I could feel myself hit the rocks. I know I felt hem. But I didn't die. No, I was alive. I lay there, unconscious, my heart beating faintly in my chest, on the cool hard ground, stars pulsing in my head. But the stars were just stars…right? It must have been a dream. Dead cats don't dream though. So it was real. The stars began to form shapes…the shapes of cats that I knew. Raggedstar, Clawface, and even Whitethroat, the cat that had been killed by a monster. He was long dead. And now here he was, walking towards me. In a dream. Even though I knew I should be dead.

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I woke up what seemed like days later. I don' actually know how long I slept. It could have been forever, except for my dream…that's what woke me up! Those cats…they were talking to me, and they told me to get up! Get up, Smokepaw! So I did. I'm up. I'm up. I'm not up. I'm…not…up…

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I'm awake, again. My leg is stiff and doesn't bend. It must be broken, but it doesn't hurt – yet. The side of my head is caked in dry blood, and some of my ribs must be cracked. I can feel blood in my eye, and it's puffy, so I must have a cut there. I hope I'm not blind. I don't know what I would do if I was blind. I'd never get to be a warrior if I was…oh…blind…don't feel…so good…

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Okay, okay, I'm really awake this time. And this time I can see. Huh. Must have been a sleep for a while. I bend my neck to lick my wounds, and stifle a grunt of pain as every kink in my neck is pulled out painfully. I stretch, whimpering as my cold, sore, muscles strain. Hm. I need to do some running. But not yet. Can't run yet. I swipe the blood off of my face, and soon, I'm glad to say, I can see out of my eye. I'm not blind. I'll be a warrior after all. Oh StarClan. Oh…StarClan…my Clan! Where are ShadowClan? I fell…they…they must have gone on to the new forest. Without me. I won't ever be…a….a…a warrior…oh StarClan…

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I think I can stay awake this time. Yes, I have to. My eyes are fine, but the cut on my cheek still stings. I can breathe more easily now, so my ribs must be healing. Hm. I wonder how long I've been out of it. Must have been a long time. I can walk…sort of. My leg still hurts, but it seems to be healing as well. As for he rest of my cuts and scrapes…they're scars, now. I look I've been eaten by a dog and spit out again. Oh well, better than being dead.

Now, to get out of here. All around me are rock walls. I don't think there is a way out. That's too bad, because I'm alive and all…wait! There it is! A hole in the wall. Yes, here I come, hole-in-the-wall! Ouch, ouch… that hurts, leg…hurts…hurts…a lot…

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Hey, look at me! I'm about five inches close to the hole in the wall! Yippee! Hooray for me! Maybe, if I just get a little closer…yes! Yes, I made another inch. Hey, I think I can walk…this is great! My leg doesn't feel so bad any more. Let's give it up for Smokepaw, who survived a thirty-foot fall! Oh, this is just wonderful! I can walk!

I shuffle closer to the tiny gap in the wall, all of my senses on full alert. I smell rock. I hear rock. I taste rock. I feel rock. Perhaps I should rename myself Rockpaw. Then everything would be rock. Oh joy.

I am at the hole in the wall. It is a small gap, barely big enough for me to crawl though, but I think I can manage. I have to manage. I curl my tail, determined to make it through the other side of this small rift. I put one paw into the gap. Cool air ruffles my fur, and I shiver, partly because of the breeze, ad partly because of fear.

The fissure is narrow, but I have gone days without eating since my fall, and I can fit through – barely. It's tight. The rock walls press in on all sides but the top, where I can look up and see a clear, blue-gray sky above me. I tremble slightly. I am trapped in this crack – I don't even think I could back up if I wanted to. There is no way out. I must go forward. Paw step by paw step, I make my way through the slit in the rock, keeping my eyes and ears forward, my claws scrabbling at the stone.

I can tell that I am going slightly up hill, but I can't tell if that's good or bad. I can see a small sliver of light ahead, which means that this hole ends, but how soon? I don't know how much farther I can go. I can't very well fall asleep inside this hole, but I'm already tired. I think I can go on…I have to….

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Don't worry, the real action starts…now!

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I reach the end of the tunnel at sun-high. Before me lies a rock ledge, and I jump onto it gratefully, almost forgetting about the throbbing pain in my leg, and the ache in my chest.

The sun beats down upon my dark gray fur, loosening my muscles. I stretch luxuriously, relishing the light and the warmth. After a moment of basking in the sun and the satisfaction, knowing that I made my way out of the fissure, I blink my eyes and take a deep breath. My journey is far from over.

I take a step to the edge of the ledge and peer over the lip. Wind billows in my face, but I stand my ground. Far, far, below me I can see the ground, and beyond it a river that snakes through many forests and Twoleg Places, and many Thunderpaths that criss-cross each other everywhere. I scramble back, by breath coming in shallow gasps. There is no way to escape this new prison. I am stuck here for good, it seems.

And then I hear them. At first it is just a distant yowling, that I claim to be my imagination. But it gets louder, and even I am not so deaf as to notice the cries of a cat patrol. A shiver runs along my spine.

"Stop!" comes a loud yowl from above me. I dare not move, and my heart pounds in my chest. "The scent comes from here."

A moment later a feel sharp claws dig into my shoulders and I am flung to the ground, with barely enough to time to screech in surprise. The cat on top of me pins me down.

"What are you doing, intruder?" comes a hiss in my ear.

"I…I feel into that gorge and broke my leg. I've finally healed and…" I couldn't think of anything else to say. There is a silence for a long moment, than another cat speaks up.

"Can you walk now, stranger?"

"Not far, but well enough," I reply, nervousness making my voice crack.

"Then come."

The weight on my back is lifted and I struggle to my feet, whirling around to face my captors. There are five cats, each of them thin with wiry muscles. My attacker stands beside me, a wary expression on his face. He is tall and skinny, with sleek gray fur and large amber eyes.

"Do you have a name, stranger?" asks a dusky gray tom, catching my eye.

"My name is Smokepaw."

The tom lifts his head sharply, and his eyes narrow. A cat behind him blinks, and exchanges glances with his companions. I swallow, clenching my teeth.

"Do you know of the cats from the forest? They have names similar to yours."

I freeze, my breathing ragged. He knows about ShadowClan? And my friends?

"I am a member of the Clans," I meow, a new edge to my voice. Again, the group mutters to each other. I shift my weight from foot to foot, the fur along my neck bristling.

"We have heard of these Clans you speak of. If you wonder, Smokepaw, we have not met them. We are…in touch, with the Mountain Tribes, a Band of cats who claim this land as their own. They seem to know about your…'clans'," says the tom, with a hint of contempt and some anger layering his voice.

"Then you know where my Clan is heading?" I ask eagerly, excitement causing my tail to swing back and forth.

The cats hesitate, then a new voice replies, "No. We do not." The speaker is a small tortoiseshell she-cat, standing in the shadow of one of her larger colleagues. My stomach sinks.

"Oh," I mew lamely, shuffling my paws.

"It is time that we introduced ourselves," mews the gray tom, straightening and giving the she-cat what seems like a warning glance. The tortoiseshell dips her head, and shifts her eyes away from me, as if she is embarrassed.

"I am Stormcloud. The tortoiseshell is Dawn, the thin gray is Riverbed, the white is Fogbank, and the brown is Mudslide. We are members of a Band called OwlBand. There is also CrowBand, HawkBand, and SparrowBand. Come, we will take you o our leader."

They all rise to their feet. I prepare myself for whatever they may do. I watch with wide eyes as one by one, they take a flying leap off of the edge of the ledge. I close my eyes as Dawn disappears over the lip, waiting to hear the sound of a cat's body crashing to the rocks below. But there is nothing, only the whisper of the wind. Do they fly?

With tentative steps I crawl to the edge, and after a moment's hesitation, I stick my neck out and look down. Below is another rock spur, and there sits Stormcloud, his companions sitting around him. With a gasp I pull back.

Moments later, and with a yowl of surprise from me, Mudslide drops from the mountainside above me. I jump back.

"How did you climb up…?"

He laughs in a deep, rumbling away, that is somehow claming. Then he meows, "You have much to learn, forest cat. Look over the edge."

I comply, crawling once again to look down at Stormcloud and the rest of the cats sitting on the ledge below. Fogbank wears a smug smile that I know is directed at me.

Mudslide comes to my side. "Do you see the nicks in the rock, that run all the way up the mountain?"

I am about to say that I don't, when I notice a series of notches carved into the smooth rock that lead up and up, as far as I can see. "Yes," I answer, perplexed.

"Watch," he growls, laughing. He launches himself off the ledge, and gracefully alights beside Fogbank on the shelf below. It seems as if his legs buckle when he collides with the stone, but then he, springs back. His legs have absorbed the shock. I marvel at how much muscle must be packed into those thin limbs.

A second after landing he leaps away again, his paws fitting neatly into one of the notches. He flows steadily up the mountainside, as if he a stream flowing uphill. In minutes he is at my side once again.

"See? It is not hard. You will learn." He disappears.

"Come down, Smokepaw!" I hear Stormcloud's voice. I jolt towards the border of the stone, my eyes blinking away my fear.

"Okay!" I shout down, trying not to let my apprehension show.

I flex my weakened muscles, and my thoughts are dragged to my barely healed leg. What if I slip? I could crash just as easily, and then my leg might never heal!

But I can't just stand here forever. It's jump, or starve. I take a deep breath, close my eyes, and with a massive heave of effort, throw myself off the edge of the cliff.