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.

FYI, Jaypaw, Hollypaw, and Lionpaw have their warrior names now. It's not a main part of the story, but I just thought I'd mention it.

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.

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

Dawnfur – Tortoiseshell she-cat with blue-gray eyes. Firepaw's sister.

WindClan

Rainpaw – Gray with blue eyes.

Cats Outside Clans

Scratch – White (with ginger patches) tom. Has unusual gray eyes.

Mell – Black tabby she-cat with a scar down one eye. Ice blue eyes.

Sky – Gray and silver fur with a white muzzle. Blue eyes.

Scar – Has ragged white and black fur and no tail. Amber eyes. Rather big and powerful-looking.

Leaf – Black she-cat with leaf-green eyes.

More will be added as the story progresses.

Firepaw glanced about. The sea of fog looked the same all around, and seemed to press in on her. In seconds, she was damp and chilled to the bone.

"Great," she muttered, walking on in the same direction, or so she thought. As a shape loomed out of the mist, her hopes were raised, then dashed as she realized what the structure in front of her was. The ledge! I've been going in circles for an hour! And now I'm back where we sheltered before the fog. Firepaw limped over to the ledge. It still had her and Rainpaw's scent, thought it was very faint after the fog. Firepaw turned around and kept going, very slowly. She winced in pain as her injured foot dragged over rocks and tussocks of grass.

She walked for another hour…

Firepaw saw another figure coming towards her. She stopped, wary of who it would be. The figure turned out to be a cat, about Firepaw's age. She had black fur and dark green eyes. The cat looked surprised to see her.

"You new here? I've never seen you before." The cat sat down a tail-length away from Firepaw.

"Just travelling through the area," Firepaw responded, "So you live here?"

"Yes."

"Then do you know where we are?" Firepaw asked hopefully.

The cat shook her head and smiled ruefully. "No, actually. I'm Leaf."

"Firepaw. You haven't by any chance seen another cat out here, have you? Gray fur, blue eyes?" Firepaw mewed.

"No. You're the first cat out here in the fog I've seen. Most cats stay in their shelters when the fog comes around. They're afraid of getting lost and waiting for the fog to clear."

Firepaw shrugged. "Too late for that."

"Well, good luck on getting wherever you're going." Leaf walked off and disappeared into the fog. Firepaw continued in the direction she was originally going in.

Dawnfur was collecting marigold leaves, which were growing in clumps by the lake. She had gone with Jayfeather to help him get herbs back to the camp, and then he had said he needed to check on something and walked along the shore somewhere. Dawnfur didn't really care where he was going. She missed Firepaw. It had been a half-moon since she was kidnapped, and a day since she had met her sister in a dream. She's alive, I'm sure of that. But, that was last night. Is she alive right now? Dawnfur shook herself and picked up the marigold she had collected as Jayfeather approached her with some cobwebs.

"Let's get back to camp."

Firepaw finished up the vole she had caught. Her leg was getting better, and she was able to walk properly now, as long as she stepped lightly with her injured foot. Firepaw walked some more. After about half an hour, her eyes made out a ray of sunshine ahead. The fog clears up! Firepaw sprinted ahead as fast as her foot would let her, then stopped in surprise and joy. The lake was laid out in front of her, with RiverClan territory next to the Horseplace, the open WindClan territory closest to her, ShadowClan territory on the far side, and best of all, ThunderClan territory to the north. Home at last! The sun sparkled on the water, shimmering and swirling in different shapes.

"It's beautiful," Firepaw murmured.

"Even better, it's home." Firepaw looked sharply to her right, and saw Rainpaw sitting next to her. He smiled, and Firepaw nodded in agreement to what he had said.

"When I was wandering around in the fog, I met this cat called Leaf. She told me she had seen you, and showed me which direction you had gone. I just went the same way."

"I met Leaf too, though she hadn't seen you then." Firepaw looked at the lake again. "I'll see you around, then." She walked away in the direction of ThunderClan territory.

"Wait!" Rainpaw came up to her. "Thank you. I probably wouldn't have made the journey without you, whatever I may have said before."

Firepaw nodded and smiled. "Same here. Thanks." She turned around, and, after seeing Rainpaw travelling to his territory, set off toward hers.