-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

-::DREAMING::-

She was going to die.

Strangely enough, she was calm despite knowing this fact. Even as her paws pounded over hard stone paths, their drumming drowned by the massive ones that chased her and the booming barks that bounced off the stone walls of the Twoleg dens, following her.

Her pads shredded painfully as she skidded around sharp corners, but even with the scent of blood making the dog's excited yips come faster and more high pitched, she still refused to let herself panic. Panic would do her no good now. She just had to focus on running.

Her breath came in ragged gasps, her chest and flanks heaving as she turned down a narrow alley and leaped a wooden fence. The big brute lost time breaking through the somewhat rotten planks, but its long legs swiftly gained back the distance.

The kitten glanced over her shoulder, eyes widening slightly at the closeness of the dog. What now? She couldn't keep this up forever, and her legs would give out on her before the dog gave up the hunt.

Climb, a cold voice whispered in the back of her mind. It was her only chance – but what was there to climb? She didn't have time to climb the walls of the dens, and besides, there was too much of a risk that she would slip. Next, she thought as she swerved to avoid the dog's snapping jaws. Its growl seemed to surround her, urging her to try and dig her claws into the stone path underpaw to give her more speed.

There! The window ledge! Jump!

But this was a bad choice, too, and she ran right past without slowing, though it would've been a great spot to try and get her breath back. The dog was huge – it would easily reach her on the ledge. She could imagine thinking she was safe, and then feeling those huge teeth closing on her leg and wrenching her back down to where she had absolutely no chance. It would tear at her until the life bled from her body…

Fence! Jump now!

She launched herself to the top of the stone fence and scrabbled desperately for a moment before she managed to pull herself up. She crouched panting, on the red stone, looking down at the dog. Its massive paws were pounding at the fence, its loud barks frustrated and angry now. It was jumping at the cat, trying to reach her though it was quite a jump for a dog.

"Go…go back…to your Twolegs…you stupid beast!" the she-cat yowled hoarsely, her words broken by gasps for air. She swallowed hard, wishing it had rained recently – she could do with a nice, cold puddle.

Though the dog couldn't understand her, it did give up leaping at the fence, realizing it was impossible to scale. It started pacing along the base, snarling and barking and howling, as if to remind her it was there. Your stench is enough!

Not quite recovered, but not exactly wanting to spend the night here with a dog slavering for her blood, the she-cat flicked her ears at the mutt and stood on shaky legs. Beneath her, on one side of the fence, the dog let out another flurry of yapping barks. This was where the alley ended. In one corner of the dead end was a trashcan, which tipped over with a crash when the dog ran into it as it was trying to get to her.

On the other side of the wall, though, a forest began. There was a strip of grass, a Thunderpath, and then the undergrowth. Her tail quivered excitedly as she caught the scent of birds and mice. Whenever she actually caught something – prey like that was pretty scarce in Twolegplace – it was much better than scrounging through trash for scraps of Twoleg food, or begging for kittypet food.

But…the she-cat blinked and narrowed her pale blue eyes. Was…something looking back at her, from between the leaves of a bush? Was that a flash of fur, a glitter of claws?

"Cobra! Hey, Cobra, wake up! You're snoozing the day away, lazypaws!"

"Who are you?" the she-cat muttered. "How do you know my name?" The amber eyes she'd glimpsed shone back at her silently, giving no answers. They were soon joined by a second pair, then a third, and –

– a paw jabbed her in the ribs.

Her eyes flew open and she was greeted with the sight of her best friend's upside-down face. Cobra blinked a few times to get her bearings, and her memory came trickling back as she realized she was awake and lying on her back with her forepaws resting on her chest and her hind paws tucked against her stomach. She flipped onto her side, and the world righted itself.

"It's nearly sunhigh," the dark brown tabby tom complained, giving her another poke. "Arsenic won't be pleased if she finds out you've been dozing this whole time!"

"Well, I'm up now, Viper," meowed the silver-striped black she-cat, stifling a yawn. She sat up slowly, before she stood and arched her back in a long stretch. "So she can't exactly claw my ears off just yet."

She sat back down once she had heard her spine pop satisfyingly a few times, and lifted a paw to give it a lick. She rubbed it over her face, clutching at the last shreds of her dream. The sensation of being watched…it came back to her every time.

For more than a quarter moon now, she'd had the same dream. Always exactly the same – the dog chasing her, her desperate, gasping breaths once she was safe, the pain of her stinging pads….She rasped her tongue over the pad of her raised paw, half expecting to feel grit embedded in the skin and taste the coppery tang of blood. And the eyes. Always watching…always there. She always awoke before she could find out what they belonged to.

It frustrated her that she woke up feeling like she'd been at the top of a hill, staring down at something…incredible. Something unbelievable…and amazing.

Viper was watching her with a critical look on his face. "Have you been dreaming again?" the young tom asked quietly. Cobra gave him a sideways glance through ice blue eyes. Only he knew her that well…but then, they had been best friends practically from the moment they'd met.

"Yes," she answered honestly, licking her paw again and drawing it two or three times over one silver-tipped ear. She didn't lie often to him. And he almost never lied to her. Which was why they were a bit more like brother and sister than close friends.

"You know what Arsenic says," Viper mewed, shaking her from her thoughts.

"'The dream will go away on its own when you figure out what it means,'" she quoted with him. "Yeah, I know," she went on. "But I can't figure out what it's supposed to mean, Viper. Not even Arsenic has a clue, and she taught us everything we know."

"Well…" Viper shook his striped head. "I'm sure you'll figure it out. You're smart. Smarter than I am – almost as smart as she is." He turned his head to look out over the rooftops. "Meanwhile, she's waiting for us. Best not to make her angry by not showing up…"

"Okay, bossypaws," Cobra mewed, wrinkling her nose playfully. "Let's go see her. Maybe she'll have something new to show us." She leaped out of the old tire, the center of which was where she made her den because it was sheltered from the elements by part of an overhanging roof, and it was easy to tuck what little moss and bracken there was to be found into it.

And it was easy to get into and out of. She'd moved her den here when she'd first had the dream, fearing it meant she was going to have to run from something. But days had come and gone…and so far, everything was calm.

"Wait for me!" Viper called, charging after her as she broke into a run.

"Keep up, then," she shouted into the wind. "Slow slug!"

"I'll show you who the slow slug around here is!"

"Brave words! Let's see you back them up!" Cobra lengthened her stride, gaining speed and flashing a challenging glance over her shoulder.

"Hey, slow down!" Viper sped up as well, narrowing his eyes at her as his long legs and swift paws began to eat up the distance between them.

"It's a race, isn't it?" she called, grinning though he didn't have a way of seeing it at the moment.

"You got a head start!" he accused, now only just slightly behind her and beginning to breathe more heavily. Her own breaths were coming more raggedly.

"Only because you weren't paying attention!" She leaped up onto a fence and ran along it, keeping her balance easily. She glanced down at Viper – he was just below her, and would be right next to her if she were still on the ground. But…Arsenic's den wasn't on that side of the fence. She made and sharp turn and kept following the fence, knowing she was close to victory. She could almost taste it.

"No fair, you cheater! Wait up!" She could hear his claws scrabbling on the fence.

"Hahaha, keep up, slow slug! Or Arsenic will think you got lost!"

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Arsenic was up and waiting for them, her tail wrapped neatly around her paws. Cobra jumped down from the fence, padding forward with her tail high. Ha! She was the fast –

Viper suddenly leaped on her from behind with a triumphant meow, knocking the black and silver she-cat onto her side. Her muzzle pressed into the earth, and she spat out a mouthful of dirt.

"Oh, yuck!" She wiped her tongue with her paws, trying to get rid of the taste. Viper burst out laughing.

"Gotcha! Tom, you should see the look on your – aaack!" He let out a startled yowl as she flew at him, blue eyes gleaming. They wrestled for a little while, Arsenic just watching them calmly.

"Enough," she meowed after she felt this had gone on for long enough. Her tone was quiet and level, but the two young cats sprang apart at once, looking at her a little nervously. "You're not kits out of your mother's den for the first time," she scolded them gently. "You're nearly grown up." They were, in reality, only about half-grown, but she wanted these little play-fights to happen less and less as time went on.

Cobra looked down, shuffling her paws in the dirt. "Sorry, Arsenic," she mumbled. Her apology was echoed by Viper, the young tabby tom's amber eyes wide and somber.

"Now," the young adult she-cat said, lying down in a patch of sunlight. Her white fur seemed haloed in golden light. "What brought this on?"

"A race," Viper mewed. "From Cobra's den to here. She only beat me because she got a head start."

The black and silver kit glanced at him, her lip quirking. "I did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Not."

"Too."

"Too."

"Not….hey!"

"Ha!" Cobra made an amused but triumphant sound. Arsenic cleared her throat, stopping another play fight from breaking out.

"If you've quite finished," she meowed significantly, to which the accusing amber stare and the laughing blue gaze turned sheepish and met her own eyes. "Now, listen up, kits. A roamer has come to the Twolegplace."

Viper looked confused now. "But many roamers come and go," he pointed out.

Arsenic nodded. "True. But this is a special cat. She's been here before."

"Been here before?" Cobra questioned, at the same time as Viper mewed, "So it's a she?"

"She often visits. I believe she has family here," the white cat meowed, nodding. "Her name is Icefire. She's a very pale gray cat, almost white, with dark amber-orange eyes and black ear tips. One of the toes on her left forepaw is black, and the tip of her tail is dark gray." She paused. "I have to warn you…don't invite trouble. Icefire is a mystery to all of the cats here. No one knows much about her. So be careful around her."

Viper nodded seriously, while Cobra gazed at their protector and teacher with a solemn expression. "We don't invite trouble, Arsenic," she mewed. "Trouble finds us."

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

"What do you make of this Icefire cat?" Viper asked his friend as they headed back to her den. His wasn't too far away, within easy walking or running distance if either of them got into trouble and needed help.

Cobra frowned thoughtfully, looking up at the darkening sky rather than directly at him. "She sounds kind of like Arsenic," she meowed. She met the dark tabby's eyes. "Doesn't she sort of come and go as she pleases?"

"Yeah, but it doesn't sound the same. We've never seen Icefire, and we're both almost six moons old. So either she's been here when we were too young to remember it and she visits regularly, or she's just coming back after being away for a long time."

"We'll have to ask the next time we see her, then," Cobra mewed.

"Who, Icefire?" Viper asked with a frown.

"No, you daft furball," the dark she-cat purred as she leaped up onto her tire. "Arsenic of course." She leaned down to touch noses with him. "Goodnight. Travel safe," she mewed softly, gazing into his eyes. I can't lose you, too…

"Goodnight," he returned, stretching up to lick between her ears. "Sleep well."

As he left, Cobra sat and watched him. Even when he'd turned back to call one last goodbye and she'd returned it, she stared off at the direction he'd gone. She found herself getting lost in thought…memories threatened to drown her.

She was only about five and a half moons old, but she'd never known her parents. Her father had mated her mother and left at the first chance he got, or so Arsenic had told her – the white she-cat had known Cobra's mother for a short while. Arsenic had said that as soon as Cobra could care for herself, her mother had abandoned her.

Some parents I had, the young she-cat thought, somewhat bitterly. At least my mother waited until I could feed myself…which is more than my father ever did for me. Her lip curled in a snarl. He mated my mother and didn't bother sticking around long enough to see if she was even pregnant…stupid tom. I bet he doesn't even know I exist.

She let out a long sigh, her shoulders sinking as she turned and slid into her mossy nest.

And maybe that's for the best…because I don't know what I'd do if I ever met him…

-X-X-X-X-X-X-X-

Busy paws scraped away at the earth, digging a hole that was as a tail-length long and could comfortably fit all four of the feline's paws. It was about as deep as its shoulder – the cat had been working on it since it had found this place. It was exactly what it had been looking for – a little out of the way, pretty close to the forest…and the kind of area that could be kept a secret.

Panting, the cat paused, lifting its head warily. Wide eyes scanned the undergrowth intently, ears straining to pick up any sound. But all was quiet…for the moment anyway. The cat went back to digging, paying no heed to its muddy, aching, and broken claws. It had to keep working. The stream's cool waters would soothe its paws and clean away the mud when the cat was done for the night.

But it wasn't done. Not yet.

It worked long into the night, seemingly without the need to rest. Anyone watching would wonder what exactly this cat was trying to accomplish. And the answer was simple, and yet not.

It was trying to accomplish the end of the Clans.

How would digging bring about the end of the four Clans of wild cats? Well…that answer was more complicated, and would be revealed in time.

For now, it stopped working, this hole finished, as were the others. The cat began to drag brambles over the hole, hiding it until it was needed. It was easily passed off as the den of a random rogue.

When the cat reached its own den, amber eyes glittered with satisfaction before sliding closed, the feline falling asleep only after being sure there was nothing around to attack it.

Finally…everything was falling into place…