Chapter one

Sky opened her cloudy grey eyes. She shifted around in her nest of dry leaves, her sleek, silver-and-white fur brushing gently against the gangly thorn bush she had slept under. Sky glanced at her brother Cloud, who was sleeping in his own nest next to her. She leaned down and whispered into his ear, "Cloud, wake up". The young tom opened his piercing amber eyes and glared at her. "Oh, come on, sis, I was trying to sleep!" but he was silenced by the serious expression on Sky's face.

"The takers are after us," she hissed. "I can hear them speaking." Cloud dragged himself to his paws at once and shook out his dewy white fur. "Where?" he whispered, glancing around warily. "There," Sky indicated to a narrow gap between two bushes, near the roots of a tree. Sure enough, there was an excited chattering amongst the usual heavy forest sounds. "How do you know it isn't just starlings?" Cloud asked, flicking his fluffy tail over the dry, crunchy leaves. "It's too deep for starlings," Sky replied. "And they don't like this part of the forest anyway." Cloud glanced at his sister. "Sky…." "Yes?" "Um, shouldn't we be trying to escape?" "No." Sky answered firmly. "If we leave now, it would cause too much of a disturbance. We need to wait until we're sure they're after us."

But then, the sudden sound of human footsteps appeared, heading ever closer to the two rogues.