I wonder if anybody still reads stories about Bone anymore. I've been pretty busy as of late so I could only add to the story a little bit every now and then. Anyway, hope y'all like the chapter, its bigger than most.

"Why should I let you join my BloodClan?" Bone growled down from his trash bin with disgust at the rogues huddled below him. "From what I've heard you lot have been causing some trouble with my guards. I should have you all killed."

The alley was tinged blood red as the day's final rays of the setting sun soaked into the bricks. He was on his favorite bin, the most comfortable spot in all his territory. Below him to his right Lost sat patiently on the pavement, her taught tortoiseshell body showing no signs of the punishment with her fight against Blizzard. To his left, the much larger and toothier form of Titus stood proudly, his broad shoulders almost half as high as the bin itself.

It had been three days since appointing the new trainers, and Lost had finally found and captured the five rogues that were running rampant through the neighborhood. According to the deputy, the trouble makers had been ambushing his guards and stealing food. Not to his surprise, they had begged to join BloodClan as soon as they were caught. It wasn't unheard of for enemies of the Clan to suddenly enlist to avoid the punishments, but it would take them a long time to gain the trust of the leader.

"We have information you want about the Clan cats, Bone," mewed the brown tabby tom who seemed to be the gang leader. The rogue stepped forward and looked up confidently at the cat on the bin with glittering eyes. "And we also know of a place with lots of juicy mice if you are willing to fight for them. I know your cats are hungry, I've seen it first-paw."

Bone's ears pricked with interest. At the mention of food he noticed many of the guards along the sides of the alley perked up too. Food was always on every cat's mind in BloodClan. Even Titus and Lost seemed interested, tails twitching and ears pricked. "You have my attention," He growled through gritted teeth. As much as he wanted his cats to be well fed and wipe out the Clan savages, he hated negotiating with smelly rogues.

The tabby's pelt twitched with satisfaction, knowing he had something the leader of BloodClan wanted. "Let me and my friends join and we'll show you a place with more mice than you could dream of."

Bone eyed the other rogues; two other toms and two she cats. To his surprise, one of the she cats' bellies was hugely swollen with unborn kits. The street cats probably wanted to have a safe place to raise their young, but did they know she would be separated from them as soon as they were able to eat flesh? If they didn't he wasn't about to tell them. "I'll have Frost give you BloodClan names in the morning."

"Actually, we'd like to keep our names, thanks."

Furious at their defiance, Bone leapt down in front of the rogue, putting the smaller creature in his shadow. "What did you just say?" Behind the tabby the other toms moved to defend their leader. Behind Bone, Titus and Lost unsheathed their claws and the guards placed along the wall watched eagerly. If the rogues wanted a fight, they would quickly find themselves hopelessly overpowered. "I will have your names changed in the morning as custom of the Clan. Open your mouth again and I'll have your tongue."

The rogue's ears flattened but he didn't dare say another word.

"Now show us where the food is!" spat Titus, getting to his paws and baring his teeth.

The tabby rogue gave a Bone a questioning look to which the big cat nodded. Without a moment's pause, he turned and trotted back down the alley. The four other rogues followed. The biggest of them a scarred black and white tom gave Bone a foul look as if sizing up an enemy. Bone narrowed his eyes at him and bared his teeth, an invitation that he was ready to fight whenever the other cat wanted.

"Should we trust them?" hissed Lost, padding up to him as he padded after the rogues. "They could be walking us into a trap."

Bone snorted in amusement, a loud and harsh sound that caused a few ears among the guards to turn towards him in surprise. "A trap against BloodClan? There isn't a force of cats large enough from here to the mountains to ambush BloodClan." Though he still flicked his tail for a couple of extra guards to follow. He wondered how a place so full of food could have remained hidden from him for so long. Was it very far away?

The rogues lead them out onto the sidewalk and down the street, never even looking back to make sure the BloodClan cats were following. Bone could have sworn he heard one of the she cats whimper something to one of the toms, but it was silenced by an angry hiss. The pack of cats continued down the block. Lost and a slightly drooling Titus padded at his sides and a dozen brawny guards were only a few steps behind. No cat or housefolk challenged them as they scurried along. It was unusual for such a large group to travel in broad daylight, but the sooner he found his Clan food the better. It wasn't until they took another turn down a familiar street that Bone suddenly realized they were headed straight for the forest.

"Hold on a moment," he spat, catching up to the rogues and blocking the way. "Where do you think you're taking us? We're going towards the savages' territory!"

The tabby stopped and rolled his eyes. "The food you so desperately want is on the far side of the forest, big guy. If you want it you might have to deal with a few trees."

Bone growled menacingly. How dare he speak to the leader of BloodClan with such mockery! But he wouldn't jeopardize the chance at free food. "Is there no way around the forest, rogue?"

"There is, but it's far out of the way. It would be much faster to just cut straight through." There was a challenging gleam in his green eyes, one that Bone didn't like. "And don't call me 'rogue', my name is Willie."

Bone spat, turning around and back again in a furious circle. Not for long. I'll have your name changed to 'toadstool' if you keep giving me lip. He had only a pawfull of BloodClan cats with him, but that included his deputy and champion of the guard. Over Willie's shoulder Lost was eyeing him intently, waiting for his answer. Not wanting to look like he was scared, he spat again. "Fine! We'll go through the forest. But if you try to escape or pull anything funny, I swear I'll kill you. Do I make myself clear?"

Willie sighed. "Crystal."

"Then lead the way." Bone let Willie and the other rogues pass. Again, the big black and white tom glared at him defiantly, and again Bone glared right back. He wouldn't be having any more uprisings in his beautiful BloodClan. If the brute put one toe out of line, he would lose that toe.

They crossed the road quickly, waiting for the housefolk's death-machines to pass. On the other side, Willie slipped quietly into the bushes. Though the rogue had said they would be going into the forest, they never went very deep and stayed within earshot of the road. The sun had slipped behind the tree line before they had gotten very far causing the shadows to stretch over them..

"Bone, did you smell this?" growled one of the guards, stopping by a patch of ferns. "It smells like forest cats."

Bone padded over, using his ears and nose more than his eyes at this point, and sniffed the bushes. Sure enough, the reek of savages hit his nose. "It's a scent mark. This must be where their border starts. Every cat keep your eyes and ears open." The last thing he wanted was to be found in the dark. "Keep moving."

"Hold up, Bone," warned Lost from somewhere behind him. "Some of the guards are getting caught in the brambles. I'm getting them out."

It was too dark to see anything more of the tortoiseshell cat than her silhouette. He made his way over. "At this rate, we'll make it out of the forest tomorrow," he growled.

"Ouch, my paw- sorry, oops."

As he got closer he could make out a young tom writhing in some bushes, his fur tangled in the thorns. It didn't take him a heartbeat to recognize the mew of Sunny, one of the newest guards he had overseen the naming of just two moons ago. He was surprised the ginger tabby had survived. If he remembered correctly, he had been sliced open by another kitty named Owl during his naming ceremony. "Quite down! Do you want all the savages to hear your pathetic whimpering?"

Lost was winding her way through the brambles, picking away the brambles with her teeth.

"Ow ow ow that's my leg!"

Bone spat in the grass. "For the love of cream, will you shut up! Lost, bring him with you once you get him out," he ordered, turning back to where the rest of his cats were waiting nervously. None of them wanted to admit it, but every BloodClan cat had at least a small fear of the Clan cats.

"Will do, sir."

Leaving the squeaking and squirming tom in the deputy's capable claws, he stomped back through the bushes to where Willie and Titus were waiting. To his pleasure, he could detect a small taste of fear on the rogue. Whether it was from being in Clan territory or being surrounded by hungry BloodClan cats, or just fear of the dark, Bone didn't know. "How much further until we reach this place of food," he growled. He suddenly realized it may have been a mistake to try to find the place so late in the day. He should have waited until tomorrow so they wouldn't be caught by darkness.

"Oh we aren't even half way there," Willie sneered, noticing the discomfort in the big cat's mew. "If you want, we could go back. We have to go deeper into the woods to get to the other side. Once we hit the other road it's a clear shot straight to the barn."

Bone shook his head, then realized no cat could see him in the darkness. "No, we keep going. If we find shelter, we'll stay the night there."

"Stay the night in forest cat territory?" gasped Titus, shocked. "Are you mad?"

But he had made up his mind. "Keep moving."

The rest of the evening went slowly, the large pack of cats blundering through the unfamiliar territory. It was almost midnight by the time the trees started to thin.

"What's that over there?" called one of the rogue she cats from the front.

Bone stepped out of a bush and was suddenly standing in a pool of moonlight. High above the cats' heads shone an enormous half moon. In front of him, almost as bright as the moon itself crouched a huge mound of boulders. The glossy rocks gleamed like a fat star in the night.

"It looks like there's a cave in the side," mewed Lost, stepping past Bone and racing over to the mound. "Yes! Bone come here!"

Bone followed. His deputy was right. As he approached the boulder pile, he noticed a large opening at the base, big enough for all his cats to fit comfortably. The place smelled foul, but he couldn't detect any other cat scent. It would be safe. "We're staying here for the night," he mewed, not realizing until now how tired he was. "Lost, organize the guards' night watch shifts. I don't want to get ambushed while we're sleeping.

"Yes Bone."

The rest of the cats joined them, Titus in the lead with Willie close behind. With a shared sigh of relief, the cats padded into the cave and made themselves comfortable.

Bone found a flat rock near the mouth of the cave and curled up. Tomorrow he would solve the plight of his starving cats in one fell swoop. He closed his eyes and dreamed of mice.

I am looking forward to the next few chapters. Things start to get real soon.