Chapter IV

"Icepaw, get back here! I don't know what those are, but they aren't logs!" Stonepaw called to the exited young white she-cat. Icepaw was reaching out her paw to prod one. Cherrypaw ran over and grabbed her by the tail, dragging her back. Icepaw fluffed up indignantly, only succeeding in being adorable, just as one of the logs jumped out at them. It put its scaly arms out onto the bank, snapping its humongous jaws at the spot where Icepaw's outstretched paw had been one moment before. The cats were gone in a blink. Of course, they could easily outrun it. But how could they have known that?

When Icepaw looked around her, finally stopping for breath, there was no movement. No movement at all. Icepaw listened for a few seconds, then widened her eyes.

"Cherrypaw? Stonepaw!" She called frantically. "Please come here! I'm scared."

There was no sound.

The wind picked up, making the treetops sway. Fresh leaves fell from there onto the ground, or her back, which she quickly shook off.

And then it started to rain. Must be natural rain, right? 'Cause she sure didn't do anything wrong, as far as she could tell. Now, Icepaw didn't have exactly what you'd call good instinct, but she found a little cave entrance into which she darted into. She sat, shivering, for a moment, then shook off. She let out a little kitten sigh, and then turned to the far wall. There was a strange mark on it. She couldn't quite recall where she'd seen it before, but it was easy to remember the uneasy feeling it'd given her at the time. She crept closer to the wall, and then turned her head. The entrance was empty, but she'd been sure that she'd heard something scuffling on the outsides. She turned back to the wall.

Clawmarks. Icepaw's eyes widened, as she remembered an insane badger that had attacked the camp when she'd been a little kit. The nursery had it's claw marks inside it for moons to come.

She whirled around, just as the light coming from the entrance was blocked. A familiar sillouette was standing in the way. Icepaw backed up to the very back.

It was a very bulky thing. It was covered in shadows, so its true color was hidden. It let out a horrible roar (of course, not a roar, but this is to the ears of a kit) when suddenly a silver streak flew from behind it and onto its back. Icepaw sat cowering for a long time, then she realized it was a cat. She had longish fur, and green eyes, as she noticed when she flashed them at her, calling, "Get out!"

She didn't need telling twice. She shot back out into the rain, past all the trees swaying in the wind, past the stream, and ducked into a little sandy ditch. She jumped at every little noise, and sat there terrified for a long time. Then she realized that she'd run a long way. Like, a long way. She peeked out from the overhang, and saw that it was empty around her.

"Boy, you sure are a fast one."

A voice behind her made her jump. She flattened herself out against the sandy ground, looking up, and saw the she-cat from the cave. She looked annoyed, but not mad at her.

Icepaw sprung back up indignantly. "Of course I am. I'm the top of my Clan."

"Y-yeah, I bet." She turned around, surveying the scene. "Don't worry about the badger, he won't be coming back this way. It seems he's afraid of the crocs."

"What are krawks?" Icepaw asked, flattening her ears against the strong wind.

She sighed. "I'll tell you later. What's a little kit like you doing all the way out here?"

"I'm not little." Icepaw said, drawing herself up to full height, which was almost neck height on the other cat. She just laughed. "Listen, kid, you're not gonna last long out here, all alone, so I'll stick around til you find some help. What's your name?"

Icepaw stared at her suspiciously.

"Oh, don't do that. 'Kay, I'll go first, I'm Moonwolf. And you're..."

"Wait... You're a Clan cat?"

Moonwolf looked at her paws. "Used to be." She looked up, smiling weakly. "C'mon, kid, we gotta go." And she turned to leave.

"Icepaw."

Moonwolf stopped for a minute, then looked back. "C'mon Icepaw."

And she followed the new stranger into the unknown.