Okay! Starting up the next chapter after the last one, The Rat Society! I've gotten 10 reviews, but I haven't gotten any from some of my old friends who used to review. *Tear* But yeah, here's the next chapter!

Why?

I'm bored.

REVIEW ANSWERS (like ai pwomised c: )

Moonbeam- Review #1: Yeah! XD Review #2: Really? *rereads* LOL!

ScipioPB- Great to be back ;) and I did

carifoo2001- Review #1: Lol xD don't worry *pats* we'll help you xD Review #2: Thanks! And I'm writing more for ya! XD

Snowbird5000- I will :D and thanks!

Crickett5- Yep! XD and yeah, the entire beginning of the last chapter was basically introducing characters ^^" Oh, they will c: Peace to you, too!

TangleheartWarrior36764- It took up 6 pages on Microsoft Word.

Gummysaur- WHOOOOOOOOOOOO

Love-The-Loner- THANKSSSSSSSSSS

So, let us begin!


The day had dragged forward. Slowly. Only two hours had passed since Crash's nerve-racking appearance.

"Tail level to your body," Twist instructed. "No, lower. Lower still. No, higher."

"Make up your mind!" Echo hissed impatiently.

Twist had begun training her friend in hunting techniques. The two were in what was called a parking lot. The lot was surrounded by a brown, rotting picket fence. Cracks had broken in the asphalt, and shoots of grass and weeds grew in them, which could be used for the hunting practice. At one corner of the lot was a drainage vent, where water emptied into the sewers.

Echo had, of course, taught Twist all these words.

"Okay. Your tail has to be at the same level as your body. If it's too high, the prey will see it. If it's too low, it will brush the grass and leaves, and the prey will hear it." She paused, remembering that there was no grass or leaves. "Er, I mean, it could brush the asphalt."

Echo nodded, finally understanding the importance of the level tail. She did as she was told.

"Perfect!" Twist exclaimed. "Hold that position." Her gaze raked the lot. Finally, she spotted a large, loose piece of asphalt that had broken from the ground. She brought it over, and placed it behind a huge weed growing out of a crack. "This rock is a mouse," she declared. "Now. Build up some strength in your back legs."

Twist was now trying to rack her brain of forest hunting techniques. In the city, there was nowhere to run, which was the kind of hunting she had been taught. Now, she had to remember all her brief lessons of forest hunting that Rainfire had given her. This was the only kind of hunting that could be used out here.

"You're going to bound forward. Long strides, stretch out your front legs. Outstretch your claws." She watched Echo ripple with excitement. "When you leap, you'll grab the prey. You pin it, and bite it in the neck. That will kill it."

Echo grinned. Twist watched as her back legs tensed, and suddenly, she burst forward. Her claws wrapped around the rock, and pinned it to the asphalt. She pretended to bite it by pressing her lips to it. If she used her teeth, they could break.

She gave a small bounce. "Did you see that? Did you? Did you? I did it!" She ran in multiple happy circles.

Twist smiled, remembering when she had first learned how to catch prey. "Awesome!"

Another hour passed. Two. Three. Finally, the two had practiced enough. Twist was ready to try out actual prey.

"Come on!" Twist led Echo to place in the city where many mouse stayed. A shed.

She sniffed the air. "Tell me what you smell," she demanded.

Echo sniffed. Pausing first, she replied. "Mice." She sniffed again, letting out a rumble satisfaction. "So many mice."

Twist smiled. "Go ahead. Catch one."

Echo began trying to catch as many mice as possible. She missed the first two times, but the next three, she caught a mouse. Echo proudly trotted back over to Twist, dropping her three mice. "Look! I caught all of them!" She sat, her tail erect and waving, a delighted grin plastered across her face. Her two blue eyes shone with elation.

Twist purred with happiness. "Good job!" She sniffed the mice. "Juicy, too. The Squad will love these."

Echo gave a little bounce. "Let's go, then!" She grabbed two mice, and raced out of the shed.

Twist laughed, grabbing the one mouse that Echo had forgotten in her frenzy of excitement.

The two arrived back at camp, dropping their mice in the prey box. Echo hesitated, then suddenly snatched all three mice out, holding them by their tails. Twist cocked her head, and followed as she walked over to Yarrow and Rikah.

Echo suddenly threw the mice at their paws. "Look," she told them.

Yarrow cocked her head. Rikah looked down, then back up at Twist. "Thanks," he told her.

Twist shook her head. "I didn't catch them."

Echo waved her tail proudly. "I caught them."

Rikah blinked in surprise. "You did?"

Echo grinned. "Yep!" She nodded at Twist. "She's been training me for the last three hours."

Rikah cracked a smile. Twist suppressed a look of surprise. Rikah never smiled. "Good job, Echo."

Echo's pelt rippled with surprise as well. "Thank you!" She nudged the mice towards them. One mouse for Yarrow, and one for Rikah. She then set one at Twist's paws.

"What're you doing?" Twist suddenly asked. She still wasn't used to cats giving her food to be friendly.

"You taught me how to catch it. You have it."

Twist smiled, and shook her head. "It's your first prey. You eat it."

Echo grinned, suddenly mischievous. "I remember what you told me in the barn. On the moor, apprentices always want someone else to eat their first catch since they're proud of it." She puffed out her silver tabby chest. "It's my first catch, and I want you to have it.

Twist sighed, and shook her head in amusement. "Okay." She began gnawing on the rodent.

A few hours later, the Glass Squad settled into their towel-nests. Twist curled nose to tail. Her eyes closed, and before she knew it, she was swept to the moor.

Twist looked around. She caught sight of Featherleaf and Snowpaw collecting herbs. They smiled at her, and waved their tails in greeting. "Hello, Twistedpaw!"

Twistedpaw? I'm Twist now, she thought defiantly. She began walking across the moor.

She heard paws thumping up behind her. Twist whirled around, surprised at how easily she was able to. Shockingly, she saw Stormpaw and Stripepaw.

They were actually happy to see her.

What on earth kind of dream was this?

"Hey, Twistedpaw!" Stripepaw piped. "You be Twistedstar. Which of us should be your deputy?"

Twist gaped. Were they playing with her? "I…" She was unable to reply.

Stripepaw and Stormpaw faced each other. "I wanna be Twistedstar's deputy!" Stormpaw declared.

Stripepaw frowned. "No, I do!"

Are they fighting over me?

"Stripepaw will be my deputy. Stormpaw can be my strongest warrior." She felt joy ripple through her. She had never played with her siblings before!

Stripepaw gave a little bounce. "I'm Stripeheart, deputy of…" She paused. "What should our Clan be called?"

Twist opened her jaw to reply when Mistfire's kits padded up, Rabbitpaw, Harepaw and Grasspaw.

Grasspaw bounded towards Twist. He flicked his tail to his littermates. "This is my Clan."

Rabbitpaw grinned. "I'm the deputy, Rabbitloyal!" she piped.

"I'm a warrior!" Harepaw said. "I'm Harespeed!" he added.

"I'm Stripeheart!" Stripepaw declared.

"And I'm Stormthunder!" Stormpaw said.

Twist felt amusement at how eaveryone picked an extremely unrealistic name. "I'm Grassstar." Grasspaw added as she was in thought.

Twist blinked. She looked at a large patch of dirt, and drew a line through it. On each side of the line was a patch of dirt for each "Clan", and each patch had a stone for the "leaders" to stand on. Twist explained this.

Grasspaw bounded to his side with his Clan, and Twist stayed on hers. The two got on top of their rocks, and Rabbitpaw, Harepaw, Stormpaw and Stripepaw all pretended to snarl at each other.

Twist grinned. "I'm Twistedstar of TwisterClan!"

Grasspaw laughed. "I'm Grassstar of GreenClan!"

Twist laughed. She spotted a pile of gray and brown rocks on the GreenClan side. "TwisterClan wants the…" She tried to think of a name for the rocks. Remembering the stories of Sunningrocks in the old territories, she came up with a name. "Littlerocks!"

Grasspaw grinned. "That's our territory! GreenClan, attack!" Rabbitpaw and Harepaw locked in combat with Stormpaw and Stripepaw.

Twist jumped down from her rock. She pounced on Grasspaw, rolling over the line. Choruses of laughter rang around her. She was suddenly happier than ever.

This is how it should be. She laughed as she tangled with Grasspaw. Amazing, I'm playing with the cats that brought me more pain than I could bear. And enjoying it.

Suddenly, she blinked. When her eyes opened again, she was clinging to a black tom. She sprang away, realizing that she was no longer on the moor. Instead, she stood in a dark, shadowy forest.

"Phantomstep!" she exclaimed.

"There are cats in your camp!" he growled. "Wake up, you fool!"

"What?" she asked, baffled. Phantomstep whisked into the thick mist. "Come back! What are you talking about?"

Suddenly, the black cat silhouette with red eyes from her last dream of the Dark Forest warrior leapt from the shadows, and her world turned black.

Twist sprang from her nest. She shook her head, and gasped for air. After getting her breath back and allowing her heartbeat to slow, she heard a thump, thump, thump. Twist looked at where the sound came from.

Three dark forms hustled around the cardboard boxes where the queens slept with the kits. One of them stepped away, holding a small bundle. The other two pressed inside, grabbing one of their own.

Twist gaped. The kits! She sprang from her nest, and stalked over.

She was shocked to see that these were three cats from the Rat Society! She growled. "What do you think you're doing?"

The three cats spun around in surprise. They growled, their voices muffled by the balls of fluff. One of them stepped forward: a muscular black tom with glowing green eyes. "Ah, hello, little one."

Twist growled. "Jet! What are you doing?"

Jet chuckled mischievously. "Not even going to say hello?" He flicked his tail to his two companions. He first introduced the totally black cat with white ears and a single white paw, as well as yellow eyes. "This is Diablo." He nodded again to a huge, red tom with black flecks and amber eyes. "This is Stoik." (Yes. How to Train Your Dragon. XD)

Twist growled. "I don't care about your names."

"Ah, but we do about yours," Jet declared. "What is it?"

Twist snarled. "That's none of your business. Give me back those kits!"

Jet cocked his head, trying to look like an innocent kit. "But they aren't yours. Why care about having them or not?"

Diablo huffed.

"They're from my Squad," she explained angrily. "Therefore, I care about them as equally as I would if they were…" she suddenly paused. She was about to say, "As I would my own siblings", but realized that she didn't feel that way towards Stripepaw and Stormpaw. She growled. "They're part of my Squad. That's why."

Jet laughed. "Empty reasoning, cat. Now, what's your name? I remember seeing Crash talk to you."

She narrowed her eyes. "Twist."

"Oh, of course. Your paw, I remember now." He shook out his pelt, the tabby tom-kit in his jaws swaying, still in deep sleep.

Twist growled. "Give me those kits!" She sprang at Jet. Fast as lightning, he batted her away with a large black paw.

Twist collided with the asphalt, letting out a yowl. All three cats winced; their eyes flinging wide open. "Let's get out of here!" Diablo whispered urgently to Jet and Stoik.

Stoik grunted, his huge muscles churning as he pounded out. Diablo raced smoothly after him, his slender body curving with ease. Jet was the same. He turned back to grin at her. "This is your Squad's punishment." He raced away.

Twist struggled to her feet. "Get back here!" She began to race after them. Suddenly, pain shot up her leg. My paw! She crashed to the ground, skidding across it. At this point, she was in the center of the road outside the alley, and the Rat Society cats had disappeared behind the buildings on the other side. Seeing the glare of bright headlights, she scrambled to her paws with a screech of terror, and lunged for her side of the road, barely clearing the monster that barreled towards her.

Twist struggled back to her paws, her legs shaking. When she walked back into the alley, she found the whole Clan searching desperately around the alley.

A queen was trembling in a corner, Sakura and the two other queens trying to comfort her. "My kits! They're gone, all gone!" She broke into terrified sobs.

Twist lumbered back into the alley, her face fallen with failure. She hadn't been able to steal the kitnappers.

The queen looked up, as did the rest of the Squad. Rikah, Echo and Yarrow rushed over. "Where have you been?"

Twist sighed. "Crash's cats. They took the kits."

All three gasped. She padded over to the queen.

To Twist's surprise, her face was filled with fury as the twisted-pawed she-cat approached. She queen snarled. "Where have you been?"

Twist blinked. She lowered her head. "Rat Society cats stole them. I tried going after them, but…" she held up her twisted paw.

The queen suddenly whirled on Twist, thrusting her face into hers, her lips peeling back in a snarl. Twist tumbled onto her back, her mouth gaping in shock. The queen stood over her, snarling.

"If you were trying to save them, you'd have woken us sooner!" She pressed her face in closer. "You were helping them!"

Twist gasped. "Of course not!"

The queen roared with fury. "All the evidence is there!" The queen scrambled up a trashcan. "That cat," she shoved a paw in Twist's direction, "helped to steal my kits!" Her announcement split the night air.

The Squad gasped. Echo shouted from the crowd. "She did no such thing!"

Rikah barked out. "She would never do that!"

Yarrow hissed. "You liar!"

The queen hissed back. "I am not a liar!" She looked at the crowd. "She claims that she ran after them. But look at the facts. She didn't bother to wake us, and comes back from the Thunderpath in the middle of the crime scene! She was probably busy smuggling them across the path."

The Squad's gaze turned to Twist. Suddenly, a few eyes glowed with accusation. Twist gaped. Echo and Yarrow sat, pressed defensively on either side of her, and Rikah stood behind them, his tail lashing as he peeled his lips back in a snarl at Twist's framers.

"Not to mention. Does anybody remember this morning, when Crash offered her a high ranking in his Society?"

At this, argument burst from the crowd. A tangle of yowls and hisses, all accusing Twist of stealing the kits with Crash's cats.

Rikah roared. "All of you! You have no solid evidence!"

Echo spat at them. "She would never steal kits from our Squad!"

Though she shivered with fear, Yarrow's voice split through the furious quarreling. "She didn't do it! All of you are wrong!"

Flamer leapt onto his dumpster, quickly followed by Torch. The whole crowd turned and fell silent. He looked at the queen. "Mindy, do you stand by your accusation?"

The queen still stood on the metal trashcan. She trembled with rage. "It's not an accusation. It's a fact."

Rikah leapt up into the garbage can beside Mindy, the queen whose kits had been stolen and was accusing Twist of helping. "And I stand by mine."

"And what is your belief, Rikah?" Flamer asked him calmly.

Rikah stood taller. "That Twist tried to chase after the Rat Society cats and retrieve the kits."

"I believe this as well!" Echo shouted.

"As do I!" Yarrow declared.

Twist sighed, grateful for their support.

Flamer looked about the crowd. "Do all of you believe that Twist is innocent?"

No one gave an agreement.

"Do you believe she is guilty?"

Hesitation. Then, to Twist's horror, murmuring.

"Then it is settled. Twist, you have been banished."

LOL cliffie x3


Yep, I went that far.

Okay, I have planned this part for a long time. It's what happens in the next few chapters that are a big change of plan.

Thanks for reading!

See y'all next chappie!