Fallen picked his way through the city, ever wary of the cats around at this time of night.

"Who walks my streets?!" A familiar voice snarled.

"If you have any respect for your mother at all you'd do well to address me again." The grey tom growled coldly.

"Fallen?" A black-and-white tom padded out of the shadows. His ears were flat against his skull and his fur looked recently smoothed over. It did nothing to hide the bones that jutted out from under his fur.

"Hello, Dalton. Where is your brother?"

"Who's that?" A she-cat demanded as she sidled up to the younger tom's side.

"No one for you to worry about. Go get Demon.

"Yes, Dalton."

The light grey she-cat scampered off and Fallen snorted.

"What?"

"You should treat your she-cats with more respect."

"You talk like an old rogue when you're barely older than me."

"I've seen more. I may not have had a mate but I was taught how to treat a female. Ruthen would be ashamed of you now."

"How dare you say that? You probably don't know the first thing about our mother!" Demon stalked over to stand beside his brother, eyes widening when he recognized the sheathed paw aimed for his head.

"Do you two remember nothing about me?! I am more than half the reason you are alive to rule this city today, and I am telling you that you need to remember your mother!"

"Just because you saw us when we were kits doesn't mean we owe you anything!" Dalton snarled, spurred on by his brother's confidence. "We rule these streets and we don't need you. We never did, so go back to your cave and stay there!"

"Where is your mother, Demon? Do you remember Ruthen at all?"

"She abandoned us! We don't need her and we don't need you." The black tom growled.

"No, no, no, that's not what happened-!"

"Then how did we end up here?!"

Fallen growled and scuffed the ground. He wanted to wail. Why did they not understand? What pack of ferocious lies were these city cats feeding his nephews?!

"Clearly you are not willing to listen. I have nothing more to say to you then. I hope you are proud of yourselves." He snarled.

"Ruthen…?" The grey tom, weary from his encounter with the two brothers wanted nothing more than to collapse in his old nest and sleep until the sun was high in the sky two moons later. But he knew he had to find his sister first.

"Why don't they love me?" A small voice whimpered.

His head snapped up to see the once-beautiful red-black-and-white tortoiseshell hunched over in the far corner of his den. He knew then that he couldn't let her stay alone. His old den was not enough to keep her monsters at bay.

"Come on, Ruthen, we're going home."

"They're my kits, Fallen, why don't they love me?!" She'd been crying, of course, and he briefly wondered what made her so melancholic.

"Let's go, Ruthen. It's a long way to the forest. Don't you want to see where we live now?"

"We?"

"Yeah, me and you and Hollyleaf and the rest of the Clan. There'll be new cats for you to meet. You'll like that, won't you?"

"Lead the way, I guess."

Not many would guess that Ruthen was older than her brother by only a few moons, or that Fallen was almost the same age as Hollyleaf. Brambleclaw certainly was in for a shock when he came across the newly-Clanned loner and his down-trodden she-cat.

"I'll try not to drag you down too much."

"Nonsense. Who told you that?"

"No one had to tell me, Fallen." She snapped. " I've always known. It's half the reason we were abandoned in the first place."

"Our parents died, Ruthen. That's not anyone's fault."

"Our mother died giving birth to you and our father followed her because he couldn't stand how similar I was to his precious Marla! Of course it's our fault! It's all our fault! It's my fault Demon is dead and it's my fault they hate me! They hate me, Fallen, you should've seen their faces… they wanted me dead."

"It'll be better here, you'll see. There are plenty of cats to meet. They welcomed me with open paws. I'm sure they can do the same for you."

Brambleclaw decided that he'd definitely heard enough.

"Are you lost?" He asked.

"Yes, Brambleclaw, we are. This is my sister, Ruthen. Brambleclaw is the deputy of the Clan I live with now."

Ruthen seemed to straighten herself out.

"It's nice to meet you, Brambleclaw. I'm sure your Clan is great."

"Why don't you come and see for yourself?"

"You mean it?"

"Sure. We could always use a few extra paws in our Clan and if you don't like it then we won't force you to stay."

"Are there… are there many cats in your Clan?"

"Yes," The brown tabby admitted. "But you don't have to meet them all at once. Not everyone will be there."

"If you're truly okay with this…"

"You'll be fine, I promise. No cat will dare hurt a guest of ThunderClan even if they don't agree."

"Alright… lead the way, I guess."

"Hollyleaf!" The black she-cat glanced up from where she dozed by the warrior's den and found her mate being trailed by a red black and white tortoiseshell. She looked wary but determined and Hollyleaf wondered what she'd been through to put such a look on her face. She rolled to her paws and shook herself out.

"Welcome to ThunderClan, Ruthen."

"You know me?"

"Fallen's mentioned you before. He really wanted you to stay. I hope you enjoy it. Clan life can be great. You want someone to show you around?"

"You all live together and take care of each other?"

"Yes. How much has he told you?"

"I can't say I know that much. Just that you all live here and there are four groups and you all fight for prey and territory. It sounds kind of like the city, only less fighting and everyone is taken care of… Demon would have liked this… do you think they would, Fallen?"

"I think we should have left the city a long time ago." The sliver tom growled.

"What's wrong?" Hollyleaf demanded.

"I'll tell you later."

"So where would you like to go first?"

"You have herbs, don't you? So many cats around here, someone has to know how to keep everyone safe and healthy."

"My brother is the medicine cat. His name is Jayfeather. He can be a bit grumpy at times but I'm sure he wouldn't mind your company. He makes sure our injuries are healed and that we recover when we get sick."

"I'd like to meet him. Thank you…"

"Anything for a Clanmate." Hollyleaf assured her. "I'll show you to Jayfeather."

Welcome home…

I know I haven't been updating but I've been distracted with... life. Any questions, criticisms, confused ramblings? I take them all!

Cinderfire