Hope you guys enjoyed the cliffhanger lmao. It was my first time doing one of those.

I'll be honest, this story is purely experimental, and a test to see if I can finish one. Next chapter is started and I should be able to get it up on time, but after that no promises. I'll apologize in advance. However, this is experimental in the sense to see how I can twist canon and keep it the same. After this whole debacle with the hawk and such, I'm going to see if I can dive straight into the story line more prominently. Thank you for the reviews so far guys! Enjoy. :D


I wiggled as much as I could but the hawk wouldn't let go and I was carried higher into the sky. It got to the point where I had to stop, because if the hawk actually let me go from moving then I would die either way.

I hissed at the predicament I was in, and wanted to curse Mapleshade for forcing my back into a life I didn't ask for. I felt the hawk bank left and shut my eyes tightly, trying my best not to vomit from the sights below me. Fear of heights transfers lifetimes, apparently. I heard a very loud yowl, but I didn't open my eyes, I could already tell it was Whitestorm.

Of all the things, I thought bitterly, I would have never guessed I would have been done in by a bird. To be fair, it was a hawk, but still, a bird. I couldn't think of a worse way to die.

A sudden swoop made me rethink that, and I cringed. Okay, there were a lot of bad ways to die, like falling to death. This was the most embarrassing though.

A sudden fact about hawks crept into my mind, and I sighed lowly. Hawks typically ate large prey on the ground, you know, because it was large. I just hoped I wouldn't be dropped and then eaten. I'd prefer a chance to fight.

I felt us decrease in height, and I felt the adrenaline in my veins speed up. I opened my eyes slowly, and yelped at the sight of the trees so close. I whipped my tail to my body and curled in on myself, wincing at the tugging feeling on my back.

I had a feeling I had large holes on my back. Darn.

I kept my eyes open as we lowered, and the hawk started to circle, looking for a place to land no doubt, and I tried my best to keep my fear down. I'd have to be ridiculously lucky to get saved, and I wasn't the luckiest cat on the planet at the moment.

I swallowed most of my fear and unsheathed my claws, catching sight of a large road. It stretched for a long ways, and the hawk carried me low over it. I looked to my left, which was where the Thunderclan side was, and the other I assumed was another clans. Look at me, sightseeing in style.

The tightening of the hawk's talons made me wince, and I was hoping I wasn't going to be paralyzed by the time I was let down, because then I would definitely be dead.

As we swooped over the road, I heard a surprised yell and the hawk jolted, flapping a few extra times to gain altitude. I looked to my left and saw a group of cats, but I was too far to tell who they were. Since it was on the Thunderclan side, I was confident to screech out a quick, 'hey I'm still alive.' before being carried to the right.

I squealed indignantly, genuinely angry at being carried over to another clan's land. I was literally already breaking rules, even though it really wasn't my fault.

The hawk circled and we finally landed, although the hawk was still on top of me. It was pressing me into the dirt and I spit, finally deciding to squirm. It leaned down and squeezed harder with it's talons, and I batted its head away with my good paw.

It cawed at me angrily and stepped off of me, quickly regaining its footing to grab my head between its feet and pinning my throat down with it's other. Something glowing in the corner of my eye swooped down and I flinched, turning away.

Weight left my body and I got to my feet, seeing some shadows appear to my left. I bristled and stared the hawk down, as it recovered from whatever happened. I decided to think about what had happened later, and turned and fled, not dumb enough to re challenge the bird, no matter how angry I already was.

It screeched and I tucked my ears back to block out the sound, which didn't work, and stumbled repeatedly. I growled angrily, my dumb stupid useless paw, and kept my pace up as best as I could. I spotted a stream, and wondered briefly if I could swim faster than my current speed.

I turned in the waters direction and could have yowled in victory if I had the breath for it, because the waters direction was flowing in the direction I needed to go, with would certainly speed me up. Without any hesitation I dove in, kicking as hard as I could with my legs.

I didn't want to check if the hawk was still behind me, swimming as hard as I could until I was so tired I was basically floating. I saw the stream start to thin out and I climbed out, more tired than I had ever been before, in any life.

I crawled over a lip of land and stared blankly at the road in front of me, looking both ways. Cars passed by quickly and I hissed, sitting down in exasperation. I couldn't catch a break.

The was a pause in traffic, and I heard the bushes in front of me rustle. A large golden head poked out, and eyed me in shock, "Redpaw?"

I sighed and walked across, my paws sticking to the road in one of the most disgusting ways ever. Lionheart hissed at me, "Hurry up!" He commanded, eyeing the road in nervousness.

I flicked a tail at him uncaringly, and kept my steady limp walk, confident about the road. I heard a rumble and picked up my speed slightly, making it to the other side as a truck flew by and buffeted my fur with gross smelling air.

I grimaced and watched the vehicle fly down the road, giving it a tired glare. I shook my head and turned to Lionheart, and spoke before he could, "I was just carried off by a hawk. Whatever you have to say, can wait."

I sneezed and stumbled again, feeling a headache build up. I sigh-grumbled and smelt my brother before seeing him. He appeared from a bush as Lionheart and I made our way in the direction of the camp.

He trotted over to me frantically and rubbed against me, purring loudly. I would have purred back but I was ridiculously tired and couldn't even make the sound. He recoiled and eyed me, "Why are you wet?!"

I sighed, and slouched, "Had to swim to get away. I wasn't confident enough to outrun it. I messed up my paw again."

Firepaw sighed and gave me a concerned smile, "I'm just glad you're okay Redpaw."

"Me too." I muttered.

Graypaw and Tigerclaw crept out of the bushes after Firepaw did, and Graypaw watched me with wide eyes, "How did you get away?"

I sighed, "I don't even know."

Everyone around me looked at each other, and I hissed impatiently, "Look can we just get back to camp?" I started forwards, limping heavily and moving slow, "Whitestorm doesn't even know I'm okay, and he watched me get taken. He's probably shaken."

I heard alarmed news behind me, and Firepaw slunk next to be, lower than me, "Redpaw, you have some big wounds on your back."

I huffed softly and gave him a calm look, "I'm aware. I'm surprised I'm alive honestly. I just hope that never happens again."

He didn't say anything, only pushing up against my pelt to both hold me up and reassure us both. After a few minutes of walking, Graypaw pushed up on my other side and gave me a cheerful smile.

I forced a low, almost silent purr and set the pace to go back home.

We went a different way into the camp, since jumping down a slope of rocks was not the best idea in the world at the moment. We shoved ourselves through a bramble hole in the side of the camp, and it smelled like, well, not good so I assumed it was the spot cats went to use the bathroom.

My face was twisted in disgust as we stepped over the area, and I held down my amusement at watching Tigerclaw and Lionheart force themselves through the hole. I don't know why both of them took this way with us, but I wouldn't complain. It was pretty funny.

It was quiet as we stepped into the clearing, a pair of cats I didn't recognize were sharing prey, and I glanced over at the kill-pile to see it large and full. I let out a relieved breath, because that meant Whitestorm still brought what we had. It still meant there was buried prey around the territory.

I sighed and looked up at Lionheart and Tigerclaw, waving my tail to get their attention, "There's still some prey on the path from the camp to sunningrocks. There's a massive rabbit buried under some twigs and leaves and it shouldn't have to go bad."

Both older warriors blinked, and Firepaw purred beside me proudly, "Don't worry about it for now, we'll get you to Spottedleaf and she'll take care of you."

"Again." Graypaw muttered in amusement.

"Again." Firepaw repeated.

I huffed and trudged forwards slowly, having half a mind to shake off both toms in offense. I didn't though, because it was getting really hard to walk and I didn't want to force myself to troop it alone.

It felt like it took forever when we finally got the the medicine den, and Spottedleaf poked her head outside when we approached. She caught sight of me and her eyes grew large, in shock I was assuming.

She backed up and moved aside to let us in, and when Firepaw and Graypaw let me down, they both stood to the side. I twitched my whiskers at them, and curled my tail in an arc, "I'm pretty hungry for some type of bird," I said pointedly, "It's too bad I can't get it myself."

Firepaw brightened and looked at his friend, "I'll get you a sparrow!" And he bolted out of the den faster than I could track.

Graypaw followed him with his eyes, and after a moment he turned back to me, twitching his whiskers, "I'm sorry I called you weird," He apologised sheepishly, "You kinda are but that was rude."

His ears twitched, and his eyes widened, "So, er, was that."

I snorted and shook my head, "Don't worry about it," I muttered, "I know I'm pretty weird."

Graypaw purred and crouched down, starting to lay down next to me, "You could be worse," And then he froze again.

I shook my head and flicked my tail at his face breezily, "I definitely could," I agreed, startling when Firepaw pushed into the den with a huff, carrying a ton of prey. He was carrying a large squirrel, a mouse, a bird, and a vole.

With a purr of pride, I gestured to the prey, "I caught these," I stated, flicking my tail at the mouse after a moment, "Except that. I didn't catch that. Gimme the bird."

My brother dropped with a long winded sigh, overdone, in my opinion, and rolled his eyes, "Of course you did." He said dryly, dropping the squirrel and bird. He looked around and dropped the rodents near Spottedleaf's extra corner.

I started pulling out feathers, and grimaced at the feeling of my shoulders being pulled so tightly. A drop of blood hit the ground, and I sunk further into the ground, trying to twist around to see the damage. From the corner of my eye, I saw Graypaw dig into the squirrel and I turned back to my food. Firepaw laid down and nipped at the squirrel, tugging it away from Graypaw.

I watched them, fondness making me purr, and continued to yank at feathers. By the time I was finished pulling out feathers, Graypaw and Firepaw were half done with the squirrel and were chatting quietly. Spottedleaf had also approached me with greenery in her mouth, and I gave her a dubious glance.

At my look, she set down the leaves, "For any infection that could accumulate, those are pretty big holes. Then I'll put cobwebs to stop the bleeding."

I hummed and started to nibble at the bird thoughtfully, pointedly thinking about chickens instead of actual wild birds. The one thing about being a pet that made it worth it, for me anyways, was the fact that after we were adopted, I was given table scraps because I just wouldn't eat the kibble.

Sometimes I would eat wet cat food, which was pretty gross, but not as bad as eating a rodent I think. I gave the two toms next to me long looks, and hissed when Spottedleaf spat up the leaves on me.

That was gross. Really gross.

And unsanitary. Yuck.

I kept my mouth shut, though, and let her do as she pleased. Quickly, she was finished, and I finally let myself relax after the whole ordeal.

Getting carried off by a hawk, man. It was something alright.

With a groan of dismay, louder than intended may I add, I thought about Mapleshade and the Dark forest. I was so not ready to go back. The only solace I had was that I would heal quickly again, which still wasn't worth it. At least I got something out of it, though.

Firepaw and Graypaw gave me a look each, and I flipped my ears back, "Sorry," I said, thinking quickly, "I'm just annoyed that my paw's messed up again, it was doing so much better."

They both blinked at me in sympathy, and I felt guilty for lying. Graypaw licked his chops and gave me a grin, "Don't worry, you'll be fine soon! Then you can join us with training. It'll be sooner than you think!"

I purred at him and wrapped my tail around my body, finishing off the rest of the bird. It took longer for the toms to finish the squirrel, but once they were done Firepaw started to groom me, Graypaw started to groom him, and I glanced uncomfortably at Graypaw.

Firepaw gave a small meow of amusement, and twitched his whiskers at Graypaw, "She doesn't like grooming other for some reason. I think she's groomed me, like what?" He looked at me, his eyes bright, "Three times?"

My reply was quiet and embarrassed, "Twice." I knew that grooming was to show, like friendliness, but it was weird. I'd only do it when I was incoherent. Those two times I had groomed my brother, I had been delirious with sleep.

Both of those times were long stories.

Graypaw blinked, visibly confused, but I'm pretty sure he shook it off as the weirdness that was me. Spottedleaf came from outside, probably from speaking with Bluestar or something. She eyed me and glanced at the toms beside me, twitching an ear, "Bluestar told me about the hawk," She said, spotting the prey Firepaw had placed down for her, "You're honestly lucky to be alive."

I tilted my head, and gave her an unimpressed look, "I realize that."

Maybe it was said a little too breezily, but she gave me an alarmed look, and gave another glance to the boys. "It'd be best if I treated Redpaw in quiet." She said pointedly, much to Graypaw and Firepaw's confusion.

"But we weren't saying any-" Firepaw started, and I nudged him to his feet without getting up myself.

"She's right," I agreed, waving my tail, "You guys have to train tomorrow, and you take up too much space in my nest!"

They both purred and I added my own, gazing at Spottedleaf in curiousity. She seemed grateful at my compliance, and waited until the toms were completely gone.

She got close to me, too close, and I squirmed away slowly. She took no notice, instead pushing up against my side and laying next to me. Her yellow eyes were bright and I looked away, feeling guilty and I didn't even know why.

"So it's true then?"

I swiveled my head and looked at her in alarm, blinking rapidly, "What?"

Spottedleaf was staring at me intently, almost like I held answers she wanted to know, "You aren't a cat?" She wrinkled her nose, "Well you are, but, not really."

I could only gape at her.

The medicine cat's eyes grew wide and she got to her feet, looking like she was going to leave.

I got to my feet with a wobble, and eyed her in panic, "Wait where are you going? Does it matter, I'm a cat now."

"To tell Bluestar," She stated, "She needs to know, this isn't something we can keep from our leader."

With the use of 'our' I felt a little better, but my stomach jumped into my throat, "Okay that's fair. What about anyone else?"

Her eyes softened, and her shoulders lowered from their stiff position. I felt mine do the same, and I didn't even realize I was so tense, "No," I flopped into my nest in relief, "Not unless you want others to know. I will only tell Bluestar. What were you before being a kind of cat? If I can ask."

I licked my lips and looked away, my eyes going to the dead pieces of fresh kill, "A human." I swallowed, and rephrased, "Sorry, a twoleg. I forget sometimes you guys have different words. How did you know?"

She was gaping at me now, and followed my path of sight. "Oh." Was all she said, and then she looked back at me, "Starclan," She murmured honestly.

I raised an eyebrow, or the cat equivalent, at her. I shook my head, rather uncaring, and I looked intently at her, "There's something else."

Spottedleaf was on her feet again, and was almost out of the den. She came closer and looked at me in confusion, "What else is there?"

My ears tipped backwards, and I told the half truth, "I heal faster for some reason, and I can't feel pain."

"Well, the not feeling pain has to do with nerves, well lack of, with actually isn't good." I rambled, letting my eyes dart around, "For example if I got a bad injury, I wouldn't be able to tell how bad it was and I could probably die. Which, actually is probably the way I'm going to do." I laughed bitterly and wished I would shut up, but now that I've already been figured out after like six months, had me all messed up.

"Hey," Spottedleaf murmured, "None of those thoughts, you'll make it. Aside from the bouts with Riverclan right now, it's pretty peaceful. You don't have anything to worry about."

I looked at her, and I would have been crying if cats could cry, "I don't want to die again."

Spottedleaf gave me a glance full of sympathy, and she came close enough to give me a lick on the head, "Stay here for one more night and sleep in the apprentices den tomorrow with Firepaw. You need it."

I nodded, and Spottedleaf gave me a small smile, "There's a gathering tonight, so I'll be gone for a bit, along with many Thunderclan warriors. Bluestar will be gone as well, and she'll be busy so I will tell her tomorrow."

I nodded again and curled up while Spottedleaf left. I really didn't want to sleep, but on top of already being tired, the deal with the hawk just about killed me.

Literally.

I'll just try and avoid them by like, climbing up a tree. If the tree's in the Dark Forest are even sturdy enough to do so.

I shut my eyes with a sigh. Time to find out.