A/N: Sorry I haven't updated in a while...I've been sick in bed (I think I caught Niah-Miyoki's cold...O.o) and actually still am sick. I've dragged myself out of bed for my readers!!!! I love you guys...

Cherrypaw opened her eyes to an unfamiliar wall. Without moving, she sniffed the air, detecting a strange scent in her nostrils. Wearily, she stumbled to her paws and looked around the area.

Walls… she thought apprehensively, peering around. These are all Twoleg things…

Cherrypaw jumped at her own though: she was in a Twoleg nest!

Panicking, she glanced around, paws working at the soft, comfortable material beneath her. She looked down. The material was bright red, and squishy, like some sort of moss-filled pelt. When she looked around, the others were sleeping peacefully on the same thing.

Still shocked about her surroundings, Cherrypaw dashed over to where Snowstorm was sleeping. She poked at her mentor's side until her eyes opened dizzily.

"What is it, Cherrypaw?" Snowstorm hissed in irritation.

"Where are we?"

Snowstorm's eyes finally opened fully as she looked around and tasted the air. She got to her paws and padded around, kneading at the comfortable object and stepping off of it, onto the hard wooden ground.

"We're in a human house," said a strange voice from behind Cherrypaw. She recognized it, but didn't remember where she heard it.

When she turned around, she saw a beautiful black, white, and grey tortoiseshell she-cat padding calmly toward them. She had a white belly, paws, and muzzle, and a black tail-tip. But her most distinguishing feature was her mesmerizing, piercing blue eyes.

"Who are you?" Snowstorm asked cautiously.

But the she-cat turned around and headed back into the shadows. Cherrypaw stared after, remembering where she'd heard the voice.

That Twoleg! she thought. That's the voice of the Twoleg who spoke to me!

Snowstorm sniffed at the air. "Cherrypaw, she went outside," she meowed quietly, but urgently. "There's an opening to the outdoors somewhere around here. We have to find it and find that she-cat."

Cherrypaw nodded. "Should I wake the others?"

"I think it would be best if it were just the two of us," Snowstorm answered. "Let's go."

Cherrypaw nodded eagerly and dashed over to Snowstorm's side.

"The scent is coming from over there," Snowstorm meowed, flicking her tail in the direction of a giant sheet of what looked like un-melting ice. The two trotted over to the ice and jumped onto the ledge beneath it.

Snowstorm peered through the ice. "There's more than one cat. Cherrypaw we have to find these cats. Maybe Valley is among them."

Cherrypaw nodded. "Also, maybe they could become RainClan cats," she suggested. "Icepaw and I are the only apprentices in RainClan, and who knows when Skyfeather's kits will be born? We need more cats."

Snowstorm hesitated, but finally nodded agreeable. "You're exactly right, Cherrypaw," she mewed softly. "We do need more cats, and Valley would be a good extension."

"But we still don't know if Valley is there," Cherrypaw put in. "But that she-cat did look promising…"

"Let's go," Snowstorm meowed, leaping through the small gap in the ice. Cherrypaw followed her and plummeted to the soft ground. Her sore paws welcomed the familiar grass gratefully after pelting across the hard Thunderpath stone and the hard wood ground of the Twoleg nest.

Breathing in the sweet scents of the Twoleg garden, Cherrypaw followed her snowy mentor through the grass and decorative flowers. She tasted the air every now and then, trying to find where the tortoiseshell went.

Snowstorm hopped up on the white garden fence and stared out across the other fences. Cherrypaw stayed on the ground and peered around through the fence gaps.

"Cherrypaw," Snowstorm gasped. "You'd better look at this."

Cherrypaw leaped up next to Snowstorm curiously. When she gazed out beyond the fence, she inhaled sharply.

Twoleg nests. Everywhere. Not a tree in sight.

"Snowstorm…" she muttered, "the Twolegs took us in. This is a Twolegplace…we're…"

"No," Snowstorm interrupted sharply. "We're not kittypets. That she-cat must have been warning us somehow…by speaking to us as a Twoleg…"

"But how could she have possibly been the Twoleg?" Cherrypaw questioned. "That's impossible!"

Snowstorm shrugged. Suddenly, she thrust her head to the side. Cherrypaw heard it too: a snapping twig in the Twoleg garden next to the one they were in.

Snowstorm leaped across to the other garden and nosed around. Cherrypaw followed her a little more cautiously. She didn't know what made the snapping noise, since the scent was covered by the sickly-sweet flowers.

"It's her," Snowstorm hissed urgently. "It's that she-cat."

Immediately, the tortoiseshell darted out from underneath a rose bush and lunged up the fence. She hopped down onto the stone path next to the Thunderpath and pelted along it, never stopping to glance backward.

Snowstorm and Cherrypaw instantly gave chase. They darted down the stone path, every now and then glancing at the Thunderpath, making sure no monsters decided to crawl off of it.

Eventually, the tortoiseshell made a sharp left and disappeared behind a Twoleg nest. The pursuing cats imitated her movements only to see another endless stretch of path and Thunderpath.

"This can't go on," Cherrypaw mewed breathlessly. "If she wanted us to follow us, she'd stop and wait."

Snowstorm nodded. "You have a point," she meowed, "but I still think we should follow her. She may be important."

Cherrypaw nodded reluctantly and started sprinting down the path, Snowstorm right beside her.

Finally, the she-cat's scent grew stronger, and Cherrypaw realized that she was waiting for the two cats. She stopped at an alleyway between two Twoleg nests, staring into the darkness. Something was drawing her in, but she didn't quite know what.

"What is it?" Snowstorm panted. "Is she there?"

Cherrypaw squinted in frustration. "I honestly don't know," she responded. "But I think she wants us to go through that alley."

Snowstorm blinked dubiously, but eventually padded forward through the two nests. Cherrypaw followed her, sniffing curiously.

"You're right," Snowstorm meowed after some time. "She went here. Good scenting, Cherrypaw."

The two cats padded down the alley, pausing for a moment to let their eyes adjust to the darkness.

Suddenly, a sharp movement to Cherrypaw's left drew her closer. She tiptoed to the side of the alley and sniffed curiously. "She went over here," she meowed to Snowstorm, who followed her apprentice cautiously.

Snowstorm took a sniff. "You're right," she meowed. "And there are definitely more of them, probably all rogues. If we can teach them the warrior code, maybe they'll be able to serve in RainClan as apprentices."

Cherrypaw nodded, suddenly rather eager to meet the group of rogues. She felt superior to them somehow, since she knew about StarClan and the warrior code, and these cats didn't.

"Who is it?" a nervous voice mewed from behind the fence on the back of the alley.

"Be queit, Harriet," another voice meowed firmly. "You'll alert them."

Snowstorm and Cherrypaw exchanged anxious glances before padding forward. Snowstorm leaped on top of the fence and looked down, a look of wonder playing on her face.

"What?" Cherrypaw called up. "What is it?" She bunched her leg muscles together and took a giant leap to the top of the fence. She glanced at Snowstorm before peering down into the clearing below.

Three enormous pine trees were placed around a big rock surrounded with some type of Twoleg invention.

Cherrypaw's eyes widened. "This must be the clearing Skyfeather talked about," she mewed incredulously. "I can't believe we found it…"

Snowstorm didn't say anything. She simply leaped down from the fence and padded through the grass. "Oh, Cherrypaw, this feels wonderful after the hard stone of the Thunderpath."

Cherrypaw hopped nimbly down to the lush green grass and padded around. Snowstorm was right. It felt marvellous to be walking on grass again, like the forest. For a moment, Cherrypaw closed her eyes and pictured her home, the forest. She pretended to feel light breezes and the shade of the oak trees around her.

When she opened her eyes, she saw Snowstorm padding toward the three pines. She bounded to her side and tasted the air. "Snowstorm, the cats are near," she meowed quietly. "What if Valley isn't with them?"

"This is the clearing Skyfeather mentioned," Snowstorm replied. "If he isn't here, I don't know where he'd be."

"We have to go back and get the others," Cherrypaw meowed decisively. "Whitepaw said he knows Valley. Remember? We have to get him, and the others!"

Snowstorm flicked her tail over Cherrypaw's mouth as a symbol for silence. Cherrypaw reluctantly obeyed and padded forward silently. Snowstorm halted at the edge of the clearing.

Suddenly, a twig snapped under one of the bushes guarding the clearing. Snowstorm sat down and gave her chest a quick lick before calling out, "Come out, whoever you are."

The bush rustled slightly, and many anxious mews sounded from the clearing all around.

"Stay back," Cherrypaw heard a desperate voice meow firmly to her fellow cats. "I'll take care of this." When the small she-cat stepped forward, the dim sunlight reflected brightly off her pelt. She was a black, white, and grey tortoiseshell cat with a white belly, muzzle, and paws, and a black tail tip. Her eyes were an icy blue that seemed to catch Cherrypaw's attention. She recognized her instantly as the Twoleg-cat. "What do you want?" the she-cat hissed.

"We come with peace," Snowstorm mewed, trying to calm the cat. "I come here to tell you of horrible things happening in the forest I live in. We need all the help we can get, and you will be offered a position in my Clan."

The tortoiseshell eyed Snowstorm sceptically for a moment. Finally, she approached Snowstorm more fully and sat down. She licked her paw and drew it over her ear thoughtfully. Finally, she mewed quietly as her friends padded forward slowly, "Very well. Let's make a deal."

Snowstorm's expression altered slightly to that of a pleasantly-surprised one. "A deal?" she echoed. "You don't seem too surprised to see us here."

The she-cat shrugged. "Do I not look familiar to you?"

"I know who you are!" Cherrypaw exclaimed, coming forward. "You're that Twoleg-cat who saved me and my friends from the Thunderpath."

The tortoiseshell cocked her head slightly. "Thunderpath?" she mewed. "Oh, you mean the road. The street? That's Old Cauldron Road I saved you from. A car was about to devour you whole."

"Car?" Snowstorm echoed, confusion playing about her eyes. "Old Cauldron Road? I have no idea what you're talking about."

The cat chuckled slightly and sighed. "Let me show you around," she mewed. "My name is Speck, by the way."

Snowstorm nodded. "I'm Snowstorm, and this is my apprentice, Cherrypaw."

Speck gave the two amused looks before turning around and padding toward her friends. "Come on," she meowed. "Let's show them where we live." She turned to a smoky-black she-cat and meowed, "Bella, you'll be their guard."

The cat nodded and padded up to the two RainClan cats. "I'm Bella," she meowed welcomingly. "Bella of Coal Pack."

Cherrypaw gave Bella a strange look. "Coal Pack?" she meowed, puzzled. "You mean, you live in Packs instead of Clans?"

Bella shrugged. "Do you live in Clans?"

Snowstorm nodded. "We're from RainClan. Our friends are back in a Twoleg nest somewhere down the Thunderpath."

Bella chuckled. "I have no idea what you're talking about. I caught this though: you call streets 'Thunderpaths.' Just so you know, Speck already told you that the Thunderpath's name is Old Cauldron Road. And what was that? Twolegs?"

"Yes," Snowstorm responded. "The big creatures that stand on only two legs."

Bella nodded. "Humans," she meowed. "That's what cats of the Packs call them. Humans."

Cherrypaw took note of this and followed Bella toward the centre of the clearing. Speck leaped on top of the big rock in the middle. Another she-cat—Cherrypaw noticed that all of the cats were she-cats—hopped on top of one of the Twoleg things, Cherrypaw recalled Skyfeather calling them stick-forms. She was tan with grey flecks, and had one black ear and a black muzzle. She stared up at Speck expectantly.

"This is Threetrees, the place where all three Packs meet every full moon," Speck called down to Cherrypaw and Snowstorm.

Snowstorm nodded. "It's a lot like the clearing where we live, except we have four big oaks. We call it Fourtrees, and all four Clans meet there every full moon."

Speck nodded. "I see," she meowed. "I am the First of Coal Pack. Firsts lead their Packs. My Second is Butterfly. Seconds are second in command."

"Like leaders and deputies," Cherrypaw observed under her breath.

"In our Clans, the Firsts are called leaders, and the Seconds are called deputies," Snowstorm explained. "It's very much the same."

"You said Cherrypaw here was your apprentice," Butterfly meowed. "The Packs have something like apprentices too, but we call them trainers."

Speck nodded. "Allow me to introduce the rest of my Pack," she meowed. "As you know, I am Speck, Coal Pack's First. Butterfly is Coal Pack's Second. Our fighters are Bella, Star, Seaspray, and Sugar. Our trainers are Harriet, Alice, Cassie, and Feather."

It felt like some kind of balloon deflated inside of Cherrypaw's chest. Speck failed to mention Valley.

Cherrypaw also noticed Snowstorm's disconsolation. She perked up and meowed, "Do you know a cat named Valley?"

Speck nodded. "Valley is the First of Diamond Pack," she answered. "He leads a Pack of toms."

Snowstorm got to her paws excitedly. Cherrypaw remembered that the full moon was coming, and thought it would be possible to meet Valley.

"Do you know Valley?" Bella questioned.

"We're searching for him," Snowstorm replied. "He's very important to help the forest we live in."

Speck nodded. "Yes, you said something about your forest. What's happening?"

"Twolegs—humans—are coming to destroy our territory. A queen in RainClan, Skyfeather, told us to find the cat with a black ending. We assumed that meant a black tail. Valley has a black tail, does he not?"

The cat that Speck indicated as Star nodded. She was a brown and tan tortoiseshell and was rather small for what Speck called fighters. Cherrypaw assumed that fighters were the equivalent of warriors.

"Valley has a black tail," Star mewed.

"But I do not know how he could help you and your forest," Butterfly added. "He's very oblivious to the outside world."

Snowstorm looked down at her paws in puzzlement. That was Cherrypaw's time to speak up. "Could we meet with him anyway?"

Speck nodded. "I can take you there, to Diamond Pack's home. But not right now. I need to speak to you in private. Do you need a place to stay?"

Snowstorm nodded. "A place to stay would be nice."

Speck leaped off of the rock, followed by Butterfly. "Come on," she meowed to the rest of the cats. "Let's go to our home."

Snowstorm began padding forward, but Cherrypaw stopped her. "Snowstorm, what about Dustcloud, Frostfur, and Whitepaw?"

Snowstorm nodded. "Right, can you remember your way back to the Twoleg nest?"

Cherrypaw nodded vigorously. "I can manage."

Snowstorm nodded. "If you can, find them. If they've disappeared, come straight back here, okay? I'll ask Speck to send a warrior, er, fighter out to meet you."

Cherrypaw nodded and bounded away from the group of cats filing through the bushes of the Threetrees clearing. She didn't spare one glance backward as she leaped the fence and raced down the alley, out of sight from the Coal Pack cats.