A/N: Sorry this update took so long :( Getting acclimated to high school again after the summer is a lot harder than I remember. Plus auditions for the musical were fairly hectic - not that it ended up mattering- I didn't even get a part ha ha. ANYWAY, I know you're all fascinated by my personal life, ( - - Sarcasm) but I should probably write the chapter now, huh? *Note, after writing this, I noticed that while two days ago in the story, it was taking place in "Into the Wild" and now it's in the second half of "Forest of Secrets". Two days later. xD My timeline is so screwed up -.- Let's just say times passes really s l o w l y in Twolegplace. Ha ha.


Russetfur stared up at Charlie incredulously. "What do you mean, stay here?"

The white tom suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. "I mean that you had kits two suns ago. You have four kits that are two suns old! None of you are fit for travel! And I don't see why you're going back. I hate to bring up a sore topic, but you were banished! Won't ShadowClan just run you off again?"

"It's a possibility." Russetfur said tightly, getting to her paws anyway. Only Leafkit had openend his eyes, which worried her slightly, mostly because she and her littermates had opened their eyes earlier. Still, she remember that Tallpoppy's kits had taken almost six suns to open theirs, so she tried to be reasonable about it. However, it was her first litter, and she was bound to obsess over every detail. "Now, are you going to help me or not?"

She picked up Leafkit by the scruff as she asked her friend, and he squirmed around. He was always moving around and making noise. Russetfur's whiskers twitched with amusement as she thought about the poor cat who would be his mentor. They'd certainly have their paws full. Charlie took the kit from her and placed him in the hollow of his shoulders. "Are you sure about this?" he asked, light green eyes boring into her darker ones.

"Yes, Charlie." she said tersely, but relief flooded her. She couldn't do this on her own. "Okay, the burnt sycamore is pretty far into ShadowClan territory. Will your Twolegs go looking for you?"

He shook his head. "I've been gone for a few days at a time several times, I won't be missed. Especially not with their new pet." he said the last part bitterly, narrowing his eyes as he set Raggedkit beside Leafkit.

"New pet?" Russetfur asked curiously.

Charlie glanced towards the Twoleg nest. "They found a kit somewhere and have been nursing it back to health. The little scrap's really fine, he's just milking their attention for all it's worth. He's a right runt, yet they call him Dragon. What a joke."

"Charlie. Kits are smaller than full-grown cats. He'll grow." she said, his jealousy of the other cat seeming cute to her. Wrinkling her nose, she asked, "What's a dragon?"

The white tom had to set down Foxkit before answering, "It's a huge lizard thing with wings. Sort of. Like, bigger than five of my Twolegs' nests."

"I wouldn't want one of those on ShadowClan territory..." she murmured, picturing the fearsome animal. "Anyway, I'm sure once your Twolegs get used to having the kit around, they'll pay just as much attention to you. Come on though, I want to get there before dark." Scooping up Berrykit, she launched herself onto the "workbench", as Charlie called it. A flash of her fall a few suns ago struck her, and she shivered, recalling the pain of dislocating her shoulder.

Charlie stretched to drop Raggedkit on the stool just in front of the workbench, putting Leafkit and Foxkit up there as well, while Russetfur leaned down and lifted them up to the tabletop. The kittypet joined them, and each took a kit in their mouth and leaped to the top of the fence. Russetfur launched downward first, carefully holding the kit so that the shock of the landing was absorbed through her paws and legs and did not give the helpless kit whiplash. Charlie copied her actions with the second kit, but as she prepared to jump to the top of the fence again, he stopped her.

"I'll get the other two. You just gave birth, all this jumping around can't be good for you. She acquiesced, despite her initial desire to prove she was fine, for the good of her kits. Charlie fetched the last two kits, and Russetfur started to lead him in the right direction. Since both had kits in their mouths, they did not have much room for conversation, and the long trip to the burnt sycamore was made in near-silence. They had to stop once, terrifyingly close to the ShadowClan camp, because the kits were hungry and would not stop mewling.

The tree was in sight when a voice made Russetfur nearly jump out of her skin. "Russetfur?" the voice said, and the dark ginger she-cat whipped around, claws unsheathing and eyes wild.

It was Cinderfur, who looked thin and harried. "Why are you in ShadowClan territory? And who is this cat?"

"Cinderfur..." she said slowly after setting Berrykit on the ground gently. "I..."

The thin gray tom closed his eyes. "Russetfur, I am deputy of ShadowClan now. You are not a part of this Clan, and it is my duty to drive you out. But... I don't know if I can bring myself to do it, not when you have newborn kits with you. But you can't stay here. If Nightstar knew..."

"N-Nightstar?" she exclaimed. Could she have heard that correctly? Her apprentice was leader of ShadowClan?

Cinderfur nodded. "Yep. he's Nightstar now... And he's a damn fine leader, too."

"Well of course he is, if Russetfur trained him." Charlie chimed in, and the new deputy turned his attention to the white-furred tom.

"So who are you?" he asked suspiciously, amber eyes narrowed.

Russetfur stepped forward carefully. "He's helping me move the kits."

"Move them where?" Cinderfur asked with renewed curiosity, his sharp eyes taking in the four tiny kits.

Giving Berrykit a swift lick on the head, she replied, "I think it would be best for all of us if I didn't say." If she told him where she was taking the kits, he'd be bound to say something sooner or later, and this way, he wouldn't have to keep such an important secret.

"Perhaps it is best... I will not go looking for you, Russetfur, but please, Nightstar still feels such anger at your betrayal... He would not hesitate to chase you away, kits or not, I'm sure of it. Be careful..." Cinderfur cautioned before hurrying off toward camp.

Charlie and Russetfur exchanged a hollow glance. A burning guilt singed the queen's heart. My betrayal? So Nightstar really believes that I followed Brokenstar of my own volition... Her guilt faded as anger took its place. How could he think that of me? Doesn't he know enough to know I would never do that to him- to any cat? She let out a small growl in the back of her throat. Picking up Berrykit again, the pair continued walking, Russetfur's tail now twitching with anger.

They reached the Burnt Sycamore without further incident. Charlie put one paw on the trunk, but Russetfur signaled with her tail for him to wait. "The last time I was here, some owls were living in there and half-killed me." she informed him quietly, having put Berrykit on the ground again. Slowly, cautiously, she scaled the trunk in silence. tasting the air, she scented nothing, but the wind was not in her favor.

Fast as a lightning strike, she looked inside and pulled her head away. Blinking, the image formed in her mind. It was empty. She looked again, to be sure, and she was right. The only thing in there was a single, curled orange leaf. "It's empty." she called down, and leaped to the ground. Charlie brought up Leafkit in his jaws and placed him in the hollow. Russetfur brought Foxkit, then Raggedkit, and Charlie took Berrykit into the now crowded space. He balanced on the rim, not having enough room to step inside.

"Can you find your way back on your own, Charlie?" Russetfur asked quietly as the kits, hungry and tired, suckled sleepily.

The white-furred kittypet nodded. "Of course. But will you really be okay here in this tree? Leaf-bare's coming, and it will be awfully cold... And who will hunt for you?" The concern in his light green eyes made Russetfur smile.

"We'll be fine. I don't know how, yet, but we'll make it through." she comforted him.

Charlie looked most unconvinced, which he made clear by saying, "You can't just leave them in this tree to get food, and you have to get food sometime..."

As Russetfur opened her mouth to reply, a new voice cut her off. "That's why I'll help her!"

Very nearly losing his balance, the white tom swung his head around to see Falconkit, clawing up the tree to them. She squeezed past Charlie and into the hollow. "I can hunt for you, or watch the kits while you hunt, or something." she suggested happily.

"Faclonkit? What are you doing here?" she asked indignantly, Charlie still a bit stunned on the edge of the hole.

The she-kit ducked her head. "I ran away. Those Twolegs weren't mean or anything... But I can't be a kittypet! They made me poop in a box of sand and eat hard pellets and gross water... And they were always picking me up and carrying me around. I was only there a couple of suns, they won't miss me that much. And a good thing, too. You need my help." She said, puffing her chest out.

"Falconkit..." Russetfur meowed, "If I needed help, I'd ask Charlie. I'm sorry, but you are just a kit. You wouldn't be able to fight off an owl and you don't know how to hunt. At this point, you'd be another mouth to feed." She said the words gently, but Russetfur knew she would be cut to the heart if a cat said them to her.

The resilient she-kit just glared. "I can too hunt. I caught a mouse in the Twolegs' garden. Maybe I won't be much help fighting off an owl, but I can fetch you moss and water, keep an eye out while you sleep, and hunt, too. You know I can help you."

"Russetfur, do you wish for me to bring the kit back to her Twolegs?" Charlie asked, ignoring the kit's pleas.

Falconkit growled. "I'll just run away again and come right back here, you know I will, Russetfur!" she warned.

The dark ginger queen sighed. "It's true. Charlie, it's going to get dark soon, you should start back. Thank you so, so much, for everything. For fixing my shoulder, for birthing my kits and for helping me bring them here... I am in your debt."

"And you can pay it back by staying alive and healthy and out of trouble. But if you ever are in dire straits again, I'll welcome you. And I expect a few more visits once everything's straightened out. Goodbye Russetfur. Goodbye, kits. I'll be seeing you soon, Russetfur." With those words, the kittypet leaped down from the tree trunk and started padding to his home.

Russetfur glanced at Falconkit. "I suppose you can stay with me and the kits." she said grudgingly.