Hello!

I've decided to change the plot a bit, so now there will be another POV (and no, he's not in the Clans and doesn't live in the mountains, as you'll see soon enough.)

Thanks to everyone who reviewed, favorited, followed and read.

Thunder stood on the slightly raised Silver-Stone, leaning forward on his forepaws, gazing down at the small waterfall which didn't exactly merit the title 'waterfall'; it was just a tiny trickle down the spiky gray stones. White foam rained on him gently, cool and fresh. It gathered up to large, quivering drops at the end of his whiskers. The Silver-Stone was cold and smooth as ever; the sun, even on the hottest summer days couldn't reach this spot, it was too well protected by the small grove of birch trees. The stone's name was justified. In full moon nights, like this one, the large, light gray stone would light up in bright silver.

The waterfall fell gently, with a soft gurgling whisper, into a smooth, small pool; so still that it looked tonight like a silver sheet of ice, disturbed only by the stray leaf that drifted from the tall birch tree above. Red and gold leaves, he could tell, even in the moonlight which seemed to drain everything of its color, a very obvious sign of autumn. Thunder shivered as a cold breeze ruffled his fur. Seems like the summer is finally over. It's probably going to snow in the next moon, the birch trees will be covered in a white layer, to match their trunks. The ground will be white too, maybe the pool will freeze again; it did last winter. And I won't be here to see it, any of it.

Now, most cats, when that sort of thought ran through their head, would probably need to swallow a knot in their throat, maybe take a deep breath and try to cheer themselves up with something else, happier, tell themselves that it doesn't matter, they'll be back soon or even wipe away a hidden tear.

Not Thunder. Yes, he loved his family, cared for the rest, especially Lavender, but he has been waiting too long to feel sad about what he was leaving behind. He had wanted to explore the outside world, the real one, for too long. To get out of this prison, which, yes, was filled with easy prey and beautiful scenes and loving family and apparent happiness. Thunder was never truly happy here; he just found it boring. He hated the dull routine, despised just repeating the previous days' actions, again and again and again, every day of his life.

That was the reason he had decided to go on the Journey. The Journey was an old custom, which was created when Thunder's, and most of the other cats', ancestors came to live together in this place. It was used to test the cats once they reached fifteen moons, and check if they're ready and deserving to become full members of the group. Originally the leader at the time would give the cat going on the Journey a quest, some kind of mission that was supposed to be completed in three months. It could be anything; from finding new territory to recruiting another cat or dealing with a different, unfriendly group of cats. This was not risk free; a lot of the cats died or were injured permanently and incapable of completing the mission. More then half of the cats never returned, and as a result the group's numbers didn't grow. A few seasons later the leader at the time decided that every cat should be allowed to do it when they felt ready, since not all cats grew and matured at the same pace. Cats continued to go on the Journey, and many of them died or were kicked out when they were unable to complete their quest.

A while later a she-cat named Ice, famous for her beauty and kindness, become leader of the group. She decided that that custom was cruel, though not pointless. The cats still did need some kind of test that would motivate them. After long arguments and full days spent on thinking she managed to change the law, and now the Journey-er, as the cat going on the quest was nicknamed, didn't need to complete a mission but instead just survive for three moons and then return. Journey-ers still died, but a much smaller percent, and there was no kicking out the cats who failed their mission. In this case if you failed, you were dead.

Just recently the law was changed again, in fact, just a little while after Thunder was born. Now any cat who didn't want to go on the Journey didn't have to.

"Thunder." That was Lavender. The she-cat was standing at the edge of the Silver-Stone, gray fur looking as sleek and soft as ever, clean and neatly arranged around her slim frame. Her remarkably beautiful purple-blue, heather colored eyes were staring at him with an expression he could only understand as longing.

"Hello," he greeted her, though not as happily as it could be. He didn't want company right now. Oh well, after all, he probably won't have a chance to have another private conversation with her for a long time, so it was now or never.

Lavender padded forward and rubbed her cheek with his. "How are you? Feeling fine?"

Thunder nodded.

"You seem nervous to me," she decided. "You'll be fine, you know. You're one of the best fighters we've had for a while, and you're not bad at hunting either."

She was obviously trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince him, and besides, he didn't need convincing. He was excited, not nervous as she had thought. Her worries might have something to do with the fact that the last three who went on the Journey had never returned, he thought dryly. And all of them were considered 'good fighters' and 'successful hunters'.

Lavender sighed very dramatically, leaped onto the stone and sat down beside him. Thunder felt his annoyance growing as she inched towards him. Why can't she see that I want to be alone?

He immediately felt ashamed with himself. What's wrong with her wanting to hang out with me, when I'm about to leave her?

"Autumn's here," she mewed quietly, eyes fixed on the birch tree.

Thunder nodded. "Yes, that's what I was thinking beforehand."

"Why do you have to go?" she suddenly burst out. It was obvious she had been waiting to say that.

"It's tradition." Thunder didn't meet her eyes. Instead he gazed down again at the trickling waterfall.

"But I'm not going and I don't think I'm ever going to go. You don't have to go; no one's forcing you. It hasn't been obligatory for a long time now."

"It's still an honor," Thunder answered shortly. There was no way he was going to tell her the truth; that he wants to leave her and his family.

"Oh, come on!" She mewed, her voice raising a little. Thunder heard her take in a deep breath and then felt her tail on his tail. "No one cares about this anymore, almost no one goes. Thunder, just look at me for a second," she pleaded. Thunder averted his eyes from the water and looked at her. Her eyes were wide, her tail was now moving up and down, hitting his tail repeatedly. "Listen to me."?

"I'm listening." He knew he was being heartless, but he couldn't stop himself. She was just getting on his nerves right now.

"Why do you want to go?" Lavender mewed. "And don't give me that garbage about it being tradition and that it's an honor. I know you don't care about tradition, and you can be respected without going on it. I mean, Glass became leader, and he didn't go on the Journey. Why do you want to go?" she repeated.

Thunder decided to go for the half-truth tactic. "Haven't you ever felt like you're missing something here, that you are just bored, and accomplishing practically nothing?"

"Um, not exactly."

And that, my dear Lavender, is one of the reasons you sometimes get on my nerves. How can someone be so content with what they have? I know most cats think this place is perfect, but we obviously don't have the same definition for perfect. My version of perfect, for instance, doesn't necessarily include 'a lot of prey'.

Thunder shook his head. "Well then I'm sorry, but you won't understand the way I feel."

"I know I don't," she mewed sadly. "If I would, I would probably come with you, because I would feel like you do. You know," she added suddenly. "I was thinking of coming with you, just so I would get to be with you until… whenever."

Thunder didn't answer; he didn't know what to say.

"Well, I think I'll go to sleep. You should get some rest too; you're going to be leaving early tomorrow."

"Good night, Lavender."

"'Night."

Thunder woke up the next day in a sudden, jerky twitch. His eyes flew open and he almost immediately got to his legs. A strange feeling was cursing through his body, his insides felt like dirt, weighing him down, and as much as he told himself that he wasn't leaving anything behind and that he was happy to leave, he couldn't shake off the slight feeling of loss.

What does that mean, 'I'm not leaving anything behind?' What are my family? Yes, they do annoy me, irritate me on a daily basis. I find their opinions on most matters completely idiotic and certainly despise many aspects of their… personality. But I still do love them. Somehow.

I wouldn't give my life for them or anything like that, or at least not because they are family, but I still care for them, and I know they care for me, even if I am the 'weirdo' of the group.

Thunder sighed and jumped down soundlessly beside the waterfall. His muscles were aching from sleeping on the cold stone. He couldn't exactly remember when he had fallen asleep, he had just sort of drifted away into the blackness, his thoughts becoming foggier and foggier.

Thunder dipped a paw into the pool and a small shiver went through his body at the icy water's touch. His reflection was very clear in the small pool, obviously it had something to do with the fact that it was completely still, but today it was even sharper than usual. His bright golden fur was looking ruffled and messy, standing out against his black ears and paws, black striped tail and slightly lighter muzzle. Thunder smoothed out his fur with a couple rough licks and then got up and made his way back to the cave.

The sun still hasn't risen completely, the mountains in the horizon were a watery blue. The air was cold, the clean, fresh coldness of morning air. Fluffy light gray clouds made their way across the pale pink and blue sky, moving with the wind.

He pushed his way through the crack in the prickly bramble wall.

Thunder entered the cave, attempting to be as quiet as possible. The cave was pretty much the place the group did everything (except hunting); they slept there, they ate, hang out and battle trained (though that training was never used as there were no battles).

It was divided into three main parts, and dead bramble thickets separated them. The first was a large, semi-circular shape, close to the cave entrance. There was a large hole in the ceiling that let light and air in, and half a dozen other, smaller ones, scattered throughout the cave. This area was used mostly for eating, hanging around or group discussions. It was quite pleasant even in the winter, in the parts that there were no 'windows' to let in rain and wind. The term windows is one he learned from Lavender, who had a kittypet background. Most of the cats were somehow related or used to be a kittypet, so that a lot of terms were adopted from the Twoleg language.

There were two holes in the thorn barrier surrounding that part. One of them led to a sandy, stone surrounded, much smaller area. The ceiling there had collapsed entirely. In the summer and spring this place was ideal for practicing or training, but in the winter it got muddy and large puddles formed.

The third part was divided into many sub-parts, and in the hollows in the walls were many mossy nests where the cats slept; usually the queens slept together, and so did most of the younger cats, but otherwise it was pretty mixed.

Thunder clambered to the sleeping area and padded to his nest. He could see Lavender, who slept quite close to him, curled up in her nest, tail resting on her pink nose.

Thunder sighed as he remembered their previous conversation. He hadn't meant to hurt her, though he was quite sure he had. Maybe he'll apologize tomorrow, so he can leave with a whole heart. After all, Lavender is the cat he will miss most.

Yes, he'll do that tomorrow. But right now he should get some sleep. Tomorrow is a big day. Thunder turned over in his nest and soon fell asleep.

I hope that was fine. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think.

Oh, and I forgot. I have most of the allegiances for OakClan, but I still need a full Clan's worth of cats for SkyClan, and rogues and kittypets would also be good. I don't expect to get all the cats I need this way, but I'm hoping of getting some... Thanks!