Elisa stood in the silent forest for a few more moments, watching the bushes where the Clan cats walked away. For a moment, she wondered if she should try to follow them, to call out for them and ask more questions. However, she eventually decided against it, turning on her paw and walking back towards her house.

The moon still hung high in the sky, and when she finally made her way out of the forest, Elisa shook some of the dew from her pelt. She shook her paws off as she walked back onto the manicured grasses behind her fence, the terrain a stark contrast from the one she had just come from.

All of the lights were still out in her house, and as Elisa leaped from the top of the fence to the backyard, she changed back into her human form, to appear more presentable to her family should she encounter them. It was much more common for Red-Tails like her to stay in their human forms, rather than their feline ones. They wanted to appear proper and cultured, not savage and wild. Despite all of this, something about her feline form called to her, made her want to run wild and free and to hunt and fight.

Perhaps Clan life really would be better for her.

Elisa curled back up in her soft bed, but found herself unable to sleep. Her mind was plagued by thoughts of the Clan cats, of the way Cherrystar looked at her, of Cinderpaw's boldness. She simply could not get them out of her head, no matter how hard she tried.

So awake she stayed, until the sun rose on the horizon and yellow light began to shine through her curtains. Elisa sat up in bed for the second time that day and rubbed at her tired eyes, hands shaking slightly. Dirt was still caked under her fingernails and toenails.

Getting up out of bed, Elisa walked down the hallway and then down the stairs, a bit surprised to come down to see Teagan sitting on the couch. She was reading a book, and Elisa's tail twitched.

"Teagan? Did you stay up all night?" Elisa asked, keeping her voice low.

"No, but you did," Teagan replied. "You were out all night! Where did you go?"

"I met Clan cats," Elisa replied. "You know, the ones who will disembowel you and all? Well, they weren't so bad. Except for one of them, who wanted to fight me."

"Did you?" Teagan's eyes grew wide.

"No, of course not. He was an Alpha, and Betas don't fight Alphas," Elisa said simply. "There were two Omegas there, too."

"Two Omegas? Were they nice?"

"Well, one of them was going to fight me. Neither of them knew their place, and then there was an Iota who came in at the end and talked to me. She was the leader."

"An Iota? As a leader?" Teagan gasped. "No way, nobody would ever let an Iota be leader!"

"Well, this one was," Elisa nodded. "And they – well, they wanted me to join them."

Teagan's ears pinned back against her skull. "Are you going to?" She nearly whispered.

Elisa looked over at Teagan, then towards the back door. Beyond that door would be the forest. She took a deep breath.

"...yes."

Elisa knew she could trust Teagan not to tell. After all, her sister was an Omega, and would do anything she said. As sunhigh slowly approached, Elisa knew she was going to have to leave soon. Her parents would not ask questions when she left, as she was a Beta, and had the right to do as she wished.

What they did not know was that she would not be coming back after she left.

After she had eaten breakfast one last time and gotten herself cleaned up, Elisa walked to the backdoor and opened it. Before she could leave, however, Teagan raced up behind her to hug her around her waist.

"You – you won't be gone forever, right?" She whispered, so that their parents would not hear.

Elisa nodded. "I'll come back to visit you. Besides, you'll have Matilda. You won't be alone." Matilda was their other sister, who was only barely eight years old. Elisa's heart ached when she thought of leaving them both, but there was simply something about the forest that kept calling to her.

She could no longer ignore it.

Teagan finally released her, and Elisa walked to the edge of the fence. Then, she turned back into her feline form, scaling the fence and dropping over on the other side, racing into the trees before she could be spotted.