"Alright Rosekit, settle down. Your mother will be back soon. Fawnkit, come here. Stop jumping on my tail. Briarkit- wait, where's Briarkit?"

Eaglestorm was sitting in the nursery, watching over his three kits. Squirrelstar had to settle out a problem with the patrols, and had asked him if he could kitsit.

Briarkit peaked out from behind him, "Here, da!" she mewed. "You didn't even know I was here!"

"No I didn't," Eaglestorm praised. "Very good."

The she-kit trotted around to his side on unsteady legs. She sat down with a bump and put a velveted white forepaw on his side. "Tell us a story, da. One of before."

"Before?" the blue-gray tom repeated, playing dumb.

"Yeah!" Fawnkit piped in. "Before the Clan. Tell us the one about the first time you met ma!"

"No, no, no!" Rosekit countered, batting at her sister's ears. "That's too mushy!"

Briarkit watched them scuffle for a few moments before turning back to her father. "Not those stories," she told him, placing both front paws on his flank. Those were all too not-actiony. "Tell us the one about how you fought off the dogs."

Eaglestorm purred in amusement, nudging Briarkit with his nose. "Fine then. The dog story it is." Briarkit sat in front of him expectantly.

Rosekit and Fawnkit instantly stopped their playing and settled, for the moment, on either side of Briarkit. All three she-kits had wide eyes and twitching whiskers as they waited for their father to begin the tale.

"It was around the time of the day when dusk was melting into twilight," he began. "The colors of the world were all blending together . And I, having strayed farther from my sleeping place than usual, was still out in the open."

The three kits shivered, already ensnared in the tale.

"The first StarClan warriors were beginning to appear in the sky when I heard it. Howling, like nothing I've ever heard before. I crouched into a defensive stance before they were on me."

Briarkit leapt to her paws. "Who was on you, da?" she asked excitedly, already knowing the answer.

"Dogs!" Eaglestorm growled theatrically. "Four of the meanest, ugliest brutes you could ever lay your eyes on. They had me surrounded before my heart could take another beat, and as they snarled I could see it in their eyes; they were calling for my blood."

Rosekit and Fawnkit were crouching behind Briarkit, who took a step forward, her blue eyes huge. "Then what happened?" she prompted.

"Well, I knew that the only way out was to fight! So before any of the dogs could gather their wits, I sprung at the nearest one and sliced my claws through his ear. Blood sprayed onto the thunderpath. Yowling with rage, he lunged at my neck, but I was too fast! Quicker than a rabbit leap, I had him running with his tail tucked between his legs."

"Wha-what about the others?" Rosekit quipped, peeking between her paws covering her eyes.

"The others? They were looking less confident but just as determined. The largest of the three shot at me, attempting to catch me off guard, but I was ready. I jumped up and landed on his head, then leapt off of that and onto his back where spun around and dug my claws in deep. The dog howled in pain and frustration; he couldn't reach me. The brute bucked and reared, trying his best to dislodge me, but I held on tight. It took almost all night, but the dog finally fell over, exhausted and unconscious. By then, the other two had seen enough. They turned tail and ran as far away from me as they could."

Briarkit was looking at her father, her large blue eyes brimming with awe. Her sisters were cowering behind her, peaking around her sides. "Did that really happen, da? Did you really beat those dogs so easy?"

Eaglestorm purred. "Of course it was easy. Dogs are cowardly, dumb animals. They don't stand a chance against cats."

The little striped kit gazed up at her father, images from his story dancing around her head.

This was nothing like his stories.

Briarshadow was running down the thunderpaths, turning this way and that to take new ones, all the while dodging monsters as she raced with the dogs to StarClan knows where.

This was not the time when dusk melted into twilight.

Their breath was moist on her tail and they each let loose a vicious bark with every pawfall.

There was no warning, no time for defense.

The brute in front took a snap at her hindquarters, causing the she-cat to go faster as she imagined the dog's long fangs closing in on her leg.

These dogs weren't going to be intimidated.

Briarshadow's dark blue eyes were wide with fear.

These were not the cowards she had grown up hearing about.

She zigzagged on and off the thunderpaths and around twoleg things; trees that were branchless and made of a rock-hard material. Wooden platforms a couple of fox-lengths long that were holding twolegs on top of them. Smelly things that she recognized as twoleg rubbish bags.

The she-cat dodged it all in her mad dash to shake off her pursuers, but still the dogs managed to keep her in their sights. She couldn't understand their harsh language, but the idea behind their words were clear; the chase was quickly coming to a close, and she was losing.

Her sides heaving, Briarshadow wildly looked around. Gasping, she turned down a narrow ally, hoping it was the one that lead to the forest. It wasn't.

At the end of the ally, she knew that she had no chance of escape.

At the end of the ally, she lost all sense of anything.

At the end of the ally, she skidded to a halt at the base of a tall, slick, wooden fence.

At the end of the ally, she was going to die.

Briarshadow crouched and turned around, her fur fluffed up and her eyes bright with fear. She let out a weak hiss in defiance.

The three dogs slid into the narrow ally way, pushing one another in an attempt to get in front. Their jaws were dripping with saliva. The one that was currently in front, a muscular and scarred black and tan brute, barked out a few words that echoed off of the stone walls of the ally. They were lost on the she-cat.

Briarshadow threateningly raised a forepaw, claws unsheathed. Her defense seemed languid against the aggressive image the dogs imposed. They snapped their jaws, and the ally was filled with the rocky echoes of their growls.

The lead dog barked again, ready to lunge at his prey. Briarshadow was staring wide-eyed at long, yellow teeth not a tail-length from her nose.

Abruptly, the dogs snapped their heads up when the bark's fading echoes were renewed. The she-cat froze. Not another one, she thought tersely, unable to choke out the words past the panic rising in her throat.

A shadow was briefly cast down from the top of the fence before a solid form dropped into the ally directly in between the cat and the other dogs. Deep snarls emanated from its chest.

Briarshadow took the moment's lapse in the other dog's attention to dart behind a few shiny twoleg's rubbish cans. She couldn't try to escape without any of the dogs seeing. She was just as trapped as she was before, with one more dog on her paws. Her mind was racing, the question of when the pain would come was asked over and over. The tabby stole herself a glance around the canister.

The new dog, a large sandy-tan brute with a black strip running down his spine, was facing the other three. His muzzle was tensed and pulled back, exposing his sharp white teeth. He rapidly barked out an obvious threat.


Here's another chapter. I had it done yesterday, but I fell asleep before I could put it up! :3 I'm working on chapter 4 right now! -Shadow

Oh, I did have a few reviews to reply to:

Amazium: I'm glad you like it. I've been sitting on the idea for almost a year now, so my friend basically threatened me if I didn't actually write it :) Thanks again for the help. I really appreciate it.

Nightsky0208: Thanks! I wanted to make my own Clan for the story, so I could make my own cats with their own histories, but I wanted them to still be somehow connected to the four Clans.

And thanks to the guest reviewer! Keep reading nameless peoples ^-^