Chapter One

Heathertail blinked open her eyes drowsily, expecting to see her den of soft grass and heather. When she realized that her surroundings were much different from that of the Windclan camp, she gave a little jump of surprise. Instead of waves of grass and heather, there was dirt and moss and tall, tall trees with vines snaking up their thick trunks.

"Where am I?" Heathertail yowled in panic. This was unlike anything she had ever seen before. Could this simply be a bad dream about an unfamiliar place?

Suddenly, Heathertail heard a rustling among the green – too green – growth. She spun around and gave a yelp of surprise as she bumped into her clanmate Breezepelt.

"Could you keep it down a little bit?" Breezepelt hissed. His eyelids drooped and he began to curl up again.

"Listen, you mouse-brain," Heathertail snapped. "Look around. Don't you realize that we're not in Windclan anymore?"

Breezepelt began to snarl at her but stopped after he took one look around. His jaw dropped and a bee flew in his mouth.

"Where are we?" he mewed, looking startled.

Heathertail was about to answer when Breezepelt began choking on the bee. Heathertail knocked him on the back with her paw until Breezepelt coughed up the bee and spit it onto the ground.

"Thanks," he gasped after the bee was squashed into the dirt and leaves. Then, remembering to stick to his usual snotty attitude, spat, "You could have at least told me the bee was in my mouth before I almost died!"

Heathertail rolled her eyes. Typical Breezepelt, quick to blame others for, well, EVERYTHING.

"Whatever, Breezepelt. Just quit acting like a stupid kit for once!"

Breezepelt snarled in reply and unsheathed his claws, as if he were getting ready to spring onto Heathertail and attack her. Heathertail felt her claws instinctively sliding out to grip the earth, and her muscles tensed, preparing for the attack.

What a loyal clanmate, preparing to attack me! Heathertail thought angrily. She, and just about every other cat in Windclan, was sick of Breezepelt's frequent temper tantrums. She had been more understanding at first, when Breezepelt was recovering from the shock of discovering he had two half clan half-brothers that he had always hated. But after two moons, Heathertail was fed up with his determination to bring down every Thunderclan cat that ever was. Starting border skirmishes, attacking his half-brothers Lionblaze and Jayfeather after gatherings, and secretly stealing prey from Thunderclan territory near the border were just a few of the things that Breezepelt had been doing to vent his anger, or whatever his reason was.

Breezepelt had been preparing to attack, but when he saw Heathertail's furious expression, he thought better of it. He sheathed his claws and sat down. Heathertail sighed and decided that, unless she wanted to make Breezepelt go over the edge again, she had better act at least somewhat peaceful towards him. She slowly, slowly sat down on the ground.

"Sorry," said Breezepelt, not sounding sorry at all.

I almost believe it, Heathertail thought. Instead, she said, "Fighting isn't going to help us, Breezepelt. What we need is a plan to get us back to the clans, and we need to be able to work together if we want to put it into action."

Breezepelt twitched a furry black ear. "You're beginning to sound a lot like Firestar."

Heathertail grimaced as she thought of the joke of a leader who didn't deserve the name 'star'. He had brought himself along with his kittypet ways right into the heart of Thunderclan.

"Oh, shut up," she hissed, flicking his ear with her tail. Breezepelt flinched at her touch.

"I was just kidding," he said, sounding hurt.

Before Heathertail had time to apologize, tears began streaming from Breezepelt's eyes. His shoulders slumped and he made strange moaning noises that didn't seem to fit his angry personality. Heathertail was shocked, but she couldn't wait to tell this tale at camp-if they ever got back, that is.

Heathertail sighed. "I'm sorry, Breezepelt."

Breezepelt looked up. "R-really?" he sniffled.

Heathertail was pretty fed up with Breezepelt's alarmingly kit-like behavior. She stormed away into the trees. Let him cry. It's not my problem.

Heathertail walked forward in what she presumed was a straight line until she was finished fuming about Breezepelt and how stupid he was. When she was finished, she looked around, realizing that she had no idea what place she was in and where in that place she was. She looked around in wonder. A ring of trees surrounded her, their crowns of branches and leaves blocking out all of the bright sunlight from the sky above. How far away was she from the clans, from normal, sane life? She couldn't be trapped here forever, could she?

A rustle in the bushes alerted Heathertail of someone's arrival. Was it Breezepelt? The newcomer's scent told her a couple of things. 1: It was not Breezepelt. 2: At least it was a cat and not some "other" creature. Heathertail tensed, preparing for an attack.

A golden tom cat emerged from the bushes. His fur was sleek and he seemed fit and strong. Heathertail's eyes narrowed. She knew this cat all too well.

Lionblaze's eyes mirrored Heathertail's. He stared at her in shock for a moment. Then he pounced.

"Oh, no you don't!" Heathertail screeched as Lionblaze's teeth locked around her tail. Hollering a fierce battle cry, she whipped her tail out of his mouth and sprung forward, trying to get a good grip on his back leg. Lionblaze was too quick, though, much quicker than she had remembered. He leapt into the air, landing on Heathertail as she landed on the ground and received a mouthful of dirt, not fur as she had intended. Lionblaze slashed her back with unsheathed claws, tearing both flesh and fur. Heathertail cried out in pain and tried to throw him off, but her attempts were useless. He was simply too strong.

"Get off of me!" she shrieked after Lionblaze tore off a particularly large clump of fur.

"No! You're not worth it!"

Heathertail used a trick that she had learned as an apprentice to escape him. She went limp, which made her more slippery. Now she could slide out from his claws. Heathertail wriggled her way out. As Lionblaze slid onto the ground, Heathertail thought of whether to run away and escape while she had the chance or turn to face Lionblaze again. She didn't like her chances with the first option. Lionblaze didn't look like he was either injured or tired, and she had patches of fur missing and flesh torn. What were the chances of her beating him in a fight? She knew she would lose, unless she somehow managed to find Breezepelt so they could do some real damage.

Heathertail blinked. That was it! Breezepelt hated Lionblaze even more than she did, which would fuel his attacks on him. Of course, Breezepelt's feelings were probably still hurt from her outburst, but Heathertail doubted he would mind shredding some Thunderclan cats …

Heathertail raced back the way she had come. She desperately hoped that she would reach Breezepelt before Lionblaze could catch her and finish ripping her into a million pieces. She leaped over roots and fallen branches, over tree trunks and small plants. Heathertail was afraid to look back. If Lionblaze was right behind her, she didn't want to know it.

Breezepelt was lying in the clearing where Heathertail had left him, making the same moaning sounds as before. Heathertail bounded over to him and had just enough time to yell, "Help!" before Lionblaze rammed into her and sent her flying. Lionblaze whizzed over to where she landed and began slashing at her with his forepaws. Heathertail screeched in agony but, in the position that she was in with her soft belly exposed, she really couldn't make any move to defend herself.

"I guess this it," she sobbed quietly to herself, so that Lionblaze or Breezepelt couldn't hear. "It's over. None of my training could have prepared me for this strong of a fighter!"

Heathertail closed her eyes and waited for Lionblaze to deliver the final blow, the one that would surely end in her death. She kept her mind off of the pain by counting the number of times Lionblaze struck her with his powerful paws.

She didn't have to wait long. After seven times, they stopped coming. Heathertail couldn't feel a thing. Am I dead? She asked herself. Where is Starclan? Then she blacked out.