Sorry for not uploading for a long time! I was pretty busy last weekend and I still had no inspiration for what Rainpaw could do other than walking around and being boring. But I finally thought of something, so here it is! (Well, after the review replies. :P We can't forget those!)

EradrinSkyleaf: The "dialogue" between you and Foxtooth made me laugh. ;D And I completely get what you're thinking about Cinderpaw vs. Foxtooth – the story is written from Cinderpaw's POV, but Foxtooth… just… doesn't really deserve that? Yeah, basically. XD

MistClan505 (or should I say Starfrost515?): Well, here's more, more, MORE! XD And you're not the only one who can feel both sides of the argument. I think a lot of people were actually like that.

Nightfeather: Yep! And Cinderpaw and Sootpaw getting killed by… cinders and soot? Yeah, that wouldn't work too well, I think. :P

ShadowHawk: I know, right? And both infelinely and incatinly cracked me up. XD

Willowdream of ForestClan: Yeah, it really is tough to choose, isn't it? Foxtooth can be annoying, but Cinderpaw was being mean. So… yeah, tough decision, at least for me.

Anova00: Well, I do believe you were in the minority. But it is easier to see the conflict as Foxtooth being annoying and Cinderpaw being the victim, as it's from her POV.

Rainpaw's POV

The next morning, I continued my journey down the hill, the sky dark and cloudy overhead, promising rain later that afternoon. I wended my way through the bushes, my paws light on the dry twigs and leaves on the ground, careful not to make too much noise. It was only after I'd been traveling for about a half an hour that I felt the beginnings of hunger grip my stomach.

Oh, right, I had to eat, too. I'd almost forgotten about that. But the bushes around me must be full of prey, right? They must be positively bursting with mice and voles and shrews and things. So finding some breakfast should be easy!

I put my nose to the ground, sniffing around for a prey trail. Some sort of prey had to have passed by here sometime in the past day or so, right?

Apparently not. The ground was as bare as a deforested hill, with not a prey-scent to be found. So I raised my nose to the wind, sniffing, searching, scenting the air. Maybe the breeze could carry the scent of a juicy piece of fresh-kill to my muzzle. My stomach growled louder. Maybe that breeze could just carry me the scent of a normal, scrawny-looking mouse, I thought ruefully, as thinking about a juicy mouse makes me hungrier than ever.

I caught the whiff of something meaty and yummy. I padded forward, cautiously at first, then with increasing speed as my stomach fueled my paws. I was just so hungry! How could I not have noticed it before?

All of a sudden, I burst out of the bushes and into a clearing. I skidded to a halt, my paws slipping on the ground suddenly devoid of grass, and stared in disbelief at the scene in front of me.

Monsters were trundling back and forth, their yellow hides gleaming in the dim light still able to shine through the thick clouds. Twolegs swarmed over and around them like crows over crowfood lying by the side of a Thunderpath. The ground was completely churned up, almost like there had been a major battle here during a heavy rainstorm. Trees were lying in stacks, piled up like a stack of fresh-kill. Beside them, clearly visible even through the noise and swarms of Twolegs, was a long, flat thing spread with pinkish meat. So that was what had smelled so good from back amongst the bushes.

My stomach grumbled. I glanced around nervously at the Twolegs and their Monsters. Sure, the food smelled amazing, but it was just sitting out there in plain sight of the Twolegs. What if they spotted me? What if they caught me?

But the smell wafting from the food was so tantalizing, and the Twolegs looked so busy with whatever they were doing, and the bushes really weren't that far away from the food. If the Twolegs came for me, I'd just run and hide inside them. Twolegs were so slow and clumsy, I'd get away for sure! So, keeping my tail low and my ears pricked, using every stealth technique Cinderpaw had ever taught me just in case, I made my way around the edge of the clearing to the food.

The pink meat emitted a tantalizing odor that grew stronger and stronger as I prowled closer and closer. My mouth watered and my eyes remained fixed on the food, parting my jaws so that I could almost taste it. I just couldn't wait to sink my teeth into it, the delectable juices filling my mouth as I ripped off a huge chunk, chewing and swallowing to fill my empty belly. I was suddenly ravenous – I just had to have food now. There was no way I'd be able to find another piece of fresh-kill quickly enough to eat before I starved if I didn't have a bite of this meat. It was like it was all meant just for me.

I reached the meat and crouched down beside it, my eyes wide, staring greedily at the meat. It was all for me, I was sure of it, and I was going to sit here until I was done eating, for better or for worse. I just couldn't live if I didn't take a bite of this meat from StarClan. I opened my jaws, ready to take a huge bite.

"Rainpaw! No!"

I sat bolt upright, staring wildly around. Who had said that? Who had called out my name? Who had distracted me from my meal?

A flash of golden fur flickered out from behind an uprooted tree, visible only for about half a second before vanishing again. But it was enough. That voice plus that fur, as well as the fact that the cat in question already knew my name combined to form only one cat it could have been.

"Hyperion?" I called out uncertainly. "Is that you?"

A reply came at once, but it wasn't one of affirmation. It just contained one word: "Run!"

I spun around. As if they'd sprung from thin air, five Twolegs were racing at me from behind. I gasped, trying to run backwards away from them, but I hit the platform. It was a trap! They'd set up the meat so that it would be impossible to resist, then they'd come out of nothing to capture me!

"Run, Rainpaw! Run!"

Hyperion's voice cut through my panic like it had my meat-obsessed fervor earlier. I kicked out with my hind legs, leaping into a sprint and reaching my full speed within heartbeats. Dashing across the clearing, heading straight for the bushes, I heard the Twolegs whistling and calling out in loud, harsh sounding voices. I felt a spurt of triumph. They must not have realized how fast I could be.

But that victory lasted only a heartbeat. Out of the bushes came a sudden growling, barking, and whining. I skidded to a halt just as a huge, monstrous, brown dog with fangs twice as long as a claw and five times as thick erupted from the bushes. It soared through the air, and its dark eyes fixed right on me. It landed on the churned-up ground in front of me and began slowly prowling toward me. At its sides emerged an entire pack – three dogs on each side of their leader – who all followed its lead and began stalking toward me.

I turned back around to run from the dogs, only to find the Twolegs had somehow managed to close the immense distance between us in heartbeats. My strangled yowl rent the air as I felt the dogs' hot breath on my heels and felt cold, smooth paws enclose me from either side, lifting me easily into the air and flipping me almost upside-down to reveal my vulnerable belly. And, even though I couldn't fight to save my life, I began fighting, trying to save my life.

But my claws, however hard they ripped at the Twolegs' paws, they couldn't penetrate their thick, slippery sort of covering. The Twolegs carried me, hissing, spitting, and wriggling all the way to try and free myself, over around the stack of uprooted trees. As we rounded the tangle of thick, brown roots, I finally caught a glimpse of where we were headed. It was a stack of black wire cages, most of them containing cats, all of whom were spitting and snarling, scratching at the locks and pacing back and forth in the tiny spaces.

The Twolegs shoved me in a lower cage. Originally, I'd thought this would be better than the cages above me – all they had for a floor were thin wire things, intertwining over empty space. At least the bottom cages had the ground beneath them to help support the cat's paws. However, as the Twolegs slammed the cage door shut and twisted shut the lock, I became aware of all the stressed shedding of the cats above me. Cream, brown, and orange fur rained down on me, catching in my fluffy fur and tie-dying me to have oddly colored spots. From these tufts of fur, I could easily smell the fear-scent of the cats above.

The Twolegs retreated, blending into the crowd swarming the yellow Monsters within heartbeats of reaching them. A moment later, I spotted a sleek, pale ginger form slinking around the pile of trees. He stopped right in front of my cage and gazed down at me, his golden eyes glimmering. "Hello, Rainpaw," he said, dipping his head to me. "I do believe you've grown."

"Hyperion," I meowed, my mouth curving almost involuntarily into a grin. "Hey."

Hyperion smirked a little. "Hey, indeed," he said softly. "How have you been? How are Cinderpaw and Sootpaw?"

"They're fine," I said warmly. "Well, they're busy, at least."

"Busy with what?"

"Well, Sootpaw's in charge of the entire force of cats fighting for peace at the lake," I recounted, "and Cinderpaw's searching for RiverClan, the lost Clan."

"In charge of the entire force of peaceful cats, eh?" Hyperion said, looking impressed. "And searching for a lost Clan. Well, well, you three have grown to do bigger and better things, haven't you? What are you doing, Rainpaw?"

"I'm going back to the forest," I admitted. "I'm going to see if the cats there will want to come back to the lake to help us win one last battle for peace."

"Huh," Hyperion said, nodding. "Well, that's pretty important, isn't it? I guess you would probably be able to continue if you hadn't just gotten trapped in a cage."

"Yeah." I reached my paw through the bars, trying to grip the lock. "That would be nice. Only I'm not sure if I'll be able to."

"Ah, don't worry," Hyperion reassured me. "I can undo this lock."

"You can?" I gasped.

"Keep your voice down!" Hyperion hissed. "Yes, I can, but not if all the cats are screaming at me to let them out next, drawing all the Twolegs' attention to me!"

"Sorry," I whispered.

"It's okay," Hyperion muttered, lifting his paw and beginning to claw at the catch. "Just make sure you're quiet about this from now on."

"Okay." I waited near the middle of the cage, occasionally shaking myself vigorously to get rid of the cat hair still drifting down from above. Finally, after what felt like moons, Hyperion pulled the cage door open and stood aside, allowing me to leap out. "Thanks!" I purred, smiling up at him. I'd grown a lot since I'd last seen him, but I was still smaller than him.

"No problem," Hyperion said offhandedly.

"I'm just so lucky you were here!" I said sincerely. "If you weren't, then I bet I would have stayed captured by those Twolegs for moons!" I paused for a moment, frowning. "Why were you here, anyway? I thought you lived in the Twolegplace?"

"Yeah, I do, normally," Hyperion confirmed. "Only I'd heard about this cat-roundup going on here. I've got a couple of friends here who were caught a few sunrises ago. I was trying to find out where they were when I spotted you sneaking across the clearing with your eyes fixed on that meat."

"Oh," I said. I stood to the side, close to the uprooted trees, watching as Hyperion began pacing back and forth, searching through the cages. A few of the cats had already noticed he was there and had just let me out of my cage. "Hurry up!" I hissed quietly at him. "Or the others will notice what you're doing!"

"All right, all right," Hyperion muttered, his eyes flicking from cage to cage. "Just after I find – aha." He'd stopped about three-fourths of the way down the cage wall, staring at a particular cage on the second row of cages. "Here they are." He raised his voice and called out, "Aspenpaw! Alderpaw!"

I moved out farther away from the cages so I could see clearer. Looking from Hyperion to the cages, I was able to follow his gaze to a cage on the second layer containing two apprentice-aged cats. One, the tom, cowered in the middle, while the she-cat peered out through the cage door. "Hyperion!" she gasped. "Is it really you?"

Hyperion grinned. "It sure is. Are you ready to get out of there?" Both apprentices nodded vigorously. "Okay then, stand back, Aspenpaw." The she-cat backed away to stand next to her brother as Hyperion leaped into the air, landing on the cages with a clatter of metal on metal.

I glanced back nervously at the Twolegs around the Monsters. A few of them, even through the racket the monsters made, appeared to have heard Hyperion and had turned to stare in their direction. "Hyperion, hurry!" I yowled over the shrieks of the trapped cats.

Hyperion nodded and began clawing at the lock. "I'm working on it!" he called back. "Just tell me when they get close, okay? We'll have to make sure we don't get caught!"

I nodded in reply, though Hyperion's eyes were fixed on the lock, and glanced back over at the Twolegs. They had started across the clearing.

It took Hyperion much longer than I would've liked, but he managed to finally claw the lock off of the cage door. It thudded to the ground and he let go of the wire mesh, landing on the ground and turning to see the Twolegs already about a tree-length away. "Hurry!" he called to the two apprentices before racing over to me and beckoning me forward. "Let's get going," he panted. "Aspenpaw and Alderpaw will catch up."

I bounded after Hyperion, racing along behind him, following the snake of pale gold that was his tail. I only chanced one glance behind me at the two other apprentices, just long enough to make sure they got away safely, before turning back around and fixing my eyes in front of me, making sure I didn't trip.

And so off we ran, the four of us, into the Twolegplace ahead.

Okay, I know it was an abrupt ending, but I really wanted to get this chapter out today. Sorry for the bad ending! Oh, and I hope you don't mind me asking two QOTDs today. XD

AOTD: It was actually a pretty hard decision, but I must say I'm on Foxtooth's side. Maybe it's just because I just couldn't imagine being so mean to someone else… but it's still so much fun writing from Cinderpaw's POV. ;) Yeah, I'm strange like that I guess.

QOTD1: Who do you think Aspenpaw and Alderpaw are? What significance will they have in the story?

QOTD2: What's the current song stuck in your head?