"Hey there, are you alright?"

Princess could swear she heard a voice, and she groggily lifted her head. Sunlight shone through a few cracks in the walls, so she must have slept through the night. She looked around, blinking a few times to get rid of the remains of sleep, until she saw him, a large cat, with a shiny black pelt and yellow eyes. Immediately, Princess scrambled to her feet, her back arched and tail fluffed out, hissing and glaring at the stranger.

"Whoa, calm down there. I won't hurt you." It was impossible to mistake the amusement in the black cat's eyes. "Are you lost, kittypet?" He asked, concern in his voice.

Princess looked confused, then she remembered that 'kittypet' was a Clan cat term. Her fur flattened back down, though she still looked suspiciously at the cat. "Who are you?"

"I'm Ravenpaw. If you're lost, I can help you find your way back to you Twolegs-"

"NO!" Princess hissed as soon as he said that word. "I'm not going back!" Ravenpaw looked startled, probably over why a kittypet looked so angry at the mention of a Twolegs.

"Relax, I was only trying to help." Ravenpaw looked suitably subdued in Princess's mind. Then she remembered, 'Ravenpaw' sounded like a Clan cat name!

"I know, I'm sorry." Princess said, easing back onto her haunches. "But, you wouldn't happen to know a pair of cats called Cloudtail and Firestar?" She inquired, cocking her head a little.

"You mean from ThunderClan? Why?" Again, the black cat looked startled over the fact that a kittypet would know about the Clans.

"Cloudtail's my son, and Firestar's my brother." She paused. "My name is Princess."

"So you're Firestar's sister? I had no idea that you'd be so-" He seemed at a loss for words, and to buy some time, he began to wash his paw.

"Please, if you know where he went, tell me." The tabby pleaded, anxiety in her eyes. However, at that moment, her stomach rumbled.

"Well, I'll tell you after we hunt." Ravenpaw hesitated, "You do know how, right?"

"A little. Firestar taught me some when he visited." She said, eager to prove herself in the eyes of this black cat that knew her kin.

"Well, I'll help out. It will be very easy to hunt here, so it'll be excellent practice. Oh, hold on a second." The black cat slipped away for a minute, returning rather quickly. "I just went to tell Barley-another cat who lives here- that we have company." He explained. Princess nodded, then the pair went into the shadows of the barn to hunt.

After much coaching from Ravenpaw, Princess had been able to catch her own rat. Though it was a very old, slow rat, it was still a rat, nonetheless. Ravenpaw had caught much more, so they shared. Princess still thought that her rat tasted the best.

"So Ravenpaw, you told me you'd tell me where Firestar went." Princess said, between mouthfuls.

With a sigh, Ravenpaw said, "Alright, I'll tell you. They left about two weeks ago, towards the mountains. They were going to meet another group of cats called the Tribe of Rushing Water. The cats up there will be able to tell you more." He said, with a nod.

"Thank you very much, Ravenpaw." She gave him a very cattish smile, and took another bite of food. "As soon as I'm done here, I'll head that way."

Ravenpaw stared at her incredulously. "You can't! You don't know the way, you can barely hunt, and you wouldn't know how to fight if you ever got into trouble."

"I don't care, I have to find my son and brother!"

Ravenpaw sighed, and said, "If you are so determined, then I guess that there's no other option."

"What?"

"I'll go with you."