Chapter 2

"Ravenpaw?" Fallpaw gasped. "Great Starclan, it's you! It's really you!"

The loner purred. "I'm just a normal cat. Honestly."

At closer look, Ravenpaw's fur was sleek and shiny, but it hung around him like he hadn't eaten for days. His whiskers were twinged with gray, which didn't surprise Fallpaw. This cat was as old as Graystripe!

He stared at them curiously. "You're Thunderclan, right? And you're from the Tribe of Rushing Water. I can tell that much."

"I'm Fallpaw. And this is Dark." Fallpaw introduced themselves. "We're on a mission from Starclan."

"Really?" Ravenpaw looked interested, then glanced around warily. "Look, it's not safe to talk here. Come with me, will you? We need to get to a safe place first."

"Okay." Together, they followed the skinny warrior into the shadows of the Twoleg place. On the way, Ravenpaw told them what had happened, how the Twolegs had destroyed the forest, how they had destroyed the farm where he and Barley lived, how they had been captured by the Twolegs and given to an elderly couple in the town. Barley had died the day they escaped, killed by dogs that ambushed them.

Fallpaw ran her tail sympathetically down his back. "It must have been hard."

Ravenpaw nodded, his head low, and jumped up a branch, gazing up. "We're almost there."

Fallpaw looked around, but only saw a Twoleg place with a few Twoleg kits running around. "You're a kittypet?"

"Of course not!" Ravenpaw retorted. "I live up in the attic, at the top of the house. I catch my own prey and the Twolegs help keep the dogs away."

"Oh." They jumped up the roof and Ravenpaw led them to a hole in the roof. "This is how I get in."

"What do you do when it rains?" Fallpaw wondered aloud.

"Stay away from the hole." Ravenpaw replied. "And sometimes stuff a piece of the pelts the Twolegs wear to mop it up. It's even better than moss."

They climbed in carefully and Ravenpaw sat down wearily in a nest of Twoleg pelts. "So, Fallpaw, what was your mission?"

Fallpaw told him. Ravenpaw's eyebrows lifted higher and higher as she continued. When she finally finished, Fallpaw waited for his reaction.

"Skyclan…" Ravenpaw murmured. "Firestar told me about it, once, when we were still in the old forest. It was driven away by the clans a very long time ago, because the Twolegs were invading. There wasn't enough land to go around."

"You mean the Clans drove Skyclan away?" Fallpaw was horrified. "But that's against the warrior code!"

Ravenpaw sighed. "Some leaders will do anything for the survival of their clan."

"But Firestar—"
"Firestar's different." Ravenpaw dismissed this with a wave of his tail. "He's the noblest cat I ever knew. I wish I had his courage."

Fallpaw suddenly realized that the loner didn't know his friend was dead. "Um… Ravenpaw…"

She told him what she knew from the stories. Ravenpaw's eyes clouded with grief. "So Firestar's dead… and Ferncloud and Mousefur?"

"And Hollyleaf." Fallpaw nodded. "But we defeated the Dark Forest."

They were silent for a moment, listening to the rush of the wind blowing through the branches of the tree.

"So what will you do now?" Ravenpaw tilted his head. "Do you know where Skyclan is?"

Fallpaw shifted uncomfortably. "Um… no?"

Ravenpaw purred. "Don't worry. You said Firestar sent you? Then he'll guide you all the way. Have faith, young one. You should continue on your journey now."

Fallpaw stood up and stretched her legs. "Thanks for everything, Ravenpaw."

The loner smiled. "It's been a long time since I saw a Clan cat. Safe journey!"

They clambered out of the hole and jumped back down to the ground. Fallpaw fidgeted nervously. "Uh… can we walk on the fence? Ravenpaw's story about the dogs…"

"Oh." Dark seemed to understand, and they leaped back up.

"So where should we go now?" Dark asked.

Fallpaw moaned. "Hunt. I'm starving!"

After a particularly successful hunt (Fallpaw had never seen so many rats!) they found another Twoleg place's attic. Fallpaw didn't want to risk sleeping on the ground. She was terrified of dogs, but she would never admit that.

Unfortunately, the attic didn't have a hole in the roof, but Fallpaw found a strange square brick pipe on the roof. She peered down it. "Well, it looks safe anyway. But it smells weird, like smoke."

Dark snorted. "All Twoleg stuff smell weird. Let's grab some leaves so we can sleep in it. I don't want to be out in the wind on a night like this."

Sorry, short chapter! But the next one will be better, promise.