It was a bright and sunny spring day. Birds flew chirping loudly, butterflies fluttered around after each other in a tall luscious grassy field and squirrels hunted for acorns in the front trees of a forest. The air smelled of pine and flowers, making the atmosphere as cheerful, warm and welcoming as a mother holding her beloved child.

Deep in the forest of the trees, a huntress prowled low in the grass, her pinkish red fur seeming to blending in perfectly with the lush green of the grass. Her sharp green eyes seemed to glow from behind the grass as she eyes the unsuspecting squirrel holding a nut in its paws. Her long black tipped bushy fox tail barely touching the ground and her black stocking legs and paws stepping silently on the ground, she circled around the small creature so that when the wind blew it wouldn't smell her.

She crept up to it and stopped, barely two yards from it and bunched up her muscles. She hesitated slightly at a thought, then grinned and growled lowly. The squirrel immediately squeaked, ears perked as it looked around and sniffed the air. Then it took off running. A angry yowl was heard a bit of a way from it, but the she cat ignored it with the flick a black tipped ear. She laughed and gave the squirrel a five second head start before sprinting after it.

She followed the squirrel up the tree, mimicked it as it jumped from branch to branch, ran down and around trees and tracked it as it ran into one tree hole and out another. It was fun to be chasing prey, teasing the little creatures before ending them, or as her mother called it, 'playing with your food'. It was boring to find, track and catch a prey quickly. Where was the fun in that?

Another angry yowl was heard and the she cat snarled in frustration. She then chased the squirrel out of the tree and onto ground. She picked up her speed and pounced on the squirrel, ending it with a quick bite and snap of its spine. She looked down at the squirrel frowning. 'Well then, there goes the fun...'

She heard running and she looked up, watching as a angry red she cat came running up to her. The she cats angry green eyes glared holes into the former, younger one and she snarled at her. "Sakura! What in Skyclan's name do you think you were doing?! What did I tell you about playing with the prey?! Its disrespectful and shameful!" She batted Sakura's ear with her paw.

Sakura grimaced and shook her head. She looked away and sighed. "I'm sorry mother, I really am. But its not fun just catching and killing. I need some excitement in hunting ya know. Besides, why do I have to be named Sakura? Why can't I be named Cherry like you? Its basically the same thing right?"

Sakura tilted her head, feigning innocence. Cherry shook her head chuckling. "If I did that, then how could I or you tell who was being called for if someone called us hmm?" Sakura tilted her head the other way slightly in thought. "Hmm. Never thought of that."

A laugh was heard close by them, followed by a muffled snort. Two cat walked towards them, one of them a white furry she cat with dark blue eyes and a dark splotch over her left eye and the other cat was a greyish blue male cat with a cream colored diamond between his eyes and a cream colored left hind paw. He lowered his ears, one of them being shredded and dropped the mouse that was in his mouth. "Why is it that every time Cherry scolds you for something you always change the subject, and she falls for it?" he mews as he tilted his head completely confused. The white furry she cat laughed and shook her head.

Sakura hissed at him to be quiet and Cherry narrowed her eyes looking at her daughter. "Why thank you Ocean. I completely forgot about that..." Sakura backed away slowly and Cherry advanced. Sakura looked at Cherry, then sent a small glare at Ocean who shrugged grinning. She then looked at the white one then back to her mother, tail flicking. "Uh...Luna? A little help here?"

Luna shrugged and stole a bite of Ocean's mouse. "Sorry kit, I don't jump into mother daughter spats." she meowed, her eyes watching both of them in amusement.

Ocean growled at her. "Hey toots! Get your own mouse!"

Luna glared at him fur bristling. "What. Did. You. Just. Call. Me?!" She growled lowly. Ocean narrowed his eyes.

Both cats stared growling at each other fangs bared. Sakura shook her head at those two. They were never helpful. She barely dodged her mother who took a swipe at her head and she was instantly on defense. Cherry swiped again at Sakura's head with sheathed claws, smacking Sakura to the ground with a satisfied smirk. Sakura shook her head as she stood, and sent her mother a playful growl.

Both she cats lunged at each other, trading blows and nips, ducking and dodging each others attacks skillfully and perfectly. They ended up on the ground tumbling and pawing at each others muzzles until they ran into the base of a tree with a loud thump. They both sat up rubbing their head and glared up at Luna and Ocean, who were laughing at them. Ocean walked over to them and dropped their hunted squirrel at their paws. "You two wrestle like kits, despite being mother and daughter. You two are strange cats." he mewed amused.

Sakura snorted and held her head high. "Well we came from very strong, powerful clans and-"

"Yea yea powerful cats and clans and ninjas and stuff, whatever that is. We have heard it all from your mother." Cherry shakes her head and starts eating and Sakura joins her.

After they are finished Cherry stretches and looks back at the three cats, eyes glazed over as she remembered how she met her two new 'kits'. She had ran into Luna on the road when she were barely more than six moons old at least. Sakura was only six moons old when they had started hanging out. She had found Luna walking from a strange tall human building, smelling like the foul kittypet food humans fed their kittypets. She had found and helped Ocean in an alley soon afterwards, him being at least three moons older than Sakura, taking on three other larger cats surprisingly well on his own and had nursed his wounds, even though she could do nothing for his shredded ear.

She had offered them survival training and fighting if they had traveled with her, because her kit need friends. What mother would want her kit to grow up lonely? Sakura had taken to them rather quickly than she had expected and they had to her like wise. So she trained all three of them to the best of her ability, teaching them all the nicks and knacks she knew, every secrets both brave and dirty and they all were very eager apprentices, the two almost replacing her lost kits. Almost.

She still mourned the lost of her two kits. They were her first litter too. Had things not turned out the way they did, she would have had three healthy strong kits for her clan. Her clan. Her beloved clan. And her mate. And their leader, the kits and other queens, Yelloweclipse, a skilled female warrior that she thought of as another mother. Whiteshine, Yelloweclipse daughter. Whitemoon, Lightningstrike, so many cat. She missed the battles and the hunts. She missed patrolling the borders even the little scuffles that came with it. She missed playing with the nursery kits and everything else, but her mate? She missed him the most. The look of betrayal in his eyes broke her so bad as she was caught sneaking away at night, crossing borders with a brother from another clan. It was too much. If only they had let her explain what was going on...

"-other? Cherry? Hey!"

Cherry blinked her eyes and shook her head. She looked at the three concerned cats in front of her, her only surviving kit and the two she took in as apprentices. Two strong she cats and a strong and tall lean male. That she nurtured. All of them were beautiful in her eyes. She shook her head again and looked at Luna. "What did you say?"

Luna touched her nose to Cherry's forehead and backed away, Cherry blinking in surprise. "No. She isn't sick or anything." Ocean tilted his head smelling her breath then fur.

"Yea, she's fine..."

Sakura placed a paw on her chest and then nipped her tail, making her yelp in surprise. She nodded. "All clear." They sat and stared at her.

Cherry flattened her ears slightly in annoyance. "I'm fine. Ok? Just...just deep in thoughts." Their eyes softened at once and they walked up and nuzzled her. Sakura pulled away with a grin.

"We will be fine mom, honest! No need to worry!"

Luna shrugged. "That is of course if Ocean doesn't get skinned bald by a dog..."

Ocean hissed and glared at her. "Yea right."

Cherry smiled at them all lovingly. "No no no really, its all fine. I mean, can't a cat think about her companions when she needs to? Like how she found them and taught them and..."

Ocean nudged her. "Yea yea we know mother hen." He snickered as she shot him a playful glare and then chuckled.

"Watch it young one. I can flatten you in two moves." Ocean feigned fear and gasped. Cherry ignored him with the shake of her head and looked at them all.

"Alright crew, listen up. We have stayed at the forest of this human village well past your apprenticeship. You could all be almost warriors now in my clan standards. We are too comfortable here and we need to move." She looked to the horizon, right at the mountains far off. "Once we get over those we will find our destination not far away."

She looked back at them. Luna was looking at her with glittering eyes and Ocean was flexing his claws in the grass. Sakura had her thick tail wrapped neatly around her paws and it rested a little past where her tail started. All of them had determined looks in their eyes, each looking forward to every oncoming hunt, battle, sleep and run. 'That's good. that what I want to see. They are finally and completely ready for this journey,' Cherry thought. She turned and raised her tail, shivering inside at the possible horrible things awaited her and them, but she shook that way. They will all survive this journey. She is sure of it. She will make sure they made it even though she probably would not.

She winces as Sakura nipped her tail. She turned and was surprised to see her kit glaring at her, that all of her kits were glaring at her. They walked on each side of her and in one voice they said "We will all make it. No one left behind." Cherry smiled and took a deep breath. She nodded and started running, Sakura, Luna and Ocean following right on each side her.

She smiled. This felt as it did when she was a young warrior, Whitethunder and his sibling running right by her side, her and Whitethunder competing to be the best against each other. At a sudden realization, she laughed. The other smiled at her curiously, but she shook her head. They were still competing even at a far away distance. Why? Because she had trained not one, but three apprentices at one time. 'Beat that, Whitethunder!'

~ooo~

Whitethunder and his group went back home after discovering his dead kits. They had stayed for moons to make up for missed gatherings and the current war going on there. They had settled the fight between the clans, and at their Bonding under the Stars, the Sunclan leader, Brightrīdā, suggested that if they were to go on a journey to retrieve their lost warrior that each cat from a clan should be chosen to go along. Starrīdā, the Moonclan leader narrowed her eyes at him.

"We can handle this matter on our own, Brightrīdā. This is our run away warrior. We don't need help from you or any other clan."

"But that just the thing, Star. She is your warrior, but MY daughter." Brightrīdā mewed.

"And my sister!" A reddish orange furred tom yowled. He narrowed his green eyes and flattened his ears, his tail held high. "If anyone were to go and look for her then one of them should be me! Unlike any of you," he fixed Whitethunder a pointed glare, "she trusts me the most."

Whitethunder sneered at him. "And of course you know Autumnspot, you have been sneaking out with her."

Autumnspot growled. "You bet ur pelt I have! And she doesn't want to be near her sorry excuse of a 'mate' when she knows he will mark her and their kits, you fox hearted flea bag! If we do find her she is coming to Sunclan!"

Whitethunder's eyes went cold, and he let a growl out from the back of his throat. "She will do no such thing." Autumnspot hunched over, black claws digging into the ground and his lips pulled back in a snarl, his fangs glistening. "Try me. You maybe a deputy, but not MY deputy! My sister is coming home with ME! End of story!" Whitethunder yowled and pounced on him.

Both cat tumbled and growled, clawing and biting at each other. Another yowl was heard from beside the other leaders and the two stopped, Whitethunder's paw was raised about to strike Autumnspot and Autumnspot's hind paws stuck at Whitethunder's belly. A pitch black male cat glared down at them with dark green eyes and bared his long fangs. "You both fight like kits in my eyes. If you were my cats both of you would have been marked by every cat in the clans!"

Whitethunder flattened his ears and backed off of Autumnfall. He walked back to his spot beside his leader, his head bowed, not minding the blood running down over his eye from the cut Autumnspot gave him. Autumnspot stood and lifted his injured paw and licked it. "Apologies, Saberrīdā..."

Saberrīdā nodded and looked around at all the cats then the leaders. "If I may, I think it is a good idea to send a cat from each clan to go on this mission. Cherryblossom is a well know cat from all clan, for talents and friendship. Where this is going and how long it will take, Moonclan cannot do this on their own."

Starrīdā growled lowly and bared her fangs. "You think we are incapable of retrieving our own warrior?!" The Moonclan cats yowled in a agreement with shouts of "we are not kits" and "we are strong". Saberrīdā shook his head and remained calm.

"No, just that you can't send all of your warriors on one trip. Then our battles will be boring. Darkclan doesn't want to fight a bunch of defensless cats." He sniffed in amusement, paws covered neatly by his tail.

Starrīdā scoffed and looked away, her anger already getting the better of her. "Fine! All of you can choose a cat from your clans to join this two moon hunt, but choose wisely. Whitethunder is going to lead them since he know most of the way already." Whitethunder wrapped his tail around his paws.

Brightrīdā nodded and looked at Autumnspot. "You will go with them, Autumnspot. I don't want any trouble from either you or Whitethunder along the way." Autumnspot bowed his head.

"Yes Brightrīdā."

Saberrīdā looked around at his warriors, his eyes resting on a rusty orange she cat. "Longclaw, you will go along with them. Skyclan knows that Sunclan and Moonclan cannot hunt for themselves..."

The remark earned a glare from both clan leaders, then Starrīdā looked at a black pawed brown tom cat with his eyes closed, unnoticeably silent. "And the cat you choose, Rustlerīdā?"

The brown cat opened his yellow eyes and stretched. "Bonding under the Stars is over. All clan cat return to their homes." He jumped from on top of Skyrock and walked away with his clan. He stops and looks back. "Sandclan chooses Mudfur." He turned and walked away with a smirk.

The other leaders took their clans and returned him. Brightrīdā gave his son a long scolding on his actions while their medicat put salve on his wounds. Back in Moonclan, Starrīdā had just finished "training" with Whitethunder, claws on. She laid pinned under Whitethunder panting hard, covered in lightly bleeding scratches. Whitethunder looks down at his leader panting equally hard, but calm. He let's her up and starts licking his wounds. Starrīdā shakes her head and sighs. "Let's retire for tonight, Whitethunder. You have a big day ahead of you." She stood and left.

Both cats went to the medicat den before going to sleep. In Darkclan, Saberrīdā sat with Longclaw and briefed her on what to do and look out for, then they went to their dens and slept. All three leaders and their warriors going on their journey went to sleep with one thought in mind. Why Mudfur?

~ooo~

The chosen cats from each clan met another at sunrise at the edge of Sandclan borders. Whitethunder examines his group. Autumnspot kept glaring daggers into him and as hard as he tried to ignore the tom, he shouldn't. The little fleabag was annoying him and he shot a glare back at him. He looked at Longclaw, who was ignoring them both and Mudfur, who was sending them all a creepy smirk. He sighed and looked them all over again.

"Ok group, let's just get the journey over with so I can bring my mate back."

Autumnspot snorted and bared his fangs at him. "You mean bring my sister back. To Sunclan. With. Me. She will not be in your care any more, you fox hearted crow." He turned and stalked off. Whitethunder snarled and ran in front of him, cutting him off.

"I am leading this patrol Autumnspot, not you. You follow me." Autumnspot sneered at him and mockingly bowed his head keeping his glare trained in Whitethunder's eyes.

"I'm so sorry Badgerfacerīdā. Please, lead on."

Whitethunder snarled and flexed his claws. Oh how he wanted to tear the fur off of Autumnspot's face, just even a bit. He turned and stalked away. Autumnspot followed him smugly. Longclaw followed after them, muttering about kits and punishment. Mudfur brought up the rear snickering. Whitethunder flattened his ears and shook his head as he walked on. Oh, how interesting the journey is going to be.

(Plzzz review! ^_^)