The day came quickly; a bit too quickly for Foxfrost. She growled and burrowed into her tail as she heard Quailmist call her out for the hunting patrol. The queen's kits had kitted during the night, and StarClan blessed them with three healthy kits: Dustkit, Snakekit, and Wolfkit. The queen yowled once more,
"Foxfrost! Hurry!"
Foxfrost groaned, then unfurled from her sleeping position and leapt out angrily to the silver- gray she-cat. She stalked off to join the patrol of Shadowslip, Willowrain, and Waterwhisker. She nodded to them, and the cats set off. Foxfrost's mind couldn't focus on hunting. She needed to be alone, somewhere. So, after Shadowslip had caught a vole, she was bursting with impatience.
"You know, I think we should Hunt separately. The prey these days are fewer. If we spilt, it would be easier to get prey."
Duskwater appeared, mumbling around a mouse. Foxfrost nearly purred.
Thank you, Duskwater!
The others nodded, and the cats parted, the prey safely tucked under a tree.
Foxfrost rushed to the meadow and lay down, letting the touch of the moist grass touch her pelt with cool. Refreshing beads of moisture. She sat up and started to groom. She jumped as the bushes rustled, thinking that it was one of the cats from her patrol. However, out stepped Adderstar, his sleek pelt glinting in the sun.
"Hello."
he padded out of the bushes, shaking his fur so that the air was filled with the musty scent of leaves. He stretched.
"About Opalmist-"
"She's lying."
Adderstar swiped his tongue over his lips, satisfied with his grooming.
"I know. What else could it be?"
He padded over to her, then back, pacing.
"She would have either threatened them, too."
"But they won't stay loyal, in that case." Foxfrost pointed out. Adderstar nodded.
"True. But why are they so healthy and well-fed?" He mused, lashing his tail lightly. Foxfrost shrugged.
"The area they lived in is well defensed. A high wall surrounds the whole area, and to get in, you would have to squeeze real hard through a hedge."
Foxfrost twitched her tail impatiently. It was hard to explain. It would be easier to show him the actual place. Adderstar seemed to be thinking the same thing. His eyes were gazing in the distance. His warm pelt touched Foxfrost's as he sat by her.
Suddenly, the bush bordering the meadow with the forest rustled, and out slipped Duskwater.
"Foxfrost, where were you-"
Her eyes widened with embarrassment as she saw Asderstar sitting close to her, tail-tips touching. Foxfrost burned as she realized any cat who saw them like that would think...
"Sorry."
Adderstar coughed.
"Take me to the place."
Foxfrost nodded, then streaked across the grass, heading for the out. Adderstar followed her. In the forest, they walked quietly until Foxfrost spoke up.
"Adderstar, I am going to kill her."
Adderstar nodded.
"I know. You will, I promise. I should have killed her instead of simply banishing her..."
He trailed off. Foxfrost sniffed the air, picking up the vile smell of the food the monsters eat. She pointed out with her tail at the roof of the station.
"We'll be aiming there."
Adderstar nodded, wrinkling his nose against the smell. When they reached the station, they found a Twoleg family yapping happily as their monster was getting fed by the big male twoleg. After a while, the male pulled out the fuel source and the family clambered back into the monster, and the monster woke into life.
Adderstar and Foxfrost waited until the loud monster had sped away before running across the hard, black ground. They reached the other side safely, and the two padded across the thin forest trees.
"Shh!"
Foxfrost signaled for her leader to be quiet.
"There it is!"
She pointed at the Impossible hedge. Adderstar looked around, then cautiously stepped out to inspect the bush. He reached out and prodded the stiff leaves. Then he carefully pressed against a thorn. His ears shot up with surprise. Foxfrost squinted and saw that his pad, instead of scratched by the thorn, was flawless. He beckoned her with his tail.
"Foxfrost! The thorns are soft!"
Soft thorns? She bounded to him and pressed her paw against one of the deadly-looking curved thorn. To her surprise, it bent easily under her touch. She sniffed the leaves. They were not as soft as the thorns; in fact, they were as bold and stiff as tree bark. She flinched as she remembered the tough leaves scraping her ears.
"The leaves are not as easy as the thorns," she mewed, pawing the stubborn leaves.
"True."
Adderstar bunched his muscles. Foxfrost followed suit; they leaped, and they landed safely on the other side. Foxfrost lapped at her chest fur.
"This way."
She led Adderstar down the narrow path, remembering the sharp turns of the maze-like place. She was about to turn right at a split path when Adderstar raised his tail.
"Wait."
He pointed at the left path, and they saw a end with a round knob on the side.
"We would want to know the territory better."
Foxfrost nodded, seeing sense, and followed him as he led down the quiet corner. He sniffed the end of the wall, his whiskers twitching until he reached the round knob. He pawed at it, curious, and after a while, a gentle click sounded and the door opened a crack. He cautiously peeked through into the hidden area. There were bunches of nests, but no cat in sight. Foxfrost pushed her way in and sniffed a nest.
"Fresh moss. Where could they have gotten it?"
Adderstar shrugged.
"most likely they could have gotten it from the few dingy trees beside this place."
"Maybe."
They went out of the room, carefully pulled the wall shut, and ran down to the other end. They walked through the maze, exploring every room, and eventually made it into the meeting room.
"Here it is!" Foxfrost crouched back as she heard murmurs and drones of cat's voices. They peeked around the edge, and Adderstar gasped with disbelief. The clearing was working like a real camp. Cats were padding around busily, clutching prey and moss in their jaws.
"Where did they get the prey?"
She whispered. Adderstar narrowed his eyes. Foxfrost followed the crowd, searching for a ripple, a clue... Every cat was pacing back and forth the room. She focused her eyes on a white tabby. He walked into the thickest crowd, where it was against a wall, carrying nothing. He got engulfed by the crowd, but after a certain time, he reappeared, his jaws clutching moss.
Adderstar seemed to notice, too.
"There must be an exit in that wall."
He nodded at the thickest part of the crowd. Foxfrost nodded. They watched a bit more until Adderstar murmured,
"I've seen enough. Let's go back to the Clan."

Foxfrost lapped at her pelt, growling as a stubborn knot refused to uncurl. She hissed and tugged at it with a claw. Finally, despite the pain, the knot unraveled and Foxfrost sat up with satisfaction. Just as she drew her tongue over the patch, a commotion above them startled her.
" Keep still, mange-pelt!"
A fierce rustling followed; then thumps were heard before Slitherstreak's brown head popped out of the entrance tunnel. He staggered as he walked backwards, dragging something with his paws. Quailmist followed, her eyes smoldering, her jaws grasping a tail tightly. Between them was a white and gray tom, his amber eyes flaming.
"Crowfood eaters! Let go of me!"
The two cats let go, letting the Tom hop to his feet, but still kept a half-unsheathed claw pointed his way. Adderstar padded out in the middle of the forming crowd. He looked down at the muscled Tom.
" definitely one of Opalmist's." he muttered, prodding the hard muscles with a paw. The white Tom snarled. Adderstar looked down, eyes glinting. Ferndust, as always, walked up.
"I think," she said in an annoyingly snobby voice, "that he is just a rogue passing through."
"No, she's not."
All eyes turned to Foxfrost, who was sitting calmly beside the crowd.
"How do you know?"
"She must be a double spy!"
Adderstar growled.
"We went on a trip to visit their quarters. She's right."
Without saying anything more, he turned his back and inspected the Tom.
"What's your name?"
The Tom hissed, but he still snarled,
"White Ash."
Adderstar cocked his head.
"Is your leader Opalmist?"
White Ash's eyes gleamed, and for a moment, respect shone in them. His fur unruffled and he actually purred.
"Oh, yes. Opal. Do you know her?"
He sat up, Usheathing his claws, his eyes shining with excitement. Adderstar and Foxfrost shared a glance. It was more obvious that the Tom thought of Opalmist as the Clancats did not.
"Yes, we know her." Adderstar said cautiously, not giving away the chance to see who she was in the rogues' eyes.
He purred, leaping up.
"Then you must know how great she is!"
Adderstar cocked his head. Beside Foxfrost, Slitherstreak's started to open his mouth.
"Not, she not-"
He got cut off when Foxfrost anxiously slapped a tail over his mouth, he growled brought the fur.
"Shut up, mousebrain!" She hissed, removing her tail. White Ash paced around excitedly in the small area.
"What did she tell you?" Foxfrost called out, curious.
" oh, many things! She said that she gave up her whole family to save her old Clan, and she was very respected, but she still misses her little brother-"
"Geez." It was definitely the most mouse-brained thing she ever heard, for goodness sake, one of her daughters where right in front of his eyes!
"Then she fought off a fox and saved all the kits in the nursery. One day she decided to leave and make more goodness around the place, so she created us."
His amber eyes darkened.
"But she said that the Clans back in the forest turned evil, so we needed to demolish them."
Foxfrost's belly tightened. They had left their previous home seasons ago, when she was still a kit. If Ash knew that, he would not be happy.
Adderstar placed a paw on the young tom's shoulder. His eyes glowed sympathetically.
"I'm sorry, Ash, but those stories are lies. She was once our Clanmate."
Then he started telling the baffled Tom the horrible story of her reign; the horror of slashed bodies found dead in the morning, the horror of dreaming the snap of teeth at our throat if you did something wrong, when choosing deputies were no longer a happy ceromony, for they always turned up dead.
The tom's eyes glinted.
"Is this true?"
He whispered, ears drooping.
"Yes!"
Dewpaw, a timid young apprentice, padded forward, usually gentle eyes flaming anger.
"She killed my mother. All she did was to try get mouse for us, when we were kits, and Opalmist killed her, saying she had no value for prey."
"And me!"
Slitherstreak staggered up, his usually fiery eyes full of grief, sharp enough to crumble someone's heart.
"She killed the only cat I loved."
Ash staggered back, shocked beyond words.
"How..she...she..."
He drew up, teeth bared furiously.
"She lied! She lied to all of us! She made me leave the home where I loved! That Mang-pelt!"
He collasped to the ground.
"I wanted to be strong. When she came and told me the stories, I believed her and went with her, I was a pet," he moaned, "and I liked it that way. But she said it was not a good life."
Adderstar looked at him, pity in his gold eyes.
"I'm sorry, Ash." He hesitated.
"Do you want me to send two warriors back to your old... Home?"
Ash's eyes brightened.
"Yes! Oh, yes, please!"
He purred excitedly, kneading the ground with his paws. Adderstar purred, then called,
"Quailmist, Dewpaw, bring Ash back to his nest, will you?"
The two she-cats nodded, and thy followed a bounding Ash out of the clearing. Before he leaped into the ferns, he turned back, his amber eyes suddenly seeming to be blue. His big muscles relaxed, but his body stayed strong, and when he spoke, his voice seemed deeper, wiser.
"No need for Ash. Call me Cloudtail."

I don't own Cloudtail!

-Foxy