Well, here's the next chapter! It's still just Starfirebeam reviewing, but I don't mind! She's very kind. You'll find out more about the loners in this chapter, Star, don't worry! They'll give you the story of why they are here... :3 Enjoy!

Flypaw's eyes flew open. Where am I? He wondered as he scrambled to his paws. He didn't remember anything from that day, except that he had won the fighting competition and the four loners had come. Was he back in RiverClan camp?

Extremely confused, he looked around himself. He was in a small den, not unlike the one in RiverClan camp. But it smelled different. And he couldn't see the entrance from here. There was a tiny pinprick of light in the distance. He must be in a tunnel of some sort. After stretching his tense muscles, he began the trek to the entrance.

The path was dark and riddled with sharp objects that made his paws hurt. It took at least five minutes for him to reach the entrance. When he did, he was shocked to see that a stone blocked it. The bit of light that he had seen was the moon peeking in through a crack in the upper right hand corner. Flypaw shook his head in disbelief. What was this? Had Silver, Ripple, Sun, and Dawn trapped him here?

He supposed the best thing to do was to wait until morning. They had to feed him, didn't they? But as he curled up to go back to sleep, he felt a strange foreboding in his belly. What if they didn't feed him? What if they left him to starve in here forever? What if RiverClan never found him? What if, what if, what if? He fell into a fitful sleep with all of the "what-ifs" running through his head.

. . .

(AN/ Switching to Finchtalon's POV since Flypaw is gone)

Finchtalon woke early the next morning. Time to get Flypaw up to go train! He thought, padding briskly out into camp. But when he poked his head into the apprentice's den to find his apprentice, reality came crashing back down – hard. Flypaw was gone. The yellow and black warrior sat down and closed his amber eyes, feeling stunned. How could he have forgotten?

The sound of movement close by startled him. Finchtalon's amber eyes snapped open and he found himself face to face with Lakefur, Flypaw's mother. He longed to close his eyes again, but he gave her a polite dip of his head instead. She smiled wanly and looked up at the sky.

"I found myself wishing it was someone else's kit last night. Then I realized that I wouldn't want anyone to ever feel this way… It's terrible, Finchtalon. Isn't it?" The yellow and black warrior nodded mutely, not knowing what to say. The pretty dark gray she-cat gave him a gentle nudge, got up, and started to pad away.

"Wait!" Finchtalon called, finding his voice. Lakefur looked over her shoulder, her dark blue eyes (exactly like Flypaw's, Finchtalon noted) curious. "Thanks." He murmured. She smiled warmly and nodded before heading back to the nursery.

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey please gather here beneath ReedPile for a Clan meeting!" Furzestar's call echoed around camp. Finchtalon found himself the first one there. He waited patiently for the others to arrive so that Furzestar could begin.

"The kidnapping of Flypaw is a tragedy, and we must find him and kill those terrible rouges that took him. I am organizing a patrol that will find where they are keeping him. Today we are just tracking. We will attack tomorrow if we find the place. I will be taking Hailstorm, Braveheart, Sunnyheart, Duskclaw, Emberblaze, Fallowpaw, and Finchtalon. Pouncefoot is in charge while I am gone."

There was a murmur of agreement, and Finchtalon was glad to hear his name amongst the patrol. He wanted to find his apprentice just as much as the others. He was surprised that Pouncefoot wasn't allowed on the patrol, however. It was his son! Then again, he might be too quick to attack instead of watch.

Fallenleaves stood up angrily, his eyes blazing. Finchtalon tried not to roll his eyes. The arrogant young warrior always had some objection to Furzestar's plans. What could it be this time?

"Why am I not allowed to go? My apprentice is going!" He hissed. Furzestar glared down at the warrior, her spotted tail flicking angrily.

"Do not question my motives, Fallenleaves. If you continue to object my orders, then you will be punished." The ginger warrior sat down grudgingly, his ears flat and his eyes blazing with annoyance. Furzestar shook her head slowly before speaking again.

"We have one more thing to do this morning," Finchtalon's head tipped to one side in confusion. What else could there be? Then he spotted Graymist on the edges of the Clan with her kits, Morningkit and Talonkit. They must be having their apprentice ceremony. Finchtalon thought. Sure enough, Furzestar began the familiar words.

"Two kits have now been with us for six moons, which means it is their time to become apprentices. Morningkit, Talonkit, step forward please." The two kits stepped forward, their eyes bright and eager. Furzestar smiled down at them before continuing. "Morningkit, from this day forward, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Morningpaw. I ask StarClan to watch over you until you find the strength and courage of a warrior." The little gray she-cat looked up at Furzestar with her huge amber eyes, waiting for her mentor anxiously.

"Pouncefoot, it has been a while since you had an apprentice. You had excellent training under Nightfall, and I hope that you will pass your knowledge on to Morningpaw." The little gray she-cat puffed out her chest and tried to look brave as she padded up to the huge ginger tom. They touched noses and Morningpaw sat back, waiting eagerly for her brother to get his name as well.

"Talonkit, from this day on, until you earn your warrior name, you will be known as Talonpaw. StarClan, please watch over this young cat until he learns the code and the ways of a warrior." The burly young tomcat, a near-copy of his father Hailstorm, looked around with pride, waiting for his mentor.

"Duskclaw, you trained Fallenleaves well. I expect that you will use those same skills to teach Talonpaw how to be the best warrior in RiverClan." The dark brown tabby tom dipped his head respectfully to Furzestar before touching his nose to his new apprentice. Finchtalon purred happily. It was great to see the Clan growing up. Then the mood turned serious as Furzestar spoke for the last time.

"Now, I would like to start heading out with the patrol. Those I mentioned should probably eat something now so they can keep their strength up on the way. We will stop at the river for a drink before heading out." Furzestar leapt off of ReedPile, signaling the end of the meeting. Finchtalon took her advice and headed to the fresh-kill pile, choosing a medium-sized fish to eat. He expected to eat alone, so he was surprised when Sunnyheart padded up with a fish in her jaws. She sat down next to him and began to eat. After a few moments of silence, she spoke.

"It must be hard to deal with Flypaw being gone," Finchtalon stiffened, thinking this was just another cat trying to give him sympathy. But she went on, surprising Finchtalon again. "Driftpaw is having a hard time too, which just makes me sad." She sighed heavily and sat back, staring off into the distance. Finchtalon gave her a gentle nudge on the shoulder.

"It'll be alright. We'll find him. We have to." Sunnyheart nodded and smiled gratefully. The two finished in silence, and headed to join the patrol together when Furzestar called for them to gather. Their leopard spotted leader looked around to make sure they were all there before turning and leading the way out of camp. Finchtalon fell into step beside Sunnyheart and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

. . .

Flypaw awoke at the sound of rock against rock. His blue eyes flew open and he quickly got to his paws, his fur bristling. There was a gentle murmur of voices and the sound of pawsteps on sand for a moment, and then silence. Flypaw looked around wildly, wondering where they were.

"Looking for someone?" A voice rumbled behind the nervous apprentice. With a startled gasp, he whipped around, trying to see in the dark. Although his vision was pretty good in the dark, he could still only barely make out the dark outline of Silver. He knew right away that it was silver because of the light gray mask that covered his eyes.

"What do you want with me?" Flypaw cried, his tail lashing back and forth in agitation. Silver's eyes gleamed angrily in the darkness, and Flypaw was shocked to realize that they were two different colors. One was a light blue, and the other was green. His eyes caught Flypaw off guard, and he almost forgot his anger. But it was back in a flash when Silver grabbed his scruff and began to carry him towards the entrance of the tunnel.

"I can walk by myself!" Flypaw spat, unsheathing his claws and flailing at the dark gray tom. He was satisfied when his claws connected with fur. Silver let out an annoyed hiss around the black apprentice's fur but continued walking. Flypaw growled and tried to squirm away again, but Silver held him fast.

They padded into the light, which made Flypaw squint. After his eyes finally adjusted to the sunlight, he looked around himself. Dawn, Ripple, and Sun were there, and they looked up as Silver carried him into the clearing. It was a small clearing surrounded by very tall trees. The ground looked strange, almost marshy. There were seven dens, including the one that they had just come from. On one side of the clearing was a branch that hung at just the right height for a cat to stand upon and speak to their Clan. A den below was obviously where the leader would stay. Flypaw realized suddenly that this used to be a Clan's camp! But which one?

He was brought out of his thoughts when Silver plopped him onto the ground. The black apprentice tumbled into the needle-covered ground with an oof. He looked up at Silver reproachfully as he pulled himself to his paws. The huge tom didn't seem to notice. He was already on his way to his three friends.

"Don't even try to escape, Flypaw. We'll catch you." He warned, glancing over his shoulder at Flypaw as he padded away. The black apprentice flattened his ears and looked away. Stupid cat! He couldn't catch me if he tried! Flypaw thought angrily, but inside he knew that he would never get away from these cats if he tried running.

He looked up when four shadows were cast in front of him. It was the loners. Flypaw crouched below them, frightened, as he waited for something to happen. Sun spoke first, her strange blue eyes kind and understanding.

"Don't worry, Flypaw. We won't hurt you. We just need you as…" she hesitated, and Ripple shouldered his way forward, the muscles his lanky black legs twitching as he did so. The blue gray tom spoke, his voice rough.

"As a hostage." Flypaw's mouth dropped open in disbelief. He quickly closed it and narrowed his eyes. Then he opened his mouth again to retort angrily, but he was cut off by Dawn. Her pretty orangeish eyes were kind like Sun's as she spoke.

"We'll feed you and even let you train with us. But you'll have to stay in that tunnel at night. If you'd like, we could sleep with you so you won't get lonely." Her suggestion was very sweet, and Flypaw found a surge of gratitude towards the pretty ginger she-cat. But he forced himself to keep his eyes cold.

"No," he spat, and Dawn recoiled as if clawed. "I don't want to share a den with the likes of you." He didn't mean for it to come out so harsh, but it did. Silver gave Dawn a gentle nudge to console her and stared down at Flypaw with his bi-colored eyes.

"We need the Clan to accept us and allow us to stay in the forest to begin ThunderClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, and SkyClan." He was going to continue, but Flypaw stopped him, a confused look on his face.

"S-SkyClan?" He asked. Silver's eyes narrowed, and Flypaw thought for a moment that he was going to be injured. But Sun spoke from behind him first.

"Yes, SkyClan. You were never told of them?" she asked. Flypaw shook his head. Who could this strange Clan be? He wondered. Sun continued with a slight nod of her head.

"Long ago, there were five Clans in the forest. ThunderClan, who could hunt in the forest and undergrowth with ease. RiverClan, who loved water and could swim like fish. WindClan, who could run as fast as the wind and catch every rabbit that crossed their paths. ShadowClan, who could hunt very well at night and had a liking for marshy places. And lastly SkyClan, who could jump higher than any other Clan, thanks to their strong back legs.

"SkyClan lived in a sparse forest with trees with branches that reached higher than most. It wasn't a problem for them, however. SkyClan cats could leap into tall trees with great ease, so they had no need for low branches. But one day monsters came. Two-legs began to tear down SkyClan's home, and they were forced to flee. The other four Clans soon forgot about them, and stories of them were never passed down. It was as if they never existed.

"But then there was the Great Battle, in which all Clans were wiped out except for RiverClan. StarClan wants to reform the five Clans. They have decided to bring back SkyClan because there is much more room in the new territory and it is a great time to start anew. They came to us because we all have special abilities that suit us for the five Clans." She paused for a moment, and Flypaw was confused to see a flicker of unease behind her eyes. Then she plunged onwards, the unease clearing quickly.

"Silver is good at hunting in the forest and undergrowth, so he would obviously be a ThunderClan cat. Ripple is good at swimming, but that's only because he has strong back legs. He would be a SkyClan cat. Dawn is good at hunting at night, because she has sharp night vision, and her paws are well-adapted to marshy grounds, like the ones we are on right now, which used to be ShadowClan territory." Flypaw nodded, glad to know whose territory this used to be. Sun was about to finish, but Ripple butted in.

"And Miss Modesty over here is very, very fast and can catch rabbits like a true WindClan cat." Sun purred and nudged Ripple gently on the shoulder. Silver blinked warmly at his companions before speaking to Flypaw again.

"So you see, Flypaw, we aren't bad. We just want to help. You wanted us to stay when Furzestar sent us away, didn't you?" He said knowingly, and Flypaw nodded slowly.

"Yes, I guess I did. But why did you kidnap me? Why couldn't you be patient?" he asked. Silver's gaze darkened, and he glanced at the other three before answering.

"Well… I can't exactly tell you. But StarClan has warned us that something bad might be coming. We need to have Furzestar accept us soon. Although it would be nice to start our Clans right away, I would rather be taught under your warriors and become one before starting our own Clans. It will also help to build up Furzestar's trust in us so that she will allow us to start the other four Clans again." Flypaw nodded in understanding, but he still felt a little uneasy.

"Alright…" He meowed hesitantly. Then his ears perked up. "Are they going to be able to find me?" Silver glanced at the others, looking unsure. It was Dawn who spoke this time.

"Yes, sweetie. We made it very easy for them to find us. But we aren't going to let you go back to them until they agree to our… 'demands.' They will agree, though. You will see your friends again." Flypaw's eyes narrowed. How could she be so sure that they would agree with her? Could she see the future or something? No, that was ridiculous.

Ripple came forward again and crouched in front of Flypaw. The black apprentice gave him a very confused look. It all became clear when the blue-gray tom leapt at him, however. Battle training! His training came back very quickly, and the two soon were sparring like pros. Flypaw battled the other three until the sun began to sink low in the sky. He was then escorted back to his den like a prisoner, and all of the fun of the day was lost.

"Are you sure you don't want us to stay with you?" Dawn asked hopefully. Flypaw hesitated, and then shook his head no.

"No, thanks. I'd rather be on my own." Dawn nodded, looking a little sad, but merely left him alone in the cave. Flypaw ate the squirrel he had been brought slowly and then curled up. His mind ran through the story that Sun had told him earlier as he drifted off to sleep.

. . .

Finchtalon's paws were really hurting now. They had been walking for hours and there was still no trace of Flypaw's or any of the four loners' scents. Sunnyheart was still next to him, her paws dragging tiredly beneath her. Finchtalon gave her a gentle nudge and she gave him a weary smile before turning her gaze back to the path ahead.

The only cat that was still full of energy was Furzestar. Her eyes were bright, her tail was up, and she was still padding along with the same sense of urgency that she had started with. Finchtalon shook his head and prayed to StarClan that they would either stop soon or catch a whiff of one of the cats. There was a sudden commotion ahead, and Finchtalon's ears pricked up in surprise as Emberblaze broke away from the group and thundered into the bushes.

His spirits dropped as he scented prey. She had just caught the scent of some delicious piece of prey. Great. The yellow and black warrior was therefore shocked when she came racing back to the group without a piece of prey in her jaws. Her eyes were bright with excitement, however. Furzestar hurried forward.

"What is it, Emberblaze?" she asked hopefully. The light gray she-cat bounced happily on her black paws.

"I scented one of those loners! I think it was… that ginger she-cat, Dawn!" she mewed. Furzestar's eyes lit up, as did Finchtalon's. Finally, a glimmer of hope! He thought happily. Braveheart stepped forward and sniffed the air. His eyes gleamed in realization when he did so.

"Yes, I scent her as well, Furzestar. We are definitely on the right trail." Furzestar nodded to the dark gray tom and turned to the rest of the group.

"Well, it seems as if we are one step closer to finding Flypaw." She meowed, and all of the cats looked excited. "However, the sun is getting too low in the sky to continue tonight. We will find a place to rest tonight and continue in the morning." Finchtalon nodded in agreement, but his eyes flickered with disappointment.

He had wanted to find Flypaw tonight! Even one night alone with those terrible cats was one night too many. Furzestar flicked her tail and everyone followed her until they reached a little clearing in the middle of a forest. The trees were very tall and the ground was marshy, but Finchtalon didn't mind. His paws were about to drop off!

Finchtalon settled down next to Sunnyheart for the night. As he pulled his tail over his nose, the last thing he thought of was his mother. How strange.

. . .

Five cats were huddled in a semicircle around a bright pool. A muscular golden tabby tom lifted his head and stared across the pool at a pretty blue-gray she-cat. Her fierce blue eyes bore into his and she hissed angrily. A ginger tom stepped into the center of the pool and glared at the golden tabby tom, his eyes flashing. The golden tabby tom flattened his ears and looked away, so the ginger tom stepped back reluctantly.

"Don't start here, Lionstar. We're all on edge." It was a brown tabby tom that spoke. Lionstar glared at him momentarily before looking down into the pool, his gaze softening.

"I know, Onestar. Mistystar mistook my stare for a glare." He said quietly to his paws. Mistystar glanced at him, then flattened her ears in embarrassment.

"Sorry, Lionstar." she mumbled. Although she apologized, she still kept her chin high, showing obvious pride in the fact that she was the oldest one there. There was an annoyed hiss from the final cat, a brown and cream tabby she-cat. Her amber eyes gleamed in the darkness, and she spoke next, her tail lashing from side to side.

"We have more important things than apologies to cover." She growled, her gaze sweeping across each leader in turn. Onestar twitched his ears and watched the she-cat for a moment before he spoke.

"Leafstar is correct." He said quietly before continuing. "We do need to get down to business. We have gathered here tonight to talk about these four loners that we brought to the lake." Rownstar's eyes hardened as he listened to Onestar speak. When the brown tabby was done, he spoke next.

"I don't trust these four loners. How can that little she-cat, Dawn, lead ShadowClan with the intensity of a real ShadowClan warrior?" He asked angrily. Leafstar and Lionstar nodded in agreement.

"Ripple may have strong back legs, but he seems more adapted to being in RiverClan." Leafstar voiced her concerns, her tail twitching uneasily.

"And Silver may be big, but he seems too cruel to be a good leader of ThunderClan." Lionstar meowed. Onestar's eyes flashed in annoyance.

"Silence!" He snarled, and the other four cats looked at him with frightened eyes. The brown tabby tom stood up and paced back and forth in front of the pool. "These cats were chosen specifically by the first five leaders – Thunder, Wind, River, Shadow, and Sky. Do you question their judgment?" Lionstar's ears flattened in embarrassment.

"You're right, Onestar. We are only concerned about the future of our Clans. After that traitorous Breezestar –" The other four cats snapped their heads up and looked around in concern at the sound of his name. Lionstar twitched his ears before continuing. "Tried to destroy our Clans, we five have been waiting for the right cats to come along and restore our Clans. We just want them to do it right."

Mistystar nodded her head thoughtfully. "Yes, I was nervous when young Furzestar became leader. I had watched her grow up as a reckless kit, always diving headfirst into things without thinking it through first. But as she grew and learned under the ten survivors, I realized how perfect she was for the job. Her recklessness makes her a courageous leader, and her headstrong personality allows her to control her Clan without trouble." The other four cats nodded in agreement.

"Then it is decided. We will support these four cats on their journey to recreating our Clans. And we will do our best to help them when the darkness comes." Onestar meowed. He looked up as a cold breeze buffeted his fur. A dark shadow began moving rapidly in the five leaders' direction, and they all yowled in terror as it swallowed them whole.

Oooh... so ominous! Or at least my best attempt at ominous. Tee-hee. I hope you enjoyed it! Because it was lots of fun to write this chapter. I tried my best to get it done fast, so I hope that it was good. Please R&R my lovelies!