Oh GOD, sorry for the wait! My summer was pretty busy, I had other stuff to work on, and then school came and wrecked my motivation. Yesterday and today though, I finally had enough drive to finish this chapter, so at least there's that!

A response to one review: Yes, I'm aware that the cats don't call the seasons by their human names but I threw that out the window for the sake of convenience. Other than that, thank you guys for the support!

Note that this chapter admittedly was a bit rushed at the end, so pardon any mistakes and feel free to give feedback in the comments! I have a few notes about the characters and world:

- Smudge is about a half moon older than Rusty and Princess and considers them like siblings. He was separated from his littermates too early and there were no other kittens his age, so he bonded pretty hard with the pair

- Kittypets can vaguely understand humans, although this varies.

- Scourge is aware of his younger siblings and visits them often. When he found out their humans often leave them for extended periods of time, he taught them how to hunt, as well as fight a little bit, as while BloodClan aren't allowed to attack kittypets, there's other street cat gangs and they aren't nearly as hesitant

- Smudge likes to read books and is a bit of a nerd


ONE MOON LATER…

The forest was bathed in the peaceful silver light of the fat moon overhead, giving the thick undergrowth and towering trees a frosty glow. There was a feeling of adventure and excitement in the crisp nighttime air, and Rusty, a lanky, bright ginger tom kitten, certainly didn't dare to ignore its call.

Rusty prowled through the dense bushes and ferns, shivering in excitement upon feeling a holly bush's spiky leaves gently scraping against his short-furred pelt. It felt so real, so wild.

He traversed the area for a while, simply enjoying the cool breeze blowing through his fur, the crickets' evening symphony, and the crisp, earthy scent of forest. He found himself enjoying the simple parts of this venture, such as the carpet of leaves crunching underneath his paws, or the way the trees rustled as a breeze ran through them, or even the wildflowers surrounding him and the myriad of colors they came in.

Rusty sighed in contentment, a small smile working its way along his face. He shook the nighttime dew that now covered him, purring quietly when he couldn't hear the ever-present and irritating jingle of his collar's bell. His gait was bouncy and light, excitement coursing through his veins.

But at some point, he felt a yawning emptiness in his stomach, one that demanded the warm, succulent flesh of freshly caught prey.

He came across a rather large clearing where the trees thinned out. Ferns and daffodils dotted the uneven forest floor, and the grass grew tall, unharmed by the roaring contraptions his humans used to trim their grass. His bright green eyes scanned the expanse before him, searching for any sign of life to fill the hunger clawing at his stomach.

Much to his disappointment, he couldn't see hair nor tail of life among the leafy green undergrowth. The ginger kitten huffed and sat up. His thin tail lashed in frustration as a scowl made itself known on his face.

He was right about to turn back around when he heard a faint rustle in the tall grass.

Rusty's ears swiveled forward to catch the noise. He was surprised by the lucky timing, but he wasn't one to complain. His body dropped back into a crouch and he slowly stalked forward.

There. A small, gray mouse scurried out from the stems to forage. He quickly ducked behind a small bush, but the small rodent didn't seem to notice. He quietly breathed a sigh of relief through his nose.

Rusty slowly pulled himself forward, careful to not step on any loose leaves or stray twigs to alert his unsuspecting prey of his presence. He zeroed in on his prey, watching its every little movement. The mouse briefly sniffed the air, its little nose twitching, but it didn't seem to be aware of the predator crouched just two tail-lengths away.

He breathed in through his nose and out his mouth, like his older brother, Scourge, had taught him. His muscles tensed as he leaned back to leap. With one fluid motion, he sprang forward.

The small rodent only looked up just in time to see Rusty above it, but before it could run, the young tom cat was already upon it. Rusty landed on the small thing with a mighty pounce, and it was trapped between his paws.

It squirmed and squealed, but none of its desperate scrabbling could free the tiny thing from his grip. The tom kitten's tail curled in joy, his sandpaper tongue swiping over his teeth as he bent down to snap the little rodent's neck.

But just as he was about to kill the mouse, there was a loud, metallic chink that rang out through the woods. Rusty sat up, his ears flattening in confusion. He gently inclined his head to sniff the air but found nothing out of the ordinary. His eyes narrowed, but he suddenly realized there was an empty space underneath his paws.

He glanced down to confirm his suspicion. The mouse had escaped his grip and before he could even react, it was already down its burrow.

The young tom cat hissed, his tail lashing. He whirled around, teeth bared at whatever ruined his hunt. All that greeted him was an eerie silence that permeated the dense woods. His face contorted in bewilderment.


"Rusty, get up!"

Rusty was roughly nudged awake. His eyes shot open, slowly coming into focus on the squared face of his sister, Princess.

"Whu… what happened…?" He murmured, shaking his head to rid himself of the remnants of sleep that clung to him like cobwebs.

Princess huffed and rolled her eyes. She nudged him again, this time with one of her white-splotched paws. "The humans filled our bowls, Rus!"

The young tom's ears perked at that. It had to have been at least two weeks since their humans remembered to do that, and there was no way he was going to waste this.

He leaped to his paws, stretching her legs with a yawn. He quickly groomed his messy whiskers and flattened his ruffled shoulder fur. Then, he gave himself a shake and grinned. "Well, let's go!"

Princess grinned back at him before the siblings scampered to their dishes. Sure enough, they were full of the bland yet filling pellets that humans fed their cats. Rusty's tail waved excitedly and the two of them dove into their food. It's dull flavor filled his mouth, and he would rather filled his mouth with the wet food that he would sometimes eat or the juicy flesh of mouse meat, but anything was better than nothing, he figured.

While they were eating, one of their humans entered the kitchen. She cooed at the two of them and bent down to scratch behind their ears. Princess ducked at her touch, but Rusty leaned into it, purring. Maybe if he acted sweet enough, she and the tom human would find more time for them. They always seemed busy, leaving the house for long stretches of time that could last days, maybe weeks.

The molly human laughed and said something in her strange tongue. He didn't catch the meaning of all the words, but like most house cats, he could pick up bits and pieces. He could at least tell that she was pleased with how affectionate he was to her.

But she quickly turned sad, and Rusty, flattened his ears. Humans always seemed to smell like wet washcloths that were too used when they were sad, but that wasn't what bothered him. He knew that whenever she smelled like this, they would be gone again.

She at the very least promised it would only be for a few days, which Rusty purred again at. That was pretty easy to wait out. The two siblings had their friend, Smudge, to play with, and they could probably pester old Henry for a few stories or the latest gossip that circulated the neighborhood. Or their older brother, Scourge, would find time in his busy schedule to pay them a visit.

Rusty's tailed curled in anticipation as he pondered what the lean tom would teach them. He already taught him how to hunt and scavenge in the trash (as well as how to identify what food was safe to eat), and those skill came in handy whenever their humans were gone.

The molly human gave him one more head pat before she left. The tom human's deep call came from the entrance, and soon the two siblings heard the front door slam shut.

Rusty sighed heavily and slumped his shoulders. He turned back to her food and continued to eat

Princess scoffed at his side. Her brother lifted his head and saw her eyes narrow as she stared at the dull green front door.

"Funny how they never have enough time for us," She grumbled, her muzzle wrinkled as if they were about to pull into a snarl, "But they always find plenty of time to do who knows what out there."

Rusty hummed in agreement and draped his tail over her shoulders comfortingly. "Hey, at least the snows have cleared. We'll probably have a better time hunting."

The fawn ticked tabby molly snorted. "I guess. Still, Smudge's humans actually like him enough to feed him."

He couldn't offer anything to counter that. It was sadly true; compared to them, who were lean and well muscled, their friend was as chubby as a housecat should be.

Princess noticed his silence and turned to face him. Her brows with curled in a deep V shape and the fur along her shoulders rose. "What, nothing to argue? That's what I thought."

Despite her tone, her brother knew well enough that her anger wasn't directed at him. Instead, he gestured to her half-empty dish with his tail. "Aren't you gonna finish that?"

The young molly fell silent and disdainfully glanced at the dis "Take 'em." She grunted absentmindedly, "I'm not hungry anymore."

Rusty's brows furrowed in concern as he watched her storm over to the cat flap. She shouldered her way through the flap and stormed off.

Rusty glanced back at the kibble. Suddenly he didn't feel so hungry either. He stood up and followed her through the flap.

Outside, the evening was unusually warm. Small traces of snow clung at the edges of the fence and underneath the thick dogwood bushes. Rusty shook his fur to rid himself of the nippy breeze. He saw Princess pacing near the small tool shed, her face scrunched in fury and her tail lashing in anger.

The tom's ears flattened and he padded towards the angry young molly. He brushed against her, which seemed to take her by surprise. But she leaned into his touch, slumping over with and huff.

"I just…" She spoke softly. Rusty placed his chin on her forehead, urging her to continue. "Are we not good enough for them? Why- why did they even get cats if they don't bother to take care of us!"

Her brother's dark green eyes softened at his sister's admission. He wrapped his forelegs around her neck, murmuring softly into her thick fur, "I dunno, Priss. I dunno… I'm sure they thought they could care for us."

Princess scoffed and lifted her head. She rolled her eyes disdainfully, but Rusty could still see traces of hurt lingering in her eyes. "Yeah, well, look how that turned out."

The ginger tom stared at her, before trying to turn the conversation slightly chipper by saying, "Well, at least we know how to hunt!"

Princess hummed. Rusty continued: "Hey, you think we could get some prey from the forest? I'm sure it has enough to spare."

His sister affixed him with a stern glare, straightening up. "Rus, I love you, but you know that those feral cats would shred you if you stepped foot in their turf!"

The lanky ginger tom ducked his head and murmured, "Scourge taught me some fighting moves the other day…". He looked at her again, "Besides, who'll miss a few mice? I'm sure those cats aren't even half as bad as Henry says."

Princess lashed her tail. "And who says they aren't real?"

Rusty shot back, "Henry hasn't bothered to leave his yard since he went to the vet! He said he was three years old, but he was already neutered at that point; I'll bet he was lying!"

Princess sighed. "Ugh! You're impossible, you dumbass!"

Her brother headbutted her in response. "But you love me." He snarked back.

"Yeah, yeah. At least you listen to my problems."

"What's going on you two?" Smudge asked. His tail was low and the tip twitched in confusion. His small ears were laid flat and his round face was sullied with concern.

Rusty waved his tail at the friendly tom cat. "Hello Smudge!" He chirped in greeting. "The humans finally fed us, and we had some… feelings, to talk about."

Smudge's eyes widened in surprise. He leaped down into their garden and trotted over to the pair. "They did? Then why're you upset?" He questioned; his head tilted to the side.

Princess growled. "Because they only bother to whenever they get back, and even then there's no guarantee!". Smudge's features drooped. His lower lip jutted out as he approached the young molly.

"Aw geez, I'm sorry Princess." He said reproachfully, "I didn't mean to upset you…"

Princess smacked him with her tail, making him jerk and yelp in surprise. "Oh, quit it, I know you didn't mean it like that." She scoffed, "I doubt you could even be mean to a horsefly if it bit you!"

The young black and white tom cat gasped, his muzzle scrunching in offense like a kit. "Hey! I'll have you know that I called that big black tom cat down the street a jerk when he left a mark on by the rose bush!"

The fawn tabby mrrowed in amusement, and Rusty purred. "See, there you go! Baby steps, Spotty!"

Smudge groaned, tail flicking in annoyance, although both of the siblings could tell it was half-hearted. "I've told you two a million times, they're splotches, not spots!"

Princess chuckled, "Sure thing, Spotty."

The plump tom snorted. He declared in mock-anger as his chest puffed out, "You two are lucky that you're normally nice, 'cause no other kittens live nearby and the two of you would've been high and dry for friends!"

Rusty snickered and replied, "That goes for you too. Looks like you're stuck with us, unless you wanna spend all your time with ol' Henry."

Smudge's brows furrowed as his gaze turned suddenly serious. "Well, at least he warns you against the forest cats."

His sister shot the tom a smug 'I told you so' look, but Rusty didn't focus on that for long. He met Smudge's stern look evenly. "And who's to say he's completely true?"

Smudge's ears flattened. "Scourge said he was beaten up by forest cats too! And you know how he is; he could rip me in half if he was half asleep!"

The lanky ginger tom kitten replied dismissively, "Well, he was a kitten then. I doubt he would have any trouble now that he's fully grown!"

The plump tom glared at him. "Well, he said he was around your age though, right? Those forest ferals would turn your fur into nest lining!"

He shot back, "But I've gotten training to fight from him! He never had to fight when he first went into the forest!"

Smudge's voice began to take on a shrill tone as it gained volume, "But you only have a fraction of his prowess! Who's to say they wouldn't squash you?". The plump tom kitten cut his friend off before he could dare to respond. "I know you keep wanting to go in there, but why?! Why do you feel the need to risk your life?!"

Rusty paused and his ears drooped. His tail twitched in thought. That was a surprisingly good question for his, admittedly, fearful friend. He ducked his head and studied the grass blades intently.

He already knew that there would be more prey in there than the city, at least. Even beyond the fact that the mice and birds were skittish around humans, whatever they caught was usually fairly skinny, at least in the large part of town. Sometimes a robin or two would land to nibble on the seeds from the garden plants, but that was a rare occasion.

He furrowed his brows and dug deeper. He'd always felt unfulfilled in his house. There wasn't much to do beyond napping or playing with the jingly mice or feathers on sticks, and he and Princess' humans certainly weren't home enough to give them large amounts of affection.

There had always been a stifling air to kittypet life, and even when he was out in the city with Scourge, he felt a sense of adventure fill him. He knew that he could easily find this in the forest. And, well, he was getting pretty sick of the people that were supposed to care for him and his sister constantly abandoning them.

"Well?" Smudge's high pitched voice prompted. Rusty slowly lifted his head and found that not only was Smudge staring at him with an incredulous and impatient glare, but Princess' gaze was now intensely fixated on him.

He sighed and met his friend's gaze calmly. "Well, Smudge," He began coolly, "In the forest, there's plenty of prey. I'm sure it's much better than the city's prey. Plus, me and Princess basically had to fend for ourselves for moons now, so what's the challenge with the forest?"

Smudge reeled back as if he'd been struck, his fur bushed out and eyes widening so far that Rusty was sure that they would burst out of the sockets. Even Princess looked surprised.

"What?!" Smudge cried, "You can't be seriously thinking of living out there!". The young tom looked frantic now, his ears flattened and his tail twitching and curling rapidly. "Wh-who knows what'll happen out there, Rus?! You might run into those ferals, o-or… k-k-killed!"

He scoffed and puffed his chest out, "I'll be fine! Scourge said my balance and speed is really good!".

Princess stared at him incredulously as their best friend was crouched and made unintelligible noises of panic.

"Do you think it'd really be safe?!" She demanded, "I dunno about you, but if nothing else, we at least have a roof over our heads and a bed to sleep on."

Rusty shot back heatedly, "Yeah, but you said yourself that they don't care about us. They haven't filled our bowls in two weeks before today!". He gave her his best puppy-dog eyes that always seemed to sell her on whatever shenanigans he was going to rope her into and asked imploringly, "Wouldn't it be nice to not have to hope they bother to feed us? At least if we lived on our own, we would have each other!"

The large fawn molly's gaze lost a bit of its edge, but it quickly hardened to mask this. "Rus-"

Rusty's tail curled around his paws. "Look, if it makes you guys feel better, I could go in just to take a look. I'll be gone for an hour at most."

Smudge's head shot up, looking even worse than before. "No! That's a terrible idea! Wh-what if y-you get ambushed o-o-or something?!"

But Princess seemed to have been defeated, or at least won over enough to concede. She sighed. "Rus, are you sure?" She questioned. Her intense amber gaze burned into the depths of her brother's soul, and he couldn't help but look away.

"Maybe not, but it wouldn't hurt to at least look?"

Both Smudge and his sister had gone silent, mulling over their responses. After a quiet moment soaked in tension, Princess rolled her eyes. "Geez, fine.". She padded to him and bunted her head on his shoulder. "Just promise that if anything happen, you come back, 'kay?". Her playful exasperation melted, replacing by protective anger. "I'll treat anyone who dare to come near you to the whooping of a lifetime."

Rusty purred and licked her forehead reassuringly. He beamed and said playfully, "Sounds like a deal to me. I swear it'll be alright. If nothing else, I can give them a quick clawing and then run off."

His sister nodded and stepped away. Smudge took a moment before he drooped like a wilting flower. He shakily stood up and trudged to the lanky tom cat. He bumped his head into his chest. "If you don't find anything good, please don't leave." He sniffled softly; his words were muffled by the scruffy chest fur but audible enough to make the lanky tom nearly feel guilty.

Rusty tapped his friend with his tail. "No promises, but I don't see why not if that happens."

Smudge looked up at his friend with a watery smile. "Thanks Rus. You two are like siblings to me. I dunno what I'd do without you."

Rusty patted the plump tom on the back. "Hopefully we could at least visit you."

The black and white tom murmured something too quietly to make out, but it sounded like an agreement. Rusty turned away from the pair and hopped onto the fence.

He stared out into the dense forest beyond. A stretch of untrimmed grass just like his dream stood as the barrier between all that Rusty as known, and the fabled forest. Already a sense of excitement filled his chest. The setting sun illuminated the vegetation in a bright orange glow, and the soft breeze rustled the tree canopy above in a thrilling symphony.

With one last glance over his shoulder have waved his tail at Princess and Smudge, and then, with a pounding heart, trekked further and further towards the darkened woodlands.