Cinderpaw was dreaming of running through the forest chasing a mouse. Suddenly the mouse turned around and bared its teeth, catching Cinderpaw off guard. She skidded to a stop as the mouse ran up her legs and began jumping up and down on her shoulder. "Hey. Hey. Hey. You, cat. Get up. Get up, Cat." It squeaked. Cinderpaw groaned and opened her eyes sleepily. Mango was batting at her shoulder. "What do you want?" Cinderpaw muttered. Mango flexed her claws and hissed. "That bossy black cat wants you and your friend to walk me home. He said it's good Warrior training. Whatever." Mango said. Cinderpaw got up and noticed Maplepaw staring at them from the entrance to the den. "Are we ready?" she asked, setting down a pile of herbs. "What the heck is that?" asked Mango. "Traveling Herbs. They give you energy." The small brown cat said, eating one. Mango bounded over and greedily ate one. Her face contorted in disgust. "This tastes like Mouse bile!" Cinderpaw could not help bristling at the new cat's rudeness. Still, she choked down her own helping of herbs.
The three cats marched towards the gorse tunnel and ran into Woodstripe as he came back in. "Where are you three headed?" he asked. "We are taking Mango home, daddy." Cinderpaw purred at the prospect of having an important job to do. "Well, do you have supervision? We can't let you wander about alone. You two are extremely valuable to the clan you know." Woodstripe said and Maplepaw and Cinderpaw purred. "How about I come with you?" Woodstripe offered. "Ok, just don't get in the way." Said Cinderpaw, marching out of the camp. Her friends followed, rolling their eyes. Mango seemed rather quiet the whole way to Twolegplace. Maplepaw fell back to check on her. "What's up?" she asked. "Nothing. I just really liked staying in the camp. Your life seems much better than mine. You always have food and excitement. I get food rarely and the most excitement I have ever gotten is when my Housefolk locked me out of their den and I spent the night outside." Maplepaw sighed with sympathy for this cat.
"We're here, everycat. Mango, is this your place?" Woodstripe asked, looking up at a twoleg fence. Mango shook her head. "No, but I know my way home from here." She said, walking away towards the fence. Suddenly she stopped and looked back. 'Thanks for everything." She said, as if this was her first time thanking anyone. The cats nodded at the curled-eared cat as she leaped onto the fence and trotted away. Woodstripe led the way back to the camp with the two young apprentices trailing behind him. "I feel bad for Mango." Maplepaw said. "Why?" asked Cinderpaw. "She was mean." "Yes, but she is neglected by her twolegs. She was obviously happy with us." Maplepaw said. Cinderpaw agreed thoughtfully. "Yes, but an order's an order. Your dad said to take her home, so we had to." Woodstripe grunted from up ahead. "Come on she-cats. We're almost home."
The next day, Cinderpaw and Maplepaw were training together in the training hollow. "Come on, Maplepaw! Take her out! Take her out!" shouted Heatherfire. Maplepaw and Cinderpaw were practicing fighting, and Cinderpaw was winning by far. "Come on Maplepaw, at least pretend to hit me!" whispered Cinderpaw as she bowled her friend over. "I'm a lover not a fighter! Even pretending to hit you would kill me!" Maplepaw hissed in frustration. "Halt!" shouted Heatherfire. "Take a break. Riverblossom and I have to get back to camp because we're on patrol today. You guys keep practicing." She said. Soon, the two warriors were out of sight. Maplepaw sat down and wailed. "I HATE THIS!" she shouted. "I know, I know. I hate that you hate it. Just-" Cinderpaw was cut off by another wail. "Ok, Maplepaw. Calm down." Cinderpaw sighed. "That wasn't me." Said Maplepaw.
Both cats shrieked as an orange cat rolled into the clearing. "Mango! What are you doing here?" asked Maplepaw. "You're not going to believe this! My housefolk are gone!" she shouted as she knelt in the dirt. "Gone? What do you mean?" asked Cinderpaw, shocked. "Well, yesterday when Woodstripe dropped me off I thought I knew where I was, but it turned out that I didn't. When I finally made it back to my Housefolk's nest, they were gone. The thing in the front yard that they ride in was gone, and all the stuff inside was gone. I have nowhere to go!" Mango cried. Maplepaw and Cinderpaw couldn't believe their friend's words. "We have to bring you back to the camp! Daddy will know what to do." Said Maplepaw, running off towards the camp. A yowl sounded from the direction she ran off in. "Maplepaw!" shouted Mango, running towards the yowl. Maplepaw was sitting on the floor, licking her left front paw. "Are you ok?" asked Mango. "I'm fine. I just wrenched a claw. I have to be more careful next time." Cinderpaw helped her friend back to the camp and into Mosswing's den.
"What happened here?" the medicine cat asked. "Nothing much. I just wrenched a claw in my paw." Maplepaw mewed, wincing as she sat down and held out her paw. Mosswing nodded knowingly and went over to her store of herbs and other remedies. "I need to administer some-" "Comfrey Root, right Mosswing?" asked Maplepaw. Mosswing gazed at her curiously. "Yes! How did you know?" she inquired. Maplepaw smiled. "Well, I sometimes watch you treat other cats. You're amazing at it!" Mosswing purred. "Why, thanks Maplepaw. That's very kind of you to say. Now, can you tell me what to do?" Maplepaw stared at the roots thoughtfully. "Do you chew them?" she asked. "Yes!" said Mosswing. "Very good! You're a regular medicine cat, Maplepaw." The medicine cat chewed the roots, then rubbed the poultice onto Maplepaw's claw. "There! Good as new." She meowed triumphantly. The three cats thanked Mosswing and headed towards Coalstar's den.
Maplepaw poked her head through the curtain of lichen covering the entrance. "Father? Are you in here?" she called. 'Yes, Maplepaw. What is it?" Maplepaw went into the den and beckoned Cinderpaw and Mango to follow. Coalstar was sitting in his nest and looked like he had been asleep. "What is Mango doing here? Woodstripe informed me that you had brought her home!"he said, standing up. "We did, but she showed up today saying that her housefolk had left." Maplepaw explained. "Left? So they are completely gone?" Coalstar asked Mango. "Not a trace of them, sir." Mango assured. Coalstar nodded and ran to the lichen curtain. "Woodstripe! Could you come here?" he called.
Woodstripe entered the Den and looked at Mango confusedly. "What are you doing here?" Coalstar addressed his deputy sharply, saying," She is here because her housefolk are gone. Get a patrol together and go see if this is true. Mango, can you tell Woodstripe anything that would help him find your place?" Mango nodded. "Yes, the fence around my place was brown, but the ones on either side are white. Also, there is an upside-down Crowfood-can. Is that enough information?" she asked. "It should be. I'll get Leaffall and Cedarpool to come on the patrol." Woodstripe said. Coalstar nodded. "Very good." He turned to Mango. "You will just have to stay here for now. If it is true that your housefolk are gone, you will have to stay permanently. However, if this is a trick, you must go back to them, and stay with them. Is that understood?" Mango nodded. "Understood, sir." She led her friends out of the den.
"So, tonight I guess you should sleep in the Apprentice den again." Cindarpaw said, leading her new friend in that direction. "You haven't met Thunderpaw or Sandpaw yet, they were on night patrol when you were here." Maplepaw explained. "Is Sandpaw the ginger cat with the green eyes?" Mango asked. "Yes. Why? Have you met him?" asked Cinderpaw. Mango blushed. "No. I've only seen him from far away. He's…um…" "A jerk." Spat Cinderpaw. Maplepaw chuckled. "He just likes you, Cinderpaw. So does Thunderpaw, have you noticed him constantly staring at you?" Cinderpaw blinked. "Really? I thought when he stared at me he was just being weird. Do you really think he likes me?" she asked, turning around to where Thunderpaw was gazing at her. He quickly turned around. "Of course! Anybody with eyes can see that!" chimed in Mango.
After the evening meal, Woodstripe's patrol returned. Coalstar talked with Woodstripe, then leapt onto the Highrock. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the Highrock for a clan meeting!" he called. All the cats of Thunderclan slunk out of dens and over to the base of the Highrock. A few noticed Mango, and shot questioning glances at each other. "Cats of Thunderclan, some of you may have noticed an unfamiliar face. That is a kittypet that took refuge here recently, but when we sent her home, she returned saying her twolegs had left. I sent Woodstripe on patrol to find out if that was true, and he said it was." Murmurs rippled throughout the clan and mango could feel many eyes on her.
"So, we cannot let her be homeless, and I can tell that she will be very beneficial to us, so I'm letting her stay in the clan." Coalstar finished. Many angry yowls sounded at once. Junipersky, and elder said," We cannot let her in! She isn't clanborn! If she has nowhere to go, let her be a rogue!" many cats yowled agreements. Another elder, Shortooth piped up. "Yeah! And on top of that, Leafbare is almost here, and we barely have enough food to get by! We don't need another mouth to feed!" More cats began hissing and yowling, but a bold warrior, Leaffall, raised her voice above the rest. "That may be true, but think of all the cats who weren't clanborn. Firestar, cloudtail,-" "SCOURGE!" shouted Shortooth. The yowling was almost too much to bear, and Mango sprang onto the Highrock.
"SHUT UP!" she shouted, and every cat was silenced, including Shorttooth. "I don't know who you think I am, or what I would do to your clan if you let me in, so I will tell you! I'm Mango, and I am not a rogue, I'm a cat who hates being a kittypet! I would do anything for this clan, even if you don't want me in it. I have friends here! The only friend I had when I was a kittypet was a goldfish, and eventually I ate him, but that's beside the point! What I'm saying is, I need to be let into the clan! I don't care what you think of me, but I would rather die that live on my own again! Please, I need to stay here." Mango sobbed, leaping down from the highrock.
The cats of the clan sat in stunned silence, until Cinderpaw let out a supportive yowl. Maplepaw joined in, followed by Thunderpaw, Mosswing, Cloverpatch, and Rainpatter, and finally Sandpaw who yelled, "Let Mango stay!" The rest of the cats, except for Shorttooth, eventually supported Mango. Finally, they calmed down enough for Coalstar to speak. "It seems that it is settled. Mango can stay." The clan cheered, and Mango beamed, leaping onto the Highrock to touch noses with her new leader.