Okay, this story is taking forever to write, but I have finished this chapter.

Not much too really say at the moment.

Hope you all enjoy!

Chapter One

Rosalie

Rosalie blinked open her eyes, the forest of her dream disappearing. In its place was the hot and airless kitchen of her housefolk's den. She blinked again and sighed, resting her head on her forepaws while her collar pinched at her neck. Rosalie had been having dreams of the forest all of her short life, but ever since the full moon three nights previously the dreams had become even more vivid. She really wished that she could talk to her father about them but he had been murdered by a rouge the previous month.

Shaking her head as if to scatter her bad thoughts, she got up from her bed and ate from her bowl. As usual, the pellets were tasteless and hard. Afterwards, she went out into the garden, leaping on the fence to gaze into the shadows of the forest. It was a favorite past-time of hers that she had gotten from her father.

Focused as she was on the growing shadows, Rosalie didn't notice the cat behind her until said cat put his paw on her shoulder. Yowling in shock, Rosalie fell off her perch and landed on the strip of land that separated the gardens and the forest. Looking

up at whoever had startled her, she was met by the black-and-white pelt and amber eyes of her good friend Smudge.

"Hello, Smudge," Rosalie sighed before she started staring at the forest again.

"You're not still thinking of going in, are you?" Smudge asked, his amber eyes huge. It was a long standing discussion for them, especially after her father was killed. She wanted so badly to enter the forest as her father had, at least according to all of his stories. She just couldn't shake the feeling that she was meant to leave the life of a house-cat behind her and live out in the wild. Smudge didn't want to lose his friend, however.

"Just for a look," Rosalie promised and it was true. Maybe one day she would leave for good, but not now.

Smudge looked at her like he didn't quite believe her but let it go. The sun was starting to set and Rosalie only wanted a quick look. Promising to be back before the moon reached its peak in the sky, Rosalie walked across the strip of earth that lay between the fences, protecting the housefolk gardens and dens, and the wild forest beyond.

Feeling a bit like a curious kitten, Rosalie walked through the forest, never letting the housefolk dens be completely out of sight. She knew that if the dens were to be completely covered, she would probably end up dinner for a fox or badger. Even house-cats knew of those dangers, even if they never really experience them. A snapping of a twig caught her attention and she looked over and saw a bushy red tail with a white tail-tip. When she inched closer out of curiosity, the smell of the creature suddenly blew toward her, assaulting her nose with a bad smell she had only ever heard about from her father's stories.

*Flashback*

"Daddy?" a little flame-ginger she-kit crawled over to her father, green eyes showing curiosity.

"Yes little Rosalie?" her father, Jake, replied.

"What's a fox?" she asked.

"Well, let's see. They're basically wild dogs with red fur and smell of crowfood for the most part. Nasty fighters, too," Jake explained to his daughter.

"How do you fight one?" the kitten asked, always inquisitive as she was.

"Well, one thing that Talltail and Pinestar always told me was to never fight a fox alone. They're tricky and fierce creatures that a cat should never take on without backup"

*End Flashback*

Rosalie shivered involuntarily as she eyed the bushy tail because that was no cat's tail. That was a fox tail. She quickly debated on what to do. Her father had told her about the wild cats, and with this being their territory she was out of jurisdiction for fighting the fox. In fact, she could get in trouble. Then the wind changed again and the fox turned around to face her, dark brown-almost black-eyes watching her like the meal she was to it. Rosalie considered her options, fight or flee. Before she could decide, the fox lunged at her and her instincts kicked in and she fled.

Tigerclaw

The tabby was heading to the warrior's den to get some sleep when he noticed something rather odd. The two newest apprentices were leaving their den and heading toward the camp wall by the nursery. While the two had only started training that day, they hadn't had the chance to explore outside of camp, since they were named just before sundown. While his own apprentice Ravenpaw would never think of doing this kind of thing, Lionheart's apprentice Graypaw would. The long-furred gray tom was always adventurous and while Ravenpaw was shy, he would always hang out with Graypaw anyway. Plus, it really wasn't that hard to convince him to do stuff anyway. He padded into the den and woke up Lionheart, quickly explaining the situation of their apprentices that he had seen. The two toms left, but not before notifying Bluestar when they saw her, who decided to go with them to find the apprentices.

They followed the two towards the Twolegplace. Tigerclaw felt slightly unnevered when the scent of fox and fear nearly overwhelmed him. He noticed the two apprentices they were following crouched in a bush, watching whatever was going on and whispering with each other. Before the three cats knew what was going on, the apprentices leaped from the bushes and the mayhem began.

Rosalie

She didn't know how long she ran, or where to, but she didn't stop. Her mind was blank with fear and the only thing she cared about was getting away from the fox who was chasing her. So she could be forgiven for being startled when two toms her age jumped from a bush and started fighting the fox. One was a long-furred light-gray with a darker stripe along his spine and the other a scrawny black with a white tail-tip. She slid to a stop and watched for a few seconds, then-without thinking it through-jumped into the fray to assist the two strange toms, bell jiggling wildly.

The fight went on for another few minutes, the moon-still somewhat full-slowly hitting the peak of its journey, before the three young cats could defeat the fox-Rosalie had bitten its tail until it ran off. The toms looked over at her, giving her a better view of them as well. The long-furred tom's fur was darker than at first sight, but still clearly showed the darker stripe, which-upon closer inspection-actually looked more black than dark gray, and his eyes were yellow-dancing with mirth and joy. The scrawny black tom not only had a white tail-tip but a white dash on his chest and he had green eyes that practically glowed in nervousness.

Rosalie's mind finally caught up with her, and she realized that the two toms who had saved her were most likely wildcats. Her emerald-green eyes widened and her ears flattened against her head, fear flooding her body at the thought of what the wildcats would do to her. She was, after all, trespassing, even if she hadn't meant to. Suddenly, the wind brought the scent of three older cats close by causing Rosalie and the two toms to flinch. The gray tom flicked his tail, silently telling her to leave. But the bushes started to rustle and a blue-gray she-cat stepped out, followed by a golden tabby tom and a dark brown tabby tom.

"Lionheart!" the fluffy gray tom gasped, looking at the golden tabby. "We weren't doing anything, were we Ravenpaw?" he continued, glancing at his black furred friend for support. The blue-furred she-cat cast an amused glance at the dark tabby, who growled lowly, causing all three younger cats to flinch back.

"I don't care what you think you are doing out of camp at this time of night when you shouldn't be!" the dark tabby growled at the two younger toms, hardly giving Rosalie a single glance. The blue-gray she-cat purred in amusement while shaking her head, blue eyes focused on the tabby at her side.

"I remember a time or two when you were the same way Tigerclaw," the golden tabby, Lionheart apparently, muttered, amber eyes holding the same amusement as the blue-gray she-cat. The dark tabby Tigerclaw growled at Lionheart for that remark but didn't do anything more.

Tigerclaw

The tabby wasn't truly mad at the two apprentices, but he was deeply concerned about them. That said, he was not pleased. They should never had run off the way they did. Not only that but fighting a fox with the help of only a flame-ginger kittypet! As the five Clan cats started back towards camp, Tigerclaw happened to glance back to the pretty flame-ginger she-cat, emerald-green eyes filled with confusion and hope. Tigerclaw still couldn't believe that his former mentor would allow a kittypet the chance of being an apprentice. But he did have to admit that she had a fire in her emerald gaze that just didn't fit a kittypet. He gave her a single nod of acceptance before following his Clanmates towards camp. Hopefully, by sunhigh tomorrow, she'd be a part of the Clan. And a part in my life, he thought quietly, the vision already coming to him.

Redtail, the deputy, was awake when they got back, his apprentice, Dustpaw, beside him. Bluestar started talking to her deputy while the apprentices went back to their nests. Tigerclaw took no interest of what was being said and walked off to go back to his nest. In his sleep, he started dreaming about the kittypet that might-he hoped-would be one of his Clanmates come sunhigh tomorrow.

Rosalie

She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't believe it. Rosalie sat in the same spot the wild cats-Clan cats, she corrected herself-left her, thinking about their words. She could join them if she wished, not have to look after herself. She would be trained at the very least, so she could take care of herself if need be. She finally stood up and walked home in a daze, her mind not only full of thoughts of what Clan life could be but also of the dark tabby, Tigerclaw. That nod he gave her was more than just a farewell, it was one of great acceptance, that he would accept whichever she choose. And the more she thought about it, the more she realized that her choice had already been made. She was just going to say goodbye to her old life.

At least she'd be able to choose a mate instead of being forced on some stranger! Or worse go to the vet and be unable to have kittens in the first place!

That, and they have better food in the forest than tasteless pellets, Rosalie thought with a small giggle when reaching her housefolk den and curling into her nest.

Okay, this is turning into a cute story. Has anyone seen the hints I already played? This part of the story will only have hints of a pairing, but it is there. Also, does anyone get the references made at the end?

Review!

~pokedawnheart