Chapter 1

Hunting

Xuezu looked up; the sun was shining brightly high above his head.

It had been ten days since he accepted the challenge to re-create the lost clan, Bloodclan. He hadn't seen any other cats about, and neither Keai nor Scourge has come to him in dreams or visions, which was odd, because they both said they would teach him some ways to hunt, and fight.

Maybe they want him to join the clans, before they do, he though over and over. But he couldn't even remember where the forest was. The last 7 days, he had been padding in circles around the twoleg place looking for it, but he kept ending up in the same place he started at.

It was confusing, the the web of thunderpaths made his head whirl with both it's complexity, and smell.

He had finally decided to stop for awhile, hoping it would come to him later. Xuezu started walking back to his den. His den was within a silver tube at the end of the smallest alley in the twoleg place.

Once his resting place came into sight, he started to pad faster. Soon he was running along, his pads scraping against the hard ground.

Only a few heartbeats passed before he jumped into his den, sliding, and rolling about in the green mixture of moss and grass he had put there to make his nest more comfortable.

He stopped spinning, his paws high in the air. He swiped at the roof, making thin claw marks on it. "I can't wait till I can learn some battle moves. I just wish they would hurry up and teach me, or at least visit me. I really want to be able to move on with my challenge."

He sighed and slowly crawled out of his den. "I'll look for some food," he mewed aloud, feeling pathetic for having only himself to speak to.

Starting to walk away from his den, he saw a small movement out of the corner of his eye. He whisked around, feeling his fur beginning to fluff up.

There was nothing there. Just the outline of his den and a small twoleg nest behind it.

He turned back around, his spine still prickling. He stepped forward when he saw the shadow appear once more. I'm not gonna see anything if I turn around, he scolded himself, padding down the hard path.

Xuezu just realized that he had only taken a few steps away from his den.

But then he stopped almost right after the conclusion.

Am I imagining this? Or is this really happening...? he wondered, looking behind his shoulder. He saw a cat standing a fox length behind him.

Xuezu's fur instantly went on edge, his mind scrambled. I'm not imagining this! He turned whipped around and saw that the cat behind him was small, just like him. The cat was a tom with white fur and brown bands all around its body, and he had mint colored eyes.

The white and brown cat's eyes flickered with a mix of emotions, and he took a few steps forward before speaking. "Hello," he mewed silently, backing up afterward, confusing Xuezu with the action. The tom turned tail and ran, easily leaping onto the silver tube, then onto the roof of the twoleg nest behind it.

Then the cat's frame was gone.

"What was that about?" Xuezu murmured. He shrugged the thought away and padded off in search of food.

When he returned with a few twoleg scraps in his mouth, the sun was climbing down the sky, painting the originally vast blue plane a light pink-purple. Small gray clouds dotted it with their wispy forms.

He settled down in his nest and started to chew on the food that took him, what felt like forever, to get. . .

When he had been searching for food, he saw an open, large green twoleg bin.

The smell of twoleg rubbish billowed out, making him wrinkle up his small, pink nose. Even though it stunk of rot, he knew that there were edible object within it. He jumped up, slipping slightly on the smooth green surface, even with his short claws extended.

There were a few black bags, of which he knew held what soon would become his meal.

He moved down into the bin, landing on the mushy bags and stumbling a little. He dug his claws in and tore a bag open; twoleg scraps tumbled out, making the stench of the place worsen imensely. Shaking his head, he pawed at the twoleg rubbish, pulling out the things that looked even slightly edible.

He was able to grab some berried with white fuzz growing on them; brown sticks, which he had tasted before and really liked; and a half-eaten leg of a bird. He was about to tear apart a second bag when he heard some shouts from behind him.

Another black bag flew over the top into the bin, crushing Xuezu under it's weight. A loud bang sounded afterward, the bin growing dark not long after.

He scrambled out from underneath the bag and looked up; the top to the bin was closed!

"Are you serious?" He meowed to himself, horribly irritated. "Please let me get out..."

He padded back and forth, searching for an opening in the bin. But then he heard a low rumble outside, it started to grow louder, soon shaking the bin. A loud squeak sounded, and the vibrations lessened...

For a moment, anyways.

The bin started to shift, making him slide to the far side, slamming him into the walls, and soon it shifted again, making him slip into the open bag.

He slid into the front side of the bin as the top started opening, all the black bags crowded into him. The bin went completely upside down, throwing him out of the bin, along with all of the bags.

Then he landed heavily in another pile of multicolored rubbish containers, others crushing him as they made their way into the next bin.

Xuezu's head was spinning as he tried to climb out of the pile he had landed in. Once he was able to climb out, the larger bin growled, and it jerked forward, throwing him back into its stomach.

Crawling out once more, he saw the top move and let the sun light shine through.

He jumped up onto the closest bag to the opening and leaped up, his claws struggling to get a grip on it's smoothe surface. After a few heartbeats of struggling, he was finally able to climb out. He saw that he was in a monster, and the monster was picking up yet another large bin full of the revolting black bags.

Xuezu leaped down from the monster and started to run. Not to long after, he found the bin he was digging through previously and he saw a few scraps littering the ground. Including the ones he found. He grabbed them happily and ran back to his den.

He was almost done with the twoleg scraps when he heard a soft mew. Looked up from his meal, he saw a brown she-cat with white bans around her legs and back, she carried light green eyes. She looked like the complete opposite of the tom he had seen earlier that day. Her wide eyes had a pleading look in them, and she kept glancing at the food he was holding between his paws.

She took a step back before padding a little bit closer to Xuezu. "S-Sorry. But…" She trailed off and glanced at the scraps he was holding. She sighed and walked away, her tail trailing along the ground.

He watched her go, just then realizing that the she-cat was really thin, and her ribs were poking out underneath her dull fur. As she padded away, he saw the white cat watching his opposite walk toward him.

Xuezu sighed. I went through a lot for this food. I'm not gonna give it to the two cats! But then a wave of grief and guilt washed over him. Staring at his food for a moment, he grabbed it in his mouth and chased after the two cats.

When the cats saw him running toward them, their fur started to stand on end and they raced away with amazing speed, faster than most cats of their size.

"Hey! Wait! I just want to help you!" He tried to mumble through the mouthful of food as he struggled to catch up to the fleeing cats.

Finally, he was able to catch up to the two cats as their pace started to slow, they were wearing out. They looked behind them to see if Xuezu was still following and they froze for a split second, soon turning about quickly, their fur bristling and tail lashing.

"It's okay! I'm not gonna hurt you or anything!" He panted, dropping the food down by his paws. "I was just gonna give you this," He meowed, nodding toward the food. The two cats' fur started to lay flat again as they stared at the scraps. They didn't move, they just stood there and stared at it with hunger in their eyes.

"Well? Do you want it or not?" Xuezu growled at them, getting impatient with the two cats. They still said nothing "Fine. You don't want it, I'm not gonna force you to eat it," He meowed turning around to pad away.

"Wait!"

He turned around to see that the she-cat spoke. "Could we? Could…" She trailed off once more and grew silent.

"If you want the scraps then just tell me!" He yowled at them. He tossed the scraps; they landed between the two cats.

They looked down at the food then back up at Xuezu. The quickly bent down and ate the scraps in a few rapid bits.

They stood back up licking their muzzles. Then they dipped their head in embarrassment, the male stepping forward. "Thanks," he whispered. "Sorry for not introducing ... ourselves. I'm Mint and this ... is my sister Pine." He nodded toward the she-cat when he said her name.

"Sorry to... be a bother to you," Pine mewed. "But we really appreciate ... the food you gave us."

Xuezu dipped his head slightly, "Sure." He turned around, not feeling like talking to the siblings anymore.

He heard a small whisper behind him, one that he could barely make out.

"I told you it would work, no cat can resist -!"

"I guess you were right, your better at doing things - Pine"

"Told 'ya so!"

"What-ever, let's get going before he hears us."

"Why? We could fight - off if - got angry!"

"Ya' sure about t'at?"

"Of course I am! You -"

"No I'm not! -"

Then the words faded into pawsteps as they walked away.

"I can't believe it! They tricked me!" He growled to himself once he got back to his den. The sun had disappeared by then, and stars were poking out for the world to see. "I fell for their little plot, to be able to get food without working at all! I went through so much trying to get that food! ... I shouldn't of have given them those scraps."

He put his paws over his head and burrowed even deeper in his bed of grass and moss. After a while he finally drifted into a light sleep. . .

When he opened his eyes, he found himself in a dark area, not in his den at the twoleg place, but in a forest.

The sound of screeching cats was everywhere, but he couldn't see anything. He stood there until his eyes adjusted to the darkness about him. He was in a forest, no stars showing above as he looked up. There wasn't even a moon.

He wandered around the small clearing. Where am I? What is this place? He kept wondering over and over, asking the same question in his mind.

"Stop walking in circles, Xuezu!"

Xuezu turned toward the sound, seeing a gray pelt emerge from the shadows.

"Keai!?" He meowed, surprised as he watched the large cat prowl toward him.

"Duh, who did you think I was?" She growled at him, amusement dancing in her hard stare. After a short pause, she added, "But I was busy, if you wondering why I haven't showed up in your dreams. But now here I am, and you're too scared to even walk in a straight line! Humph... don't even know why Scourge chose you..."

Xuezu stared at Keai as she talked, anger starting to build up in him. I'm not scared, I'm not! I'm just confused! That's all, he thought, clawing at the ground. "I'm not scared!" he spoke his thoughts to the larger cat.

She just chuckled a little, "But I guess I should at least see what you can do, before I judge you…" She muttered to herself, completely ignoring him.

Keai growled, launching herself at Xuezu without warning. Not even a heartbeat later Xuezu found himself struggling on the ground, pinned underneath her weight.

Xuezu quickly wore himself out, but he didn't feel like giving up, even though he didn't know how to shake her off. Her larger paws were planted on his chest, crushing the breath out of him, and all he could do was struggle, hoping he could loosen her grip. He glanced up at her, barely able to breathe as she growled disappointingly.

"Oh, please! A Thunderclan apprentice could beat you before you could even take a step forward!"

Xuezu felt anger rush through him when she taunted, but with the anger, power was brought to his limbs. He was able to throw Keai off, after a short while of clawing at her belly fur.

Keai landed on her feet and watched as Xuezu hauled himself back onto his paws.

He stood there, swaying and panting, as he waiting for her to attack him again. But she sat down and stared at Xuezu with a bone chilling look.

Then she chuckled a little, her eyes not so hard anymore, "You will never learn, will you? Struggling like what you were doing isn't gonna get you nowhere. You're lucky I wasn't planning on … hurting you. Otherwise I would of have torn your throat out and fed it to Bloodclan's ancestors!" She growled teasingly.

He shrunk back as Keai growled, She wouldn't really do that to me… would she? He crouched down under the hard stare she gave him, even though her eyes were all amusement.

"I still don't know why Scourge chose you. Why does he think you will be able to defeat Thunderclan? You can't even through in a blow when you're attacking…" Keai growled more to herself than him. She paused, "But I guess that was the first time you actually went up against an opponent that is bigger than you. So, I guess I will teach you a few things, but I don't think I'm gonna teach you the moves too quickly, since you are still young..."

She paused again, this time actually talking to him. "Scourge and I think that you should get your stamina up before we do teach you how to fight, because it will be too hard for you, to do a lot almost everynight." She spat at the end of her sentence. Then she muttered, "But I don't care if it's too hard for you…"

She stood and thought quietly to herself, and a slight evil look formed on her face as she thought of what lies ahead.

"Keai?" Mewed Xuezu after a little while, growing creeped out by the growing expression.

She glanced up, "Huh? Oh... sorry?"

She padded forward until she was gazing down at him, "I was talking to myself … wasn't I...?" She chuckled, "I do that a lot, you better get used to it." After a slight pause, she continued "Well anyways, come back here tomorrow, because it is almost sun-high in your... world? Or... well, whatever. Bye" Then she shooed Xuezu away with her tail and sat down, muttering to herself.

Xuezu walked a few pawsteps then looked back at Keai, Sun-high? It's still really dark! he thought to himself. Then he closed his eyes and shook his head.

When he opened his eyes he was in his den, the sun was high in the sky, and large gray/black clouds crowded it. He stood up, gazing at the sides of his den.

"Guess I should find some food," he meowed to himself. Stepping out of his den he looked around, the sky was very bright, and a chilly wind blew. The wind carried the scent of rain.

Fluffing out his fur, he started to pad slowly away from his den.

He left the alley behind and padded toward the closest twoleg bin. Once he reached it, he jumped up only to find it closed.

xxx

Xuezu sighed "I've looked all around the twoleg place, but all the cans and bins are either shut or empty!" He shook out his fur, "Maybe… just maybe, there is one bin I haven't found yet."

He turned around, chose the closest alley, and padded down it, the wind felt suddenly stronger. A few raindrops fell from the sky and splashed onto the ground, onto all of the things around him.

The alley seemed to go on forever. Nothing changed; not the colors on the twoleg walls, nor the ground and patches of springy grasses… nothing.

But after a while, he noticed a different scent. It was fresher then the twoleg scents that swirled around the twolegplace.

A few heartbeats later he came to the end of the alley, and before him stood the towering trees of the forest. He stared up at them, their leaves where a variety of reds, browns, and oranges, and were floating down like rain.

"I found it…I found the forest!" He yowled as he skipped around. A bird call sounded in the distance, along with a soft rumble of thunder.

Once he stopped jumping about, he stared into the forest and the rain started to drip from the dark sky.

Then he turned around I shouldn't go there, not yet… maybe tomorrow, after I find some food.

So he padded back to the alley, as he reached the first wall he looked up at it, it had bright blue splashes on the top with a large red line underneath. I can see this from my alley when I climb up a little higher, he thought.

Then he left the forest behind him, and padded back to his den. Every time he passed a twoleg bin his jumped up to look in it, but he still found nothing.

By the time he got to his nest, it was pouring, drenching his fur and chilling him to the bone.

Rain… Why does it have to rain? he thought to himself. He looked around, he saw a low twoleg den and he padded over to it. He leaped up onto it, then onto the den that was not much higher and looked out. Just like he thought, he could see the tall twoleg den with the blue and red marks on it.

Xuezu jumped down and shook out his fur. Afterward he crawled into his nest, feeling the warmth of the moss and grass. He sighed and closed his eyes, he let the warmth seep into his body, and very slowly he drifted into sleep.

A little later he woke up to loud footsteps and soft mews. He opened his eyes to see that it was still dark and the moon shown in the slightly cloudy sky.

He stood up and shook his pelt; he put a paw outside and looked around. He saw two cats sitting side by side a little ways away from the den, their fur silver in the moonlight and their eyes two different colors of green one pair mint green and the other light green.

"Umm, sorry to bother you…" The one with jade green eyes mewed silently. "Y-you… may not remember us, but… I'm Mint and this is…" He nodded his head over to the other cat shyly. "T-this is my sister Pine."

"Oh… I did forget about you…" Xuezu murmured to himself, his words not loud enough for the other cats to hear. The excitement that came with the discovery of the forest must have chased the previous night's event from his mind.

Pine stepped a little closer and set something down, "T-this... is…" She trailed of and glanced at her brother. Then they both turned around and dashed out of sight.

"Why can't they ever finish their sentences?" He mewed, then looked at the small outline of the object Pine had put down.

He padded over to it and sniffed at it; it smelled strongly of twolegs, but mixed in with the twoleg scent was the scent of fish and salt. He pawed at it a little and felt a thin loop on the top it the object. He hooked a claw into it and pulled very slightly. The top curled up, showing a half-eaten can of brown/gray slop.

"What? What is this?" He muttered to himself as he gazed at the slop, "Is it edible?" he wondered. He sniffed it again then licked a little bit of it up. "At least it tastes good," he added, quietly.

A/N

Finished editing chapter 1! ^^ Now I will plot out the rest of the story and start typing it up. Hope you enjoyed and if you enjoyed please leave a review! Thank you!