The moon was high in the sky when Slashpaw, Doom, and Luna decided that it was safe to move on.
"Where exactly is Ice, Luna?" Doom asked.
"Not far from here, actually," the brown she-cat said. "This way."
Luna trotted across the Twoleg garden, her white hind paw flashing in the darkness with each step. Doom and Slashpaw followed, with the distinctive, graceful gait of a feline.
They walked and walked, twisting and turning through the streets of this small Twoleg place. The rough pavement scratched at Slashpaw's pads, and the foul fumes from the Twoleg monsters stung his throat. Luna sprang and clawed her way up a wooden fence. She stood on top, silent, staring at the Twoleg nest on the other side.
"Is this it?" Slashpaw asked her. "Is this where they took Ice?"
"No," Luna said after a moment, tearing her gaze away from the Twoleg nest to rest it upon the young cat. "No. This is the house where I was born and raised. I – I just wanted to see it again." She slid back down the fence and onto the pavement.
"I lived there for my whole kittenhood," she explained, her tail drooping. "Then I went exploring once when I was a little older. I got lost, and a housefolk found me and brought me to the animal shelter. I was adopted after a while, but that family had some little children, and I wasn't used to children, so I left. I came back here, back to my housefolk... but they didn't want me anymore. My mother, Princess, had a new litter by then, so they brought me to the shelter."
"I'm sorry -" Slashpaw started to say, but Doom cut him off.
"Princess?" he asked. "Is... is she a calico?"
"Yes, she is," Luna replied, looking confused. "She was also adopted from by my family a long time ago. She used to live in a different neighborhood."
Doom looked at Slashpaw, delight in his eyes. Without another word, he launched himself up and over the fence and disappeared.
"What was that all about?" Luna asked, clearly baffled.
"I … well, Doom's mother was named Princess too," the gray apprentice explained. "She lived in a different Twoleg place when he and his siblings were born, but then she vanished. He hasn't seen her in seasons."
"Oh!" Luna exclaimed. "Well... I guess we had better follow him."
On the other side of the fence, the snow-covered grass was the short length typical for Twoleg gardens. They spotted Doom standing on his hind legs, peering through a bright window, his fore paws pressed against the glass.
"There she is!" he hissed to them as they drew close. Slashpaw pressed a paw to the side of the Twoleg nest and peeked over the bottom edge of the window so that just his eyes were showing. He could see a light-filled room like the one where Whiskers' water bowls had been kept. He remembered Ice explaining once that this room was where Twolegs kept their food, and that it was called... a chicken? No, that wasn't it. A kitchen, Slashpaw thought. That's what it is called. A calico queen was snoozing in a basket on the wood-covered floor. If she had been a Clan cat, Slashpaw guessed that she would have a couple seasons left in the warriors den or the nursery before she retired.
Doom rapped on the clear glass of the window with his paw, and Princess woke up. Bright green eyes searched the kitchen for the source of the noise, and pricked ears flicked this way and that. Doom tapped harder, the queen's questing gaze landed on the window. She rose to her dainty paws and stepped out of the basket, careful not to step on any of her snoozing kits. Slashpaw watched as she walked closer to the window.
On the other side of Doom, Slashpaw could hear Luna shifting. When he looked, he noticed that she had moved closer to the window.
Princess' eyes grew wide as she recognized her daughter, and she rushed toward the outside cats. Then she stopped, and jerked her head to the side, mouth forming words that were unheard by Slashpaw, muffled by the glass. The calico queen ran to Slashpaw's right and disappeared through a dark doorway. Moments later, the cat flap at the Twoleg nest's door swung, and Princess appeared.
"Luna!" she called, running toward them. The white patches on her fur glowed bright in the starlight.
"Mother!" the brown she-cat said, moving forward through the snow to greet Princess. Purring, the two females rubbed their heads together.
"It's so good to see you, Luna," said the calico. "I've been wondering what had happened to you."
"There's no need for concern," Luna assured her. "I'm fine."
"Princess." Doom stepped forward.
"Hello," she said, looking a bit confused. "I..."
"It's me, Slash," said the small, black tom. "Your son."
"Slash!" Princess cried. "You're alive! I never thought I'd see you again!" She left Luna to greet Doom, overjoyed to see him after all of their seasons apart.
"I'd like you to meet my son, Slashpaw," Doom said after Princess had finished rubbing her cheek against his. Princess' green eyes met his, and she purred.
"Hello," she said. "What a fine-looking tom!" Slashpaw stepped forward to greet his grandmother. Before this journey, he hadn't known any of his grandparents. Silvertail's mother and father, Nightfall and Mousepelt, had both died before he was born.
"How are the kittens?," Luna asked, jerking her head toward the kitchen window.
Princess purred again. "Would you like to go inside and see them? I would bring them out to you, but it's much too cold right now."
Luna replied that she would very much like to see the kits, so their group followed Princess into the warm Twoleg nest. The floor coverings felt strange under Slashpaw's paws, but they were much nicer to walk on than the rough pavement outside.
"Kittens," Princess called softly as they entered the kitchen. "Wake up, kittens!"
A fluffy gray tabby poked her head over the side of the basket. "What is it, Mother?"
One of her siblings jumped out of the basket, his long, marmalade-and-white fur sticking up in odd places, and stared at the three strangers. "Mother, who are these?"
"Come on out," Princess encouraged. "I have some kin for you to meet." The gray tabby came out first, followed by an orange tabby and another gray. Princess began to introduce them."This is Pepper –" she indicated the second gray tabby, who was pressing close to her mother – "and Poppy –" the first gray kitten gave them a small "hi" – "Junebug is the orange tabby, and the only male is Simba." Simba promptly pounced on Junebug, who squirmed free.
"Hello," said Simba, the marmalade kit, as his former prey tackled Pepper. "Who are you?"
"I'm Luna," said the chocolate-brown she-cat. "Your half sister. This is Doom, your half brother, and his son Slashpaw."
"Hi," chorused the kits.
"Doom?" asked Princess, looking confused. "But –"
"Yes," said Doom distractedly, for Poppy had just begun to attack his tail. "That's what I'm called these days."
"I'm tired, Mother," Pepper whined ,and Junebug gave a huge yawn.
"All right, kittens," Princess called, "time to get back in bed." Junebug, Pepper, and Simba climbed obediently back into the basket, but it took quite a bit of persuading to get Poppy to abandon her attacks on Doom's tail.
"Luna, is Ice near to here?" Slashpaw asked pointedly as Poppy clambered back into the basket.
"Oh!" the she-cat exclaimed over Simba's squeak of protest as his tabby sister trod on his tail. Slashpaw wondered if the visit had temporarily driven the rescue mission from her mind. "Yes – um, it's not too far from here."
"You're leaving?" Princess asked. "Why so soon?"
Doom quickly explained about Ice. "We need to find her before we move on," he concluded.
"Well, you must stay safe," Princess said, rushing forward to embrace her family. Her cheerful tone could not quite mask her sad gaze, and Slashpaw knew that she wished to spend more time with her long-lost kits. "Doom, may I ask you something?" said the queen.
"Yes, of course," was his reply.
"What happened to Lily and Chester?" Princess asked. "Are... are they still alive?"
"Lily isn't," Doom said softly. Princess' tail drooped and her eyes darkened.
"And Chester?" she whispered.
Doom hesitated. Slashpaw knew he was wondering how much to tell her. "He … I haven't seen him in a long time, but I've heard that he's still strong."
Princess sighed, looking relieved. "Good. Please come visit me again – all of you – if you happen to be in the area!"
A cold blast of winter wind pinned Slashpaw's whiskers to his face as he hopped through the cat door. He hissed quietly and shivered as he paws sank into the snow. Doom soon appeared, followed by Luna, who struck out toward the fence without a word. Slashpaw glanced at his father, who nodded, and they followed in equal silence. They scrambled over the fence and followed Luna past three more Twoleg nests.
"Here we are," Luna said, stopping in front of the fence-less fourth Twoleg nest's garden.
"What's that?" Slashpaw hissed suddenly, shrinking against Doom's flank.
"What's what?" Doom asked, ruby eyes scanning the garden carefully. Slashpaw raised a trembling paw, pointing in the direction of the strange thing he had spotted looming beside the nest.
Luna purred in amusement when she spotted the object.
"It won't hurt you, Slashpaw," she said. "come and see." She placed her tail around her nephew's shoulders and strode forward. Slashpaw followed, heart still racing.
It was nearly as tall as a Twoleg, but with three circular parts – like an insect – made out of packed-together snow, one resting on top of another, on top of another. Stones were arranged on the top sphere in an imitation of a Twoleg face. Sticks were attatched to the middle in the manner of Twoleg forelegs, and a few pieces of Twoleg pelts adorned the snowy creation.
"What is it?" Slashpaw asked, staring up at it.
"It's called a snowman," Luna explained. "Young housefolk build them for fun."
As Slashpaw wondered at this strange Twoleg behavior, Doom joined them. "So," he said, "Ice is inside this house?"
"Yes," said Luna. "But I don't know how we are going to get her out. The house should be locked up against the cold; they won't have windows open or anything like that. I think the only way to get in would be for a housefolk to open the door."
"Hm..." Doom said thoughtfully. "What would cause a housefolk to open a door?"
"Well, they're all asleep right now," Luna said. "But the adult male gets up early in the morning and leaves for the day in his car."
"One of us could slip inside when he opens the door," Doom mused.
"That didn't work so well last time," Slashpaw muttered.
"We'll just have to try again," said Doom, who had heard him. "Who is going to do it?"
"I will," Luna said at once. "I know the layout of the house. I know what to expect; I've lived with housefolk my whole life."
Doom nodded in assent. "Is there a place where we can shelter for the night?"
"The garage is where we'll need to be when the sun rises," she said. "We can sleep in there."
"A garage is where the Twolegs keep their monsters," Doom explained, noticing Slashpaw's confused expression. He turned to his half sister. "How...?"
"I know how to get in, don't worry," she said.
"Lead on," Doom replied.
The trio skirted around the snowman and around the back of the nest. At the opposite end, Luna crouched beside a cat door.
"It's latched on the inside," she said, "but I think that I can get it..." She wedged a chocolate-colored paw between the flap and the door. After a minute, she said, "Got it!" and pushed through the cat door.
"Go on," Doom said to Slashpaw. "I'll be right behind you."
Slashpaw still did not like entering Twoleg buildings, but his legs and heartbeat were quite steady as he hopped in after the she-cat. Slashpaw's feet hit the floor with a soft slap, and he bit back a hiss as he found himself snout-to-snout with a sleeping Twoleg monster. Then Doom's reassuring bulk pressed against his flank, and Slashpaw let the stiff fur on his neck relax.
"We still have a while to sleep before it's time," Luna said. She slipped under the monster's chin and settled down, leaning against a round, black forepaw. Slashpaw, however, curled up against a wall, as far away from the monster as possible. Doom joined him.
Although Slashpaw's body was tired from their starlit trek, the ground of the garage was cold and hard – his discomfort and his buzzing mind made it impossible to sleep. He was worried about Ice and worried for PineClan. His memories of the Clan had sweetened considerably with his time away from them.
Doom curled his tail around his son, and Slahspaw pressed against him. Everything will be all right, he told himself. We'll get Ice out tomorrow, and then we can be on our way to the forest.
"It'll be okay," he murmured to himself, eyelids drooping, and Doom purred. The rumbling sound soothed him, and soon he was asleep.
Slashpaw could hear it. A bird was in the tree, singing, unaware of his presence. A summer wind ruffled his pelt as he ran through the tall grass, keeping low, He streaked up the tree like a squirrel and made his way toward the bird. A branch swung in the wind and poked him between the shoulder blades. He hissed quietly as it poked him again and again, but the bird was near. He crouched down, ready to attack, but the poking branch grew more and more persistent.
"Wake up! Slashpaw! Wake up!"
Another sharp poke brought Slashpaw fully awake. Luna's face swam into view above him. "Awake? It's about time."
"I'm awake," Slashpaw grunted, getting to his sleep-clumsy paws.
Doom was up already and grooming himself a few tail-lengths away. Slashpaw began licking his fur as well, grooming until every hair was in its place.
"I can hear the housefolk moving around inside," Luna said. Slashpaw glanced at a window and saw early morning light streaming in.
"Are you sure you don't want me to come in too?" Doom asked his half sister.
"I'll be fine," Luna assured him. "I've spent a lot of time in this house. I'll be fine!" she repeated. Doom had opened his mouth to speak, but nodded curtly instead.
"He's nearing the door," Luna said, ears pricked. "You two hide. Be ready to bolt." There was a large, thin square of wood leaning against the wall near the cat door. Slashpaw and Doom took shelter underneath it. Their pelts brushed, gray against black.
At the foot of the door there was a step. Luna perched on top of it, tense and crouching, eyes fixed intently on the white-colored door.
Suddenly, the door creaked open, and Slashpaw caught a glimpse of a large Twoleg male talking over his shoulder. Then Luna sprang. The Twoleg let out an exclamation of shock as the she-cat vaulted over his foot and into the house.
It was torture for Slashpaw to wait without doing anything, without knowing what was happening inside. His ears were pricked, his muscles tense, his claws gripping the hard ground. After an eternity, Luna burst through the still-open doorway, flanked by a dark tabby she-cat.
"Ice!" Slashpaw cried happily.
"Go! Go!" Luna yowled. "Get out!" Slashpaw retreated from under the board and bounded out other cat door without hesitation. His paws slipped on a slick patch of snow as he landed and he skidded forward, sending chunks of the stuff flying through the air. The rest of the cats were through the door by the time Slashpaw had managed to scramble to his feet.
"The trees!" Doom called. "To the trees!" Slashpaw nodded and high-tailed it to a copse of leafless trees a ways behind the Twoleg nest. Once the whole group was safely hidden in the dense, snow-covered brush that coated the ground of the small grove, Slashpaw flopped down onto his rump.
"Slashpaw! Doom! I'm so glad to see you!" Ice cried, rushing foreward to rub her cheek against Slashpaw's and then Doom's. Slashpaw purred. He had missed his friend in their short time apart.
Doom introduced Ice and Luna and gave the tabby a quick version of how they had found her.
"I'm very grateful," Ice said. "I didn't expect you to come for me."
"Why wouldn't we?" Slashpaw asked seriously. "you said it yourself. We are friends, and friends look out for each others' pelts."
Ice gave him a glowing look. "So, are we headed to PineClan territory now?"
"Yes," said Doom. "They need to know what Blood is capable of."
"We need to clear your name, too," Slashpaw put in.
Doom nodded. "And I have a score to settle with my dear brother."
Slashpaw turned to Luna, who had not spoken since Doom's introduction of her. The she-cat was staring into the distance with a blank look in her green eyes.
"Luna?" he asked. "What are you planning to do?"
"What do you mean?" she said, eyes snapping to Slashpaw's face.
"Where are you going to go?" he asked. "It's the middle of winter, we can't leave you on your own."
"Well, I … I don' t know." She glanced at the Twoleg nest, and the gray apprentice did not miss the longing in her eyes.
"You miss being a housecat, don't you?" he said quietly.
Luna opened, her mouth, closed it, and then nodded sadly.
"These people will take you in," Ice said, flicking her tail at the Twoleg nest. "Just hang around and look hungry and pitiful. It always works."
"I lived here before," said Luna, "and it didn't work out so well."
"Give it another chance," Slashpaw coaxed.
"They're kind-hearted people," Ice said. "It will be fine."
"I … okay," the she cat said. "I will. Thanks."
"Thank you," said Doom, "for helping us get our friend back." He draped his tail over Ice's shoulders, and she blinked happily.
After saying goodbye to all three cats and rubbing her head against theirs, Luna pushed through some brush and set off across the snowy yard. Slashpaw wondered if he would ever see her again.
Doom, Ice, and Slashpaw rested in the copse for a while before deciding to move on as well. Luna's new home was near the edge of the Twoleg place, and soon they were plodding through an empty field. Slashpaw and Ice walked side-by-side while Doom lead them.
"I thought I'd be there forever," Ice whispered in Slashpaw's ear. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again."
"Well, you're here with us now," Slashpaw said. He was finally headed back to the forest. But the question was: What would he find he arrived?