While Icepaw was padding off with a stranger, Cherrypaw had gone the other way. It was not raining yet where she'd run off to, but the land was sloping up violently. She had a bit more sense, as you could probably tell, than Icepaw, and had stopped after about a minute of running. She was still hopelessly lost.

She found herself in an enclosed clearing, with brambles around her lining the trees and bushes. She sat down, trying not to cry, as her world went a little dizzy. She'd never been truly in danger or even lost before. She thought of poor Icepaw, who was even more pampered than she'd been. Maybe Stonepaw'd be okay- she always got lost with Clovepaw before. She knew how to deal with it. The dark sky crackled and the sound of rain was not far off. The sky was dark and she was getting paranoid. She thought she'd been hearing noises off in the dark.

She was hearing noises in the dark.

"Well, well..." A voice said from somewhere she couldn't see. "Imagine meeting you again."

"Don't try to scare me. I remember you." She already knew it was the wolves from earlier. The little hint in his voice left.

"Oh, don't be like that. Just because we're likely to go into blind rages and often destroy other animal settlements doesn't mean we're your enemies."

"Yeah, it kinda does."

The first drops of rain began falling on her ears. Splish.

"Ah, well, you're different. There's not much sport in killing one little scrap like you."

"Then why are you here?" Cherrypaw asked. She actually wasn't scared anymore. "If you aren't going to kill me." She tried to sound like more than a small kit. Like she was.

"Well... Now that you mention it... I was thinking you could travel with us."

Splish, splash.

"At what cost exactly of mine?"

"Why, do you think I'm some kind of villian?" The great wolf stepped out of the shadows. "We wouldn't make you pay for protection, a little scrap like you..."

"ENOUGH with the SCRAP!" Cherrypaw hissed. "I'm not a baby anymore."

"Well, it gets dangerous, around here, and we thought you might like to hang around." he gestured to the other wolves, now stalking into the clearing around his sides. "If not... well, it'll be fun to see what becomes of you."

Cherrypaw stood up, ears straight down. "I can defend myself! I don't need to hang around you monsters to survive."

The wolf lost all sense of playfulness in the way he was talking. "Is that all we're thought of as now?"

Cherrypaw did not respond.

Rain fell harder. Thunk, thunk thunk.

"Yes," the wolf said, looking up to the stars, "we are monsters."

She edged away.

"Little scrap, we're not gonna hurt you. To be honest we're just traveling too. I'll probably be gone by the time you wake up. Where were you headed to anyway?"

"Umm... first I need to find my friends. I think one of them at least thinks she knows the way..."

"We're going to the lakes after tonight. If that's where you're going you could tag along."

Cherrypaw flattened her ears. "I'll stay the night. But don't think for one minute that I believe- or trust- you." she looked around. "You or your pack."

The wolves watching all gave her a little grin.

The wolf gave a couple commands in their language and they immediately started to settle down. Breaking apart from their little meeting with Cherrypaw, they divided themselves into large groups of ages and ranks and the leader crept off on his own to the darkest part of the clearing. Cherrypaw stared after him for a moment, then sighed, padded off into the other direction and settled herself under a thick bramble bush, which might at least keep out some of the rain. She tucked her nose into her tail but her eyes shone through the thick fur and she watched for a long time. She didn't fall asleep for some while, but the wolves didn't stir so she became a little more relaxed and fell into a light sleep.

Ah, these cat things are so amusing...