Prologue:

Snowflakes drifted down, silently, to blanket the ground. The surrounding forest was quiet, as if every animal had gone to hide from the harsh yet beautiful weather. The crunch of paws on snow broke the tranquillity, as a tortoiseshell she-cat led three kits and a tom through the frozen forest, her amber eyes glinting in the pale moonlight. One of the kits let out a squeak as a flake landed on her nose, stumbling back into a tree. The tom murmured something to her, and pushed her forward with his tail. The tortoiseshell bent her head to give the kit a few comforting licks on the head before continuing to push forward; they couldn't afford to stop, even in the middle of winter. "Luna?" mewed the small brown and white kit to the tortoiseshell, "how much longer?"

"Just one more day, little one. The lake isn't far now." Luna reassured her daughter, though she struggled to reassure herself. They'd been walking for over half a moon, and the closer they got the longer it felt. The winter chill had settled in only a day after their journey began, and it didn't take long for their pads to feel sore and an ache to settle into their very bones. Food was scarce; the only reliable food source was Twoleg scraps, with the prey keeping warm in their nests. All five cats were finding it difficult to continue walking as each day went by, with the kits finding it the hardest. Luna had been pregnant when they first set off, giving birth barely three days later and leaving almost as soon as her two daughters – Willow and Sweetie - had opened their eyes.

"Luna, we can't keep going in this snow. The kits need rest." Insisted the light brown tabby tom, Milo, curling his tail around the third kit. Luna slowed to a halt, assessing the cats shivering behind her. She met Milo's gaze, and he continued to speak. "We're going to freeze to death, I'm worried about Oliver." He motioned to the ginger tabby tom, who was now burying himself into Milo's pelt. The tortoiseshell she-cat let out a long sigh but nodded in agreement and padded off to find shelter. It was times like this that she longed for her old Twoleg den, with her mate curled up beside her, his purrs and his scent surrounding her as she slipped into a deep slumber…

Luna shook out her pelt and focused her mind; those days were over, and her mate was gone. She had to focus on her daughters, and Milo and his kit. She could feel fresh grief welling up inside her, and promptly shoved it all the way back down. She wasn't the only one that suffered, as Milo had lost his mate and his other kits in the fire. Luna didn't have time to mourn; she only had time to move on. Urgently, the she-cat waded over to a large oak tree and tilted her gaze up to where a hollow lay in the trunk. "Over here!" She yowled to the rest of the cats. As Milo approached with Oliver dangling from his jaws, and her kits clinging to his back, Luna dug her claws into the tree's bark and hauled herself upward. She dragged herself into the hollow and sniffed around. It's cramped but it's dry, it should keep us safe until the snow let's up. She thought, before turning back and reaching her head down to grab Oliver from Milo.

Milo finished passing up the kits and then lifted himself into the makeshift shelter, shaking out his fur in an attempt to get rid of the snow that clung to it. Luna let out a small hiss of annoyance as it promptly hit her, but just swished her tail and curled up at the furthest end from the entrance, her daughters latching onto her to suckle. Milo settled down beside her, rasping his tongue over his son to warm him up. Soon, all three kits were sleeping peacefully, their soft snores filling the hollow. Luna stayed up, simply watching as the snow began to fall and the harsh winter wind howled and screamed like an angry animal. Milo turned his warm hazel gaze to her, breaking her concentration, and she didn't need words to know what he was saying to her. The memory of the day that led them here was playing in both of their minds, a thought that seemed stuck on a loop.

Smoke rose and brushed against her dappled pelt as Luna staggered down the stairs of her Twoleg den, the fumes encompassing her and wrapping around her like ivy so thick it could suffocate. The she-cat was vaguely aware pf the screeches of Twoleg's and other cats mingled together, yowls of horror, desperation, and fear. She swayed on her paws, digging her claws into the wood beneath her to stop herself from collapsing. Her mind was foggy, and her belly was swollen and made her steps even clumsier. Luna misjudged her next step and ended up sliding down the last few steps to the hard wooden floor at the bottom, the breath knocked out of her.

Agonisingly, the tortoiseshell queen tried to push herself upwards, but her paws collapsed under her and her lungs burned for air. She lay their gasping, her throat stinging and her yowls turning hoarse; she was yowling for her Twolegs, her mate, her father, anyone. Luna could hear the pitiful mews of kits, but they sounded so far away. There were howls of pain from their mother as the flames inside the den raged brutally, destroying all they could with their melting touch. I'm sorry, Pumpkin. The thought ran through Luna's mind over and over as the howls grew louder, and she knew they belonged to the beautiful ginger queen. There was nothing she could do to save them, she was utterly useless. All she could do was lay there, as blackness swan at the edges of her vision. The last thing she felt after closing her eyes was warm paws lifting her from the ground, and fresh air filling her lungs.

Luna blinked open her eyes slowly and painfully, taking in the scene around her. The floor beneath her was cold and hard, and her pelt smelt of smoke and a harsh Twoleg scent. The vets. She realised, lifting her head wearily and taking in her surroundings. Milo was curled up beside her, his brown eyes blank and void of emotion as he stared ahead. Her father, Buttons, an old black tom with amber eyes, was sitting hunched over with grief on her other side. Finally, in a few heartbeats, it clicked within her mind that Pumpkin and she and Milo's kits were missing. "Where are Pumpkin and the kits?" Luna questioned the others, her voice sounding rough and far away to her own ears

"Pumpkin and two of the kits didn't make it out. One is still being cared for." Buttons explained briskly, forcing the words out as though it pained him. Luna had never seen her father look so defeated, his age finally catching up with him. Luna felt numb with shock, and as she looked around again another thought sliced through her heart. "Where's Rocky?" She whispered, realising the absence of the sleek black tom. Buttons simply stared ahead grimly, his silence saying all that it needed to say. Luna felt her world shatter, knowing that she would never see her mate – the father of her kits – ever again. She wanted to wail that it wasn't fair, to yowl and hiss that this wasn't supposed to happen, but she felt too stunned. She felt as though a hole had opened within her chest and swallowed her heart.

Shaking, she pressed against the light brown tabby next to her, now recognising that it was grief behind the cause of his blank stare. For a few moments, the cats merely sat there, buried in their loss. Then, Buttons spoke up again. "You two can't stay here," he rasped, "there is no den left for us, you must take the kit and go." Luna's gaze drifted up to him.

"Where would we go?" She asked softly.

"The lake, you must go to the lake and look for the Clans." Her father replied. He met her confused gaze after a few more heartbeats, and settled down closer to her and began to explain. "Eleven winters ago, when I was a kit, my mother told me a story of a large group of cats who travelled past her Twolegplace in search of the setting Sun. Curious, she followed them for days on end, and found that they came across a lake."

"Why did she follow them all that way?" The she-cat asked, her curiosity piqued when her father's gaze clouded and he simply continued speaking.

"My mother stayed in a Twolegplace near there for moons, but she felt very lonely. When she fell pregnant with me and my siblings, she travelled home and never looked back," the black tom paused, lost in thought, before turning his amber eyes away again, "the Clans will take care of you and your kits, Luna, you must leave."

Milo dipped his head to say goodnight, and rested his muzzle near Oliver. Luna looked down at her precious kits, wishing that their father could have known them. That things could have been different for their family, for Milo's family, for their Twoleg's. She lay her head on her paws and closed her eyes, letting sleep overwhelm her exhausted mind; she dreamt of a lake, of a life there, of a Clan that would accept her. She dreamt of a new life, in the wild.