WOW! I AM SO SORRY THAT I HAVNT UPDATED IN 4 DAYS!

Priceless cat lady: I'm soooooooo happy you liked this chapter! heeeheee i luv ur smiley ;DDDDDDDDDDDDDD

Blitz-gurl-42: there will be almost the whole book :( and yes Eaglewing was kinda mean 2 him :(

Russetwing: YAY! I AM SO HAPPY U LIKED IT! and wow! u are like the only person so far who has noticed that I combined forests! that is because I like having the old forest, but the moonpool is cooler then the moonstone!

Stuck in a mirror: It makes me feel so good that you like my writing :) i will go check out your next chapters of heroes!

Chapter 8

Nightclaw's eyes opened to pale sunlight and the acrid smell of smoke. He slowly got to his paws and stretched out. He noticed that Nina no longer lay in the basket next to him and wondered if she had gone hunting. At the thought of food, his stomach began to growl, angry at the absence of prey.

Nightclaw groaned and leaped out of the basket. He raised his nose to scent the air, and caught the faint smell of mouse. He dropped in a crouch and let his body slide along the ground as he stalked it. It was a scrawny creature, but it would help his snarling stomach ease up a little. In one powerful leap, he broke the mouse's backbone, purred in satisfaction as blood seeped into his mouth.

He settled down next to the wall and began to gnaw off what little meat there was on the bones.

"You found food?"

Nightclaw looked up to see Nina padding over with a rat and a small bird in her jaws. He nodded. "Its pretty skinny but it will do."

Nina smiled and settled down next to him, dropping her prey in front of him. "If you're still hungry then help yourself," she mewed. "I already ate."

Nightclaw noticed her eying the food hungrily, and shook his head. "I'll be fine. I go hungry often in the forest. You can eat." He winced at his little lie, wanting to take it back, but it was too late. Nightclaw knew that in Thunderclan, the apprentices and kits almost never went hungry. But he swallowed down his hunger as he watched Nina gulp down the rest of the food. It was her catch after all, not his.

Sighing, Nightclaw got to his feet. "Don't you get trouble from other cats?" Nightclaw asked, noticing for the first time the others who were curled up around the sides of the alley.

Nina shrugged. "They know their place and I know mine. When one cat steps out of line, maybe steal someone else's food, either they get away with it or they get a good beating. Each cat knows which cats are at the bottom of the line, or weather they are more powerful."

Nightclaw glanced at her, impressed at how these rogues worked so logically. "Do you know the rest of the cats?"

"Some of them." Nina glanced around. "That one there," she mewed, flicking her tail towards a scrawny gray tom who sat close to them, "that's Shingle. And the orange she-cat next to him is Blinks, they're mates."

Nightclaw nodded. "Who's that?" he asked, seeing a burly looking white tom.

Nina winced slightly. "That's Blazes," she muttered. "You should stay away from him. He doesn't like strangers."

Nightclaw nodded, storing that information in the back of his mind. He was sure he would need it. "Any friends?" he asked. "Who won't attack you or steal your food?"

Nina shrugged and glanced around. "There's Spark over there, I'm friends with him. Here, I'll introduce him to you."

Nightclaw nodded and bounded after her as she raced over to a brown tabby tom with bright blue eyes. He looked up and smiled as he saw Nina coming. "You brought a friend," he said simply, glancing at Nightclaw.

Nina glanced at the ground in embarrassment. "He's from the forest," she muttered. "His name is Nightclaw."

"The forest, huh?" Spark looked at Nightclaw with new interest. "I met a cat from there once. He had a strange name, just like yours."

"Really?" Nightclaw asked, wondering if a clan cat had been here before he had. "What was their name?"

Spark stopped for a second thinking. "His name was Stormpelt, he was trying to meet someone here. He asked for some she-cat, but I didn't really understand him."

Nightclaw froze. Could Stormpelt have visited the city before? The old medicine cat often went off by himself into the forest and sometimes disappeared for days, but he wouldn't have traveled all the way here just to visit a friend, would he? Nightclaw realized that Spark had asked him a question, and he quickly jerked himself out of his thoughts.

"What?" he asked slightly confused.

"I said," mewed Spark. "Are you staying, or just passing through?"

Nightclaw paused unsure of what his answer might be. "I don't know," he said softly. "I'm not sure what I'm doing right now."

Spark nodded, this answer proving satisfying enough for him. The tom then turned back to Nina. "Have you heard the news?" he asked.

Nina looked up in surprise. "What news," she said slowly.

Spark looked around, as if what he was about to say was a secret. "Longfoots," he whispered. "They have been coming into the alleys every night. No cat is safe here anymore."

Nina stared at her friend, horrified. "You mean they catch the cats!" she gasped, her golden eyes wide. "What do they do with them?"

Spark shook his. "No one knows," he mewed. "Until they themselves are caught."

Nightclaw shuddered, imagining being taken away by a twoleg. "Do they come to every alley?" he asked nervously, glancing around, as if he though someone might pop out at any second and trap him.

Spark shrugged. "Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't."

Nina continued to stare ahead of herself, wide eyed.

Nightclaw glanced at his friend, noticing that she was shivering in fear and dropped his tail of her back in a comforting way. "Don't worry," he mewed gently. "If you can attack that dog the way you did to save my life, then you can beat a two- uh longfoot any day."

Nina looked up at him, her golden eyes wide and pleading. "Do you really think so," she said softly, still looking scared.

Sparks snorted. "You just met this cat yesterday?" he mewed, glancing at the pair with scornfully.

Nightclaw drew back from Nina, his cheeks burning with embarrassment. "Yes," he muttered. "She saved me from-" He paused for a second, looking at Nina for help.

"Rocky," she finished. "Rocky had him cornered."

Sparks nodded, still looking amused. "Rocky can be a vicious pup. You were lucky this little sweetie was there for you."

Nina glared at the rogue, but he just shrugged. "She's got a good heart, she has," he mewed to Nightclaw, ignoring Nina's squirming and glares. "You're lucky it wasn't someone like Blazes. You would have been dead for sure."

Nightclaw looked up in surprise. "Nina mentioned Blazes," he mewed slowly. "Who is he?"

Sparks shuddered. "Someone to stay away from," he said, glancing around nervously. "He's dangerous and if you get on his wrong side, he'll hunt you down until you're dead."

Stiffening, Nightclaw's eyes were wide with horror.

Nina just shook her head and glared at Sparks in a protective manner. "Stop it," she mewed, agitated. "You're scaring him." She shook her head, turning to Nightclaw. "Blazes isn't that bad, he's just a vicious fighter."

"And deadly," Sparks finished.

Nina glared at him. "Come on," she mewed to Nightclaw, flicking her tail. "I want to go ask around if the longfoots might come tonight."

Nightclaw nodded and raced after her. He blinked sharply as more scents rushed through his nose, dazzling his senses. Cats were everywhere, lining the walls, and their smells were charging through his brain, confusing him.

Nina stopped sharply in front of three cats, and Nightclaw nearly bumped into her. For a second he drank in her sweet warm scent, but then she stepped forward, and he was jerked back into reality.

There were two she-cats, a small white one with bright green eyes, and a brown tabby with black paws and a long tail. The third cat was an old grey tom with one amber eye and one eye filled with milky white swirls. The white she-cat dipped her head in welcome to Nina. "How way me be of assistance to you?" she said softly.

Nightclaw shivered. Her voice was thin and high, sending chills down his spine.

But Nina seemed unnerved by the she-cat. "Echo," she mewed, smiling slightly. "My companion and I wish news and information."

Echo glanced at Nightclaw curiously. "Your companion," the rogue uttered, looking up, surprised. "I thought you traveled alone. We wouldn't want to ruin that petty reputation of yours, now would we?"

The grey tom laughed coldly. "Now Echo, be polite to our guests. Nina just wanted some reports on the longfoots' attacks, am I correct?"

Nina nodded, the respect for the tom showing in her eyes. "You're right Ember, I'm worried that they will try to capture cats in our alley." She then turned to Nightclaw. "I'm sorry!" she mewed. "I forgot to introduce you!"

She turned back to the three cats. "Nightclaw, this is Echo," she said, flicking her brown tail to the white she-cat. "Sweetmoon," the brown tabby. "And Embers," the grey tom.

The three cats nodded in recognition. "I'm Nightclaw," the warrior said, glancing at them uncomfortably, noticing for the first time the long scars on both Sweetmoon and Ember's fur. Echo looked quite harmless though, her fur free of any blemishes, or possible signs of a battle. "Sweetmoon," he said in surprise. "Is that a warr-"

"It wasn't my original name," the she-cat interrupted. "Dapples, was my housecat name, but after a escaped, I didn't care for it anymore. I chose the name Sweetmoon myself."

Nightclaw nodded, satisfied but disappointed. Just for a few seconds his spirits had risen, imagining that she was a clan cat runaway like him, but his hopes had been desperately dashed by her answer.

Echo turned back to Nina. "The longfoots' attacks," she started, nodding. "The have come dangerously close to here, but I'm hoping they won't be here tonight."

Nina glanced at her, skeptical. "You hope?" she mewed. "I need you to be sure."

But Echo just shrugged. "You know that if I had any knowledge of the longfoots, then I would share it. But I don't, so I can't help you."

Nina sighed, turning to Nightclaw. "We should be on alert just in case," she mewed quietly, glancing warily around her.

Nightclaw nodded, his green eyes wide. The city was getting more dangerous then he had ever imagined.

Nightclaw's eyes opened to see pale sunlight dribbling through the dank and dark streets. He heard the faint honking of twoleg monsters in the distance, and he winced slightly, the noise sending pulsing blood through his head.

His hollow greens eyes widened, and he turned around the nest he lay in. Sleep was buzzing in his mind, but he banished it, when he realized that Nina was gone. Her absence sent a shiver of fear down his spine. He distinctly remembered her warning about the twoleg attacks the night before, and Nightclaw shuddered, hoping nothing had happened to his friend.

He struggled to his paws, sniffing Nina's nest anxiously. It was cold. He glanced around in fear, realizing her scent was stale.

"Nina," he called softly, his gaze flicking to every corner of the alley. Cats were curled up along the walls, but he couldn't spot Nina's silky dark brown pelt among them. "Nina!" he mewed once more.

No answer came, and Nightclaw, not wanting to arouse ant attention, quietly scampered off, trying to find her scent.

The cold stone floor made Nightclaw shiver as he padded along it, and the clickety-clack of his claws rebounded off of the tall walls of the alley, echoing loudly.

Nightclaw scanned around the area, but his friends smell was nowhere, and there was no indication that she had been here.

"Looking for someone?"

Nightclaw's emerald eyes widened with horror. His heart stopped for a second, and he slowly began to take deep breaths, realizing that he his intake of air had halted for a moment.

He turned around slowly, trying to prevent the feeling of nausea that was pushing its way up through his throat, feeding on his fear.

Before him was a pure white tom. The tom's fur was as clean and pale snow, and two blue eyes lay on the white pelt. The blue eyes were sparked with anger, and small flecks of green lay in them, as clear and glittering as ice.

Nightclaw opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. His whole body began to shake, and he felt something he hadn't felt in a long time. Pure fear.

Before him stood Blazes.