After spending a few more moments to look around, Sun padded over to Lion and Feather. "Hello Sun," greeted the light brown she-cat. "Sit, you look hungry."

Lion nodded his agreement, "Sit down, buddy." Sun smiled thankfully, muttering "thanks" and taking a share of their hawk.

"Lion," he said finally, "Will you lead a hunting mission. We're running low on caught-prey and I know many cats trust you." Even to his best friend his words were guarded and he left room for no argument.

"Sure," he said, finishing off his hawk and stretching his golden pelt. "I'll take Thunder and Shadow, they could use the experience. Will you come, Feather?"

She nodded and stretched herself. "Will you not be joining us, Sun?" The black tom thought for a second. It seemed like forever since he had been hunting with his friends so he nodded. "Just give me a heartbeat, I need to talk to a few cats."

He asked Rain to lead a hunting mission as well, and River and Rip kept guard at camp. Wing came to him and asked permission to take a small mission to make sure the surrounding area is safe.

"I think it's a good idea, Sun. We may still be in the mountains, but this is unknown territory."

Something told Sun that whether or not he approved Wing would go, and he had to admit, it was a good idea. "Fine, get together a few cats but make sure they're strong enough to handle what you may find."

"Of course," and without another word he stalked off getting Burrow, Frost and Bark. He made sure Flower and her kits were being taken care of, which Red was seeing to, and examined the kits himself.

Peak looked up. "What are you doing now, Sun?"

He smiled, "I'm going to go hunting. When you're old enough you can too."

"Can I come now?" her eyes were light with excitement and hope and he hated to see that tempered as he shook his head. Wish and Season also looked disappointed but there was something about Peak that made him feel odd about saying no.

He saw his friends looking over at him. "Hey, you hawk-head," came his normal greeting from Thunder, "Glad to see you're doing something other then ordering cats around all day."

Lion smiled and his eyes danced with amusement, "Leave him alone, Thunder." With high spirits the five walked off into the lower mountains. Sun told them about how Wing went to lead a scouting mission and how Rain was on a hunting mission. He and Lion talked the way they used to and Thunder added her little teasing comments and sometimes getting Shadow to talk.

They went as far as they dared. Sun smiled, "We're lucky we made it this far without any eagles or mountain lions."

"Are there even any mountain lions around here?" Asked Shadow, looking as though she was afraid of the answer.

Sun shrugged, "I don't know. If there are, I haven't seen them but we were told to watch out for them as To-bes."

Thunder smiled, her ginger fur sparkling as light as her eyes "Don't worry we could always get the big strong Lion to chase them off." Sun's whiskers twitched in amusement and Shadow gave a mrrow of amusement along with Feather. "Hey!" hissed Thunder, crouching low and twitching her tail for the others to do the same. Sun saw and heard nothing, and nothing smelled unusual. For a heartbeat, he thought it may be one of Thunder's jokes.

"What is it?" he growled impatiently, "Thunder, is this…"

"Shhh," she cut him off, "Don't you hear that?"
"No I-" Sun abruptly stopped talking as he suddenly heard a slight sound on the rocks. Then a twig snapped and all five cats turned around. Sun hadn't expected what they saw. Peak! The golden she-kit looked scared and scared upon being discovered.

Finally, Sun got over his shock. "What are you doing here?" she didn't respond. "Do you know what could happen to you out here?" His anger was starting to ebb but his eyes were still glowing with annoyance.

Lion shot him a warning glance. "Come here, Peak," he cooed, motioning for the little kit to come forward. Sun was shocked at his calm, inviting eyes and knew he shouldn't be too surprised. The golden she-kit padded forth and looked from Lion to Shadow to Feather.

Thunder stepped back with Sun. "Come on, hawk-head, this isn't our place."

"You're right," he sighed, "Come on, Lion, let us get this little kit home. I'm sure her mother is worried and her brother and sister too."

"Yes Peak," Feather meowed, "I know you didn't try to worry your mother, but I'm sure she is."

"Yes Feather."

Shadow padded forward and guided her along. "Come on, Peak, I'm sure it'll all be okay."

"Yes Shadow." They walked ahead and Sun watched the little she-cat lead with his best friend right behind. They were two of the nicest cats in the Tribe.

"That kit is lucky," he muttered to Thunder, "She ran into three of the most understanding cats in the mountains."

She nodded her small ginger head, "Yeah, my brother's great, so is my best friend and Feather, of course. She'll keep them in line."

"You could go help, you know," he lowered his head, "I'm not great with kits, you may have noticed."

She gave a purr of amusement, "Yeah, but she won't take me seriously. I'm not much bigger then she is, you know?" Sun didn't know how to respond, and he heard a yowl before he opened his mouth again.

"What's going on!" he called, snapping back into the cat who left the clearing that morning. Wing ran up to them, head high but his blue eyes were unreadable. "An eagle was circling around before, and we spotted a nest not to far from here."

Rain ran up after, "Sun! I'm glad you're back. One of Flower's kits is missing, Rip says she's very worried."

"She's with us. She followed us from-" a little squeak and several yowls broke them off. He looked back to see Lion on his haunches with two eagles swooping around. One of them had Peak. Sun jumped in himself along with several other cats, all capable of fighting.

Slashing feathers Sun unsheathed his claws and hit one across the face. It let out a shriek and flew away; another was dead on the ground with Wing licking his paw next to it.

"Peak," he panted, looking at Lion, "Lion! Is that kit safe? Flower's kit?" All the cats went silent until a small, pitiful mew broke louder then the bird's dying screech.

He looked over to see a small golden shape in the claws of the dead eagle. His heart leapt and a dreadful thought clouded his ears. This is the first twist on our path to safety. Rest safely in Peak, in StarClan or the Tribe of Endless Hunting.

Brightfang: Hope you all like this chapter. This one was written together, enjoy!

Flamestreak:( Aw, I didn't want Peak to die. Tell us what you thought. Review please!