The smell of mouse flooded into my mouth, getting me salivating for fresh prey. I slowly stalked towards the underbrush I thought it was in. Eagerly, I dug through it. Nothing.

A slight scuffling sound made me whip around. 'There!'

In a patch of sunlight, nearly glowing from my anticipation, was a mouse. Slowly, I creeped up behind it, getting ready for the satisfying pounce.

Jinglejingle

Suddenly, something jingled nearby, startling both me and the mouse, which scampered off.

JINGLEJINGLEJINGLEJINGLE

Slowly, I opened my eyes. Weird, shiny tree stuff lay around me, acting as some sort of twoleg ground.

'Where am I?'

I panicked for a few seconds, but then remembered.

'That's right. I'm in my twoleg's den.'

Another jingle sounded, letting me know that my twolegs were letting me out one last time before the went to sleep.

Slowly, I stood up, yawned, and stretched. I took my time, mostly because I was angry for them waking me, but another part of me secretly wanted them to fall asleep and just leave me out there, free to explore.

Finally, I finished stretching and padded over to my twolegs, who were waiting by their weird see-through wall, but holding it open for me to go out.

I purred and rubbed against the female one's legs, then scampered outside. I think they wanted me to just make dirt, but I knew if I waited long enough, they would leave me alone out here.

So I scaled this weird wall thing that surrounded my twoleg's territory, but wouldn't you know it, Smudge is waiting there for me. 'Great.'

Now, don't get me wrong, he was a nice friend, but recently, he'd been acting strange. He'd been all lazy and mopey, and barely did anything except question me about why I'm not as lazy as him.

"What're you doing?" He drawled, a bored look in his eyes. "Don't tell me you are going to see that dog the next twolegs have 'again'."

"No," I replied, trying to keep patient with him. "I'm going out to the forest."

"What?" His voice came a little more normal paced, and I knew that was as close as I was going to get to a worried one. "You can't go out there, I've heard there are savage cats who kill each other."

I was irritated already from my nap being interrupted, but this made me snap.

"I don't care!" I snapped, batting him over the snout with sheathed paws. "See, I can fight. I'll survive! Now leave me alone, and go be boring somewhere else!"

He looked injured from my insult more than my assault. "Hey!" He said, finally raising his voice. He went on some rant about how he was interesting, but I blocked him out, and ran off into the woods, claws unsheathed.

Moonlight shone down on the forest floor, as I padded along, searching for any traces of mouse. Finally, I picked one up, a small scurrying sound coming from fsome ivy tendrils.

This was it. I was finally going to catch my first mouse. Padding, ever closer.

Crouching.

Leaping.

Getting hit by a gray blur?

I got knocked out of my jump in mid-air, and tumbled to the ground with whatever had attacked me. I scrambled to my paws, claws unsheathed, begging for a fight.

My ambusher appeared to be my own age, with gray fur with small darker gray stripes running along his spine.

He launched himself at me, but I was ready. I ducked, and he went sprawling into the tree behind me, making a thud. When he lifted up his head, I was there, and gave him all of my frustration in one, powerful swipe to his muzzle, blood splattering everywhere.

He yowled in pain, but I didn't stop there. Instead, I managed to leap on top of him and pelt his back with multiple scratches until he managed to shake me off.

We leaped at each other again, until another blur shot out of the trees and right in between us. We both tumbled to the ground, dazed.

"That's enough!" The new figure bellowed, shaking the ground and our ears with his cauterwaul.

"Yes." Another voice, female this time, added.

I looked up and saw three figures in the clearing. The first was a bulking, muscular tabby, brown with dark stripes.

The scond was a sleek, blue-gray she-cat, who I assumed was the female voice.

They were both gaurding my attacker, the gray tom, who was sporting a blood, soaked muszzle, and several large scratches on his back.

There was a moment of sience, each of us staring at the others, until finally, the she-cat spoke. "Good job, kittypet. You fought off one of our apprentices on our own land. I must congratulate you on not running, like most do."

She turned to the grey tom. "Greypaw, go back to the camp, and haveSpottedleaf look at those wounds."

Greypaw, I guessed that was his name, turned and ran off deeper into the forest.

"That was some impressive fighting." The she-cat continued to me. "That is a very good quality in a warrior."

By now, my mouth was slack with awe. "Who are you?" I breathed.

"I am Bluestar of ThunderClan. Tell me, what do you think of living outside a twoleg nest?"

" Umm... " I stuttered, caught off guard. "If it means catching mice and beating up more dung-brains like that grey cat, I would glady come every day. Could I?"

Something flashed in her misty eyes. It was proud, but fearful at the same time. It felt wierd, knowing that a cat who could easily kill you in a heartbeat was scared of you. It felt good though, feeling in control.

"No. You can't live in both worlds. If you live with your twolegs, you will not get another chance to join us."

"Please?! I'll come every day!"

"No." It was an icy tone of voice, obviously stating this was final. But then, her gaze softened a bit. I could see the mix of fear, desperateness, and unease welling inside her.

"I will give you one chance. You must live with us completely, in our camp, and hunt and fight with us. Be here the same time tommorow, without your collar, and my deputy will be waiting for you. If you don't, then you will never be welcome here again."

She gave one last glance at me, then strode into the bushes, dissapearing without a trace.