Hi, everyone! If you're in Murica, happy Murica day like two days late. Or, if you're in Canada, happy Canada day like four days late! After that, I'm not super good at my country days. So if your country had a birthday, too, congratulations on that.

Awkward into aside, as promised, here's Chapter 17! It features Mountainstone and Skysong and their friends. Yay patrol time! And also some action, because it's been too long since we've had any fighting badassery in this fic.

Alternate title: Into the Woods

Enjoy! And remember that I don't own anything!

Chapter 17: A Twisted Trail

"It doesn't make sense," said Hazeltail. "What motivation would WindClan have to kidnap Lionstar and Icecloud? Even if it is about Littlefalcon's…thing…"

"You're right," said Cinderheart. "It seems extreme for anyone to take a leader and his mate so far out of the territories."

"And it'd take a lot of planning," added Toadstep.

Mountainstone tried to ignore their speculation and follow the trail of scents he identified as his father and mother. They were all right, of course – kidnaping another leader and dragging them so far outside the territories was ridiculous. No more ridiculous than cats with magical powers to set fire to a Gathering or never be injured in battle, he supposed, but for cats with so little understanding of what was going on…

"We should rest soon," said Skysong, appearing at Mountainstone's shoulder. "It will be sunup in a little while. We've been walking all through the night."

"This trail is only a day old," said Mountainstone. "If we don't follow it as far as it goes, it will get stale."

"I agree with Mountainstone," said Cinderheart. Mountainstone glanced over his shoulder to see her worried blue eyes. "The sooner we find Icecloud and Lionstar, the sooner we know they're safe."

"If we let them get out of our range, who knows what could happen," added Toadstep. "I don't know what they're planning."

"It seems like a long way to drag Lionstar," said Hazeltail. "There's got to be a reason for the location, right? If they wanted to hurt them, they could have done that in WindClan's camp."

"We don't know this is WindClan." Greyheart trailed a little behind them all and wasn't speaking much. Mountainstone didn't know how to get to him. In the back of his mind, he wondered if his confrontation with Littlefalcon was still bothering him.

"Of course we do," scoffed Toadstep. "Who else could it be?"

"RiverClan, for one," said Cinderheart. "They're definitely not on our side."

"If you ask me, they're working together," said Hazeltail. "Maybe RiverClan did the kidnapping, but WindClan let them drag Lionstar and Icecloud through their territory. Even if Whitestar didn't send warriors to help, she turned a blind eye to the whole thing." The grey-and-white she-cat hissed lightly. "It's pathetic, this fighting."

"Do you think any of this has to do with that one Gathering?" said Cinderheart. "Willowshine accused us of turning away from StarClan."

"Which is ridiculous," said Toadstep. "That's nothing more than a cover-up for them being afraid of Littlefalcon. We've got an ultimate leader, and they're afraid. Nothing more than that."

Mountainstone looked straight ahead, taking his steps faster and jumping to the top of a hill to look around. They were beginning to fade into the forest, having left the Moontree behind them hours ago. It would be difficult to navigate an unknown terrain in the dark, especially on a night with such a little moon. He sighed.

Hazeltail sniffed the air after coming to stand next to him.

"We'll have to go deeper into the forest?" she said. "That doesn't seem like a WindClan move. They would want to stay in the open."

"Maybe it's just a way to throw us off the trail," said Toadstep. "They've clearly made it difficult for us to find Lionstar and Icecloud."

"But they've left a pretty neat trail," said Greyheart, bending to sniff at the turned-up grass. "If they really wanted us not to find them, they would have made Lionstar and Icecloud disguise their scents so we'd lose the trail."

"There's still time for that," said Skysong bitterly. "Maybe they just needed to put some distance between them and ThunderClan."

"We'll find them," said Mountainstone.

"Maybe Skysong's right, and we should rest," said Greyheart. He tilted his head. "The trail will be harder to follow in the forest, and it's a dark night. We should get a few hours of sleep and explore in the daylight."

"I'm getting hungry," admitted Toadstep.

"I don't want to lose the trail," muttered Mountainstone. He glared ahead, into the thickly clustered trees. He reached out with his senses, but it was already getting difficult to smell much in the trees. This forest was thicker and more musky than the one they were used to. It would be hard to scent much of anything.

"We should be at our best," said Skysong. She touched her tail tip to his shoulder, and Mountainstone glared at her. She was going to do the thing she always did, where she stuck her chin up and declared that she was right because she was right.

Go on, Skysong, I dare you. Skysong read the look in his eyes clearly.

"How about this," she said. "We'll rest until sunup. We'll hunt, and then we'll walk for a little bit. It won't be a big sacrifice of time. Besides, I'm sure whoever took Icecloud and Lionstar also stopped to rest around now."

"That's a good point," conceded Hazeltail. Mountainstone glanced around the party and noticed that they were all nodding slowly. Cinderheart looked hesitant. For a moment, Mountainstone thought she might protest.

"Only for a little while," said the tabby she-cat.

"We'll rest just inside the cover of the forest," said Skysong, and she led them down the ridge to the line of trees.

As they approached, the dizzying scent of wet moss and thick brush nearly overwhelmed everything. This forest was musky and hot. It was difficult for even him to make out the distinct scents of Lionstar and Icecloud weaving away through the trampled undergrowth before them. Skysong gathered them at the roots of a tree a few feet from the evident scent trail.

"I'll keep watch," said Mountainstone.

"Don't tire yourself out," said Skysong. "Wake one of us if you get sleepy." Mountainstone nodded, although he had no intention of getting sleepy. Not while WindClan and RiverClan had his parents under their paws. Toadstep was the first to curl up, followed by Hazeltail, who waved her tail gratefully to Mountainstone. Greyheart touched his nose to Skysong's ear and murmured something to her. Mountainstone considered opening his hearing up a little bit so he could hear Skysong's whispered response, but it wasn't worth it. Cinderheart sighed and stretched, glancing at Mountainstone.

"We'll find your parents," she said. "I'll take guard when we want to switch." Mountainstone nodded, and she stretched out beside Hazeltail. When Skysong and Greyheart had found a splash of grass where they could romantically curl up back-to-back, Mountainstone sighed and let himself sit down. The forest around them settled into a warm, musky tangle of trees and overlapping scents. He already knew he wouldn't like looking through these trees. Whatever WindClan and RiverClan had done, it was an intensely impressive plan. They had done enough to overwhelm Lionstar and Icecloud. Mountainstone had no idea what could have done that, unless Lionstar had let himself be taken, but…but he would never have let them take him out so far. Maybe they had captured Icecloud first, and Lionstar had come to rescue her. But Icecloud's scent was no weaker than Lionstar's, and they had been hunting together.

He tried to puzzle out an answer and didn't come up with one. The mossy scent of the forest was overwhelming, and the rush of so many smells made his head hurt. Add that to hearing every rise and fall of his Clanmates' chests along with the obnoxious screaming of the crickets and the crunching of mice through the trees, and his fur was on edge.

Mountainstone found himself thinking of the fire again, and the way Bluemoon had glared up at him so accusingly. Greyheart had to be thinking the same things as his sister. He had to have been feeling the same pain at not knowing what he was involved in. Mountainstone was generally good at picking up on the relationships between cats, but he couldn't figure out Skysong and Greyheart, no matter how hard he tried. Last time he checked, it had been like Greyheart was avoiding Skysong. Or maybe Littlefalcon's speech had changed that, because Greyheart was clearly still enamored with Skysong. Honestly, Mountainstone wouldn't let it bother him.

He let the time stretch out before him until his bones grew stiff from sitting and watching. His senses roamed freely as he ran out of things to think about. Now it was like he was fading into the forest, sensing each tiny mouse paw scramble through the earth, feeling his way through the thick moss and the thin insects on each limb of the trees and each formation of rocks. In the trees above him, squirrels crept through the branches, each pawstep slow…no, wait…squirrels didn't prowl like that.

Mountainstone opened his eyes in a rush as he felt the danger creeping over him. He took a deep breath to assess his situation. Fourteen cats slinking through the trees above their head. Clanless. Distinctly so – not even a masked scent, just the scent of the musk, the very familiar scent of the forest.

Skysong, wake Greyheart up, and be quiet about it. He felt his sister's mind stir, and her blue eyes opened, slivers against her grey face.

What's happening? As best as he could, Mountainstone sent a snapshot of what he was picking up. Skysong's eyes narrowed in determination, and then she had leaned over to murmur something in Greyheart's ear. Mountainstone had to admire her conviction. Even if things were uncomfortable between them, she was making it look like she was whispering simple and sweet nothings to a mate. Perfect. Yawning dramatically, Mountainstone moved to prod Cinderheart in the side. He bent down to her ear.

"Someone is creeping up on us," said Mountainstone. "In the trees. I want to wake everyone up before they attack."

"Slow movements, got it," murmured Cinderheart. She turned to Hazeltail behind her. Each step deliberate and slow, Mountainstone made his way over to Toadstep and lay down, feeling his muscles protest. No, he knew how this would go. These cats wanted a surprise attack. If they felt threatened, they would attack before they were ready. His body wanted to fight, but he made himself stop.

"Toadstep," muttered Mountainstone. "Don't move quickly. Move slowly. Pretend you're asleep, but get ready. We're about to be under attack."

He could feel all his Clanmates looking at him now, disguising their movements as waking turns. But Mountainstone could feel Toadstep tensing behind him. He saw Greyheart's claws slide out against the grass. Carefully, Mountainstone inhaled and made a roadmap of smells. Three were in the tree above him, four in the tree to the right, four to the one to the left. The last three were gathered in the tree directly ahead of them. It was a well-planned attack, with those last three preparing to cut them off should they try to escape back onto the moor. He heard in the darkness his Clanmates prepare for an attack, and he smirked. Clearly, the cats trying to ambush them hadn't been anticipating their home to be invaded by well-trained warriors.

And they hadn't been anticipating one of them to be able to break a branch by flicking his ears.

"Move to the right," said Mountainstone in a level voice. He could feel his attackers preparing to swoop down, hearing him speak. "Three, two, one."

As every single ThunderClan cat dived to the right side of their makeshift camp, Mountainstone snapped the branch on which two of the three cats above them were balancing. The cats howled down from the tree, screeching in surprise as they plummeted, and then down came all the others in a hollering mess, clearly meant to surround and intimidate them.

But it wouldn't work, and Mountainstone felt the thrum of a battle pound between his ears as he slipped into the cadence of the fight. A mottled she-cat spun in front of him, and Mountainstone smoothly sent her reeling into the tree adjacent. He pivoted on one paw to take out a huge, ugly tomcat that roared at him from the darkness. One paw moving to slam down on his head, Mountainstone slammed his other shoulder into the tom, making him reel right into the pawstrike that came down, raining scratches down onto his nose. Mountainstone could hear his Clanmates fighting, too. He could hear their distinctive battle cries, and in the vibrations pounding on the forest floor, he could hear them fighting together in harmony. Wow, his Clan was strong.

It didn't take long, but it was a destructive battle while it lasted. Mountainstone found himself pounding through unfamiliar undergrowth, twisting into the brambles to use them against an enemy, who hissed as the thorns scraped his side. Mountainstone was waiting on the other side to catch him and toss him right back into the bramble bush. The howl of pain was what he needed, and Mountainstone leaped over the bush, crashing through the overgrown vines there to slip back into the clearing. He heard their cries of pain and avoided all their attacks, his cold confidence making him sure of victory.

He heard Toadstep's hiss of surprise, and Mountainstone rounded to see the black and white tom stumble under the weight of two attackers. Mountainstone slammed into the situation, shoving the larger of the two to the ground and letting Toadstep deal with the other. It didn't take more than three strikes for the attacker that had dared go up against Mountainstone to turn tail, yowling into the trees.

Some retreat signal was given, though Mountainstone didn't hear it, and then the clearing was as empty as it had been before. The blood rushing around Mountainstone's brain faded down, and he shook his head to remove himself from battle. His Clanmates were looking back at him.

"Is everyone alright?" Skysong turned in a circle. There was blood smeared against her mottled flank and some splattered on her forehead, but other than a few scrapes, it didn't seem to be hers. Toadstep was battered, and there was a nick in his ear that he wouldn't forget in a hurry, but other than that, he was fine. Hazeltail was licking her paw determinedly to stop it from bleeding – a wrenched claw.

"I've got a cut on my leg, but it's not deep." Cinderheart was already set to licking said cut. It was deeper than she suggested, but Mountainstone sniffed it and nodded. He glanced around the forest nearby.

"I don't know what's around here, but I know a little bit from Birdfeather," he said. "I'll be right back."

He let his senses guide him, identifying each plant he needed and seeking it out. He was back in a moment. Skysong was at work trying to help Hazeltail stop the bleeding, while Greyheart was smoothing down his own minor cuts. Toadstep was talking to Cinderheart.

"They were rogues, we think," said Toadstep as Mountainstone approached to wrap some cobwebs around Cinderheart's cut. "An organized group. They all had the same scent."

"The question is, were they allies of the cats we're tracking?" said Cinderheart. She blinked her gratitude for the healing.

"Weren't very strong allies," said Mountainstone.

"But fourteen is a pretty big group," said Cinderheart. "And that was a very organized attack party."

"Rogues live around here anyways," Skysong called. "An organized group of them. The ones Willowleaf lived with when she ran away."

"I thought they were closer to our territory than this," said Hazeltail.

"That's all I can think of," said Skysong. Mountainstone nodded and looked around. The others were distributing their own herbs, patching themselves up with relative ease. Something was wrong. He turned around their clearing, identifying the moor, but nothing else. The bushes around them were dented and torn, not as pressed back as before.

"Are you good to hunt?" said Skysong to Hazeltail. The grey-and-white she-cat tested her weight on her paw and nodded.

"Hunting's the least of our problems," said Mountainstone. He drew in a large breath, but all he could taste were the blood of those rogues. He stretched his senses out, but they got confused. Hissing in frustration, Mountainstone scored his claws through the earth.

"What is it?" said Skysong.

"I've lost the trail," muttered Mountainstone. "I've lost Icecloud's scent."

Well, if MOUNTAINSTONE has been thrown off the trail...this does not spell out good things for our heroes.

But who has really taken Lionstar and Icecloud? Why have they taken them so far away from the Clans? Will Skysong and Mountainstone find a way to bring their parents home, or will they be too late? And why did the rogues attack the Clan cats? Find out two chapters from now! Haha! The next chapter returns us to ThunderClan for funtimes with Willowleaf!