Thornpaw raced into camp

Thornpaw raced into camp. "Firestar! We have a problem! A big problem!"

"Yes, Thornpaw. What is your problem?"

"Flowerpaw…Twolegs…Captured…Help!" Thornpaw was out of breath. He had raced as fast as he could back from the nest. He wasnted to tell Firestar exactly what happened.

"Calm down, Thornpaw. Tell me what happened. Deep breath…"

"We were by the nest with Sandstorm's patrol and Flowerpaw got captured by twolegs! They picked her up-she was forzen, too scared to move and…" His voice trailed off as cats crowded around listening to the story. The rest of the patrol was there, also, nodding when Thornpaw talked.

"I'm sorry. I tried to get her to follow us, but she was too scared to think…"

"Shame shame." Said Mudclaw, who was seated next to Tallear. "I was just about to ask Firestar if he could name her as a warrior." He looked at Tallear and then At Firestar. Cats bowed their heads as if a cat had been killed.

"Don't bow your heads, mouse-brains! She's not dead!"

"But she will be! You saw what they did to our old camp in the forest! They destroyed it and took Graystripe hostage."

"Actually, I wasn't kept hostage, They just kept me for a while until I found a way to escape with Millie." He looked around at the cats that were crowding around them.

"Well, then, maybe Flowerpaw will find a way to escape from the twolegs."

"Firestar, with all due respect, I don't think that Flowerpaw is smart enough to find a way out. Those twolegs may be strange, but they are no idiots." Mudclaw inturrupted.

Tallear shot Mudclaw an angry glare and then turned away towards the fresh-kill pile.

"Well, I'll lead a patrol up there to see if there's a way that we can get her out."

"Good idea, but stay at least two tail-lengths away from the nest. We don't want two cats missing. One is bad enough." Once again, a crowd formed around the cat who had spoken. It was Tallear.

"Okay. Who was with her when she disappeared?" He asked.

"I was." Replied Thornpaw. "And so were Graystripe and Sandstorm-"

"Good. I'll take you three and I'll take you, Mosspaw." He turned to lead the cats out of the camp and up the slope.

"Okay. Where was she standing when she was taken?" Tallear asked. It had started to drizzle and they couldn't smell her. All they could smell was the reek of twolegs. Their stench was so horrid that not even rain could get rid of it.

"She was standing right here when the stupid twoleg scooped her up." Thornpaw said, standing on a patch of dirt in the garden of the nest.

"Okay. I'm going to ask a few of you to stay here while the rest come with me to look around the nest." He pulled Thornpaw and Mosspaw out to keep watch while the rest went around the nest to look for an escape route. The ground shook. It wasn't thunder, but a heavy step landed right in front of the two cats.

"Not again!" Cried Thornpaw, and they raced away, not even realizing where they were. The cats didn't smell the scent boundary with Shadowclan and they ran right into their territory, right into a Shadowclan patrol.

"Uh, oh." Said Mosspaw, her fur bristling in fear.

"Hey! I smell Thunderclan!" Cried one of the warriors on the patrol.

"Yeah! Me too!" Cried another.

The apprentices scrambled under a bush and tried to hide, to blend in like a chameleon, but they knew that they couldn't because of their pelts. The bush didn't have any leaves on it and their pelts would stand right out.

"It's over here." Said one of the Shadowclan cats. The cat snuffled under the bush, and letting out a yowl, Thornpaw craped the cat's muzzle and the cat reared back and screeched.

"Run!" Cried Mosspaw, her pelt flashing out of the bush and back toward Thunderclan territory. Thornpaw rushed after her, the Shadowclan cats right on their tails.

Panting, they raced towards the Windclan territory, hoping that Crowfeather would be there to help them. They knew that he was a god friend of Thunderclan and that he would loose the fur on his back to help them.

Luckily enough, there was a patrol coming when they reached the border.

"Crowfeather? Crowfeather?" Mosspaw cried, scared of the lean, muscular Windclan cats on the other side of the border.

"Yes?" Came a strong voice on the other side. Crowfeather stepped through the small crowd of cats to the edge of the border. His strong body shoved the cats without even lifting a claw. "You called for me?"

"Crowfeather, we need your help. Twolegs have moved into our camp and they took Flowerpaw and they might have taken Sandstorm and Graystripe too!" Crowfeather nodded.

"So you want me to help? And cross the border?" The cats nodded.

"We really need your help."

"Why don't you just go get firestar and all the other cats?"

"We need you! Not Firestar! He could get captured!"

"So you're going to use me as bait? Okay, now I'm definitely not helping…"

"No! Crowfeather! Please! We need your help!" One of the cats in the patrol stopped him from walking and whispered something in his ear. Crowfeather nodded slowly and turned around.

"Okay. Where are these stupid twolegs?"

"Okay. The nest is right up here." Mosspaw said, like she was giving a tour.

"Sandstorm? Graystripe? Can you hear me?" Crowfeather said. He looked around.

"Where did they go? Were they looking for us?" Thornpaw asked himself. He bagan to think of Flowerpaw, how lonely and hopeless she must feel. He really did feel sorry for her, even thought they never really got along. He told himself right then that if she ever got out of that nest, he wouldn't let her out of his sight. She would be by his side always-hunting, sleeping, patrolling, playing, training… The list went on in his head.

"Thornpaw. Thornpaw! Hello?" Mosspaw was waving her tail in front of his face, trying to wake him up out of his daydream.

"Oh! Sorry. Daydreaming a little." He said, his face getting hotter under his pelt.

"A little?" Mosspaw laughed and trotted off behind Crowfeather.

"Yeah. This is a twoleg nest all right!" He said, looking up at the looming structure. He creeped up towards what looked like a hole in the wall, but he couldn't get through it. He could see through it, though.

"Flowerpaw! Flowerpaw, are you in there?" He cried, looking through the hole.

A beautiful tabby she-cat lay right below the window. Hearing the noise outside, the cat lifted her head and looked at the source of the sound. Her eyes widened and she cried out.

"Crowfeather! Help me!"