Shellkit had blacked out from the shock of seeing Rosekit getting hit by the big thing with large black paws. He woke up later on, and his pelt was heavy with snow. He shook it off, and looked over at the black path, covered in bloody snow. Shivering as he ran over it, he saw another come right by as he scampered by. His heart raced like it had never raced before. He needed to find his friend, Rosekit!

His tiny paws thudded the snow covered earth, reaching unfamiliar territory. Glancing around, he saw large hairless rats walking down the square rock path with dogs attached to strings, preventing them from leaving. Shellkit rounded a tall nest that the hairless rats lived in, and saw some more from the opposite side where he was. The hairless rat gasped and ran for him, sending adrenaline pulsing through Shellkit. He quickly dodged into a tube, barely big enough for him to fit in and turn around in.

The hairless rat bent over, trying to look at him, and reach inside. He backpedaled, hoping it couldn't reach him. It spat at walked away, giving up on trying to grab him. Shellkit slowly squeezed out, and climbed on top of the tube. He climbed it, curious why it connected to another hairless rat nest, and jumped onto a ledge.

He peered inside the nest. A cream she-cat with a dark brown face, paws, ears, and tail-tip was sitting on something comfy looking, flanking a place with fire billowing out of it. He poked his head inside, and the she-cat turned to him, her bright blue eyes shining with curiosity. She slowly approached him on the ledge opposite of the one he was in, the one inside the nest.

"What are you doing, little kit?" The she-cat asked. She pulled him inside, and placed him down next to the fire. It was warm and sealed away by a evil looking fence.

"I'm trying to look for my friend, Rosekit! She got hit by a scary looking thing with black paws. I even saw hairless rats jump out of it and take her away!" Shellkit explained, and the she-cat blinked at him with her oval like eyes.

"The scary things with the black paws are called monsters, and the 'hairless rats' are stompers. One of them owns me! I am Siren. Nice to meet you kit, what's your name?" Siren asked, and Shellkit blinked up at her.

"I'm Shellkit. I'm from the forest!" Shellkit said promptly, and Siren scoffed.

"The forest? Those forest cats are horrible! Also, how are you from the forest? That's a long way away from here, little Shellkit." Siren mewed, looking at the way that Shellkit came in.

"I got to go! My friend got hurt and I need to find her and bring her home." Shellkit mewed, and started to go.

"Why don't you stay for a bit and warm up?" Siren asked, padding next to Shellkit.

"No. I must go."

"Not without me you aren't!"

"What do you mean? You wouldn't know where she is."

"I have a slight idea of where she might be. Just follow me and you'll see." Siren hopped on to the ledge again, and bent down.

"Jump, I'll grab you." She mewed. Shellkit sprang up into the air, and Siren easily grabbed his scruff in her jaws.

"Okay, go outside. I just need to do something quickly. Also, don't leave! I have quite the knack for following things." She purred, and Shellkit grunted.

He hopped onto the next ledge, waiting for Siren to come back. She disappeared back inside the stompers' nest, and Shellkit could faintly hear her voice and another's.

"Siren?" A sleepy voice said, and Shellkit could hear Siren's purr.

"Bee, I'm going to go help a kit find his friend. I should be back soon." Siren mewed, and he heard loud shifting.

"A random kit? Siren, you know better than that!" Bee exclaimed, and Siren stopped purring.

"I found you as a random kit and let you stay in my stompers' nest! And you're complaining? My, I thought you were better than this, Bee." Siren said, the beginning of a growl in her throat.

"Get out of here!" Bee hissed, and Shellkit flinched when he heard something fall on the ground.

He peered back into the nest again, and saw a large orange tabby tom wrestling with Siren on the ground. Bee nipped her neck, and Siren lashed at his face with unsheathed claws.

"Get off me!" Siren exclaimed, and yowled when Bee bit her leg.

Siren swiped at his face again, and her claws caught on his cheek, and she bit into his ear and ripped at it, making blood gush from his wound.

Who knew kittypets could put up such a fight? Shellkit wondered, and began to jump in. But Siren saw him, and flicked her tail, telling him to stay put. Shellkit was hesitant at first, but then stayed where he was.

This scene reminded him of when he saw Archpaw and Marshpaw tumbling in the snow, angrily fighting each other. But he really needed to go. Should he leave, or should he stay?

Shellkit gasped when he saw Bee being thrown a few mouse lengths toward the place he was. Siren's pelt was bristling, and her shoulder and leg were leeding. Bee lunged at her again, but she sidestepped, and he soared over her. She angrily batted at his flank, and Bee slammed his paw into her shoulder that wasn't bleeding, knocking her over.

He went to stab her stomach with his paws, but she rolled over, and narrowly missed her spine. She ran toward Shellkit and jumped up, and the fat tabby went to jump too, but his ribcage collided with the ledge inside, and he fell down.

"Come fight me like a real cat, Siren!" Bee screeched.

"Never you dumb tom! I made a mistake caring for you as a mother!" Siren retorted, and Bee seemed hurt by her remark. Siren gently grabbed Shellkit's scruff, and bolted off over the ledges, Shellkit clinging to her chest, screwing up his eyes.

He could only feel himself jumping up in down, and he could see a bit of blood trickling down from Siren's chest. The sweet she-cat was so friendly to him, and he felt safe. He opened his eyes again, and saw that Siren was slowing down, and started limping. Something hanging from her neck rang with each step she took, a soothing chiming sound.

"Siren are you okay? You look like you're about to faint." Shellkit said, his voice worried. Siren gave a curt nod, and purred again, calming him down.

"I... I'm fine. I just need to slow my pace a bit. We're almost there." She mewed. Shellkit looked around. He saw many stompers and many dogs, a lot of stomper nests, too. Shellkit wanted to ask Siren about the area he was in, but she seemed focused on the path ahead of herself. Her fur was short, unlike Shellkit's. Shellkit felt small even compared to Siren, she wasn't very tall herself.

He wanted to strike up a conversation with her, to avoid this eerie quiet. "So, Siren, where are you from?" Shellkit asked, and Siren looked down at him.

"Thailand."

"Where's that?"

"Extremely far away. They made me come here on a metal bird!" She exclaimed.

"Where is here?"

"We are in stomperplace, which is in Canada."

"How do you know all this?"

"My old stompers and my new stompers talked about it a lot. I was able to understand what they were saying after a while."

"So you're smart?"

"I guess."

Shellkit thought about this for a while. So she wasn't born here? In... In Cah-nah-dah? Wow! I wonder what Chai-nah looks like. Shellkit thought, and then jumped when they came to a stop.

"Here we are." Siren mewed, and placed Shellkit down.

"What's this place?"

"This is the vet."

"Vet?"

"Oh, I guess you forest cats don't know what a vet is. A vet is, well, I'm sure you've heard about the cutters?"

"Yes! My mother told me they'd cut my-"

"Hush now, don't talk about that. Now, I think your friend is inside here. Let's wait for a stomper to enter, then we'll sneak in behind it." Siren mewed, and placed Shellkit down on the snowy ground next to her.

A group of stompers went to enter the place with their dog, the biggest one holding the entrance open for its family. Siren grabbed Shellkit again and sped inside, hiding behind a tall plant.

The group of stompers chatted loudly together, and one of them put their dog up on a weird platform. The stomper behind the platform took the dog, and Siren bolted off up over the platform, behind the stomper and into the next area.

"That was a risky move," Siren panted, and hid behind a column of strange things. She poked her head around, and the stomper was waving its hands wildly at the other stompers, who were yelling the same thing over and over again.

"They're saying 'cat,' but in stomper language."

"How do you know?"

"I've learnt. Now be quiet so the stomper cutter doesn't hear us and cut you!"

"Oh no!" Shellkit squeaked, huddling closer to Siren.

All around them were many different cats and dogs, and on another weird platform the stomper placed the dog on it. The dog seemed scared and it began to whine, and then it did a bunch of weird things to it, like putting it to sleep. Then it began cutting. Siren hid Shellkit's face away from the horrific scene, and she looked away too. Shellkit was furious that he was shaking so much, and then relaxed a bit when Siren draped her cream tail over his shoulders and huddled him against her.

Shellkit was still trembling, but he heard Siren hush him gently, rasping her tongue over his ear. Shellkit yawned and began to feel sleepy, his muscles and legs sore. He toppled over, and the last thing he felt was Siren laying down around him.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Shellkit woke up in a dream. He looked down at his paws, except... They weren't his. He only had one! It was a light brown. His head slowly moved, and he could feel himself thinking.

I'm terrified. That poor dog! Am I next?

Shellkit shivered, watching as the dog was seen with the stomper doing horrific things to it. Shellkit tried to look away, but he found himself staring at it, staring as if his life depended on it. Mortification filled his body, adrenaline pumping with it, and he collapsed on his side, a blank-slate expression. He couldn't think anymore. All he was doing, was staring at the roof of something enclosed, with many different holes in it. His breathing slowed slightly, and his paw twitched.

Was he seeing in someone else's body? He was sure he was. This body also felt slightly smaller than his, and he knew he wasn't brown and white! He was a light orange with darker flecks, and he was puffy! Not short-haired like this cat. His tail also was a lot more thick, and what he was feeling now was his tail was restlessly hitting the sides of the enclosed area. It was short, and it didn't have as much fur as he did on his tail. He wasn't seeing out of his own body. It was someone else's.

Was he in Rosekit's body? Was he seeing what Rosekit saw? He slowly saw 'his' lids being closed, and a single thought running through 'his' head.

I'm going to die here.

o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

Shellkit's head raised suddenly, his breath coming out in uneven patterns. Siren raised her head too, her eyes dilating from large round moons to small black slits. "What's wrong, Shell dear?" Siren asked, looking at Shellkit seriously. Shellkit trembled, but then he shook it off, and stood up.

"We need to find my friend, now." Shellkit said, and jumped on top of Siren. Siren grunted.

"Calm your motor, Shell! We'll find your friend. Mind telling me what they looks like?" Siren asked, and Shellkit nodded.

"She's a pretty she-kit with large brown patches on her white fur. She's a bit smaller than me, and she has nice pink ears and a bright pink nose. Oh! Also, she has large pretty green eyes. She looks like her pretty mommy too! All the cats in my clan are pretty." Shellkit mewed, and Siren purred affectionately.

"You're so cute. Well, fear not, we'll find this 'pretty' she-kit. Do you like her, Shellkit?" Siren mewed, before disappearing around the many shelves stacked in a row.

Shellkit's nose wrinkled with distaste. He did not like her! He just thought she was pretty, like his mother, and his other siblings. And clanmates.

"No way! She's not for me."

"Well, if you say so." Siren mewed. Was that hint of laughter in her voice?

Shellkit stomped after her, and hopped onto the ledge where all the enclosed spaces holding the different creatures in. Cat... Cat... Cat... Dog... Cat...

Shellkit stopped when he heard someone call his name. Siren was looking around on the other side, and then he saw Rosekit pressing her nose against the odd silver webbing.

"Shellkit, it is me! Rosekit!"

Shellkit spun around, and slowly came toward the sound. There she was! She was laying down in it, her eyes frightful. Shellkit put his nose against hers, and growled. "Why did you run away?"

"Not the time for asking that! Just help me get out!"

Shellkit examined the enclosed space. He yanked on it, but it still wouldn't open.

"Siren! I found Rosekit!" He called, and Siren looked around.

"Delightful!"

She jumped down from where she was, and with one graceful leap she was beside Shellkit.

"That's a kittypet!" Rosekit exclaimed, and Shellkit scoffed.

"She's a nice kittypet. She's my friend!" Shellkit pouted, and Rosekit rolled her eyes.

"Now kits, let me see here." Siren mewed, ignoring Rosekit's rude comment. "These are cages, by the way. I've been in one before, they aren't fun." She mewed, and bit into the webbing, trying to tug it free.

"That ain't gon' work." A raspy voice said from next to them. Shellkit turned, and saw a silver tabby, with jagged teeth and large eyes.

"Oh, hello there. Then how would it work?" Siren mewed, unfazed by the tabby's appearance.

"You need to lift up the latch. That will free 'im." The tabby explained, and Siren glared at the silver webbing. Getting a good grip on the latch, she yanked it up and pulled out toward her, and the cage entrance flung open. Rosekit dragged herself out, and blinked at the harsh light.

"I think we should free the rest of the cats," Siren commented.

"Why not the dogs, too, young she?" The tabby pressed, and Siren glared at him.

"Because dogs are dangerous." She simply replied, and closed the cage entrance. Siren went on to opening more cages, starting with the tabby. The tabby looked down at Shellkit.

"I'm Oddmouth. Nice to meetcha." He limped by him, and began opening cages for the other cats.

"Shellkit," Siren called to him while opening a cage.

"Would you be a dear and watch for any stompers? That'd be great." She mewed.

Shellkit hopped down. Rosekit looked hesitant about following, so Shellkit laid down on his side.

"Jump onto me!" Shellkit mewed, and Rosekit shook her head.

"I don't wanna hurt you." She mewed, and Shellkit hissed.

"Just do it you furbrain!" Shellkit yowled, and Rosekit plopped down onto his flank. It hurt, but the pain slowly faded away and he managed to push himself up.

"Sorry," Rosekit mewed, and tried to stand up. She groaned, and fell down on her flank again.

"Don't be." Shellkit mewed, and nudged her up. Rosekit still wobbled and right when she was about to fall over, Shellkit raced to her side, and let her balance on him.

Siren jumped up in the middle of the crowd of cats. "Attention cats!" Siren called, and every single different pelted cat looked up at her, in fear and curiosity.

"We will all huddle together in the corner of this room, and then flood out when the stomper enters. Understood?" Siren mewed, and all the cats nodded and yowled, huddled in the corner. Rosekit was stamped over by the cats, and Siren picked her up, and guided Shellkit through the crowd. They met up with Oddmouth, and they sat in wait, for the stomper.

"Ouch, watch my tail!" One of the cats hissed, squirming in the crowd. It was a black she-cat, with amber eyes. Shellkit was fascinated by staring at the she-cat, his heart pounding wildly in his chest.

"Quietsneeze, where are you?" Oddmouth called, and a white she-cat with silver stripes jumped over some cats and sat next to him.

"Here," She mewed, snuggling against him. "It was agony being away from you for so long, Oddmouth..." Quietsneeze mewed, and Oddmouth sighed.

Together the cats waited patiently, and then the entrance to the next room shook, and a stomper glanced around. It said something, then looked in the corner of maybe; a hundred cats. All the cats started bristling and jumped at the stomper, knocking it to the ground. One by one they jumped off and ran away, stopping at the other entrance.

"Drat! We'll have to get out through there." The black she-cat mewed, jumping up on the weird platform and hobbling out a open place.

"The window!" Siren mewed, and grabbed Rosekit and tried to climb up. The cats flooded out the window, disappearing.

Siren huddled to the wall, waiting for the wave of cats to end. Siren flicked her tail for Oddmouth to pick up Shellkit, and he slowly picked him up, and climbed up and out the window. Rosekit and Siren came out next, and Quietsneeze was last. She put her paws out the window, but yowled when the stomper grabbed her.

"Let me go, please!" She pleaded, and Siren placed down Rosekit and jumped back in, launching herself at the stompers face, knocking it over. It dropped Quietsneeze, and Quietsneeze climbed out. The stomper was bleeding and it seemed unconscious. Siren went to come back, but the stomper sat up and grabbed her tail. She turned around and fastened her fangs into its finger, snapping it, and the stomper screamed in agony and Siren ran back and jumped up through the window. Siren really was a good fighter, even for a kittypet. She knew not to scratch it despite her paws seemed to slowly inch to sink her claws into it.

Blood gushed from the stomper's finger, and it grabbed something off the wall, and began talking into it. Siren jumped down onto the ground where Shellkit, Rosekit, Quietsneeze and Oddmouth were, and motioned for them to follow her.

"Wait," A voice called out to them, and they slowly turned around. It was the black she-cat! She was standing there, snow covering her pelt. She padded toward them, and looked over at Oddmouth, then her eyes flicked to Siren.

"I'd like to travel with you guys. I want to say thank you for helping me." The she-cat mewed, and Shellkit squeaked.

"We're all breaking apart. Me and Rosekit and traveling to the forest, and... I don't know where they are going." Shellkit said, and squirmed in Oddmouth's grasp.

"Oh. Then I want to come to the forest." The black she-cat mewed.

"Okay! We will have to ask our leader if you're allowed in our clan." Rosekit squealed, and fell over again. Siren turned around and grabbed her scruff.

"I want to go to a new twolegs' nest. I don't like the forest anymore."

"I'll come with you." Oddmouth mewed, standing beside Quietsneeze.

"Twoleg?"

"They are what you call stompers, but in forest talk." Oddmouth explained.

"So you are from the forest you liar!" Rosekit yowled, and Oddmouth glared at her.

"Respect your elders, young CloudClanner!"

"I am from GrassClan not CloudClan dumb tom." Rosekit growled, and Oddmouth blinked at her.

"Y-you're not? Tell me that there's a clan named CloudClan in that forest."

"No, just GrassClan, WillowClan, YarrowClan, and WillowClan." Shellkit piped up, and Oddmouth looked at the ground sadly.

"Why did I leave?" He whispered, then gestured for Quietsneeze to come with him.

"We'll see you around, Rosekit. Goodbye." The two raced off, leaving Rosekit, Shellkit, Siren, and the mysterious she-cat.

"Let's get going before we get caught. Come along," She directed her attention at the black she-cat, and then nodded her head toward Shellkit.

"Carry him please."

The she-cat reluctantly obliged, carrying Shellkit. Shellkit growled. He didn't want to be carried! He wanted to walk like a warrior.

They weaved around the twolegplace, and made it back to Siren's nest. Siren asked for them to come up on the ledge with her, and she longingly looked into her nest.

In the nest, two twolegs were talking, and pointing at Bee sadly. They seemed to call a name, probably Siren's, and looked at the bloodied ground covered in fur. Siren shook her head, and looked down, turning away from the scene.

"I can't go back." She mewed.

"Why?" Shellkit asked.

"Bee will kill me in a matter of time. I'll just live wildly in the forest." Siren whispered.

"Or you can come with us!" Rosekit suggestively mewed.

"I don't want to bother your clan." Siren protested.

"Don't worry! Let's just go."

Bee turned around and looked at the window where Siren was leaving, and yowled and ran toward it.

"Quickly now before the twolegs understand why he's meowing, run!"

Together the four cats sped through the snow, Shellkit directing them where to go. They went through the tube again, over mountains of snow, and then back to the place where the monster had hit Rosekit. Rosekit curled up in a ball, and then Siren bolted across the path, avoiding the snow tinted red. She slipped a bit, but regained herself every time. The black she-cat was more hesitant to follow, and when she did she sure was fast. It was a blur when she crossed, her long legs running in such a way it looked like she was flying.

"Wait! We never asked your name," Shellkit mewed to the black she-cat.

"Rosemary."

"That's like Rosekit!" Shellkit said, laughing at her name.

"Shut up, kit." Rosemary scoffed.

Shellkit fell silent.

They walked in silence, Siren giving quick glances at Rosemary struggling with Shellkit, while trudging through the cold. Shellkit wished he could cling to her chest like he could happily do to Siren, yet he couldn't. She'd probably eat him. His tail in between his legs, his eyes were wide with curiosity.

He mewed for their attention and then nodded his head in the direction they should go. He could see the puffs of air expelling from Rosemary's nostrils, and whenever they went through it Shellkit felt all sorts of tingles. It was fun, it was like going through a cloud! Her breathing sped up and her eyes seemed to grow tired. Shellkit wished to walk on his own as well as get warmth.

The sky had cleared revealing a large black night sky, not a single star in the sky. Had StarClan gotten mad at him for leaving the camp without permission? They poked their heads into a dead bush with few brittle leaves on them. Siren gestured for Rosemary to sit next to her. She placed down Rosekit in a few leaves that had collected beneath the dead bush, and started to clear away the snow. Her ear flicked and Rosemary started to copy her, and placed down Shellkit. Shellkit tiredly yawned and padded next to his friend, curling up on the cold leaves, watching as the two she-cats cleared snow.

"What are you doing?" Shellkit peeped, licking Rosekit to help keep her warm. Siren stopped clearing the snow and sat down and faced him.

"We were clearing spots for us to sleep. Anyway, kits would you like to hear a story?" She asked, shifting in her nest to get comfy. Rosemary turned away from them, her tail flicking on the snow.

"Yay!" The two kits mewed, sitting up straight, their eyes fixed on the sweet cream she-cat.

"Well, long ago, I was a adventurous kit myself. I left my twoleg nest to go explore through the garden of China that I lived in, padding along the smooth cold stone path that turned and twisted in my gardens, and I went onto a red bridge with gorgeous greenish blue water beneath me. I sat on top of the bridge, looking down into the water as the large orange and white fish swam on the surface." She mewed, and Shellkit already got a good idea of his surroundings.

"There was a really big rock in the middle of the calm river, so I swam toward it. What I wasn't expecting, was a kittypet sitting on it! He was wearing a green collar with white stripes." She mewed. Shellkit was getting bored. It just seemed so peaceful...

"He kind of looked like me. But he wasn't related to me. He lead me away from my twoleg gardens and on the way, he was explaining that I was a 'chosen cat.' He took me so far away I couldn't smell the sweet smell of the town. I was lost in the fields." Shellkit began to get a bit more interested.

"He began to train with me. He showed me for days after days how to be a good fighter. Yet one day when I came back to our usual place, he wasn't there. Instead, a mighty beast sat before me in the grassland; a tiger." She whispered ominously, and the kits huddled together in fear.

"T-Tiger? Aren't tigers all dead?" Shellkit squeaked, and she scoffed.

"Of course not! They are as real and alive as me. But back to the story. He pulled me toward him, and he growled, 'I will test your training with that cat. Fight me and if you can shred my ear you will win and I will not kill you.' The tiger said to me."

"So me and the tiger fought. I-I couldn't win. He easily pinned me with just one paw, and I have scars from his gigantic claws. A soft kittypet like me didn't have a chance. But then, my mentor came back and jumped on the tiger's face, sacrificing himself for me. I didn't know why I was chosen. So I jumped on that brute, and clawed the heck out of his ear. Black fur flew everywhere, and blood poured down the tiger's face. My mentor's stomach had been ripped open, and he was dead. The tiger looked at me and said, 'You have done well. I am proud of you. You will not die now. Never return to the fields. Go home, small one.'"

"And he just disappeared in a matter of seconds."

Rosekit looked ready to faint. "Oh I'm sorry kits! I didn't mean to scare you. Now just rest, tomorrow you'll be at home." She promised, and closed her eyes.

Shellkit pressed his body against Rosekit's. He slowly drifted off to sleep, trying to make Rosekit feel safe. Although the cold weather nipped at his body, he was okay. He was next to a clanmate. And possibly a few new ones.

I'm terribly sorry for the lack of updates! I just haven't felt too great lately. I hope you enjoy!

- Kate 007