A/N: Ravenpaw and Barley are not my characters. They are Erin Hunter's. Keep calm and continue reading.

Chapter 9: The Loners

Ripple sprinted, dodging ferns and roots. The Elite Warriors were behind him, moving with just as much power and smoothness. He thought of them as a stream of cats, flowing smoothly across the ground.

"Ripple, can you tell me what we're doing again?"

He looked at the small silver cat that had caught up to him. He grinned. "Sure, Cinder. We're going to go find some loners and take them back to camp. If they become hostile or refuse, they get put with Coldbreeze and Brightflame. If they cooperate, they become warriors. Got it?"

"Simple enough." She meowed as she fell behind into formation again.

Soon, they hit the moors of Windclan. They didn't have to worry about a patrol stopping them though; as long as other clans don't hunt in each other's territory, they have free range, going throughout each other's territory as they wish. It makes for easier communication between camps.

Ripple slowed to a trot, the barn in site. "Be ready!" He whispered to them. He heard the unsheathing of claws and smiled. He ran closer, and slowed again as the barn loomed ahead of them. He crouched in the tall grasses, crawling with his belly dragging against the ground as he crept over to the side of the barn with the elites. He peeked in an old mouse-hole or crack in the barn.

There was sleek, jet-black tom with a white dash on his chest. He was standing next to another cat, a short, compact black-and-white tom with a plump belly. An orange tabby tom was sharing tongues with a golden tom. A cream-colored she-cat rested in the hay balcony, with two kits near her belly: one golden tom and one cream-colored she-kit. A tortoiseshell tom laid a fox-length away from her, next to a white-and-grey-spotted she-cat. Two sleek Siamese she-cats shared a rat. Eleven cats in all. Perfect.

He lashed his tail, and heard the sound of a set of paws racing away. He turned, watching Silver run toward the Windclan camp to fetch more warriors. Chill murmured. "How many are there?"

"Eleven. Two kits. We brought 7, but with the 6 Windclan cats on their way, we should take the loners easily." He replied softly.

Soon, he saw cats racing their way. Silver joined them, with the Windclan cats on her heels. Ripple dipped his head at their deputy, a black she-cat with white markings named Spiderpelt, a brown-and-white-spotted tom named Fawnstep, a silver she-cat named Sagebreeze, a brown and black-spotted she-cat named Stealthstep, a brown tom with large paws named Rabbitfoot, and a small, tortoiseshell she-cat named Blackear, after her black ear. Ripple told them the plan. Spiderpelt listened intently, ears perked and eyes alert. Afterwards, the plan was set into motion.

…

Sand sat up in the loft with her kits, Robin and Sun. Ashes and Patch were lying together on the other side of the loft. Barley and Ravenpaw were chatting, while Owl and Tiger 'shared tongues', as Ravenpaw once put it. Tangle and Twilight were sharing a rat together. Those Siamese twins are inseparable. Sand thought. Robin's meow brought her attention from her Barnmates back to her kits.

"Mama, we're hungry!"

"Yeah! We could eat a whole horse, like the ones outside!" Sun wailed with a grin on his face.

Sand chuckled. "Ok. Let's go get a rat to eat. Why don't you ask Ashes and Patch if they want to go get one as well?"

Sand watched the kits scramble over to the two cats, prodding and meowing at them until they get to their paws, chuckling softly. Robin and Sun dash down the loft, jumping in the hay pile to find their own rats. The three older cats leapt down, grabbing a rat each from the prey pile.

After eating most of the mouse, she gave the rest to the two kits. As they were ravenously eating the rat, she noticed a black she-cat in the barn entrance.

"Hello? Is anyone here?" she called out. Barley smiled and padded over to her, followed by Ravenpaw. The three talked for a while, before padding over to the group. All were listening but the kits, which were playing and hiding in the hay pile.

"This is Spider, a previous Windclan warrior. She's become a loner now, and I want everyone to welcome-"

Barley was cut off by Spider. "NOW!" she yowled Cats came flooding into the barn, their claws glinting in the barn lights. Yowls filled the previous silence of the barn.

Two silver toms had rushed Barley, while Spider and a brown-and-white-spotted tom turned on Ravenpaw. The two loners fought with all their might, taking hard hits and rebounding quickly. Tiger was fighting a grey tom that smelt like Spider and a dark grey she-cat the smelt like the silver cats Barley and Ravenpaw were battling. A silver she-cat and a tan Windclan tom were facing Owl. Ashes was tackled by a brown she-cat with black spots. Patch was losing a battle between him and a grey-brown tom and a grey ragamuffin. Twilight was pinned by a dark, scarred grey she-cat, while Tangle was furiously fighting a tortoiseshell with black ears.

Sand looked around the battlefield, anxiety building. Barley and Ravenpaw were unconscious, and now the two silver toms helped fight Tangle and Ashes. Spider and the brown tom ran for her. Sand dodged Spider's swipe, but was bowled over by the brown tom. She was on her back, and the brown tom hissed. She felt his thorn-sharp claws dig into her belly, and she yowled in pain. She pushed him off of her, sending him sky-high. She scrambled to her paws, scanning the battlefield for her kits. She saw them, barely visible in the hay as their wide eyes took in the surrounding chaos. She took a pawstep when she was knocked off her paw again. Spider held her on her side, her claws pressed up against her neck and side. Sand squirmed, but was firmly pushed into the ground. She felt a sharp nip on her flank, and glared at the brown tom, who stood grinning.

Sand looked around. All of her Barnmates were either unconscious like Barley, Ravenpaw, and Patch, pinned down like Sand, Ashes, and Tangle, or too badly hurt to fight, like Owl, Tiger, and Twilight. One of the grey toms spoke.

"I am Chill, the deputy of Bloodclan. You loners are going to be a big part of the upcoming war. You WILL join Bloodclan, or we'll kill you now. Choose wisely. Spiderpelt, have you found the kits yet?"

She glanced at the brown tom. "Fawnstep?"

Sand frowned, her gaze searching for the tom. She found him sniffing at the hay pile. Screeching, she thrashed wildly under Spiderpelt's grip. Fawnstep grinned, pulling Robin out of the hay. Sun dashed out, smacking Fawnstep's leg with pitiful weak paws. "You let her go! I'm warning you, if you-" He was lifted up by the other silver tom, who Chill called Ripple. Sun squirmed as wildly as his mother, but Ripple kept a clenched jaw on his scruff.

She later learned a lot of the cat's names from the orders Chill, Ripple, and Spiderpelt gave them. Silver and Yellowfoot grabbed Ravenpaw's scruff, and Russet and Blackear grabbed Barley' scuff. Greywhisker took hold of the unconscious Patch, with the help of Sagebreeze. The pinned cats were put with the injured cat, a circle of enemy cats formed around them. The procession moved through the doors of the barn: first the kit carriers, then the unconscious cat draggers, then the cat herders.

Sand turned to look at the barn as it faded into the distance, pawstep by forced pawstep.

After what seemed like an eternity, they arrived at a ring of boulders, which they were forced to scramble up. They were led into the clearing. Sand saw a bleak clearing, with many grey rock dens. She saw a den entirely filled with kits, in which Sun and Robin were placed. She saw worn-looking she-cats peer at them with saddened eyes. She saw a cage with two cats in it, chained to the rocks outside the cage, and a few more empty ones. She felt her paws prickle with terror.

A black she-cat stood on a high ledge, grinning. "Welcome to Bloodclan!"

She turned to Chill. "Put them in the Twoleg holders for a day or two. They'll learn their place soon enough."

Sand was suddenly pinned down, her face being pushed into the ground. She spat out dirt as a cold vine was slipped around her. Soon, it felt tight around her torso. Hissing and spitting, she tried to attack and get free, but she felt herself being pulled back. She saw Barley being dragged with her, unconsciously moving along the small pebbles. She saw the orange pelt of Tiger slowing moving toward her as he was dragged toward the same cage. A hard yank sent her flying back. She slammed into the bars of the cage, Tiger hit the bars to her left, and Barley lied motionless on the floor. Russet closed the door, moving the latch into place. The chain's grip loosened, and she fell on her face. Looking up, she saw Owl and Tangle in the cage to her left, and a white tom and ginger she-cat were farther down. Twilight and Patch were in the cage to her right, and Ravenpaw, who had come too and was seething with rage, and Ashes were on the other side of them.

The black-she cat had come down from the rock ledge and stood in front of the imprisoned cats. "You loners will spend the next few days in these Twoleg kittypet holders until you learn your place. A few of you will already become Unchoosens." She looked at Sand briefly, but long enough to know she ment her. "Chill will learn your names and assign you new ones, seeing as now you belong to Bloodclan. You'll be given prey once you learn your place." With a short nod, the black cat padded off into her den. The loners looked at one another with terrified, cross faces that seemed to say what have we gotten into now?