CHAPTER ONE
Tigerstar padded through the forest with Rowanpaw and Jaggedtooth. He smelled a strange scent, one he'd smelled before, on the edge of ThunderClan territory. Kittypet, he growled. Jaggedtooth sat down. "So, Rowanpaw, what do you smell?" he asked his apprentice. Tigerstar watched Rowanpaw. "Fox!" Rowanpaw shouted. "But the scent is stale." Tigerstar stared at Rowanpaw. "Was there a reason to wake all of the Clans? And scare away the prey?" he hissed. "Sorry, Tigerstar," Rowanpaw bowed down to Tigerstar. He saw something moving in the tree they were by.
Oh no! They can probably smell me from here! Sasha panicked. She couldn't leave yet. There was something about the brown tabby tom called Tigerstar. His words were so confident. So... strong. Sasha ducked down. Tigerstar was staring straight at her. They've got you now Sasha! Sasha growled inside her head. How could she be so stupid? Pine said the forest cats were fierce... Even Tigerstar's words were strong. Nevermind the cat himself. Sasha bet he would tear her to shreds if he found her. The look on his face when he breathed in; was a look of disgust. Maybe he didn't like house pets-or kittypets; as Pine said. Sasha watched a young tom called Rowanpaw try to hunt.
"Eww! Frog!" Rowanpaw spat. "I hate frog." Tigerstar raised his brow. "Food is food," he meowed. "We should try to get as much of it as we can. Right, Rowanpaw?" Jaggedtooth nodded. "Yeah. I-I guess," Rowanpaw muttered. He pounced on the slimy frog. Tigerstar purred. Not even HE liked frog. Disgusting, slimy things. Rowanpaw pounced on the frog. Jaggedtooth smelled the air. "Tigerstar," he growled. "What, Jaggedtooth?" Tigerstar hissed. "It smells funny," Jaggedtooth meowed. Tigerstar sniffed the air himself. He smelled fox- as Rowanpaw had described and...better yet, another cat. He smelled it alright, it was fresh, too. It was coming from a higher distance. He looked up, seeing the gleam of a cat's eyes.
Sasha gasped silently. Tigerstar was looking into her eyes, and Sasha knew he'd seen her. If... if he did find her... Sasha shivered. She wouldn't be welcomed by Jaggedtooth, that's for sure. Sasha ducked down, so low that she thought she would be glued to the tree. Finally, Tigerstar stopped staring in her direction. Sasha relaxed, but she was still wary.
Tigerstar growled. "What is it, Tigerstar?" Jaggedtooth asked his leader. Tigerstar shook his head. "Nothing," he meowed. Jaggedtooth shrugged. Rowanpaw was trying to catch other prey, something good. He was on the trail of a rat now. He wiggled his hindquarters. With that, he pounced. He bit the rat's neck. "Great job, Rowanpaw," Tigerstar complemented. "Thanks, Tigerstar!" Rowanpaw smiled. Tigerstar gave a curt smile back. Rowanpaw was so daring and brave, Tigerstar liked it. He ignored the cat for now. Maybe it was just some stupid kittypet that got lost from it's Twolegs. That's all it was. But-if Tigerstar caught it on his territory... things wouldn't end well for him.
Sasha peeked over the tree edge. She saw Rowanpaw had caught a rat now. Eww, rat. Don't these Clan cats eat anything tasty? Sasha thought in disgust. Surley Tigerstar didn't like frogs or rats. Frogs especially. They were slimy and raw... blech. Sasha imagined eating fresh squirrel and not having a care in the world. She sighed, missing her easy life with Ken and Jean. Then she stared at Tigerstar. She looked at him, his eyes calm and his mouth in a small smile. He didn't look like the cat that would smile much. She guessed it was one happy day for him. One happy day indeed.