Chapter 4

"How nice of you to remember this place after all these moons, Ivypool." They all turned around to see a tortoiseshell-and-white she-cat standing at the other end of the forest. "However, this is only a replica of the place that I've made in your daughter's dreams."

"Mapleshade!" The silver-and-white she-cat called her name. "Leave my daughter alone! You'll never influence her to turn her back on the Clans!"

"You know her?" Ren asked, the she-cat replying with a nod.

"When I was younger, I was trained in the Dark Forest. It's where all evil cats reside, Mapleshade being one of them." She meowed. "I can't believe that she's been speaking with Nightheart…"

"This is all her doing, after all. Ask her yourself…" Mapleshade stepped aside, Nightheart sitting down behind her.

"Mother…" Fear was apparent in her violet eyes when she saw the others.

"Nightheart!" Ivypool called out her daughter's name. "What did Mapleshade tell you? Why are you talking to her?"

"I…I…" The black she-cat shook as she tried to get the words out.

"There's no need to be scared, Nightheart." Mapleshade meowed, placing her tail on her shoulder.

"Don't you dare touch her!" Ivypool yelled before charging towards the she-cat.

"Mother, no!" Nightheart called out. In her blinded rage, Mapleshade easily knocked the she-cat back with a swipe of her claws, slashing her cheek.

"Although this isn't the real Dark Forest, you'll still succumb to your injuries in your world. I'd be more careful if I were you, Ivypool." She meowed. "Now, let me tell you why I'm here. I'm here because your daughter is a murderer!" The five cats all looked at Nightheart, the she-cat avoiding their gazes.

"No…she would never…" Ivypool's gaze grew soft. "Tell me it isn't true, Nightheart?"

"It is…I…I'm sorry, mother."

"It couldn't have been any Clan cat. A Clan would've said someone was missing!" Alderheart stated.

"It was the rogues that attacked Suguha and I." Foxpaw stated. "Nightheart told me…and father saw her as well."

"You and your father both knew?" Ivypool looked at Foxpaw in shock.

"I didn't want to tell you, mother. I couldn't…I couldn't bear having you know your daughter was a murderer." Nightheart cried.

"I wouldn't think that, Nightheart. Those rogues hurt your brother and Suguha. This doesn't change how I see you at all!" Ivypool assured her.

"Maybe knowing how she killed them will." Mapleshade meowed. "She used her Geass to kill off two of them, and then used it on the last one to freeze him in place as she enjoyed taking his last breath."

"Stop it…please…" Nightheart begged.

"But you enjoyed it? Their warm blood running through your paws in the cold snow." The others watched as the ground below them changed into a crimson red. "The one rogue screaming in pain as he begged for his life to be spared? You loved being in control of his fate."

"Leave her alone!" Ivypool spat. "Nightheart, I don't care what you did to those rogues! It doesn't change the fact that you're my daughter and I love you so much! Don't listen to anything Mapleshade tells you!" The Dark Forest cat scoffed.

"If you want to save her, you'll meet me at the sight of her devious act." The others watched as Nightheart and Mapleshade disappeared from their view, and at that moment, their surroundings changed. The dark sky and eerie fog still loomed around their paws, but instead, the floor was now blanketed with snow.

"Alderheart, can you address Ivypool's wound?" Ren asked him.

"M-Me? I didn't bring herbs or…"

"Place your paw in front of her wound and think that you want to mend it." Futaba quickly instructed. Alderheart nodded and did what the she-cat told him. Ivypool's cut on her cheek began to glow, and when it subsided, the wound was closed.

"What…was that?"

"Healing magic. We brought you in here with the MetaNav, and since you're a medicine cat, I assumed you had to have some sort of healing abilities." Futaba told her. "You three are now honorary members of the Phantom Thieves!"

"Phantom…Thieves?" Foxpaw tilted his head in confusion.

"The group Futaba, Makoto, and I are a part of. We used the MetaNav in our world to fight injustice and evil, and we'll be doing the same here." Ren meowed.

"Should we give everyone code names?" Futaba asked.

"I don't think that'll be necessary."

"Aw, well…can I still at least call you Joker while we're here?" The ginger she-cat asked.

"Fine. If it's easier for you all, you can do that same. Futaba's code-name is Oracle if you want to call her that." The tom meowed. He noticed that Ivypool still seemed fazed by everything that had just happened and walked over to her. "You okay?"

"I…I think so. I just didn't think Nightheart's nightmares were due to Mapleshade reminding her of murdering those rogues." She meowed. "She's always been such a sweet cat…but to know that she killed three rogues with her Geass…it's hard for me to believe."

"I understand. She told me all about it last night." The tom informed her. "She wants these nightmares to end, Ivypool. If we want Nightheart to forget about what she did, we need to defeat Mapleshade, but we can't just fight her headfirst like you did. This is a world she created, so she must be powerful while here. We need to fight her together." Ivypool nodded.

"I'm sorry for rushing in like that."

"Hey, she's your daughter. You just want her to be safe." He meowed. "We'll save her, there's no denying that. We just have to find where they are. Do you know the place she was talking about?"

"Foxpaw and Suguha were attacked by the rogues near the abandoned Twoleg nest north of ThunderClan." She meowed. "But that would mean that we'd need to be on ThunderClan territory."

"Right, but there's no way she'd make it that easy for us to get there." The black tom replied. "Let's go talk with the others." Ivypool and Ren regrouped with the other three to talk about their plan of action.

"What's the plan, Joker?" Futaba asked.

"Ivypool says she knows where Mapleshade and Nightheart are."

"The abandoned Twoleg den, right?" Foxpaw meowed. Ren nodded. "But, how do we even know where to go? This land is so vast."

"Foxpaw's right. Every time we've used the MetaNav, it's more linear than just being thrown out here in the cold." Futaba added. "Which way do we even go?" The five cats looked around, tasting the air and trying to look for clues.

"Wait…I think I know where we are." Alderheart meowed.

"You do?" Ren looked at the medicine cat.

"Yeah. If they're at the abandoned Twoleg den, then it's possible that we're around the lake. The trees around here look like they're similar to the ones at the very edge of WindClan territory."

"Are you sure, Alderheart?" Ivypool asked.

"Yes. I've been through WindClan territory more times than I should have." He meowed. "If this is just a replica of the lake, then if we head north, we'll reach ThunderClan."

"Maybe you should be wearing my goggles instead, Alderheart." Futaba told him. "Alright, lead the way, Joker." The tom nodded and took the lead, the rest of the group following behind him. This all felt different to Ren. Right now, the area around them had only a few trees scattered, which wasn't ideal for the usual sneaking around that he was used to. This is different from exploring Palaces. We're in Nightheart's dream manipulated by Mapleshade. Still, I'm sure we'll run into Shadows along the way. When they reached the end of the small forest, they saw that Alderheart was right. To the left of them, they could see the lake that formed the heart of the Clan territories.

"Oh!" Futaba stepped back in surprise. "That was weird. I have a basic map of where we need to go now. Probably because I can see so much of the land now that we're out of the forest."

"Anything else?" Foxpaw asked.

"Nope, but don't worry, bro, we'll save our big sis in no time!" Ivypool let out a small chuckle.

"I know now isn't the time, but it's cute that you still act like Swiftfrost even when you're yourself, Futaba."

"I think I'm getting used to it." She responded. "Okay, Joker, see that stream in the distance? Head towards it." The black tom didn't move. "Earth to Joker? Hey! Nightheart can't wait for us forever!" The tom placed his tail in front of the she-cat's mouth.

"We're going around that way." He pointed his tail east towards the hills. "If we head straight, we'll be visible. The trees over there will give us cover in case anyone's around."

"That's a good idea. Going straight would lead us directly onto WindClan territory. If Mapleshade created this world, then it's no doubt there will be hostile cats that way." Foxpaw said.

"But it'll take double the time to make it there! They'll probably be enemies along that way too, but we can kick evil cat butt, no problem!" The ginger she-cat meowed confidently. "Don't you care about Nightheart?" Futaba asked.

"Of course I do!" The tom snapped before letting out a sigh. "I know I haven't known her for long, but in the time I have, I've learned how friendly she is. She doesn't deserve the torture she's been going through that Mapleshade is causing…but she also wouldn't want us getting hurt trying to save her."

"Ren's right. I want to help Nightheart more than anything, but we have to be careful." Ivypool added.

"Right…sorry." Futaba apologized. "Let's get going then."

The group headed towards the eastern hills of WindClan territory, the five not being stopped by any sort of enemies yet. When they reached the trees near the hills, Ren tasted the air, the others doing the same.

"It doesn't smell like WindClan…but it's definitely something I haven't smelled before." Alderheart meowed. Ren's dark gray eyes began to glow and he looked through the trees. In the distance, he could see the glowing silhouettes of cats pacing through the forest. Next to him, Foxpaw's right eye became encompassed with Geass, the apprentice seeing the same silhouettes.

"You see them, Foxpaw?" The tom asked after he noticed Foxpaw using his Geass.

"Yeah. They look like cats."

"Right. We've finally found the enemy." Ren meowed. "Stay close to the shadows of the trees, everyone. I'll ambush them first, and then we'll fight." The others nodded and began to follow the black tom through the shadows of the trees. As they moved deeper into the forest, the scent of the enemy became stronger. They were also able to get a look at the enemy as well. They were pure black cats made of shadows, white masks covering their faces. They were very similar to the Shadows Ren and Futaba had encountered before. The group split up into two groups and hid behind two separate trees, trying their best to remain hidden. "Wait here." Ren climbed up the tree he was hiding behind and carefully walked along one of its branches. There were three enemies close by, so leaping on one would get the attention of the other two. There's five of us. We should be able to fend them off and move along. Ren waited for the cat below him to turn around before he leaped down, landing on the cat's back. In his mouth, he grabbed the mask it was wearing and forcefully ripped it off before jumping back towards the others. "Get ready, everyone!" The other two cats ran to the aid of their injured ally and seemed ready to fight, which confused Ren. Usually they'd turn into some sort of monster, but I guess removing their mask gravely injures them instead in this world.

"I think they're just like normal cats. I can't see anything else about them." Futaba meowed as she stood behind the others.

"Okay. Foxpaw, you're with me. We'll take the one on the right. Ivypool, Alderheart, take the one on the left."

"Got it. Are you ready, Alderheart?"

"Um…I think so. B-But shouldn't Futaba help instead?"

"No time, watch out!" Futaba called out as one of the cats pounced towards Alderheart, the tom clumsily sidestepping out of the way. "I'm the support of this group. Here, this'll make things easier for you." She raised a paw out towards Alderheart, a green light glowing below his paws before fading away. "There, you'll evade attacks much easier now. Just concentrate, and don't be afraid!"

"Just follow my lead, Alderheart. We'll win easily." Ivypool assured him.

"Right. Sorry, Ivypool." He apologized.

"It's alright. I know you're not expected to fight. Just flank from the left, and I'll go from the right and we'll get the jump on the enemy." The tom nodded and the two executed their plan. Alderheart was surprised at how quick he now was. He charged towards the Shadow, but Ivypool still wasn't in position yet, the Shadow now turning its attention towards him. As it attacked, Alderheart continued stepping back with ease. This has to be the magic that Futaba used. There's no way I'd dodge all these attacks without tripping.

"Perfect, Alderheart!" Ivypool called out. The silver-and-white she-cat leaped onto the Shadow's back and grabbed its mask, pulling it off the same way Ren did. Right after she did, Ivypool unsheathed her claws on her right forepaw and dug it into the Shadow's throat, ripping them through before it disappeared from under her.

Ren and Foxpaw attacked the Shadow they were fighting head-on, the two landing strikes together to weaken the Shadow. As they continued to attack, the Shadow seemed to ignore their hits and pounced towards Ren, pinning him to the ground, its fangs now bared.

"Ren!" Foxpaw looked on as the tom tried to dodge the Shadow's viscous bites.

"Foxpaw, the mask! Do what I did!" He commanded. Foxpaw nodded and pounced on the Shadow's back. It began to try and shake Foxpaw off, but he was able to grip the bottom of the mask with a paw before tearing it off, the Shadow letting out a wail of pain. Foxpaw leaped off of its back, Ren kicking the Shadow off of him before getting back to his paws and leaping towards it, fangs bared to deliver the killing blow. With one powerful bite to the neck, the Shadow disappeared.

"Joker, behind you!" Futaba called out. The Shadow he had weakened when he initiated the attack leaped towards Ren, but before he could turn around, Foxpaw charged towards it, claws unsheathed as he aimed for its neck. He intercepted the Shadow with ease, the shadow cat disappearing as soon as Foxpaw pinned it to the ground.

"Thanks, Foxpaw." Ren nodding, cracking a small grin towards the apprentice.

"No problem. I was lucky to see him in time."

"That's my fault. I should've killed it after I ripped its mask off." He meowed. "Are you both okay?" He asked Alderheart and Ivypool.

"We're fine." Ivypool meowed. "These fights won't always be this simple, I bet."

"Yeah. There might be times where we're evenly matched. Let's hope the only time is when we're fighting Mapleshade." Ren meowed. "That means you'll have to fight too, Futaba. We can't just have you standing back there like you usually do." The ginger she-cat sighed.

"Fine. I'll try my best to fight and buff everyone…especially this one right here." She looked at Alderheart. "Aldie, you need to be more confident!"

"Aldie?" The dark ginger tom looked at her.

"Alderheart is such a long name to say. Aldie's gonna be my nickname for you. No objections? Good." She meowed. "Now c'mon, we have more fighting to do!"

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"Nice catch, Makoto." Lelouch meowed, the brown she-cat shaking the snow out of her fur, a small mouse in her jaws. She dropped the prey down and let out a sigh.

"At least I finally caught something. Hunting as a cat is really hard work. I'm sure this weather doesn't help either, huh?" The tom nodded.

"We'd have better luck in any season except winter. You really have to use all your senses around this time of year." Lelouch picked up the rabbit he caught and motioned for Makoto to follow him back to SkyClan.

When the two entered camp, they dropped their prey down at the fresh-kill pile. Hawkwing approached the two and examined their catches.

"Thank you both for going out hunting. In this weather, what you caught is more than enough." The deputy told them.

"We could've caught more, but I failed on my first few attempts. I'm still getting used to being a cat in this world." Makoto dipped her head to apologize to the deputy, but he shook his head.

"There's no need to worry, Makoto. If we think of you just training as if you were an apprentice, the mouse you caught is impressive. Just keep learning and I'm sure you'll bring more prey eventually."

"Right. Thank you, Hawkwing." The deputy let out a small smile before he returned to his post near the entrance to camp. "I hope he's right. SkyClan's letting us stay here, after all. I don't want us being a burden on them, especially when prey is scarce." Lelouch nodded.

"You do have the potential to be a great hunter, Makoto. You're definitely more agile than me, that's for sure."

"Well, your instructions were very clear when it came to teaching me how to hunt." She replied. "I'm surprised that you haven't been given an apprentice yet, Lelouch."

"If we can save Bramblestar in time, I think one of Sorrelstripe or Sparkpelt's kits would be assigned to me. I don't think you were able to meet them since they're in the nursery at the moment."

"I wish I was able to. I'm sure they're really cute."

"Lelouch, Makoto, may I speak with you both?" The two turned and saw that it was Leafstar, the leader standing at the front of her den. As they approached, she retreated back inside of the den, waiting for the two to enter. When they did, she motioned for them both to take a seat. "You both are not in any sort of trouble. I just wanted to ask you both about the code-breakers."

"What about them?" Lelouch wondered.

"For one, I'm not even sure how to approach this situation. How can I accuse any cat in my Clan of breaking the warrior code?" She meowed before looking over at Makoto. "You said you were brought here to help with the code-breakers, correct? Were you given any sort of instructions on how to deal with them, Makoto?" The brown she-cat shook her head.

"I'm sorry, Leafstar. When I was given the task to help the Clans, even I didn't know what I was being brought into." The red-eyed she-cat replied. "If you're looking for code-breakers, then wouldn't simply just watching the cats in camp suffice?"

"It's not that simple. From what Bramblestar said, code-breakers include ones who've broken the warrior code in the past. I'm sure no cat would accuse a Clanmate of breaking the warrior code, and I don't want to accuse any of my Clanmates, either."

"Then, why not just forget about it?" Makoto asked.

"Because StarClan has shut themselves out from the Clans." The leader told her. "We need their guidance, but if these code-breakers are the reason they aren't speaking with us, then we need to do something." Leafstar let out a sigh. "If only I knew what that 'something' was…"

"We hope to be able to help the Clans figure it all out as well." Lelouch replied.

"Right. The sooner we do, the sooner you'll have two less mouths to feed." Makoto added. The SkyClan leader shook her head.

"As long as you both can hunt for SkyClan, you're more than welcome to stay here." She meowed. "Please let me know if you both find out something new that could help us reconnect with StarClan. You may go now." The two dipped their heads before leaving the leader's den.

"Lelouch?" The violet-eyed tom turned around when he heard Makoto.

"What is it?"

"Do you think that whoever's controlling Bramblestar is blocking the Clan cats from speaking with StarClan?"

"I can't say for certain. It could be possible, especially since the two events are coinciding with each other." He meowed. "If this is what's going on, then the Clans could be in more trouble than we think." The tom turned his nose towards the apprentice's den. "We should ask Rootpaw to let us speak with Bramblestar again. Maybe he's learned something new." The brown she-cat nodded and followed the tom over to the apprentice's den. When they walked inside, they were greeted by Needlepaw.

"Hi Makoto! Hi Lelouch!"

"Hello Needlepaw. Is your brother around?" Makoto asked.

"Rootpaw? I think he's out training with Dewspring." She replied. "Say, why are you both so attached to him? It's not like you've known him for that long."

"You'll understand when you're older, Needlepaw." Lelouch assured her, hoping such a makeshift phrase would be enough. "We'll see you later, okay?" The apprentice let out a sigh, causing Lelouch to smile. She reminds me of Sparkpelt when she was an apprentice. Hopefully everyone's doing okay in ThunderClan. We need to find out everything about what's going on with Bramblestar before things become drastic. As the two left the apprentice's den, they ran into Tree.

"Were you both looking for Rootpaw?" The yellow tom asked.

"How'd you know?" The red-eyed she-cat wondered.

"You both have been interested in him ever since coming here." He stated. "Did your otherworldly StarClan-like allies tell you something about him?" They both shook their heads. "If they do, please tell Violetshine and I. We'd like to help in any way possible." With that, the tom walked away from the two.

"Well, at least we know we have help when the time comes to reveal anything." Makoto meowed. "Still, that was a bit close. We really can't say anything without freaking out any cat, I'm sure."

"Right, but Tree could be an exception. He's possibly the reason Rootpaw can see Bramblestar, after all. If anything, he'd be one of the few cats who would easily believe us." Lelouch replied. "Let's just wait for Rootpaw to return from training."

When Rootpaw and Dewspring returned to camp, Makoto and Lelouch immediately approached the two. Dewspring looked over at the two, curiosity in his eyes.

"Makoto, Lelouch, is something wrong?"

"We just wanted to speak with Rootpaw." The she-cat told him. The warrior looked over at his apprentice.

"Is that why you've been distracted lately, Rootpaw?"

"Um…y-yeah, sorta." He meowed.

"Well, whatever you both need to talk with him about better be important. He can't be this distracted when it comes to his training." The gray tom told them. "I'll leave you three alone for now." Once the tom left, Makoto and Lelouch both looked at Rootpaw.

"Have we really been in the way of your training, Rootpaw?" Lelouch asked.

"N-No! It's more like…it's Bramblestar." He whispered. "He's been following me around everywhere I go lately. Have you both not seen him?"

"I think we only see him if we're with you." Makoto meowed. "Has Dewspring seen him?"

"No! I don't think any cat has except you two!" He replied. "Maybe it's because you both aren't from this world or something."

"That could be possible. If it's not you using your powers like your father as we initially thought, then it might be the case." Lelouch stated. "Has anything come up? Does he know who's controlling him?"

"I haven't figured it out yet." Makoto and Rootpaw both jumped when they heard Bramblestar's voice, the ghost of the ThunderClan leader now behind them.

"Can you tell us when you appear next time?!" Makoto asked. Cats around the clearing began to look at the three. "Great, now I probably look stupid right now reacting to something we can only see."

"Sorry about that, Makoto." The leader apologized. "I just wanted to answer Lelouch's question, that's all."

"Thank you, Bramblestar." The black tom replied quietly. "He hasn't done anything yet, so we still have time to figure this all out."

"I'd hope that we could fix this all soon. His talk about code-breakers is worrying me enough." Bramblestar said. "The same can be said for him exiling you and the others." He turned to look at Rootpaw. "I apologize if I've been distracting you, Rootpaw. You're really my only hope in this situation when you're not with these two."

"I just didn't expect this all to happen to me, that's all. I know I just learned about it yesterday, but it's really so much to take in."

"You have help from us two, Rootpaw, and the others as well. You're not alone in this at all." Lelouch reminded him. "We'll figure this all out in the end, I'm sure of it."

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"C'mon Suguha, this way!" Lightleap called out behind her.

"Lightleap, you probably scared all the prey away." Pouncestep told her sister as she and Suguha trailed behind her. "We're only a moon away from Newleaf. Yelling doesn't help the Clan at all." The dark brown tabby let out a sigh.

"Why do you have to be so serious all the time?" She retorted. "But…you're right. Do you really think I scared most of it away?"

"I'm sure you're alright, Lightleap." Suguha assured her. "So, we're close to where you usually hunt?"

"Yup! I usually get lucky when I look around there."

"Maybe we should've waited for Kirito to wake up so you could impress him." The silver tabby teased, causing her sister to blush. "See? I'm not always so serious."

"M-Maybe it's better if you were!" Suguha let out a giggle.

"I'm sure we'd never be hunting if we waited for Kazuto. He'll probably still be asleep when we get back."

"Really?" The black she-cat nodded.

"He's the master of sleeping. Still, he's a great hunter and fighter. He'll pull his weight around ShadowClan to compensate for it, I'm sure."

"I just hope our Clanmates don't get mad at him for it. I can't imagine the dirty looks he'll get when he wakes up." Lightleap meowed. "Oh, I think I caught a scent trail." Both Suguha and Pouncestep tasted the air, catching the same scent trail Lightleap did." The brown tabby took the lead again, following the scent. When it was at its strongest, they all stopped and scanned the snowy forest floor.

"It's over there." Suguha whispered.

"Nice eyes, Suguha. Go get it." Pouncestep meowed. The black she-cat pressed her body close to the snow, lowering her tail to conceal herself better. She slowly crept towards the unsuspecting mouse until she felt confident in her leap distance. With a quick pounce and a bite to the neck, the prey was caught.

"Great job, Suguha!" Lightleap meowed. "C'mon, there's still more territory you haven't seen yet!"

In the medicine cat's den, Asuna sat down with Shadowpaw and Puddleshine, the three sorting through herbs and discarding any old ones.

"Your herb storage looks to be in good shape for leaf-bare, you two."

"Thank you, Asuna." Puddleshine meowed. When he was an apprentice, both Asuna and Leafpool taught him everything he needed to know about being a medicine cat. There was no doubt a significant amount of respect the ShadowClan medicine cat had for her. "I know I said this already, but I'm sorry that you and the others were exiled from ThunderClan by Bramblestar."

"It's okay. He's looking out for his Clan, after all."

"But you three live there. Even with the talk of code-breakers, he should've let you stay." Shadowpaw meowed. "None of you would abuse your powers to scare the other Clans anyway. I'm sure they all believe that as well." As he scanned through the stock of yarrow, he stopped. "How's Foxpaw doing? Or, I guess, how was he doing the last time you saw him?"

"He's doing great. Molewhisker's mentoring him now that Suguha's here with us. I think he might be getting his warrior name soon."

"Just like you, Shadowpaw." Puddleshine meowed.

"M-Me? Really?" This was obviously the first time the ShadowClan apprentice heard of getting his medicine cat name. His mentor nodded.

"I think in a moon you'll be ready. I've always been impressed by how fast you've caught on. I'm sure Asuna can tell you that you've learned at a way faster pace than I did."

"It's true, but to be fair, Puddleshine was pushed into this profession in a way. You've been enthusiastic about medicine ever since you started." She meowed. "I kinda wish Puddleshine kept it to himself. I might be a little too giddy until the time comes." The three heard rustling from the entrance to the medicine cat's den and saw that it was Tigerstar.

"Asuna, can I talk to you for a sec'?" The ShadowClan leader asked. The she-cat got up and followed the tom outside.

"Is something wrong?"

"Well…a bit." He confessed. "It's Kirito. He's still asleep. I don't want to wake him up, but at the same time…" Asuna shook her head.

"Wake him up. You're the leader of ShadowClan, after all. You don't need my permission or anything."

"R-Right. Sorry, I just didn't want to seem like I was being rude to our guests."

"Just treat us as we've been a part of ShadowClan all our lives. We don't want any special treatment." The leader let out a small smile before he made his way to the warriors' den. He walked over to where the black tom was curled up comfortably in his bedding.

"Kirito!" The leader snapped. Immediately, Kirito's dark gray eyes shot open and he quickly scrambled to his paws.

"Y-Yes, Tigerstar?"

"You overslept. Bramblestar may have been more lenient on the subject, but with this weather, we need strong hunters out there to feed the Clan as soon as the sun rises." He explained. "You did tout yourself to be an excellent hunter to some of the others, after all."

"Right. I'll try not to oversleep from now on, Tigerstar." The tom apologized with a dip of his head. Both Kirito and Tigerstar left the warriors' den, the black tom looking around camp for Cloverfoot. He spotted the gray tabby near the entrance to camp and approached her. "Hey, Cloverfoot. I just wanted to let you know I'm ready to go on any patrols if you need me."

"Are you sure? You're not still tired, are you?" She said with a small laugh. "I'm just kidding. Suguha went out with Lightleap and Pouncestep, but that was more to show her around ShadowClan territory. I can send you on a hunting patrol. Just let me find a few more warriors to go with you."

In a few minutes, Cloverfoot walked over to where Kirito was, bringing Dovewing, Antfur, and Scorchfur with her.

"It's been a while since we've been on patrol together, huh, Dovewing?" Kirito told the she-cat, who nodded with a smile.

"I thought I'd help find your way around here a bit." She told him. "Scorchfur, do you mind leading the group?" The dark gray tom nodded, the group now making their way out into the forest.

"Hopefully you weren't just all talk when it came to hunting, Kirito." Scorchfur told him.

"I'll try to prove myself, but not too much. Don't want to outshine any of you, after all." The dark gray tom scoffed. Kirito's dark gray eyes began to glow green as he looked around. He spotted small tracks in the snow belonging to a mouse. "There's a mouse this way." He told them.

"Really? How do you know?" Antfur asked.

"See those tracks? They're still pretty fresh." He pointed his tail to the small prints on the snow, the other three amazed that he caught them. Once they got closer to them, they could catch the faint scent of mouse.

"Impressive." Scorchfur meowed.

"Thanks. My tracking and searching skills from SAO are a great help when it comes to hunting. Hopefully it'll be enough to pull my weight around ShadowClan."

"I'm sure it will be, Kirito. We haven't even been out that long and you already found a trail in this weather." Dovewing told him.

"Right. Maybe you should take the lead." Scorchfur suggested. The black tom nodded and followed the tiny tracks, the scent of mouse getting stronger until they saw the prey at the base of a tree. "Why don't you show us your hunting skills now?" Kirito nodded and slowly walked towards the mouse, getting into a hunter's crouch when he was ready to pounce. With his tail down and body pressed against the snow, the tom sprung forward, grabbing the mouse between his paws and giving it a killing bite.

"Whoa…that was amazing! You moved so quick, Kirito!" Antfur exclaimed.

"Thanks. It took a bit of—." Kirito watched as above the three, a branch broke away, crashing down towards them. "Watch out!" The black tom darted towards them, pulling Dovewing away before the branch fell. He let out a yowl of pain after he let go of her gray coat.

"Kirito! Oh StarClan, are you okay?" Dovewing asked, worry in her green eyes.

"M-My tail just got stuck under the branch…but we need to help Scorchfur and Antfur."

"I-I'm fine, too." Scorchfur groaned as he got up from under the branch. "I don't know about Antfur, though." Dovewing ran to the tom's side and placed her head close to his chest. She let out a sigh of relief when she picked up a heartbeat.

"I think he's just unconscious. We need to go back to camp now." She told them. "Scorchfur, can you help me dig under the branch to free Kirito's tail? We'll need him if we want to lift the branch up." The tom nodded and the two were able to free his tail with ease. Together, the three lifted the branch and pulled Antfur out from under it, the tom now on Kirito and Scorchfur's back as the group ended their hunt early and returned back to camp.

The scent of blood touched Asuna's nose, the she-cat leaving the medicine cat's den to see Kirito and the others entering camp.

"Puddleshine! Shadowpaw! We'll need a few nests!" She called to them before she approached the injured cats. "What happened?"

"A branch fell out of nowhere in the forest. Kirito was able to push me away, so I'm fine, but his tail got stuck under the branch. Scorchfur and Antfur were caught under the branch, too, but Antfur's the only one seriously hurt." Dovewing told her.

"Is everything okay?" Tigerstar asked when he saw them.

"A tree branch fell on them." Asuna told the ShadowClan leader. "You three come with me." The cream she-cat looked at Dovewing. "Are you sure you're okay?" She nodded.

"I think I'd just like to rest for now. Thanks again for pulling me away from the branch, Kirito."

"No problem. I just wish I could've helped Scorchfur and Antfur, too." Asuna gave her mate a lick to the ear.

"Don't beat yourself up too much. Even you're not fast enough to save more than one cat from a falling branch." Asuna meowed. "You should go to the medicine cat's den now. We really need to check up on Antfur immediately." Asuna followed the three into the medicine cat's den, the she-cat's hazel eyes glowing as the three were resting down on the nests made for them.

"Are they okay?" Shadowpaw asked, curiously watching as Asuna looked over them.

"Kirito and Scorchfur are fine. Scorchfur has a few bruises and Kirito just has an injured tail. It's Antfur I'm worried about. I think he's suffered a concussion." The brown-and-black tom's amber eyes slowly opened, looking up at Asuna.

"Are you one of those forest cats?" He asked. "The scrapcans…there's enough food for cats in them."

"He thinks he's still in the city." Shadowpaw meowed.

"Just get some rest, Antfur. You'll be fine. There's no need to rummage through any scrapcans for now." Asuna assured him. Tigerstar entered the medicine cat's den a few minutes later to see how the three were doing.

"Are they all okay?"

"Kirito and Scorchfur are, but Antfur's just a bit confused. He'll need some rest." Shadowpaw told his father. The leader walked over to where Scorchfur and Kirito were.

"Asuna told me a tree branch fell?"

"Yeah. There was no way it should have, though. It wasn't rotten or anything." Scorchfur stated. "Kirito was lucky to react fast enough to put Dovewing away. There's no way any cat could've predicted the branch breaking away." The ShadowClan leader looked over at Kirito, Shadowpaw wrapping a cobweb around his tail.

"Thank you for saving Dovewing, Kirito."

"Hey, you stuck by Asuna when Darktail was in ShadowClan. I think helping your mate out at times is the least I could do." The tom meowed with a smile. "Can I move my tail now, Shadowpaw? Shadowpaw?" Kirito looked behind him and saw that the gray tabby stopped. "You okay, Shadowpaw?" The apprentice broke away from his sudden stupor and looked at the tom.

"S-Sorry about that, Kirito. Your tail's all patched up." He meowed. "I'll go check up on mother." As Shadowpaw left, Asuna's hazel gaze followed him. Earlier, Snowbird had injured her paw hunting, and it seemed to worry him, but that same worry just occurred while he was mending Kirito's tail. He's probably just concerned about his Clanmates, that's all. Still, maybe something is bothering him.