"Great StarClan..."

The she-cat turned her head slightly, in equal parts confusion and awe. Despite her numerous wounds her tail swished freely behind her and her amber eyes glowed in what little moonlight made it through the thick branches of pine trees. Most of the pain from her cuts had faded to dull throbs, mostly now forgotten about due to the scene before her.

"Cedarstar?"

It took a moment for the tabby she-cat to respond. Her head slowly raised from the bush she was staring in to meet the yellow eyes of her trusted deputy. With the sparse light and his mainly black pelt he seemed almost ethereal as he stood there. She met his eyes and saw the confusion and concern in the yellow orbs. He was probably as lost for words as she was. As the grey tabby took a moment to gather her thoughts her gaze turned back towards the small bush and its occupants.

"What do we do?" asked her deputy. The black and silver tom shuffled nervously as he looked from his leader back to the nest.

Two small kits, several days old by the looks of it.

They were situated in a hastily made nest of grass and squealing for a mother that was not there. The blind and deaf kits scrabbled and clamored over one another trying to go who knows where. Probably trying to find someone to feed them.

Unfortunately their mother had been among the casualties of the battle that had taken place earlier. Her body had been found along with one other. Cedarstar and her deputy still bore the marks of that earlier encounter. A short while ago a fairly large group of rogues had settled into her territory and began to hunt for themselves. Naturally as a leader it was her job to safeguard her Clan's territory and chase out the band of rogues. They already had enough mouths to feed without adding another group in the picture. Plus, it was green-leaf and if they depleted the stores of prey now they would all starve come leaf-bare. There was land elsewhere for those rogues to hunt.

In the beginning she had tried to be civil about it. She had sent a patrol consisting of all her most non-intimidating warriors to talk with whoever was in charge. To try and convince them to leave peacefully without having to resort to violence. Her offer was brutally declined however as her warriors came back, claiming that they had been chased away by the rogues! A few of them had even come back with shallow cuts from the skirmish.

The thought of those mange-ridden rogues harming her warriors set the she-cat's blood boiling. It seemed as if the time for being civil was over. She had given them a chance, now they had to pay the full price. She would teach them to harm her Clanmates. Cedarstar personally lead the patrol deep into Clan territory. They were silent with determination as they padded to meet the intruders face to face. They had left at moonrise, the night helping to conceal their forms as they took up defensive positions.

At her call everyone burst from their vantage points. Yowls broke out and filled the night air as the two groups clashed. The rogues were surprisingly good when it came to combat. The two groups were evenly matched in terms of size. She hadn't wanted to bring too many warriors with her, for fear of leaving the Camp defenseless. Cedarstar was momentarily drawn from her thoughts as one of the kits tumbled out of them nest. Absently the grey tabby she-cat nudged it back into the nest with its littermate. As a she-cat who had raised kits of her own her heart ached for them.

After they had managed to drive the rogues out her warriors had retreated home to nurse their wounds. As was customary for leaders to be the last to leave the battlefield she checked to make sure that everyone had left, only to find her deputy huddled over the small bush she now presided over. These kits deserved a warm and safe nest with their mother, yet here they were stuck out in the open just waiting for some stupid dog or some other type of predator to come and pick them off.

That was all about to change.

"We're going to bring them with us of course." she said. "We'd better hurry up too. We don't know how long these kits have been out here. We'll see if one of the queens can nurse them." Opening her jaws she scooped up one of the kits. It felt as if she was carrying a piece of prey. As she looked up she caught the look of surprise on her deputy's face.

"We're... going to raise them in the Clan?" he asked.

Setting the kit down beneath her forepaws she licked vigorously at its fur. "Yes. I see no other alternative. Their birth mother is dead and the rouges have fled. To do otherwise and leave them here to die would be to break the Warrior Code."

She plucked the other kit from the bush and placed it at her deputy's paws. He looked nervously at the kit for a moment. "What will you tell the Clan?" He ventured.

"The truth." She said simply. "Well, most of it." she thought.

Rising to her paws she picked up the kit before her. She shot her deputy a look that told him to do the same. As soon as he was ready she flicked her tail as a signal for them to start heading home.