Reedfeather and her friends glided down towards the prey pile to add their prey. They then chose their own prey and settled down to eat. Reedfeather chose a rabbit. Dragonsplash and Icesky took a thrush and a vole.
It was a completely normal day in the camp. Dragon cats were scattered around the camp in small groups, eating or talking. Some were on the ground, like Icesky, Dragonsplash, and Reedfeather, and some were perched on tree branches. Kits were playing on some boulders near the edge, using their tiny wings to glide from boulder to boulder as they played out a pretend battle - a bit unrealistic, as the dragon cats hid their presence from their only neighbors, but the kits didn't care about realism. Reedfeather heard one shout "My magic giant skeleton bird beats your magic humongous bear." Nearby, their mothers watched protectively, ready to intervene if things got too rough.
Everything was normal until their leader, Skystar, screeched to get their attention for a meeting.
Skystar was a gray she-cat with thick fur. She was young for a leader, only 62 moon-turns, but she was a very good leader. Her amber eyes flashed as she flew up to the top of a tall boulder with a couple wing beats.
"The Clan cats have gone too far," she declared. "We have allowed them to trespass in order to continue to hide our existence, but now they have begun to hunt in our territory."
"Splashbird, what are Clan cats?" Cloudkit whispered to her mother.
"They're cats who live in groups like ours, but they call themselves Clans," Splashbird told her daughter.
"Why do we hide from them?"
"What are we going to do about it?" Icesky called out.
"We're going to go to their camps and tell them this is our territory, and they must not hunt here. We won't fight unless we have no choice."
"Who's going to go?" Reedfeather asked.
"I'll go, and Icesky and Reedfeather will come with me," Skystar decided.
"Can Stormpaw and Sunnypaw come with us? I think it would be good experience for them to meet regular cats," Reedfeather said. Skystar and Reedfeather's apprentices looked startled and excited.
"All right," Skystar agreed. "We'll leave right away." She let out another screech, ending the meeting, and the four chosen cats lifted off with their leader, heading towards Clan territory.
As they entered the territory of one of the Clans, they chose a space just outside the camp to land and waited for a patrol.
"Don't zhon," Skystar told the Dragonwings. "Let's show them what we truly are."
Soon enough, a group of Clan cats showed up. They were led by a dark tabby tom, and there was also a yellow queen with them and a young ginger tom Reedfeather assumed was an apprentice. They were surprised at the sight of the intruders, and shocked when they saw their wings and dragon tails. However, the surprise didn't detract from their hostility at finding strangers so near their camp.
"You're in ThunderClan territory," the lead cat hissed. "Who are you and why are you here?"
As the tabby challenged the intruders, the ginger apprentice asked the yellow queen, "Why do those cats have wings and extra tails, Echoshadow?"
"I don't know, Sparrowpaw. I'm confused too," she answered.
At the same time, Sunnypaw asked her mentor, "Reedfeather, why are they all zhon'd?"
"They aren't," Reedfeather replied. Seeing Sunnypaw and Stormpaw's surprise, she explained, "They aren't dragon cats. They can't fly, they only have one tail, and they can't zhon."
"Wow," Stormpaw said. "That must be terrible."
Ignoring the conversation going on behind her, Skystar replied to the tabby's challenge. "My name is Skystar, leader of the Dragonwings, and this is Reedfeather, Stormpaw, Sunnypaw, and my deputy, Icesky. We want to talk to your leader."
"Why?" the patrol leader growled.
"That's between me and your leader," Skystar answered calmly.
The warrior hesitated, then reluctantly gave in. "Fine. Follow me. Echoshadow, Sparrowpaw, the patrol will have to wait," he told the other cats.
The dragon cats followed the tabby to the ThunderClan camp, which wasn't far away. As they pushed through a fern barrier into the camp, Reedfeather was surprised by how similar the camp was to their own camp. Cats were eating and talking, kits were playing... they even had a prey pile like the Dragonwings'!
A silver queen looked up from her sparrow, seeming confused when she saw the dark tabby. "Shadepelt? Why are you back already?" The puzzlement in her sky-blue eyes turned to surprise and alarm as she noticed the dragon cats. "Who are these cats and why have you brought them to our camp?"
"Shimmerstar." The tabby, Shadepelt, dipped his head respectfully. "I found them just outside the camp. They want to talk to you."
Skystar stepped forward. "I am Skystar, leader of the Dragonwings, and this is Reedfeather, Sunnypaw, Stormpaw, and my deputy, Icesky." She indicated each cat as she named them. "Who are you?"
"I'm Shimmerstar, leader of ThunderClan," she replied. "What do you need to speak to me about?"
"Our territory is just outside yours. In the past, we have allowed your cats to trespass in our territory without penalty, as we did not want to reveal ourselves. However, recently your cats have begun hunting in our territory, and that we cannot allow," Skystar explained. "We don't want a fight, as we understand that you didn't know we were there, but we needed to make sure you understood this will not be tolerated in the future."
"Of course," Shimmerstar agreed. "We will try to stay out of your territory."
Just then, Reedfeather's belly gave a loud rumble. She looked embarrassed.
"Sorry," she mumbled. "I didn't get to finish my prey before we left..."
"Well, you'll have to wait a little longer before we go back. ThunderClan isn't the only Clan that's been hunting in our territory. We still have to find the Clan in the pines," Skystar told the young flier, amusement in her eyes.
"Wait. It's a long way to the ShadowClan camp. You should have some prey before you leave. Consider it repayment for the prey we took from your territory," Shimmerstar told them.
"Thank you very much. We won't stay long," Skystar promised. She nodded at the other cats. "Don't eat the whole prey-pile."
The five cats each took a small piece of prey and devoured it hungrily. Then, after they said their goodbyes to ThunderClan, Skystar screeched and the Dragonwings took off, headed for ShadowClan territory.