Chapter 2

Fireheart hunched his shoulders and legs, slowly creeping in on an unsuspecting squirrel. It was searching for nuts under a pile of brown leaves on the ground near the base of a tree. Completely oblivious to the approaching threat, it carried on scavenging the undergrowth for anything it could keep for leaf-bare.

Just as Fireheart got within striking range, a twig snapped under his paw.

"Shoot!"

Just as he was about to make a mad dash to the squirrel, he noticed that the squirrel was still sniffing through the undergrowth. Fireheart sighed a breath of relief internally.

"Stop making apprentice mistakes and focus!" he scolded himself internally.

He took one more pawstep forward, and then launched himself. The squirrel, only finally realizing the danger, was too late in avoiding the pounce. Within a few moments, Fireheart fell on top of his prey and delivered a swift, killing bite. The prey fell limp instantly, no struggle to be found. Once he confirmed his kill, he looked down at his prey for a moment.

"The prey in Twolegplace are all either really skittish or really dumb. They're not nearly as tasty as the forest ones either."

Fireheart looked up at the sky. It was his third day in Twolegplace, and he still didn't have any leads to the mystery rogues. The routine so far has only been that he would confront a cat to ask a question, and then be met with hissing, insults, or being chased. He was starting to get tired of it all, wondering whether he should just return to the clans in secret. Despite that, he decided to continue exploring Twolegplace in search for an answer. Fireheart was also beginning to feel disheartened at the lack of advice or messages from Starclan, or Spottedleaf in particular. He was hoping to have some guidance when he was exiled, or when he made his choice to go into Twolegplace. Even a simple whiff of Spottedleaf's scent would be enough for a sign. Yet, he received nothing.

"Has Starclan abandoned me now that I'm no longer a part of the clans? Was I actually wrong this whole time? Is Starclan upset with me now?"

Numerous questions ran through his head as he attempted to come up with reasons for Starclan's silence. He initially assumed that only medicine cats and leaders typically get dreams and therefore he shoudn't worry too much, but it didn't explain Spottedleaf's disappearance. She had often come to soothe him in his time of need, so it was weird for her to be completely silent when he needed her now the most. Still, he decided to be patient and believe in them.

Fireheart took a deep breathe. The stench of Twoleg monsters and unknown smells filled his nose, making his face wrinkle. He missed the scent of the forest. He missed the juicy fresh-kill that he would eat while sharing tongues with his clanmates. The breeze that ruffled his fur, the sunlight that warmed his pelt, and the scenery in the forest were all… different. It reinvigorated him every time he woke up. No matter the turmoil affecting his clan at the time, he would always find the forest welcoming him. Here, in Twolegplace, It was all unnatural. Foreign. Even the base of the tree he was next to was surrounded by some weird, black twoleg net. It felt completely cold and solid to the touch.

Fireheart ignored his internal bickering and picked up his squirrel. He padded towards a space between two twoleg dens. Careful to avoid any twoleg contact, he turned the corner and headed deeper into the alleyway. Several twoleg silver, cylindrical objects lined the walls. Fireheart jumped on top of one of them and lay down, ready to enjoy his meal.

"Hey! You there!"

His meal time was interrupted by shouting in front of him. Three, ragged cats started padding into view, some with scratches and missing chunks of fur. Fireheart slid the squirrel just underneath him and stood up.

"They must have been watching him hunt from a distance," he thought.

"Can I help you?" meowed Fireheart, half-knowing what the new intruders may have to say. This had become routine for him as well.

"You certainly can. That squirrel over there: hand it to us," demanded the lead tom.

"I'm afraid I can't do that," responded Fireheart nonchalantly. "I've got to eat too, you know?"

The tom growled, getting impatient.

"Just hand it over! It's three against one. I'd listen if I were you."

"No thanks."

The three cats, no longer waiting for compliance, pelted towards him. Fireheart sighed, wondering if this was how cats always do things in Twolegplace. He leaped from the silver object and dashed forward, claws sheathed. As the approaching force got closer, Fireheart noticed one of their ears was torn, and another ran with an awkward gait. Fireheart decided to aim for the leader first. As the cats met in the middle, the lead tom swung a paw with unsheathed claws forward. Fireheart dodged easily, ducking underneath the swipe. Fireheart followed his maneuver by raising his paw and delivering a blow to the top of his head. The tom stumbled back, now dazed.

The other two were surrounding him on both sides, not quite sure when to jump in. As the lead tom stumbled back, the other two leaped forward. Fireheart jumped back just in time for the two to hit their heads against each other.

"Even apprentices don't fight as clumsily as you!" exclaimed Fireheart.

The ginger tom ran forward again and slammed his head into the body of the tom with the awkward gait. The tom couldn't keep his balance and stumbled, falling onto his side. Fireheart quickly turned to the torn-eared tom and swung his paw to the side of the tom's head. The tom, still somewhat dazed after accidentally headbutting his partner earlier, felt a strong blow to the side of his head. Fireheart's stun went into full effect, causing the tom to tumble backwards.

Fireheart quickly noticed sounds of thumping paws on the ground coming towards him. The lead tom had gotten back up and was now charging towards him. Fireheart turned and ran, purposefully running slower than the other tom. The lead tom, not understanding Fireheart's tactic, taunted him.

"You're getting scared now? That's a dead end, you know? You have no where to run!"

When the lead tom caught up to Fireheart, he leaped high into the air. The ginger tom suddenly stopped, put his weight on his front paws, and thrust his back paws into the ragged cat. His rear legs smashed directly into the chest of the leaping tom, knocking the air out of him completely. He fell to the ground, clutching himself as he wheezed in pain. Fireheart padded up to him and stood over him menacingly.

"Are we done?" he meowed calmly.

The lead tom struggled to his paws, shifting awkwardly as he fought to regain his breathe. He signaled to the other cats with his tail.

"Come on, this one ain't worth it."

The three cats, beaten and out of energy, slowly padded out of the alleyway and out of sight. Fireheart, not even having suffered a scratch, climbed back on top of the silver object and lay down, preparing to eat his squirrel in peace this time. He relaxed his muscles, took a deep breathe, and leaned in to take a bite. Suddenly, a high-pitched voice meowed from behind him.

"Wow, that was so cool!"

Fireheart threw his head back in exasperation.

"Can a tom just enjoy his meal in piece? Please!" he exclaimed, turning his head to the voice. At the end of the alley on top of the wall, a small, silver cat was perched on top. His large, orange eyes curiously stared at him from above.

At Fireheart's exclamation, the silver tom jumped in surprise. "Oh, uh… sorry. I'll wait until you finish your meal," meowed the mystery cat sheepishly.

Fireheart sighed and finally took a bite out of the squirrel while keeping one eye on the newcomer. The silver tom just sat there, watching him while fidgeting his paws. He started grooming himself to seem like he was busy and not-at-all tempted to talk, but the fixation of his eyes on Fireheart broke the illusion. He obviously had something to tell him, but it seemed the silver tom didn't want to cause him any trouble. Fireheart continued to take more bites from the squirrel, but the awkward staring was making it substantially harder to stomach his meal. Eventually, he rolled his eyes and beckoned him with his tail.

"Come down, it's getting weird with you just staring at me," Fireheart meowed defeated.

The silver tom's expression brightened, and he leaped backward from the wall, disappearing from sight. Fireheart was confused for a couple seconds, until one of the small boxes against the alley wall shifted. The box was gently pushed aside, revealing a small hole inside the wall. The silver tom appeared from the hole and sprung over to Fireheart.

"Hi! I'm Marsh. What's your name?" greeted the silver tom.

Upon closer inspection, Fireheart realized that this cat was nearly the size of the average apprentice, perhaps around seven moons. His fur was slightly dirty despite his grooming, and small tufts of fur stuck out in random locations from his pelt. His pelt was also matted to his ribs, making them visible. In contrast, his face was beaming with excitement. His ears twitched and his tail wagged, waiting for Fireheart's greeting. His looks and demeanor reminded him a lot of when Cinderpelt used to be his apprentice.

Fireheart leaped from the silver object to meet Marsh at eye level, carrying his squirrel with him.

"I'm Fireheart," meowed Fireheart warmly. "Can I ask what you're doing in a place like this? You seem a little young to be around this area," he inquired.

"Well, this area is a part of my scouting path. I come around here to make sure there's no dangerous cats lurking around. Then, I go back and give my report to Gramps," Marsh answered.

"Gramps?" Fireheart questioned.

"Yeah! He leads our family and is also my grandfather. I usually just call him 'Gramps' though."

Fireheart nodded in understanding. Suddenly, a deep rumble echoed from Marsh's stomach. The silver tom looked away in embarrassment.

"Sorry, it's just that I haven't eaten today yet," Marsh meowed sheepishly.

"It looks like you don't each much at all," Fireheart said with concern, hinting at Marsh's visible ribs. The ginger tom picked up the half-eaten squirrel and placed it in front of Marsh.

"I already ate half of it, but I'll give you the rest. You should eat it," pushed Fireheart.

Marsh looked from Fireheart, then to the squirrel, and then finally back at Fireheart.

"A-are you sure?" Marsh hesitated.

"Of course. Go on."

Marsh's expression brightened even more, and he quickly devoured the rest of the squirrel in a few famished gulps. Fireheart couldn't help but smile at the small tom as he ate his meal without wasting a single bite. After a brief moment, Marsh licked his mouth and looked up.

"Wow! I've been needing that. Thank you, sir," meowed Marsh. "Hey, normally I'm not supposed to let anyone know this, but my home is nearby. Would you like to come and meet my family?"

Fireheart hesitated.

"I don't know… I don't think your family would like a stranger like me coming along, right? This is Twolegplace after all."

"It's okay! I'll introduce you to them; you'll be completely fine," Marsh meowed confidently.

"I also still have a mission I need to accomplish myself," said Fireheart. He still needed information about Bloodclan and who they were, and he was hoping for some answers soon. He didn't quite know what he was going to do with the information, but it was better than being ignorant.

"Although, Marsh and his family may know something about them… It might not hurt to go meet them."

"Actually, I want to ask your leader a couple of questions about Twolegplace and a certain group of cats. Do you think I could go ask him about that?" asked Fireheart.

"Of course! I'm sure my Gramps knows anything! Does that mean you're coming with me?" begged Marsh.

"Well… alright. I guess I'll tag along," meowed Fireheart at last.

Marsh leaped in joy and circled Fireheart multiple times.

"Come on! I'll show you where it is."

Marsh bounded away and ducked through the small hole in the wall. Fireheart followed, keeping a brisk pace as they continued through Twolegplace. They appeared along another long row of twoleg nests that stretched further than Fireheart could see. He had encountered the same view several times now, and he wondered if it was actually possible to retrace his steps to get back to the clans if he really needed to.

"This place is truly like a maze," Fireheart thought to himself.

Marsh and Fireheart continued to pad along the rows of different houses, occasionally crossing the thunderpath and weaving between houses. Along the way, Marsh pricked his ear to Fireheart.

"Hey, how did you even do that?" asked Marsh.

"Do what?"

"The fighting! You took on three of those ragged cats and came out without a scratch. Where'd you learn to do that?"

Fireheart thought about his response. "Should I tell them about my past as a clan cat? That I used to be a part of Thunderclan? But the forest cats don't exactly have good reputations, at least according to Smudge back when I was a kittypet. Does that also mean I need to mention my exile as well?"

"Uh, well I suppose I picked it up from others," stammered Fireheart finally. He decided to keep it to himself for now.

"Those moves were so cool! You were like 'Bam!', and then you went like 'Wablam!'," meowed Marsh, attempting to copy Fireheart's attacks by swinging his paws around. "Actually, I've been meaning to ask ever since we met but… could you teach me a little?"

"Teach you?" reciprocated Fireheart curiously.

"I-If it's not too much trouble. There's a lot of dangerous cats out there, you know? I'm not exactly the imposing type, as you may have guessed already, but I still want to be able to protect myself and my family when it comes to it," Marsh responded nervously.

"Hmm… I suppose that's a valid reason," the ginger meowed. He didn't have any particular problems with it. Marsh came off as a good cat, and it would pain Fireheart to see him get hurt when he's already so malnourished.

"Speaking of which, is it hard to hunt around these parts?"

Marsh nodded his head. "Much of the prey here will scamper when you get too close to it unfortunately, and the approaching snow-fall is making prey harder to find."

"Snow-fall?"

"Yeah, Snow-fall. You know, when the trees are bare and there's lots of snow covering the ground?"

"Ah," Fireheart meowed in understanding. "Basically leaf-bare then."

Marsh began picking up his pace.

"Come on! We're almost there!"

Fireheart followed while observing his surroundings, seeing the gradual changes in the environment. As they got closer to Marsh's home, many of the twoleg nests began to look decrepit and abandoned. It was quiet, and hardly any twolegs or their monsters showed up anymore. Interestingly, they passed by what looked like a sleeping twoleg monster, but many of its eyes were cracked, and it lay completely still.

"Perhaps it's dead. I guess even the mighty twoleg monsters die someday…"

Eventually, they came across a single twoleg nest with some greenery around it. The twoleg house looked much older than the nests he had previously seen, and small steps led up to the entrance. At the entrance, a couple cats stood guard. One guard was much bigger than the other, with a yellow pelt with black stripes wrapping around his back. The other was a small she-cat with a shiny white pelt with black large black dots covering her. As Marsh and Fireheart approached, the stripped guard stood up and padded forward.

"Marsh, who is this?" he interrogated.

"Don't tell me he's brought another weird thing in!" shouted the she-cat. "Last time he brought a rotten magpie, and now he's brought some random stranger!"

"No, this cat is actually super nice! Trust me! He gave me some of his prey when I got super hungry," pleaded Marsh. "He just has a couple questions for Gramps. Could I bring him over to meet him?"

"We'll bring Bumble out to meet you, instead. I don't trust whoever this tom is," grumbled the yellow tom, throwing a side glance at Fireheart.

Marsh leaned into Fireheart's ear. "Don't worry about Jumper too much. He's grumpy all the time, but he's just an anxious cat in general."

"Is that so…" meowed Fireheart.

A few minutes later, Jumper comes back out with another cat. Fireheart was surprised to see dots of gray, old hair in this cat's gray-blue pelt, and one of his yellow eyes was paler than the other. Bumble climb down the stairs, coming face-to-face with the ginger tom.

"This is the leader? He would've been a young elder by now!" Fireheart thought to himself.

"What did you call me out for this time?" spoke Bumble, interrupting Fireheart's thoughts. "This had better be good. My bones ache from the cold air coming in."

Before Marsh could speak for him, Fireheart dipped his head.

"Greetings, Bumble. I'm Fireheart. Marsh invited me to come visit you. I also wished to ask you a couple questions," meowed Fireheart.

Bumble briefly observed Fireheart's demeanor with a nod.

"Hmph, at least someone has manners around here. Come in, you obviously have something to discuss."

"Thank you."

As Fireheart padded forward with Bumble and Jumper, Marsh stood with his mouth open.

"But you're never that nice to me Gramps!" Marsh complained.

"That's because you don't know respect if it ran up and bit you!" Bumble proclaimed. "Now go help Dray with the bedding clean-up."

Marsh sighed heavily and dragged his paws forward, disappearing into the nest with his tail drooped. Fireheart gave a wry smile at the thought of having to do apprentice duties again.

As the trio headed into the twoleg nest, a mixture of different cat scents hit Fireheart's nose. The inside of the nest was a wide room with wooden floors. A couple rooms were connected to the main floor, while a series of steps to his right led to a second ridge above him. Bumble steadily place each paw forward, carefully climbing up the steps.

"Come, my room is upstairs. We can talk there."

Fireheart followed slowly behind him, being patient as Bumble finally reached the top of the steps. He slipped into one of the rooms where bedding was placed in the middle of the floor, and Bumble gently rested himself within it. Fireheart sat down and tucked his paws underneath him a couple tail lengths away. Bumble began talking first.

"Now, what is it that you want to talk about?"

A/N: Hopefully, this chapter wasn't too boring. I wanted to set up a lot of the environment and characters, as well as their interactions before beginning any intense drama. I'm going to attempt to continue writing chapters a bit faster and better next time, but I hope you all enjoyed.