Upset voices woke Zari, and she sat up and to ask what happened. "Featherkit's missing!" Mosspaw replied before running off to search with Emeraldfire.

Fogtail headbutted her shoulder and said, "help us look!"

Zari got up and ran in a random direction. Sunset was not far off, but human activity was far from over. She scanned the area for any sign of the grey tabby kit. She saw a familiar cat standing in an alley across the road. Zari saw that he was missing a paw and immediately knew who it was. She rushed in that direction, narrowly missing being hit by a car. Pharaoh was waiting for her.

"Where's Featherkit?" she asked feeling surprisingly angry.

"Safe... for now."

Zari hissed at how much the stray was enjoying the situation. "What do you want?"

"First of all, information. Something helped you the last time we met. What was it? Certainly not a cat."

"You wouldn't understand."

"You don't know that. Tell me what it is. What you are. Why did this creature appear soon after you did?"

"I don't suppose you've ever heard of dragons," she replied after a pause.

Pharaoh tilted his head. "Giant lizards? Is that what you are?"

"Dragons are more than that, but you seem to get the idea of our general appearance. I'm what's called a prism dragon and Natra is helping me get somewhere."

"The other dragon?"

"She's an insomnia dragoness."

"And where exactly are you going?"

Zari's claws made contact with the stone. "I'm going to a portal that'll take me to my home world and the Clan is going to their new home. Why does any of this matter to you?"

"Hm. Do you know anything about this new place?"

"No. Where is Featherkit?"

"Follow me," said Pharaoh before running out of the alley.

Zari easily kept up with the stray cat as he lead her towards a less busy area. Steelclaw and Glasspaw appeared behind her on the way. Pharaoh padded confidently into a hole in the stone. Warily, she followed. This could be a trap, she thought while her eyes adjusted. But what choice did she have? Zari wanted to find the missing kit.

The sound of running water became louder the deeper they went. She was surprised to see that there was no water in the group's lair. She recognized some of these cats, others were new. Light from the rising full moon shone in from a hole far above them. From the look of it, Zari guessed the hole was in an abandoned building.

"Featherkit?" Steelclaw called.

"Yes, where is our little guest?" Pharaoh questioned.

"We uh, sort of lost her," one clumsy looking black and white cat said.

"You lost her?" Pharaoh's voice was calm, but his right eye twitched and his fur fluffed up. "She's a kit. How do you 'lose' a kit?"

Zari heard Steelclaw hiss beside her. "Where is she?"

"I don't know. Apparently none of us do. Oh well," the three-legged cat said. "We have the information we needed."

"Information?" Glasspaw said on Zari's other side.

"You decieved me!" Zari's enraged voice echoed.

"Where's Featherkit, you roach dung?" Steelclaw screamed.

The other strays gathered around Pharaoh. There were a lot less than there were before. It would be no easy task, but the three cats had a chance of winning the oncoming battle. But wasn't fighting supposed to be left to wild animals? Did Zari really want more scars criss-crossing her pelt? This battle would leave her looking even more horrible.

But why didn't she care?

She was finally starting to understand the feeling she had. Ever since she was a hatchling, Zari had been obsessed with appearance. She'd never played with the other dragons. She'd never taken the time to really relax. She'd never expressed anger with her claws.

If she'd played, her wings would've been dirty. If she'd relaxed, she might've let her scales be scratched. If she'd attacked anyone, blood would've stained her beautiful claws. And why allow a lesser creature to trick her into doing such a thing?

She finally understood the feeling now. It was relief. Zari had spent every waking moment trying to maintain what made her better than others. But she no longer had anything to lose. She'd played with the kits. She would unleash her anger on these cats. Later, she would relax.

At first, she defended herself however she could from the enemy attacks. Something strange happened. As though someone else was guiding her claws, Zari's attacks became skillful. She didn't have a clue how this was. She didn't have much time to think about it in the chaos of battle. She knew how to fight. Right now, that was all that mattered.

Darkwood's battle cry echoed in the cave. The dark tabby charged into the mass of fighting cats. He tackled a yellow cat with matted fur. Hawkstrike clawed a large grey cat into submission before looking around for Pharaoh. Rainstep and Fogtail battled side by side against three strays. Mosspaw attacked the awkward black and white cat with surprising ferocity. Emeraldfire and Ironpaw were shredding a tabby and white she-cat.

Bellpaw ran in alone behind the other cats. She looked afraid but determined. Zari's own battle was going well. It wasn't long before most of the cats had retreated. Bellpaw struggled to keep a small brown cat pinned. Darkwood walked over to them.

"Now," the Clan leader's voice was the only one that echoed now. "tell us where our missing kit is and maybe I won't leave you outside the nearest cageplace."

The stray's eyes widened. "Where cats go...?"

"And never come out."

"She disappeared! There one minute and gone the next. I don't know how she escaped!"

Darkwood's eyes narrowed. "You're either lying or you're in a group of cats whose collective brain is the size of a flea's poo."

Ironpaw laughed and said, "or both."

"She's not anywhere around here," Glasspaw reported as she reentered the cave. Darkwood flicked his tail, signaling for Bellpaw to release their captive. She did and the stray left as quickly as he could.

They searched for days but couldn't find the missing kit. Despite Graveltail's objections, the Clan carried on. It took a few more days of travel, they made it to the edge of the city.