Hi I'm back! And with chapter 9 as well. Well, not really much to say, so here you go.

Crowfeather's POV

Moonlight outlined my mate's outline as she peacefully slept beside the stump of a large Oak. She would stir every now and then, falling still to resume in her still slumber. I yawned in contentment while watching her from my post, twitching my ears for any suspicious sounds as my love wiggled in her nest to get more comfortable. Hearing nothing, I rested my head on my paws and was about to close my eyes when I heard the pattering of nearby paw-steps. I instantly was to my paws and unsheathed my sharp claws warily as I glared towards the location of the sound.

Leafpool must have heard me, for she revealed her amber orbs from their snooze, blinking them a few times to awaken herself from her unconscious state. I felt the brown tabby gaze over to me, but I kept my glare on where the sound was. For several moments, the paw-steps only drew closer until I growled loudly to announce our presence. The footfalls then came to a doubtful halt and all was silent once more.

I narrowed my eyes into slits and sniffed the oncoming winds. The scent I inspected instantly brought my mood down even lower. Feeling a gentle nuzzle under my chin, I nearly jumped out of my fur, only to look down and see the white-pawed she-cat gazing up at me sympathy.

She must know that they are near…

We waited as the paw-steps sounded off again and was making their way towards us until a massive figure along with a small, lithe form came out from the shadows of the trees'. Negative thoughts clouded my mind when I saw the familiar auburn tom walk over to us with his ginger mate following slowly from behind.

"Greetings Bear, Honey." I heard my mate acknowledge the two cats.

"Leafpool, mouse-brain." The rogue nodded to the she-cat, but spat the word 'mouse-brain' at me. My thin dark gray fur began to stand on end as I glared back at the larger tom. Leafpool noticed this and spoke loud enough to distract the well-muscled cat before I could hiss something back at him. "So will you both be joining us?"

My glare didn't lessen when Bear tore his green gaze from me and acknowledged the amber-eyed cat with a pleased smirk while his light ginger mate only shuffled her paws uneasily.

"Yes. Honey and I will be uniting with you on your journey to new territory. Away from housefolk." The rogue added the last part with a nervous glance over to the small kittypet. I finally broke my glare from the massive cat to glance over to the ginger she-cat. She didn't meet anyone's eyes and kept looking down at the earth while occasionally tottered from one paw to the other.

The former medicine she-cat meowed to the distressed ginger tabby, "Honey. Do you want to go?" Honey didn't reply, only bristled nervously. Leafpool then left my side and calmly walked towards the kittypet, sitting down next to the other's side and almost matronly whispered, "You do not have to go. It is yours and yours only choice."

For what seems like moons, the green-eyed tabby looked up from her paws and gazed at my mate sincerely, "I do not wish for my kits to be trapped and kept from the outside world. I will join you on your journey and stay by your side through danger and hunger."

Bear smiled softly at the small cat, and then made his way over to push his muzzle into the former kittypet's thin pelt. My mate smiled as she left the two to their bonding and nuzzled herself into my chest.

"I love it when all works out." The soft she-cat tenderly said as I moved my narrow head down to give her a brief lick to the head.

All too soon, the moment was broken and they all nodded to one another before getting to their paws and making way to start their voyage.

I hope you all enjoyed it. We are now just about reaching the end to this story, probably a few more chapters until this story comes to an end. Please review and until next time (which will be very soon), see ya later! SilverWolf out