A Half Moon since the Dark Forest Battle.

The rain kept coming throughout the night, making a rhythmic pattering on the old stable roof. The smell of soaked moss and drying horse hung in the damp air. At the windowsill, Smoky was perched. The old white and gray tom enjoyed watching the rain fall, it was soothing to him. As he gazed out of the smeary window. He thought back to when he was a young wild cat: strong, cocky and incredibly handsome.

He remembered travelling from barn to barn, looking for a good place to call home, with a pretty she-cat for company. He'd met many young she-cats on his travels, but none could keep him tamed for long. Until one night, he got into a fight with a dog, and it wrenched his leg out of place. He had ended up dragging himself to the nearest barn, to be met by two sisters. One small and dainty, the other large and fluffy. They had helped him inside, and made a fuss over him… And he stuck ever since.

His ears lowered as he thought about them. Floss and Daisy. He had loved them so much, for such different reasons. Daisy had been so sweet, and caring, always wanting to make sure he was okay. She had her problems though. Big problems, like she seemed incapable of catching prey, or even lifting a paw to help chase off rogues, she seemed very much satisfied being pampered. He still loved her though, he hoped she was okay…

Floss on the other hand was rather different. She enjoyed hunting for herself, and if she needed to she would pull her own weight to defend the stables. Sure, she happily ate food Nofur's brought her, but she did enjoy her independence. If he was honest with himself, he knew he loved Floss so much more.

But she had passed earlier in Newleaf, suffering from greencough. Nothing the Nofur's did helped her, and she'd died somewhat peacefully in her sleep. He felt his heart wrench at the memory, and shook his head, before glancing over at the sleeping tortoiseshell and white she-cat on the straw pile. Coriander had shown up in early Leaf-bare, wanting to stay at the stables. She didn't talk about her past often, but the sundown after Floss had died, she had admitted she had run away from home. Her Nofur's had planned to use her just to bare kits. He had felt so sorry for her, he promised her she could stay for as long as she needed.

As he glanced back to the window, he peered through the raindrop splattered glass, at something in the distance. It looked like a cat. A white cat, soaked by the rain, just barely staggering along. Smoky hesitated. It didn't look like a Clan cat, as it was on its own. Making his decision to help, he quietly jumped down off the windowsill, and quickly scurried along the stables floor, and out the small gap in the wood.

The cat was still limping along, not noticing it was being watched. Quietly, Smoky called out to it.

"Hey? You alright?" his raspy voice made the cat jump, and it spun around to face him. He could see now it was a she-cat, and she had some large claw marks that were healing along her back.

"Get away from me!" she sobbed, her claws digging into the wet grass. Smoky blinked, she had clearly been in a bad fight.

"Listen! I'm not gonna hurt ya." He mewed, sheathing his claws to show he meant it. "Ah just saw ya' in this storm. No cat should be out in this!"

The white she-cat didn't look convinced. "Who else is in there?" she asked, eyeing the stables uncertainly.

"Just my friend, Coriander." He replied. The white she-cat took a step forward uncertainly, as she swayed on her paws. Smoky tensed up, in case he needed to stop her from falling. He felt his pelt starting to stick to him, as it was getting heavy from the rain, and he forced himself not to groan or come off impatient.

"Do you know Vernon?" she asked, taking another step forward, this time only slightly swaying, as the rain continued to soak her think pelt, Smoky started to get anxious, she could catch greencough if she wasn't dried off soon… Wait what did she ask?

"Vernon?" he echoed, he tried to think, but simply couldn't remember a tom called Vernon. The white she-cat's expression changed to relief.

"So you aren't bad cats." She mewed, padding up to him, and letting out a small sneeze. "Ack! Sorry." She mumbled, Smoky just turned around and squeezed back into the stables, and moments later the white she-cat pushed her way in less quietly, waking Coriander up.

"Uh… Smoky?" she called, blinking her tired eyes. He quickly padded over.

"It's okay Cori'. We have a guest." He assured her, only for Coriander to turn her head and stare at the newcomer. The white she-cat just shook her fur out, before approaching them.

"Thanks for letting me stay. I'll be gone when the storm is over." She mewed, settling herself down in a dark corner. "I'm Maybelle." She added, before circling around the corner a few times, before settling down. Both cats couldn't help but stare at the healing claw marks. It looked like she had been…

"Uh, it's no problem. I'm Smoky, and I mentioned Coriander." Smoky forced himself to purr, not wanting to bring up anything else. Maybelle simply swished her tail in response, and moments later light snoring could be heard. The two loners glanced at each other, and Smoky blinked when he saw the fury in Corianders amber eyes.

"Why are you letting a stranger stay here?!" she hissed, keeping her voice down. Smoky was taken aback at her hostility.

"Look at her Coriander! She's clearly been through something horrible." He whispered, glancing back at the cat. The scars showing very clearly against her wet pelt. "What if she's escaped from Nofur's like you have? What if cats have attacked her? She just needs shelter."

"Fine. I just think we should be careful on who we allow to stay! She could be any cat." With that she turned her back on him, and curled up to go to sleep. Smoky let out an agitated sigh, before going back to his own straw nest, and settling down to sleep.

He awoke to hear scraping at the entrance, and opened his eyes. Maybelle was disappearing through the gap, while Coriander seemed to be sleeping through the noise. As he glanced at the window, he saw the storm was over, quickly he raced across the stable floor. And out the gap to see her.

"Where are you goin'?" he called to her, she jumped and turned to look at him.

"I said I'd be gone once the storm was over." she replied, before letting out a yawn. Smoky looked at her, and his gaze flickered to her belly, which moved weirdly. Was she carrying kits?

"I know. I'm having kits. staring." She mewed dryly, Smoky glanced up, embarrassed. Only to see she simply looked amused.

"You don't have to leave! You can have your kits in the shelter of the stables. There is always plenty of prey." Smoky murmured, ignoring the voice in the back of head whispering "Coriander will be as mad as a fox in a fit is she stays…"

"Oh… You're sure I'm not intruding?" Maybelle asked, her pale violet eyes glowing with hope."

"Not at all!" he assured her, letting out a purr. Maybelle padded up to him, and pressed herself against him.

"Thank you. I'll be gone as soon as my kits are old enough to travel."

Smoky just nodded in response, as he gazed nervously towards the Nofur's nest.

"They better not find her kits."