Patrol again. It has felt as if she had gotten no sleep that night, whenever her tail had twitched and hit another cat they had bounded up squealing and awakening the rest of the den; that had happened more than once before Thunderstrike had gotten tired and went to sleep outside beside the den. It wasn't the wisest choice considering the fact that night it had been pouring with rain. She had gotten thoroughly soaked and was still freezing despite the warm air.

She was padding around the edge of the great ravine, wandering towards the river, when she caught an unfamiliar scent. It was definitely another cat and they weren't from the clan, they had the strangest scent and it made her head spin, pines, sun drown place, all sorts of areas. But one thing registered in her mind almost immediately, intruder. Her back prickled and tail fluffed up as she began to stalk the trail leading to the strong scent, she could make out the cat had headed up the river from nearby forest, rested that night in bushes close to the river, then got up extremely early. The scent under the bushes was already turning stale, but as she ventured a little further Thunderstrike caught sight of a golden yellow she-cat stopped at the lake where the river drained.

Thunderstrike stalked out of the bushes, "Hey!" she yowled, "What are you doing here!"

"Swimming," The she-cat responded, "It's really very hot out, want to join?" She was indeed wet all over and didn't seem to mind it at all which was unusual because of her thicker fur. She wasn't showing any signs of aggression towards Thunderstrike, in fact just the opposite. "What's wrong?" the cat asked, "Don't like water?"

"No I don't," Thunder recovered from her shock hissing, "You're not supposed to be here! This is clan territory!"

"What's a clan?" the cat asked.

Thunderstrike was taken aback, "You haven't heard of the clan?" she sputtered, "Who do you live with?"

"My friends; there's Destiny, BerryJay, Sheep, Kittypet and Tessa. We were just about to cross through here to get home but I ran out ahead because they were going too slow. I'm the fastest you know," She said proudly, puffing her chest, "Name's Budderhats!"

"Budderhats," Thunderstrike snorted, "That's a weird name."

"Well?"

She wasn't supposed to talk to trespassers and she knew it, but this was the first cat who had openly talked to her in moons. "Well what?" she replied confused.

"Well what's your name silly?" Budderhats asked cheerfully.

"Thunder That Strikes During Storms," the reply was hesitant, "O-or Thunderstrike. Either way is fine." While she was talking Budderhats had been following her tail with her eyes, whiskers quivering. "Your tail's super long!" Budderhats squealed with delight, pretending to bat at it from where she was sitting.

Thunderstrike blushed and rested her tail on her back, letting it drape towards her shoulder, she felt uncomfortable when people brought it up since the mention of it from other cats usually meant the follow of verbal abuse. Snapping out of her thoughts Thunderstrike realized that Budderhats had started to babble on about something and she completely hadn't noticed. "-So the other cat lay down next to its twoleg and she was sitting in this weird rocky thing. Not actually real rocks rocky but it wasn't staying still but she was sitting on it. And his tail got like- stepped on by it, and it looked like it really hurt but I jumped on the sitting part when the twoleg got up and went inside it's nest. I rocked it a couple times and it was really fun so I did it again but I fell off and-"

"Whoa what? You completely lost me."

"Oh," Budderhats giggled in reply, "Sorry, Destiny says I have a tendency to talk about too many things at once. She says I'm really hyperactive."
"No really?" Thunderstrike muttered half to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing," Thunder looked up, she heard another cat approaching and not soon after a grey she-cat with blue tinting broke the bushes. "Five minutes. I leave you alone for FIVE MINUTES and you disappear," she exclaimed, "What is WRONG with you!"

"A lot of things," Budderhats mused. The cat sighed in annoyance, fur bristling, "I've had it up to here with your antics get back to-" The cat looked up, shooting back in surprise and abruptly stopping in mid-sentence upon noticing Thunderstrike who was sitting impatiently, tail flicking back and forth. A Kittypet for sure by the way she's acting, Thunder thought. "Clan cat!" she screeched, pulling Budderhats by the scruff. Budderhats resisted and shook her off, "You're being silly again!" She giggled, "This is Thunderstrike! She's my new friend!" Friend. Surprise hit Thunderstrike like a stone, that wasn't a word she had heard directed at her for seasons. "Friends with a clan cat, have you gone more insane than usual?!" The cat was shocked. Budderhats nodded, looking over at Thunderstrike with expectance in her eyes.

"R-really?" Thunderstrike tilted her head, "A friend?"

"Yeah!" Budderhats exclaimed, "This is Destiny by the way, she's usually really nice." Thunderstrike nodded a hello and Destiny looked puzzled, "You're not going to eat us?"

"Eat you?! Starclan no, what would give you that idea?" she shuddered a little, "You cats and your ridiculous stories." Destiny was edgy still, she didn't quite believe it and was sticking close to Budderhats, "I'll get everyone else, I-I mean if we can pass." Thunder suddenly looked anxiously back at the direction of camp then back towards these cats, the ones who didn't hate her. "All right," she said, "But can I ask you something?"

"What?" Destiny looked at her suspiciously.

"Can I come with you?"