Chapter 7

Windwalker sighed. "I'm thinking about my family. I miss them."

Hedge's tail twitched. "Family?"

"Yeah." Windwalker turned her head to look at him. "Why does that seem weird?"

"Well, it's not 'weird.' But, well, us chipmunks don't really miss our families. After all, it's not like we got a lot of time ta get attached ta anyone. Between Twoleg monsters and cats-no offense-our lives aren't very long. Besides, chipmunk pups leave the nest pretty fast, so we never really know our parents."

Windwalker blinked. "Never thought of it that way. I couldn't imagine not having my family near me."

The chipmunk jumped up onto her head and looked into her eyes. "And yet you're out here in the middle of no where on a quest t' a destination that you don't even know where it is."

"Ironic, isn't it?" the Wanderer meowed. She glanced up to her left. They were passing by a small Twoleg place. Windwalker had never met a human, but judging by the stories from her Clanmates, they were to be feared.

Suddenly, she felt Hedge's claws dig into her pelt. "W-we got c-c-company," he stuttered.

Windwalker turned her head to look behind her to see three pairs of yellow eyes looking at her. Whirling, she growled, "Who are you?"

Three big toms stalked out from beneath the bushes. Two of them wore collars. What do you think you're doing here, runt?" snarled a molted brown tom.

Hedge had scurried down Windwalker's back and was now watching behind them for any other cats.

Upon seeing this, a black and white tom meowed, "Look there, Boss. She's got her own box lunch!"

"Yeah," added a fat gray, "when were done beating her up, we'll have an after-fight snack!" The two cats started laughing.

"Shut up!" roared Boss, gaining an immediate effect over the other two. "Now then, any last words, runt?"

Windwalker lowered herself into a fighter's stance. "I don't see how kittypets are going to make any sort of scratch on a warrior," she meowed.

"Hey, who do you think you are? You're too small to be any good," meowed the black and white.

"Agreed, Rocco. She's too small to even be a runt," the gray added.

"Anything would seem small next to that stomach, eh, buck?" Windwalker mocked.

"How'd she know my name?" the apparent Buck asked.

Hedge's little voice sounded in her ear, "Please don't test them, Windy."

"Enough! Boys, I believe it's lunch time," Boss snarled.

Then he sprang. Hedge leapt from Windwalker's back and hurried into the bushes as the she0cat reared up and brought her claws down to meet Boss's muzzle. The brown hissed in pain as he sprang away. Blood welled up around his nose.

Windwalker heard a twig snap behind her and lashed out with one hind paw. She was rewarded with a grunt from Buck as her paw collided with his chest.

"Boy, this one's tough, Boss!" meowed Rocco.

"Not if we all jump her at the same time!" Boss roared.

True to his word, all three toms sprang at her at the same time. Windwalker for once in her life thanked StarClan for her small size. She dropped down and rolled. All three toms landed on each other, snarling, scratching, and biting.

Boss was the first to dislodge himself from the tangle. "You idiots! She's getting away!" Instantly, Buck and Rocco froze, Rocco's leg still in Buck's jaws, just in time to see the tip of a white tail vanish into the bushes. "Get her!" Boss growled.

Windwalker could hear the toms crashing through the bushes behind her. The bushes fell away into woods. Windwalker picked up speed and raced so close to trees that her whiskers touched them. Moments later, she heard Buck's body slam into a tree. And then there were two, she thought to herself.

Dirt became rock beneath her paws as she entered the Twoleg place. Just as she was about to zip around a corner, she heard someone call to her "Up here!"

Windwalker skidded to a stop ad looked up. Sitting on the ledge of a high window sat Hedge. "Climb up the vines!" he cried.

Windwalker leapt up and tried to grab the vines that grew up the side of the building, but they were too weak to hold her, and she started to slip back down. A cat is not a chipmunk, she felt like yelling at Hedge, when she descent stopped. Her paws were sitting on a white piece of wood. Her eyes traveled up the building. More pieces of white wood went up its side. She started climbing up them just as she heard Rocco's and Boss's growls approaching her. As she reached the halfway point, she felt teeth nip her hind paw. She kicked out, landing a sound blow on Rocco's chin. He screamed as he fell off and landed with a thud on the ground.

"I'm going to get you, runt," Boss growled. Windwalker jumped up and hooked her paws on the ledge that Hedge was standing on. She pulled herself into the building. As she leapt down onto the floor, the window slammed shut. She turned around in time to see Boss's face hit the window.

A smoky gray she-cat with a white belly jumped down from where she had closed the window. Boss's muffled threats still permeated the window. The she-cat stared at him through the glass before yelling back, "Get out of here!" then she grabbed a string and yanked. A piece of cloth fell down, covering the window.

"And that's that," she meowed to herself. She then turned to Windwalker. The little bell on her collar tinkled as she did so. "Before we have any introductions, I need to check something."

She padded past Windwalker and into another room. She jumped up onto a windowsill and looked out. Windwalker jumped up next to her in time to see Buck stumble out of the woods. Rocco limped into view from around the side of the building, along with a very irritated looking Boss. Boss cuffed Buck then gave the order for the two cats to follow him.

The she-cat sighed. "Too bad, they're still alive," she sighed. She leapt down and sat with her tail curled around her paws. Windwalker landed lightly beside her. "You had some guts to take on that bunch. Who are you anyway, Wondercat?"

"Naw, she's Windy, my best friend," Hedge squeaked, scampering into the room. He jumped up onto Windwalker's back and pulled himself up to her head. He settled down between her ears.

"Um, I'm Windwalker, formerly of MysticClan," the silver-striped she-cat mewed. "And you are?"

"Willow," the she-cat meowed. "What's MysticClan? And how did you end up with a rat as you're best friend?"

"Chipmunk," Windwalker and Hedge said at the same time.

Okay, A/N time. Yes, it's a chipmunk. Why? I like rodents as well as cats. Plus, I have plans. (Everyone: ooh, aah.) Secondly, I'm going to start focusing more on Windwalker and not so much on the Clans she left. Why? It's too confusing to go back and forth. Lastly, Willow is my aunt's cat, and I wanted to put her into the story. Why? She's my aunt's cat for crying out loud!