Oh my god. I haven't updated in a month. What is wrong with me?!?! I'm so sorry you guys, I hadn't realized it's been so long. I promise to update more frequently. Anyways, I hope you like this chapter!

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"Admit it. We're lost!"

"We're not lost. You're just being pessimistic."

"We are lost! We haven't seen the Stream-bed in hours."

Darkpaw lashed her tail in annoyance. Mothpaw and Owlpaw's bickering was grating on her nerves. And Owlpaw should stop being so stubborn, they were lost! They'd been wandering pointlessly through the forest for hours. Dusk was falling, and it only added too the fear of the unknown world around them.

She finally yowled, "Stop it, both of you! We. Are. Lost. Get over it! Arguing isn't going to help anything."

Owlpaw ducked his head unhappily. He was supposed to being taking care of his sister and the younger apprentice, but he was useless here!

Mothpaw rolled her eyes. "Can we at least get some food?" she whined. "I haven't eaten since dawn!"

"Fine," said Darkpaw. "I'm hungry too. Let's split up and see what we can catch."

The twins nodded and immediately bounded off in different directions. Darkpaw watched them go, then turned and started creeping into the brush. After ten minutes or so, she heard a pattering of small feet. Twisting her ears, she spied a squirrel digging at seeds. With a huge, single bound, she landed inches from it. Like most ForeverClan cats, she was poor at hunting land creatures, but the squirrel had never seen a cat and it hesitated long enough for Darkpaw to swipe at it. It ran, but one quick bite and it was all over.

Proudly carrying her catch in her mouth, Darkpaw bit down into the juicy meat but stopped, remembering Mothpaw and Owlpaw were hungry too. With regret, she buried the squirrel and didn't return until she'd caught another one and a crow to go along. Scooping up the fresh-kill by their tails, she trotted back to the small clearing where they had separated.

The two tabbies that were her best friends in the world were already there, sharing a fluffy rabbit. Darkpaw spit her three pieces of prey at their feet, and their eyes grew round.

"You caught all that?" Mothpaw asked, surprised. "Great job, Darkpaw!"

"Thanks," she mewed, starting on a squirrel. It tasted so good, almost better than the fish she normally ate. "Did either of you find anything interesting?"

"Actually, I did," mewed Owlpaw. "A huge clearing with strange animals in it."

Darkpaw pricked her ears excitedly. "Really? I want to go see!"

"I'll show you when we're done eating," Owlpaw promised.

They finished quickly, hiding the last bits of food for later, and trotted in the direction Owlpaw said the animals were. Darkpaw bounced eagerly. This would be the most fun she had all day!

They pushed through the bracken to find themselves standing on the edge of the clearing. It smelled strangely, and was completely encircled by strange white trees.

"Come look," mewed Owlpaw, moving closer. "Aren't they the weirdest things you've ever seen?"

Darkpaw padded forward, slipping under the white tree-thing. Inside it were several dozen of the strange animals. Owlpaw raced up to the nearest one.

"Careful!" Mothpaw warned, but Owlpaw ignored her.

"It's okay, they're harmless!" he yowled over to them. "Come on!"

Darkpaw shared a look with Mothpaw, and the two moved closer warily. The animal made no move toward them, just stared at them with its big brown eyes.

It's amazing, Darkpaw thought. The creature was a bit taller than a coyote, with stone feet like deer and a mass of fluffy white fur. It chewed on grass, still staring stupidly at her.

Mothpaw stretched out a paw to pet its thick fur. "It's so soft!" she exclaimed, sinking her front paws into it. Owlpaw twined himself around its legs.

Darkpaw purred, rubbing on the big animal. "It's like a cloud!" she laughed. The creature bent its head down to sniff at her. She licked its nose happily.

"Wait till we tell the Clan about this!" Mothpaw said. "Little deer that look like clouds! They'll never believe us!"

Darkpaw nodded in agreement and prepared to spring onto the little cloudy deer's back when a new voice rang out.

"Hey, what are you young ones doing there?!" Darkpaw whirled on surprise, arching her back defensively. An old, graying she cat was limping over towards them, a suspicious look on her face. "You stop bothering that sheep this instant!"

Mothpaw backed away from the sheep, an apologetic look on her face. "I'm sorry," she mewed hastily. "I didn't know this was your sheep."

"They're not my sheep," the she cat huffed when she reached them. "They're the human's pets." Darkpaw barely noticed what she'd said. The apprentice was too busy staring at her in surprise. The old cat's face was strangely squashed in, her muzzle barely there. What horrible accident caused that?! Darkpaw wondered. Other than her unnatural looking face, she appeared normal with fluffy ginger fur and white paws.

"Humans live here?" asked Owlpaw in surprise.

"Of course they do, do you think I built this?" she grumbled, gesturing to tree-pen around them. Owlpaw shook his head. "It was a rhetorical question, sheep-brain, of course cats can't build fences!"

Darkpaw silently catalogued these new words. Sheep, fence, pets.

Now another cat was running towards them. It was a tom, much younger than the she cat. He skidded to a stop next to his companion and said, "Ginger, who are they?"

"How should I know?" Ginger muttered. "Just some stray kittens bothering the sheep."

The tom (who was a lanky brown tabby with green eyes), mewed politely, "I'm sorry if Ginger snapped at you, she's like that some time. I'm Cooper, by the way. Welcome to Haycomb Farm."

"Hi, Tom," Darkpaw mewed. "My name is Darkpaw, and these are my friends Owlpaw and Mothpaw." She nodded to each of them in turn.

He cocked his head curiously. "Not from around here, are you?" he said.

"No." Owlpaw stepped forward. "We were just interested in seeing the sheep. We can leave now."

"Oh, it's no problem if you want to stay," Cooper meowed, smiling. Ginger muttered inaudibly, grooming her thick pelt. "We stay in the barn right over there. There's plenty of room for visitors."

The three friends glanced at each other. Could Cooper be trusted?

Glancing back over his shoulder, Cooper mewed, "You might want to decide quickly, or the dogs might find you."

"We'll stay," Darkpaw quickly decided. After all, Mothpaw and Owlpaw were warrior-age and all three of them were trained for battle. They could take on a couple of kittypets if necessary.

Cooper smiled and Ginger rolled her eyes. "Let's go, then," Cooper mewed cheerfully. "Don't want to meet up with the dogs!" With that, he turned and started trotting towards the barn, Ginger shuffling after him.

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And there you have it. I hope this chapter was worth reading! What should happen next? I already know what will, but if anyone has any good ideas…

Quick fun fact: Cooper's name was originally going to be Tom, but then I thought 'Tom the tom? No.' So I changed it. As for Ginger, I just love her grumpiness!

Remember to review! It's one of my poorer chapters in terms of writing skills, but that's okay, at least it's somewhat interesting.