Elisa's first few steps into the wild were... underwhelming, to say the least. The forest was quiet, almost silent, with barely a sound coming from the undergrowth. Moonlight filtered down through the leaves of the trees, just as it had in Elisa's room only a few minutes earlier. The only sound she could really hear was the sound of her own paws crunching through the leaves.

Her tail twitched from side to side as her green eyes scanned the land before her. The forest was rockier than others, likely because of how close they were to the mountains. Some sharp stones dug into her paws, but Elisa ignored them as she walked, more interested in exploring than the pain in her paws. The soil was wet and a bit squishy in places, thanks to the rain. Her paws sank a little a bit as she walked, the fur between her toes quickly becoming wet and muddy.

It's pretty boring out here, she thought as she pushed deeper into the woods. There's no way Teagan was right. Nobody would ever live out here. Especially when it gets like this.

Elisa's ears twitched suddenly when a new noise came from her right. Whirling her head around, she watched as a mouse, tiny and nearly invisible against the undergrowth, peeked out from a hole underneath a tree root. It sniffed about a bit, before focusing on an acorn and snatching it up, chewing on the outer edge of the tough nut.

Immediately and instinctively, Elisa dropped into something resembling a hunter's crouch. Her body felt as though it was moving on its own, putting one paw in front of the other as she stalked. So far, the mouse was totally unaware of her. The wind had yet to blow in either direction, and it was engrossed in chewing on the acorn.

Elisa went to pounce, and then, suddenly, she was colliding with another creature head-first, knocking heads before bouncing back and skidding on the leafy floor. The mouse, startled, dropped the acorn and darted back into the hole from which it had came, leaving both hunters empty-pawed.

"Hey! What the hell?"

Elisa looked up from rubbing her throbbing skull at the voice, finding herself looking up and into the eyes of another cat. This other cat was a golden tabby, stocky, with a heavy build and medium-length fur. Her tail was white-tipped, and stuck out behind her, fluffed out with irritation. Her blue eyes were narrowed straight at Elisa, and her fur bristled. Her scent, though it was mingled with anger, was light and sweet, giving off her status as an Omega.

"Who do you think you are?" She continued. "That was my mouse, I was stalking it!"

"Well, excuse me," Elisa snorted. This one is feisty for an Omega. "But I'm pretty sure I found it first. I would've heard you if you were stalking before me."

"Hah! You really think so?" The young cat laughed. She tossed her head and sat back on her haunches. "I'm in training to be a fully-fledged member of my Clan! There's no way a softpaw like you would be able to pick up on my expert stalking skills!"

Now it was Elisa's turn to bristle. "If you're still in-training, how are you an expert? I'm sure I would've heard you! Your paws are huge, anyway."

"So what? It means my claws are bigger," the other cat taunted. "I bet you've never even used your claws."

"I use them plenty!" Elisa growled. "Should I show you?"

"Yeah, go ahead!" Just as the other cat was getting into a crouch, yet another new voice rang out:

"Cinderpaw! What are you doing?"

Suddenly, a much bigger cat appeared from the bushes; it was a tom, Elisa could tell from the scent, and an Omega. However, the long-furred gray tom held his head up high, dark yellow eyes glaring down at both the golden youngster and Elisa. Yet another tom – this one an Alpha – stepped out of the bushes behind the Omega. He was solid black with a dash of white on his chest, and almond-shaped teal eyes.

He must be the Omega's mate, Elisa thought, though she was confused when the Alpha made no move to push the Omega out of the way.

"So," the black tom growled. "Who's this little Red-Tail runt on our land?"

As he was an Alpha, Elisa dipped her head towards him and turned her eyes towards the ground. "Excuse me, sir, I didn't know this land belonged to another family."

The black tom laughed. "Family? We aren't Red-Tail scum like you," he sneered. "We are proud Omicrons of the Clan of Fire, and we own this land. Now..." He unsheathed his claws.

"Would you like to continue that fight against me?"