This is my entry for Jeffery Dahmer's Contest for her story "The Challenge." It's been a ton of fun writing this and I hope you all enjoy it as much as I do! The point of the challenge was to give cats a little bit of recognition, so the contestants were to each pick a character that have ten or less stories about them. My choice was Plumwillow.

Chapter One

"A dragon's heart burns fiercely, even in the face of evil."

― S.G. Rogers

The sun was well above the trees, but none of the warriors could have seen that with the thick layer of clouds covering the leaf-fall sky. A dark ginger tom sat looking around the quiet camp. The recent drop in the temperature marking the beginning of leaf-fall had made the cats of SkyClan busy collecting prey for the pile that was starting to dwindle. Prey was beginning to hide and the warriors would soon have to go hungry. Daylight warriors would not be permitted to take prey from the pile, though they were more than willing to hunt. Hunting wasn't what Sharpclaw was worried about, though. Prey was scarce and there had been the scent of a group of loners hunting in SkyClan territory. In the center of camp sat a trio of younger warriors, a gray tabby she-cat and brown tom sat sharing tongues, their eyes sparkling, and a third dark gray she-cat sat to the side, pawing at the ground, her claws obviously itching to go do something. "Plumwillow!" Sharpclaw called, "go take Nettlesplash and Mintfur on a border patrol. If they have enough time to gossip, they have enough time to strengthen our boundaries."

The dark gray she-cat leapt to her paws, her brother and his mate hesitantly standing. "Of course, Sharpclaw!"

Plumwillow climbed up the tree and leaped from one to another as if she were a squirrel, loving the feeling of being in the air and the feeling of the wind and leaves scratching at her fur. "Come on, you can't catch me!" Looking behind her she saw Nettlesplash and Mintfur were far behind her, gossiping like elders. The dark gray she-cat reluctantly found herself leaving the comfort the tree provided to make her way to her brother and her best friend. "What are you two doing? We're on patrol!"

"Relax, Plumwillow. Patrols are easy. Why can't Mintfur and I just talk? It's not like we're doing anything wrong."

Plumwillow could feel the fur prickle on her shoulders. In all honesty, there was nothing wrong with what the two cats were doing. Patrols were simple, unless one had to chase away a rogue. The she-cat just started to feel alone ever since her favorite brother and her best friend became mates. She felt like a pine in a forest of oaks. "Why don't you two go and patrol by the Thunderpath? I'll go and patrol the twoleg place and I'll meet you back at camp."

The she-cat ran off before the others had a chance to reply, but they didn't follow her. "Figures," she thought. "They never want me around anymore anyway." Plumwillow looked around the twoleg place border. She detected the scents of the daylight warriors mixed in with scents of unfamiliar kittypets and desperate loners whom she did not know, though that hardly mattered. It was once in a blue moon when a loner found itself brave enough to cross the border of the wild cats. Plumwillow tasted the air once again, though, to make certain the day one crossed was not today. The fur bristled on her shoulders and she suddenly wished she hadn't run away from Nettlesplash and Mintfur.

A larger figure tackled Plumwillow to the ground and she could feel claws digging into her side. She let out a hiss and rolled, striking him with her own claws causing him to recoil before striking again. The two battled like this for some time. They were equally matched, the rogues strength greater than Plumwillow's but her speed and technique outclassing his. The two eventually broke apart and glared at one another, the fur on their shoulders standing on end, hisses escaping from them. "What are you doing on SkyClan territory?"

"What are you doing claiming you own all the prey here? I'm trying to survive!" The larger tom narrowed his amber eyes and bared his teeth at the young warrior.

"So am I! There are many of us back at my camp. Why don't you just go back to your twolegs and get food from them instead of stealing from those who need it?" Plumwillow felt fire coursing through her veins and found herself with more confidence than she had had in moons.

"If I had twolegs to go to then why would I be hunting? Those sorry pieces of foxdung went away without me. They took that lousy dog with them while I was forced to stay behind to take care of myself and my sister!" The large brown tabby tom spit insults at Plumwillow and the dark gray she-cat felt a spark of pity in the pit of her stomach, but she wouldn't dare reveal this out loud.

"Can't you find another hunting ground?" she asked.

"Can't you?" The two looked at one another and lowered their hackles, but continued to watch each other with narrowed eyes. "I really am sorry I have to steal prey from your territory but my sister has two kits to feed. One of them is sick. If she doesn't get food soon then she'll die. A group of others have taken shelter with my sister and myself, but they haven't found any extra food to bring back to her. It's all I can manage to keep her, Cricket and Pine alive."

Plumwillow gave a glance to the brown tom's pelt and realized she could easily count each one of his ribs. Sharpclaw had said there had been a cat stealing prey and it suddenly occurred to Plumwillow it was the loner standing in front of her. It also occurred to her that she didn't care. The warrior code was made to help those in need. The warrior code didn't want any dead kits. Surely she has to help these loner's too. Slowly she stepped closer to him. "My name is Plumwillow. I'm a warrior of SkyClan."

The tom dipped his head to the young warrior. "I'm Dragon."

"I- I could help you hunt, if you want, Dragon. I can climb trees and stalk birds for you."

Dragon looked at her apprehensively, but he knew he was in no position to turn down the she-cat's offer. "Alright, then." The two hunted until the sun started to sink in the sky, Plumwillow catching three birds and Dragon catching a bird and a squirrel.

"I can help you take the prey back to your camp, if you want?" Dragon continued to look at Plumwillow apprehensively, but nodded in agreement anyway.

"Fine, but don't act superior like you SkyClan cats do. You all think because you've had moons of training and others to feed or protect you that the forest revolves around you. It doesn't. There are plenty of us here just trying to survive. It makes it hard when the best prey and the best territory are being held by, as much as I hate to admit it, the strongest in the forest." Plumwillow felt a sinking feeling in her stomach at Dragon's words. She didn't realize how much the loners and rogues had been suffering.

"Why are you like this, Dragon? Earlier you made it sound like you used to have twolegs of your own. What happened to them?"

Dragon looked at the dark gray she-cat with narrowed amber eyes. "Duchess, my sister, and myself were adopted by a pair of twolegs and their kits when we were young. We grew up with them and their annoying dog, but one day they started to put all their things into these large brown containers. One day they just left us, took the dog with them, but left Duchess and I to fend for ourselves. Duchess learned she was expecting kits a moon or so after they had vanished so we came to the edge of the twoleg place hoping easy access to forest prey would keep us fed."

Talking with Dragon put Plumwillow at ease. It was easy to forget that her best friend and favorite brother were currently ignoring her to be in each other's company. It was easy to forget that she was disobeying the warrior code by taking food from her own territory and giving it to a cat she had met just hours ago, but the way he spoke! Plumwillow was convinced she knew Dragon far longer than she had in reality. "You said there were other cats living with you and your sister? What about them?"

Dragon gave an amused purr. "Well there are three of them. Winter was the first to join us. She never was a kittypet, officially, though she has a tendency to visit twoleg nests and beg for food like she's starving. She gets along with Cricket and Pine well enough. Then Samson and Delilah came. They had an abusive twoleg owner who kept the two of them locked up in a single room for long periods of time giving them little food and water. They made their escape and found us. We took them in." As Dragon was talking he made a sudden stop at the edge of a twoleg fence. "You don't have to come any further, Plumwillow. My sister and I will be in your debt enough already."

Plumwillow shook her head. "I can't watch somebody starve. The warrior code wouldn't allow it. I'm sure I'll get into trouble for giving away our own food, but it was more than worth it. Let me take this to your camp."

Dragon nodded. It was amazing how much he trusted the dark gray she-cat in such a short period of time. Plumwillow seemed so honest and trustworthy that the possibility of betrayal was foreign. He lead her to the small abandoned nest in the yard of an overweight twoleg couple who never came to check on the dilapidated shed. There were holes in the roof and a pile mildewing twoleg pelts on the far end of the shed, but there was also moss growing making material for nests easy to collect. There were pieces of lumber jutting from the walls holding various bits of rusting twoleg debris but the space underneath was dry and warm. "Duchess, Cricket, Pine, I'm back. I brought food and a new-" Dragon paused, not completely sure what Plumwillow was to him. Surely she was nothing more than an ally, a mere acquaintance, but the kindness she showed in helping Dragon made her seem closer than that. "I brought a new friend. This is Plumwillow. She is a warrior of SkyClan. She offered to help me hunt and bring back all this food for you."

A young black and white tom, a kit, leapt up from the shelter of his mother's belly. "Warrior? What's that?"

Plumwillow thought about the kits question, not quite sure she could come up with an immediate answer that would satisfy the kit's curiosity. "A warrior is a protector. We watch out for our Clan, those we call our family, fighting for them and willing to die for them if it means granting their safety." Plumwillow knew that is what a warrior should do, but as of late her Clan has been feeling less and less like a family, becoming more foreign to her with each sunset. Still, the young black and white tom was satisfied with Plumwillow's answer.

"Wow! That sounds incredible! Dragon, can I be a warrior? Please?" When the tom cat gave no answer, the kit ran over to his mother where another kit was resting, her eyes open and observing everything, but it was like the other kit was only half there. "Pine, wouldn't it be fun to be a warrior?"

The small kit closed her eyes and nestled herself closer to her mother. "I don't know, Cricket," she rasped. "I want to go to sleep."

The kit's mother licked the top of her daughter's head. "Eat a little bit, won't you, my dear? Dragon and Plumwillow worked hard in catching this for us."

The kit nodded and rose to her feet, wobbling with each tiny step before she finally plopped down in front of one of the smaller birds and took a bite. Her brother settled down next to her and helped her eat her food. Plumwillow was touched by the affection between the two siblings and thought of her own brothers back at camp. Nettlesplash, Creekfeather and Rabbitleap must have begun to notice her absence by now. "I must be going," she said quietly.

Dragon nodded and stood up. "Let me walk you back to your border."

Plumwillow nodded her head in thanks and she said a small goodbye to the three cats in the den. As they left she saw Dragon nod to a duo of cats, a dark gray spotted tom and a golden and cream she-cat, who were entering the den as they made their exit. "That's Samson and Delilah." The pair hardly gave Plumwillow a glance as they entered the nest.

They continued walking when Plumwillow saw a beautiful small gray and white she-cat with the brightest, most pure green eyes she had ever seen. Plumwillow felt her heartbeat quicken when Dragon ran over to the pretty cat and flick the tip of her ear affectionately with his tail tip before he made his way back over to Plumwillow. "That's Winter."

"You didn't tell me she was beautiful," Plumwillow passive aggressively stated as the cat walked toward the way they came.

"What does it matter?" Dragon let out a reluctant sigh, "She's in love with someone else."

Plumwillow immediately felt remorse for Dragon and regret for the comment she made prior. They made their way to the border in silence, a comfortable silence to Dragon, though awkward for Plumwillow. The two were about to say goodbye when Dragon started to speak once again. "Can I see you again?"

Plumwillow knew what the answer should have been. She must remain loyal to her Clan above everything else, but she couldn't force the word 'no' off her tongue. "Meet me here tomorrow, moonhigh." Dragon nodded and ran off. It felt like a million birds were trapped in Plumwillow's stomach.

So I hope you all like it! It's going to be three chapters long (right now). Please leave me a review and tell me how you all like the story. I hope you all are enjoying it!

-Juliet