Dawnpaw sighed. "Please gather up them all!" She told the other apprentices. They nodded and raced off, Willowpaw leading the kits. "I'll go get my brother, Moon." Sugar said, running into one of the dens. She came out with a dark gray tom cat. "Okay, guys! We need to get back to our clan.." Dawnpaw started. Moon cut her off,
"Why bother? You can just stay with us. It'll give you the same things, food, water, shelter." Dawnpaw's hackles raised.
"Excuse me? My family is there somewhere! My littermate, Stormpaw, is out there! He probably is missing us terribly, and I refuse to leave him permanently! So get your muzzle back where it belongs, and focus!" Dawnpaw snapped, her eyes appearing to have green flames in them. Moon cowered behind his sister. He shook his fur out and stood back up, pretending he had been there the entire time. "Okay, so what do we do?" Sugar asked calmly, getting the conversation back on track.
Dawnpaw nodded at her, right as the rest of the clan cats arrived with the rogues. "They've been told about Snake." Sunpaw said to his sister. Dawnpaw walked to the front of the crowd, and turned around to address them. "We must return to the forest, to our families. But we don't know how to get there. For you guys, your family is your group. We know that you understand how we feel, that longing to greet them, so I must ask this, will anyone help us to find our home?" Dawnpaw said earnestly.
"I will."
"Of course!"
"Yes, I will."
Multiple cats chimed in, granting their support. Dawnpaw smiled, relieved. "Who wants to stay here?" Dawnpaw asked. Raven stepped forward. "I really, truly do want to help you find your home, but my sister, Sparrow, went with them, and I think she was forced into it. I want to be here if- when she comes back." He said sadly, but strongly. Dawnpaw nodded. "Anyone else?" She asked. Pluto walked up. "I'm so sorry, Dawnpaw. I can't bear to leave my home." He said softly, then became more cheerful, "But I wish you luck!"
Soda was right behind them. "I want to stay here. They saved my sister and I, and I
am in their debt." He said, serious for once in his life. Cara stepped up beside her brother, and whispered in his ear. He nodded solemnly, and she walked up. "You're staying, too?" Dawnpaw asked, looking at the littermate's expressions. "No. I want to come with you. I want to stay with my brother, but he can take care of himself, and I will return soon." She said, smiling at her brother. Dawnpaw grinned. "Okay, so that's left Apple, Moon, Sugar, Cara, and Chava, as well as my clan." She said. Chava walked forward. "I want to stay. I was born here, and I will die here. And if in between, my family comes back, I don't want to miss that." She said, standing next to the cats. "Clan cats think they're so much better than everyone else, and they're so bossy!" Moon muttered grouchily. Sugar shot him a look, and he shut up. Dawnpaw ignored them. "Alright, we will head out tomorrow, so eat and rest, guys!" She called. The other apprentices cheered, as well as a few of the cats that were coming. Then, everyone set out to hunt, or headed back to their dens to rest.
Oh, shout out to FreeEcho, my test reader, and all the humans who submitted OCs, some of them will come in later.