Chapter One

Rainpaw rolled his eyes and headed out of the RiverClan camp. His mentor had sent him out to fetch moss for the elders' bedding as punishment for his recent shortness and back-talking. He sighed. He knew he shouldn't regard this chore with as much comtempt as he did; it was, after all, an honor to look after the Clan's elders, but he just couldn't help it. RiverClan was just so boring.

It was the same routine every day, and there weren't even any border disputes to make his apprenticeship a little more interesting. He remembered with a smirk the days when he was a kit and dreamed only of becoming a warrior and serving his Clan, now he couldn't think of anything more boring. Sometimes he dreamed of running away and having his own adventures away from the Clan, but he knew the chance for something as life-changing as that happening to him was smaller than nothing. His life was boring, and he hated it.

With a heavy sigh he bent down to pick up the moss that he had scraped off of the base of a tree and was just heading back to camp when he felt some hare-brained apprentice barrel into him and knock him sprawling to the ground, scattering his moss all over the ground. Picking himself up, he turned to his unintentional attacker and snarled, "What in the name of StarClan were you thinking? Barreling into me like that! Don't you have eyes!?" He could see that the other apprentice was also sprawled out on the floor, but he was already in a bad mood and the prospect of having to gather together all the moss again didn't exactly but him in a better mood.

The other apprentice, a young she-cat named Lakepaw sat up and began hastily apologizing. "I'm sorry, Rainpaw. I didn't see you. I was just in a hurry to get back to camp. There's a strange cat collapsed on our territory, and I felt I ought to alert Brookstar so that she can do something about it."

Immediately forgetting about his moss Rainpaw turned to Lakepaw and said, "No, wait. I've got a better idea. Show me where this strange cat is. I want to see him for myself."

"Okay," meowed Lakepaw nervously, glancing at him out of the corner of her eyes.

Rainpaw was so obsessed over this news that he didn't even notice the glance Lakepaw shot him. This could be my big chance! he thought to himself excitedly. This may be just the thing to turn my life around! He was planning and scheming all the ways that this stranger could help him leave his boring warrior life behind and have a real life full of adventures when Lakepaw brought them to a stop right beside a hollow between two roots of a tree. Directly in front of this hollow lay the stranger.

He had a fiery ginger-red pelt that was covered with scars and old battle-wounds. His fur was bedraggled and tangled up, as if he hadn't groomed himself properly in ages. One of his ears was torn, and he looked scrawnier than a WindClan cat, with muscles that had wasted away to practically nothing. To say the least, he looked a real fright. Nonetheless, Rainpaw was fascinated with him, and stepped forward for a closer look. "Rainpaw, don't!" hissed Lakepaw in warning, but Rainpaw just motioned his tail for her to be quiet and continued forward until he was standing directly above the cat.

Suddenly, the cat's green eyes snapped open and he leapt up and lunged at Rainpaw. However because he was half-starved there was no power in his attack and Rainpaw easily side-stepped him, leaving him to land face-forward in the dirt. He immediately got back onto his paws and whirled around, pouncing on Rainpaw. However, when he landed, he discovered that there was no Rainpaw to land on, and was even more shocked when he felt the weight of the apprentice upon his back, holding him down.

"So," asked Rainpaw calmly, "Are you going to come quietly or are we going to have to chase you off of our land?" The other cat didn't answer, and instead snarled and struggled to get free. He stopped suddenly when he felt cold, sharp claws threatening to dig into his back and Rainpaw whispered in his ear, "I said, are you going to come quietly or are we going to have to force you off our land?"

The other cat was silent for a while, and then, in a croaking voice that sounded as if he hadn't used it in ages, "I guess I'll come quietly then."

"Good," meowed Rainpaw. Turning to Lakepaw, he meowed, "Come here, and stand on the other side of him. We're going to escort him to our camp."

Lakepaw did what she was told, but she still had her doubts. "Rainpaw," she asked over the older cat, "do you really think it's a wise idea to take him straight to our camp? We don't know how many more of them there might be, just waiting to attack us. We could be walking right into a trap."

"Oh come on Lakepaw! Where's your sense of adventure? This could be a once in a lifetime opportunity here."

"To what, get ourselves killed?" Lakesong mewed sourly.

"Besides," continued Rainpaw matter-of-factly, "he's far too skinny for there to be any more of them. If there were a whole Clan of cats, he'd be better fed then this. Now be quiet. He's our prisoner, and we don't exactly want any information to leak out, do we?"

The rest of their journey passed in silence until finally they reached the entrance to the RiverClan camp. The old cat looked in disgust at all of the water surrounding the camp and made a noise of disgust at the back of his throat. "Ugh. What are you cats, fish? I've never seen a cat stick around this much water."

"Yeah, well, you'll be crossing that stream with us, so be prepared to become a cat-fish," meowed Rainpaw bad-temperately.

Lakepaw glanced at him curiously, wondering what had gotten him in such a bad mood all of a sudden, but soon looked away to focus on the task of helping the cat across the stream. Due to lack of a decent meal his senses had dulled along with his sense of coordination, and he constantly had to be helped out of the stream that he kept falling into. All the while they were crossing, he kept muttering to himself, "Never been near so much water in all my life. Don't know how these cats can stand it. Like living in a star-forsaken fishbowl!"

Finally they came to the island that made up the RiverClan camp, and though a sheath of reeds shielded their view, the comforting scent of fish and the gently murmuring voices told Rainpaw that he was home, and without hesitation he stepped through the reeds and into the camp, the stranger and Lakepaw following him. Immediately all of the cats stopped talking and turned their heads as one toward the two apprentices and the newcomer. A deadly silence filled the clearing.

Feeling suddenly awkward at being the focus of the full attention of each and every one of his Clanmates, Rainpaw headed to where Brookstar had emerged from her den and was staring at them curiously, her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the stranger. However, she looked away from him and instead turned her gaze upon Rainpaw, who, though suddenly scared stiff, stood taller and to attention as his blue eyes met her amber ones.

Calmly she asked him, "Rainpaw, why are you back here without the moss your mentor sent you to fetch and who, in the name of StarClan, is this cat you've brought back with you?"

Author's Note : I hope this chapter is long enough for you. I worked until 1:34 in the morning to complete, and it's not even the weekend. Now, if you'll excuse me, I must get to bed. School in the morning.