DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Warriors series, nor am I the three people (or so I heard) that use the pen-name Erin Hunter.

Author's note: Thanks for reading my story, ya'll!

Allegiances

In addition to the cats in the Warriors series, the cats are:

ThunderClan

Firepaw – Flame-orange apprentice with piercing green eyes. Daughter of Brightheart and Cloudtail.

Hawkpaw – Black fur and amber eyes. Son of Dustpelt and Ferncloud.

WindClan

Rainpaw – Gray with blue eyes.

More will be added as the story progresses.

A screeching sound filled the air. Firepaw unsuccessfully tried to cover her ears with her paws. The Twoleg monster tilted dangerously before falling over to the side. Firepaw gripped the floor, unsheathing her claws. Her cage tumbled out the back of the monster and its door popped open in the fall. Firepaw, dazed, stumbled out the cage and looked at the wreckage of the monster. Smoke was pouring out an opening, and, not wanting to choke, she ran away into the forest.

Firepaw stopped in a clearing, panting.

Think clearly. I was in the Twoleg monster for quite a while, so I could be anywhere. I have to find out where I am. First, I'd better catch some food. She looked around and scented the air. Not a stir.

Great, I'm in a place with no prey. Firepaw continued through the forest until she reached its edge. Before her stretched open moorland. A solitary rabbit crouched a few feet away from her, nibbling a stalk of grass. Before she could move, something gray burst out of a patch of shrubs and pursued it. Rapidly overtaking the rabbit, the cat pounced on it and killed it with a bite to the neck. Firepaw recognized Rainpaw, a WindClan cat. He may have been from another Clan, but she was just happy to see a Clan cat.

"Rainpaw!" Firepaw yowled joyfully, running towards him.

Rainpaw, who had just crouched down to eat the rabbit, jumped and turned to face her. "You!" he said, making it sound like an accusation, "What are you doing here?"

Firepaw halted in front of him. "The Twolegs must have kidnapped you too. We have to get back to our territories."

Rainpaw nodded briefly before tearing at the rabbit with his teeth.

Firepaw stared longingly at it. "Any chance we could share?"

"No. Catch your own," Rainpaw mewed with his mouth full, not looking up at Firepaw.

"But there's no prey in the forest. And I can't hunt rabbits like you can."



Rainpaw shrugged. "Not my problem."

Firepaw sighed and looked up at the sky, noticing the growing dark.

"We should find shelter, right?" she mewed, trying not to make it seem like a command.

Rainpaw finished his rabbit. "I'm sleeping over there." He gestured with a paw towards a clump of shrubs. "Don't care where you sleep." Firepaw wordlessly walked back to the forest, settling down in the roots of a tree near the moor. Her last thought before she slept was of Rainpaw.

Firepaw woke up to the smell of fresh rabbit. Blinking sleepily, she walked out of the roots of the tree to see a rabbit carcass in front of her. "What's this?" she asked Rainpaw, who was grooming himself on the other side of the rabbit.

Rainpaw looked up. "A rabbit. Haven't you seen one before?"

Firepaw rolled her eyes. "Not that. I mean, aren't you going to eat it?"

"Well, we're both Clan cats, and we have to help each other survive if we want to make it back."

Which is what I was thinking! Firepaw wanted to say. Instead she said, "So it's for me." A statement rather than a question.

"Yes. You need any more hints?" Rainpaw meowed exasperatedly.

Firepaw dug into the rabbit, eating ravenously.

"I'll take that as a 'no'." Rainpaw looked at the rabbit and smiled. "Any chance we could share?" he mewed, repeating Firepaw's words of the day before.

Firepaw laughed. "Sure, you caught it." The two of them finished up the rabbit in a few quick bites between them.

"Now," Firepaw said, "we have to find a way back."