Okay, no one's voting for whether I should keep this or not and now I feel like an idiot. No one even knew who the heck the main character was for Pete's sake! How would anyone know if this was good or not? So here it is. Chapter 1. Enjoy...I guess...

Chapter 1

A single she-cat padded through the forest, three kits daggling from her mouth. She swung her head from side to side as if looking for someone, then continued on. Mud clung to her feet, plastering her fur to them. An expanse of forest sprawled in front of her.

Seeing it, she quickened her pace, the kits letting out startled mews. Just as she was about to step into the trees, the bushes behind her rustled and out came three large cats, their claws unsheathed. The she-cat gulped.

"Well, if it isn't Scarlet," sneered a ginger tom with scars down his face.

A silver tabby stepped forward, "Blood's been looking for ya'. Where've you been?"

Scarlet put the kits down and hid them behind her. "I'm not going back," she hissed at the three. "You can tell Blood that his mate isn't returning."

"What should we do with her, Scar?" a blue-gray tom asked the ginger tom.

"We should let her live," meowed the she-cat. "Blood would have three more sets of claws and teeth if we kill her."

"Yes, Echo, but he'd also have them if we didn't bring her to him," the gray tom replied.

"That's right, River," the large tom growled. "What do you have there?" he knocked Scarlet over to look at the kits. One was a long haired white she-cat, another was a very dark gray and white tom, and the last one was a fiery orange she-cat. He pushed the orange kit and white kit away and pushed the other one towards him. "Looks like we're going to have a new Fang in the Pack."

"That's my kit!"

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but this is Blood's kit, too. Take the girls, I don't care. We'll just tell him you were dead when we found you and found a helpless kit while looking for you," Scar sneered.

Scarlet repeated with a low growl, "That is my kit!"and the she-cat, quite small compared to her large opponent, leapt into the air, slashing at Scar with razor sharp claws. The giant tom recoiled back, but as the queen raced at him again, he easily threw her aside.

She got to her paws, and jumped onto his back, digging her claws deep into his shoulders and back. Scar let out a wail of pain and tried to shake her off, but only wound up hurting himself even more in the process.

Echo and River raced over, sinking their teeth into her fur and throwing her off the tom. Scarlet lay helpless on the ground. The kit managed to wiggle free of Scar's grasp and struggled towards his mother.

"Keep the stupid kit!" Scar spat. "We're leaving." And he led the two fangs home.

Scarlet lay gasping on the ground. You're free, she thought. You're not a slave of the Pack anymore!

She rose to her paws and picked up the kits once more and padded into the forest that marked RiverClan territory. Streams surrounded her as she slunk through the watery forest. Fish crowded the waters, some leaping into the air and spraying water into her face. Leaves covered the sky, making it look as though the sky was green itself.

Just the place I would want to live…But this wasn't her stop. She had to get to ThunderClan. The Pack might have backed away for now, but if she left her kits so close to their territory, the kits would be gone within days. ThunderClan was the farthest away from the murky swamp the Pack lived on, though they were still constantly attacked, it would be less likely they had the Pack's leader's blood if they were far away from their mother.

The scents of RiverClan hit her nose. A patrol was coming straight for her. She desperately looked around for shelter, but only thin trees were here, and even if she could hide behind them, her scent would give her away.

She could hear a conversation between two cats. Lucky for her, they were the only ones there. "I need to get back to them, Mudfang. Think of the trouble they'll get into." She heard a she-cat say.

"Relax. Cloudleaf is taking care of the apprentices as we speak," said a tom.

"I really don't like taking walks when your leader gives you a responsibility." The tom, she could tell, was quite annoyed at the she-cat's worrying..

"Whatever, Spottedheart." She heard a deep sniffing sound. "The Pack," he growled. "Looks like this one came solo."

Scarlet held her breathe. The warriors were coming her way. Even though she couldn't see them, since they were behind the bushes in front of her, their smells confirmed her theory. The three kits behind her began mewling even louder than before as the two warriors stepped through the bushes. A tortoiseshell she-cat and a dark brown tom. Scarlet let out a low growl.

"Thought that if you came one by one we wouldn't notice you," he laughed. "Sorry, but that's not going to work this time." He unsheathed his claws, ready to spring at any moment.

"Wait, Mudfang! Look!" the other said, pointing her tail at the frightened kits behind her. "You can't kill her!"

Mudfang snorted. "There's nothing a RiverClan cat can't do. I'll kill them, t-" he was cut short as Scarlet dashed up, racking her claws down his side. As she tried to slip away, though, he brought his paws down on her, and a loud crack split the air. She lay motionless, all except for the faint rise and fall of her chest.

"What have you done?" Spottedheart gasped, racing over to the ginger she-cat. "Are you all right? I'll take you to our medicine cat right away."

"Medicine cat?" scarlet breathed.

"He'll help you to get better. He's a little crabby, though!" she laughed. Mudfang let out a low growl.

"Stop with the lame jokes," Mudfang growled. "Let's get this over with," he mewed between the fur of the three mewling kits as he followed Spottedheart and Scarlet back to camp.

Scarlet's eyes opened wide as the six entered the camp. It was bustling with excitement. Warriors were sitting in large groups, talking and sharing prey. Everything looked peaceful until they noticed her. The camp fell silent. Spottedheart raced into one of the dens and came out moments later with a large gray tom at her side.

"This is Crabclaw. He's are medicine cat. Crabclaw, this is…"

"Scarlet," the ginger tabby said, dipping her head. Crabclaw snorted.

"The Pack," he hissed. "I'm not healing the enemy."

"I'll go get Willowstar," Mudfang offered, leaving the kits behind.

"Please, Crabclaw," Spottedheart pleaded. "She's not an enemy! I would not put my clan in danger!"

"She's right. I ran away from them. I only want a safe place for my kits to grow up." Crabclaw looked from Scarlet, to Spottedheart, then to the kits.

"It depends on what Willowstar says."

"Well, she says yes," Mudfang called. "She didn't even need to know if you were still with them or not." A silver tabby she-cat sat across the clearing, winking at her. That must have been Willowstar. She padded over and sat next to Crabclaw."

"Mudfang says you need a place to stay. Is this true?"

"Yes."

"Then welcome. I don't understand what a Pack cat would be doing around alone in the open, anyways." She looked at the kits. "They're beautiful. They'll be raised as wonderful warriors."

"Their names are Splash, Toad, and Shell," Scarlet said proudly.

"Splashkit, Toadkit, and Shellkit. That has a nice ring to it. I'll announce your arrive right away."

"But you barely know…" but the leader was already leaping up some stones up to a high ledge almost completely covered by undergrowth.

"She doesn't waist time taking in outsiders," Spottedheart whispered.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the High Ledge for a clan meeting! Today, two of our warriors came here with a loner who needs a place for her kits to grow. I have agreed to take her into the clan. Scarlet, do you wish to keep the name you currently have?" Scarlet nodded. "Then I will not go against your will. But clan costumes allow me to give your kits names of our clan. Splash, Toad, and Shell, right? Come forward."

Scarlet nudged the three forward, a look of worry in her eyes. "Splash," the white kit stood forward. "You shall be known as Splashkit. Toad," the tom stepped forward. "You shall be known as Toadkit. And Shell, you will be known as Shellkit. When you are six moons old, you shall be come apprentices and train to hunt and fight. You and your mother will stay in the nursery until then. Meeting over." And she brushed past some ivy and into a cave Scarlet hadn't noticed before.

Now-

"Stop, stop, stop," Shadowpaw ordered. "Cats from the Pack can't be let into the clans! That's mouse-brained!"

Flamekit groaned. The apprentices always ruined Deertail's stories by interuptimg and making stupid comments. When she would be an apprentice, that wouldn't happen anymore.

"How would youtell it then?" Deertail challenged.

"I wouldn't tell it in the first place. It's has way too many flaws."

"Then you can leave and the kits can finish listening to the rest of the story." Shadowpaw padded away without another word.

"Maybe another time," Tigerkit said. "It is getting kind of boring." Flamekit looked at her brother, Goldenkit. He let out a sigh. They both knew Tigerkit had a crush on Shadowpaw. Whatever he did or didn't like, it was the same for Tigerkit.

Deertail began to head back to the elders den, meowing, "Suit yourselves. If you need another story, you know where to find me."

"Come in Tigerkit," Goldenkit mewed. "We know you liked the story as much as we did." She looked at her paws and shook her head. "I've got it! Let's go visit Crowkit and Fogkit in the medicine cats den. Icepaw, too. They could use some company." He pranced out into the camp from the nursery, Tigerkit slumping behind, and Flamekit bringing up the rear. The medicine cats den was a big, dark cave at the base of the High Branch where a huge rock was cracked just enough on the inside that two of the warriors dens could fit inside.

Heatherfur had managed to make the entrance easier to walk through and expanded it in the back to make a place to store her herbs. She'd driven the flattest, yet strong, peaces of wood into the rock where they acted as shelves. But in the cold days of leaf-bare making herbs more scarce and the constant attacks from the pack forcing her to use up herbs that could have been used later made the storage almost useless. Not a single cobweb was to be found.

Crowkit and Fogkit were severely damaged in the most recent battle and hade been in the moss in the medicine cats den for over half a moon. There was nothing Heatherfur or Icepaw could do for them. They were slowly dieing in front of them. The couldn't eat, drink, or walk, since Fogkit had caught a disease the medicine cats had never witnessed and it spread to Crowkit, and the disease would not let the food or water go down, and the bones in some of their paws were broken. Fogkit couldn't talk anymore and Crowkit went blind when the Pack leader slashed his eyes.

The two thought they were brave and attacked the leader, Blood. He'd easily swatted them aside multiple times, hitting them against walls and rocks, crushing their legs and ripping out their claws. Apparently, the black tom had 'gone easy on them', yet the damage could take the life of any warrior. None of the warriors had seen the leader, luckily; therefore, they were not attacked.

Icepaw told the other apprentices that the Pack carried odd diseases, especially the leaders, yet they were immune to them. But they threatened the clans, and the two kits had a severe case of it. Fortunately, it had not spread any farther than the two brothers.

"Hey, guys," Goldenkit greeted. Fogkit grunted and Crowkit swiveled his head to search for the guests.

Heatherfur came from the back room, "There in the entrance."

He mumbled, "Hi."

"How have you been?"

"Same as usual. Sick, soar, hungry, thirsty, you name it. Wait! I taught Fogkit something. Say my name!"

Fogkit opened his mouth, and at first, all that came out was a gargling sound, but then he managed to squeak, "Crowkit."

"That's amazing," Heatherfur congratulated. "You'll be back to normal in no time!"

"Really?" Crowkit sounded elated.

"If you keep that up."

"Then let's keep it up! Say Fogkit." Out came a chocking sound. "Not chocking, Fogkit!"

"Maybe you should came another time, you three. Icepaw and I are a little busy." And the pretty medicine cat brushed back into her storage cave.

The moment Tigerkit heard Heatherfur's mew, she found an opportunity to escape, she shot to her paws and attempted to run and talk to Shadowpaw, only to have Flamekit bring her paw down on her tail before she could escape. "Not this time. Let's find something else to do."

"I'm almost an apprentice!" boasted Tigerkit after the three had settled down next to the fresh-kill pile. "I'll get to sleep in the same den as Shadowpaw again! Isn't that cool?"

"I guess," the two littermates mumbled in unison. It had been many seasons since the lake flooded and the cats were driven from their second home. It was sad because some cats, to allow others to stay by the lake, left the clans and found their own homes far away. They'd probably be mad to know that the cats they'd given up their lives by the lake for had run away when the water rose.

Lionstar, her father, and the other leaders agreed to never leave their home again, even if it meant fighting for their home. That became a problem when the Pack came. The Pack was a group of rouges who lived to kill. They'd stormed into a gathering, one day, demanding territory. To prevent fighting, the clan cats gave them rights to live on a small piece of land that had barely any prey.

But that only made them angrier, and now they were hunting down any cat they could find. A shiver ran her spine. What if they went after her next?