out, hitting the ground hard as she rolled. Then she got up and saw the van stop, the men got out and ran towards her. Kagome got up and ran into the forest, blinded by panic she didn't know where she was heading.

She heard the men crashing through the trees behind her but her footsteps were quick and soundless.

Then she stopped to catch her breath, she couldn't hear the sound of loud crashing, They must have given up, she thought, but then something invisible hit the ground beside her, throwing up dust. A gun!

She ran again, but then she saw some rocks where some snakes were lying on, she then saw a large tree in front of her. She ran towards it and jumped up it, climbing as high as she could, giving thanks that there was some many leaves in it, considering it was summer.

She peered out and saw the men stop at the rocks near the snakes, then they turned in frustration and went back to the van. Kagome stayed in the tree a while longer, watching the van suspiciously as it started up and went along the road, thinking one of the men might have stayed behind to look for her.

She then convinced herself that they had completely gone so she got out of the tree. Almost as soon as she landed silently on the forest floor a small group of cats came out of some bushes, then stop as they saw her.

Kagome turned away from them, "Its okay little cats, I wont hurt you," she said and started walking away.

Then a cats meow stopped her, "We can understand her?" it was apparently speaking to another cat.

Kagome turned around, "Did you just talk?"

The lead cat had a flame-colored pelt and showed signs of a harsh life, They must live in this forest, she thought. Lucky cats.

The flame-colored cat spoke again, "Indeed I did, how is it we can talk to you and we can understand you?"

Kagome shrugged and the cat dipped his head, "Why were those Twolegs chasing you?"

"Twolegs?" Kagome said, confused.

"Creatures like you," explained another cat, it was a she-cat with a paler orange pelt.

Kagome nodded in understanding, "They killed my family and now I'm on my own, they were trying to kill me to," she said.

The flame-colored cat, a tom, nodded, "Come with us."

Kagome shrugged again and followed the group of cats through the trees.

They led her through a small tunnel made of gorse and she stopped in a clearing, many cats were in front of her, some carrying dead mice and rabbits and crunching them down, some grooming one another, some laying in the warm sun, This must be their camp, she thought, Where they live.

Many cats looked up at Kagome in terror, all the cats seemed to fear humans.

A bluish-gray she-cat approached the group of cats in front of her and the tom explained everything.

The she-cat nodded, "Would you like to join Thunderclan?" she meowed.

Kagome thought for a moment, thinking how great it would be to live in the forest, she nodded, she didn't have anywhere else to go.

The she-cat rose to her paws and jumped onto a small rock addressing her clan, "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here for a meeting of our clan."

Most of the cats were still scared of Kagome but they sat where instructed.

The she-cat seemed to be their leader, "Come over here Kagome," she said. Kagome stood forward, aware of the eyes that were upon her.

"I am Bluestar," the she-cat said, "Leader of Thunderclan, if you wish to join us you will become an apprentice and learn our ways. You are a Twoleg so you cannot fit in the dens, but you can sleep outside them. Do you accept?"

"I do," Kagome said.

Bluestar continued, "Kagome, you will now have the name of an apprentice, your original name no longer stands."

Kagome flinched, she would have her name changed?

Bluestar saw her flinch, "It is okay." and when Kagome nodded she continued, "From this day until she has earned her warrior name she will be called Bramblepaw, for she is now the strength of Thunderclan."

Geez.. she thought, No pressure.

"Mudstorm will be her mentor," Bluestar meowed, and Bramblepaw saw a small cat with brown fur and golden eyes starring up at her, her nose in the air.

Bramblepaw guessed it was part of the ceremony, so she sat on the ground and touched her nose to her new mentors' in a greeting.

The meeting broke up and many cats were friendly to Bramblepaw. She met some other apprentices, their names were Squirrelpaw, Shrewpaw, Spiderpaw and Whitepaw, they were very friendly because they showed her around the camp and introduced her to everyone.

At last Bramblepaw sat down beside the apprentices den and lay against the tree stump, almost instantly falling asleep, she was now an apprentice of Thunderclan, training to become a warrior.