Smudge listened to Rusty's owners calling out to try to find the lost cat. He jumped onto the fence and saw Hattie in the garden. Hattie was fun to be around, but Smudge wanted Rusty—Rusty ONLY. "Hmph," the black and white cat sighed. "If only Rusty hadn't joined those forest cats." It had been a full year since Rusty had left for the clans. Smudge grew tired of Hattie's squealy mew. "I could go and have a look in there…" he thought. He glanced at the forest. His paws trembled, staring into the darkness of the forest. Then, he decided that he WOULD go to look for his friend. That's what real friends do, anyway. He padded off into the forest. When he got there, he stared into the undergrowth. He sniffed the air to check for cat-scent. Then he was relieved when he realized he smelled Rusty. He had to use his wits to follow the smell…right to Thunderclan camp. There were wild cats here, so he tried his best to stay hidden. He creeped among the crowd until he stopped. There was the smell of metal here, just like the smell of the tag on his collar. It was underground. "Something that leads me to Rusty must be here, if I looked hard enough," Smudge said. With that, he began digging. After a while, he found an object. A round, blue object with a tag in the middle that had 'Rusty' on it. "Rusty's collar!" he exclaimed. He examined the long tear in the center, and soon discovered that the collar was split in half. Just then, a voice interrupted his search for evidence of the disappearance. "Smudge?" Smudge looked up, and saw an orange tabby, with light green eyes staring down at him. Instantly, he recognized the cat. "RUSTY!" cried Smudge. Firestar smiled slightly at the sight of his friend. "Please," he said, staring down at Smudge, "call me Firestar."