Lostheart stretched her legs as she stepped out into the clearing, it was unusually cool this morning, the sudden change in temperature chilled her bones. It was quieter than usual as well, yet as far as she could tell, everyone was still in camp. It was a grim thought knowing that TreeClan could attack at any moment, but a part of her knew it wasn't the right time.

Willowstar wasn't stupid, and Lostheart could tell he was planning something. Whatever it was, it couldn't be good. TreeClan had nearly over twice their number of warriors, they were a force to be reckoned with and Lostheart knew if they wanted to have any chance of keeping them at bay, they would have to take matters into their own hands.

Not only that, but OceanClan and LightClan could also become an issue. Lostheart doubted Morningstar would try anything, the she-cat always preferred peaceful agreements, besides, it would be difficult for the LightClan cats to reach their territory. However, they still had to be wary of OceanClan. Brisingstar was known for being a fair cat, but with their weakness it would be easy for OceanClan to attack and reclaim their lost territory if they chose to.

Sunstar was completely out of it, they couldn't afford to rely on him anymore. She didn't know what was wrong with the golden tom, but he certainly wasn't making an effort to lead their clan. Thoughts of Sunstar left her feeling extremely frustrated.

It wasn't enough that he didn't care for her, that he betrayed her mother, and that he refused to acknowledge her existence. No, he had to dump all his responsibilities onto her shoulders, and leave her to deal with his problems.

She never wanted this! Leading and ordering people around wasn't her thing. Lostheart hated attention, in fact, she tried to avoid it. Yet Sunstar had carelessly tossed her under the spotlight.

Lostheart sighed and eyed the ground beneath her paws, she often wondered what her true purpose was. There had to be more for her than this...right?

Admittedly if it wasn't for Darkpelt, Lostheart didn't know how she would keep up with anything. The white tom was far better for the role of deputy than herself, despite his foul nature and temper, the male had no problem keeping things in line.

Lostheart had to resist the urge to shiver as a strong gust of wind blew into her as she stepped out of the warriors den, and the leaves ruffled violently in the trees. Greysight, Moonfur, Darkpelt, and Browneyes were all sitting in the clearing, apparently waiting for her.

Lostheart assumed Longtail, Sunstar, Mintpaw and Roseclaw were in their dens. She found it strange that Darkpelt hadn't sent out the patrols yet and padded up to the small group curiously.

The four cats sat in complete silence. Browneyes had his paws tucked under him and appeared to be trying to warm himself from the cold, while Darkpelt's face was adorned with his usual scowl.

Greysight's ear twitched upon her approach, and the black she-cat stood up before the rest, immediately sensing Lostheart's presence first. "We've been waiting for you." she meowed.

Inside, Lostheart felt a twinge of unease spread through her. "Why?"

Greysight opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by Darkpelt as the large tom rose to his paws. "We've already run the dawn patrol, and we have enough fresh kill for the day. We just wanted to know if you require anything else from us."

Although his words sounded honest, it was clear from the look on Darkpelt's face that he didn't care, whether about the task or herself Lostheart wasn't certain.

"Well now that we're all here why don't we have a clan meeting?" Browneyes suggested from beside his brother. "It would be a good idea to have a discussion." The silver tabby was still lying down, but he had been listening to the conversation.

Lostheart thought it was a good idea, instinctively her eyes flickered toward the medicine cat den, Browneyes seemed to notice the sudden movement.

"Roseclaw is out with Mintpaw right now. She wanted to get some more catmint before it gets too cold for the plants to grow, I think Longtail's cough has gotten worse." he continued seriously.

Lostheart paid special attention to Greysight at his words, but the she-cat sat completely silent face devoid of any emotion. She was probably already aware of Longtail's condition anyway, but Lostheart couldn't help feeling sympathy for the she-cat.

"...Didn't you have a cough too Darkpelt?" Lostheart meowed, turning to the dark warrior.

Darkpelt blinked, seemingly caught off guard by the question, as did many of the cats. It was always strange to hear Lostheart talk, but it was even more surprising to hear her ask about such things.

Darkpelt's scowl immediately returned to his face and he snorted arrogantly, "I'm fine." Browneyes offered a weak smile, "It went away, luckily we were able to catch it in the early stages. Now all we have to do is make sure you don't catch it again." he meowed to his brother with an amused tone.

Darkpelt ignored him while Greysight only smirked at the two males. Moonfur had remained oddly quiet the entire time, the she-cat was sitting with them, but her mind appeared to be somewhere else.

Although it was left unsaid among the cats, they knew that Sunstar wouldn't be coming out to join or even hold a meeting anytime soon. "Not much else to report." Greysight meowed.

"I guess this means we've got some free time, huh?" the black she-cat mused. "I think I'll go train or something, anyone care to join me?"

Browneyes stood up and shrugged, then began to stretch out his long legs. "Sure. Darkpelt?"

Darkpelt snorted, "Someone actually has to stay and guard camp. TreeClan could be planning something at this very moment." he growled.

Greysight rolled her cloudy eyes and turned to Lostheart. Lostheart thought about it for a moment and nodded briefly, she could always go hunting after. Browneyes was slightly surprised to see Lostheart's reply, and the grey tom felt a slight anxiousness claw at his belly.

Greysight grinned, "Great, just meet me there." she meowed to the group before departing. After she left, Darkpelt immediately stalked away, not bothering to talk amongst the group any longer.

Browneyes let out a weak smile and walked away uncomfortably from the silence that hung over Lostheart and Moonfur. Lostheart figure she should go to the training hollow as well, but she made sure to stop on her way out of the camp.

"Moonfur?"

Lostheart's quiet, cold voice broke Moonfur from her thoughts, the pale she-cat looked up in surprise and blinked at Lostheart before standing to her paws.

"What?"

"We have some free time to train today, would you like to come?"

Moonfur looked uncertain for a moment , but shrugged. "Sure, I'm pretty bored anyway."

Moonfur and Lostheart walked in silence as they made their way under the shady trees to the training hollow. Moonfur walked quietly, lost in her thoughts as her eyes drifted around the dark forest and dying trees. They passed by the Dead Oak and Moonfur looked up into its curling braches with a curious expression.

"You know, I've never seen a forest like this before. Was it always like this?" Moonfur meowed suddenly, looking up into the canopy of the trees. Lostheart's eye slowly turned towards the pale she-cat, and she was quiet for a moment before responding.

A distant memory echoed in her mind.

"Has it always been dead?" A young black she-cat meowed quietly as she stared up into the long, twisting branches of a large, dead oak.

The gray tom beside he blinked his green eyes in surprise and smiled kindly, "Well, no. It must have been living at some point, but unfortunately it had already been long dead when I was young."

It wasn't often that Lostheart thought of Ivyfoot, much like her mother, the memories only left her feeling hollow inside. She was sure Ivyfoot would have no problems managing the clan, he had always been an amazing leader. He was always there to keep up with Sunstar, and now that he was gone, it seemed like that was the last straw for the golden tom.

"Long ago, in the time of the ancient clans, it was supposedly a lush, beautiful forest." she replied.

Moonfur frowned slightly, "That's too bad." she meowed regretfully.

"I think it's still beautiful, in its own way. Blue Hole, the fields, and even the forest itself."

Moonfur was mildly surprised to hear Lostheart say such a thing, but she reminded herself that there was still a lot she didn't know about the she-cat. Moonfur hopped over a fallen branch and caught up to Lostheart again.

"Yes, I think that's what drew me here in the first place. What were the Ancient Clans like?"

Lostheart shrugged slightly, "Well, I can't say for sure. I mean-my mother used to tell me stories as a kit, all the clans are familiar with the legends."

Moonfur listened intently to Lostheart's words, but said nothing more as they padded into the training hollow where Browneyes and Greysight were already waiting for them. The two cats walked over to meet them, wasting no time.

Greysight smirked as she padded up to the pair, an obvious gesture towards Moonfur, who already had a scowl on her face.

"Think you can beat me this time?" she taunted.

Moonfur hissed in response, letting her tail bristle in irritation. "I can take you on any day!"

"You two are both idiots."

Greysight opened her mouth to retort, but hissed when Roseclaw pressed a wad of cobwebs onto her leg. "Really, it's like I'm the only one with any brains around here."

Greysight was able to roll her eyes as Roseclaw turned to her side and pressed the cobwebs onto one of Moonfur's scratches.

Roseclaw sighed in irritation. Greysight just had to go and start another fight. The two she-cats had sparred before, but this time it had quickly escalated into something more violent. Both she-cats had somehow come to unsheathe their claws and viciously attacked one another. Browneyes and Lostheart had intervened and were easily able to stop the fighting she-cats.

Roseclaw knew Greysight had a temper, but it surprised her that Moonfur had risen to her friend's bait. The pale she-cat didn't seem like the type to go off on somebody without a reason. What's more, the two she-cats avoided looking at each other and completely ignored the other's presence.

She knew Greysight was on edge with Longtail's sickness, but honestly she should know better. "Ow! Hey!" Moonfur hissed as Roseclaw pressed down a little harder than she had intended to.

Roseclaw ignored her and moved to put the cobwebs aside, then she turned to look at the she-cats with an annoyed glance. "Look, I'm going to go see Lostheart. Try not to rip each other's fur off when I'm gone, ok-and no leaving. That means you Greysight."

Narrowing her blue eyes at her hot-tempered friend, Roseclaw backed out of the medicine cat den and set off to find her sister, leaving Moonfur and Greysight alone.

The den remained completely silent, and both she-cats sat with a sour expression on their face, each refusing to apologize to the other. Greysight listened curiously to the way Moonfur seemed to have deflated. The she-cat lay calmly still and appeared tired.

Greysight didn't know what was wrong with her, they had been fighting each other for training, throwing insults at one another as usual, when Moonfur suddenly went off on her.

Moonfur had made a comment about her blindness and Greysight had retorted by saying that loners and rogues were selfish cats who only cared for themselves. Greysight had been extremely surprised by Moonfur's sudden violent reaction and was caught off guard, allowing the she-cat to tackle her to the ground.

From there the two thrashed around in a whirl of claws and fury. They were lucky Browneyes and Lostheart intervened when they did, otherwise they could have seriously hurt each other.

Greysight slowly turned toward Moonfur, the she-cat had been very quiet. Greysight couldn't help feeling guilty, she didn't know her words would upset Moonfur so much.

It was a long moment of fighting with herself inwardly before Greysight finally sighed and turned toward Moonfur, catching the she-cat's attention.

"Look. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't mean to upset you that much..."

Moonfur narrowed her separately colored eyes at Greysight and looked away, frowning. Greysight was quiet for a moment longer before continuing.

"You know, when I was a kit, I hated myself. I hated the fact that I was blind, and I was angry with StarClan..."

Moonfur's ear had twitched at the sound of Greysight's voice and she warily turned back to the she-cat, surprised by the sudden quiet tone of her voice. It was different from the way Greysight normally sounded.

"I tried so hard to get people to notice that I wasn't useless, and I wasn't just "the blind cat". I trained everyday by myself, while the other kits laughed at me and told me how pathetic I was. I spent my life working to get past my blindness, and I know that despite it, I have grown strong. I guess what I'm trying to say is, I of all cats know you shouldn't judge someone based on their appearance."

Moonfur was quiet, surprised by Greysight's unexpected openness. The she-cat had her own problems, and Moonfur knew Greysight wasn't to be blamed.

"...It's okay."

Greysight's ears perked at Moonfur's quiet response.

"I lost both my parents, I just-I miss them a lot." her eyes had fallen and her voice was barely more than a whisper. Greysight knew Moonfur had been alone, but she had thought the she-cat chose to be that way, she had no idea...

"...I'm sorry."

Moonfur turned away from Greysight and tucked her paws underneath her. Greysight chose not to press the she-cat any further. She had never really thought about the life of a loner, it must be hard always having to watch your back, never being able to stay in one place, and never having anyone to talk to...

Greysight might have felt bad for Moonfur, but that didn't mean she liked her. Greysight let out a small chuckle, "I hope Roseclaw lets us out of here sometime soon, I don't know if I can take staying in this rat hole with someone like you."

She heard Moonfur "hmph" in response, and grinned as the she-cat responded.

"Well if she doesn't, I call dibs on the mice."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

:) We are progressing. What would you think about DarkClan becoming an animated series?

Lost Out

P.S. Leave Reviews telling your suspicions/thoughts/likes/dislikes of certain characters and why. I'm interested to see.