Disclaimer: If I owned Warriors, Firestar wouldn't be such a freaking Gary Stu.

Chapter 6. The Return

Over the next few days, we don't see a whisker of Tigerclaw or the ShadowClan exiles. We spend most of that time hidin' from gangs of BloodClan cats lookin' for us. There's less prey than usual, and we both go hungry. At one point, I vomit after eating carrion from a dumpster. But what worries me most is we ain't seen no sign of Snag either. Is he still with the clan cats? Is Tigerclaw ThunderClan's leader now? Or were they all killed or driven away? My nightmares are filled with my friend's tabby corpse, mutilated like Jerry's.

Only friendly faces we see belong to a huge ginger-and-white tom named Scorch and his mate, a black she-cat, Risk. They left BloodClan a bit before us, when their daughter Shade was killed by a dog three times her size during an initiation test. Scourge watched the whole time and did nothing. Scorch and Risk keep to themselves, but we're allies.

On the fourth day after the battle, Mowgli catches a mouse as it tries to skitter into some long grass behind a broken-down fence. Despite my hunger, I can only pick at the prey. The warm, rich taste makes me think of the forest cats, and Snag. I miss his warmth beside me each night, his familiar voice and scent.

"That's it, I'm goin' to ask around and see if anyone's seen Snag," I announce, settin' the mouse aside.

"Wait, Cici, what about BloodClan?" Mowgli asks, his eyes goin' wide.

"I won't go far. That group of outside kittypets is sunnin' just beyond this alley. I'll slip away if I see a whisker of Scourge's lot."

My brother don't look too happy, but I slip into the open before he can argue. Four cats lie in the grass, tails flickin' lazily in the dust. Must be nice, I think with a hint of bitterness, being able to laze around all day like that. Then again, I'd probably get bored.

"What you want, stray?" asks a fat tabby, lookin' at me like I'm last moon's trash. He thinks he's so much better than us on account of he lives outside a house and gets food from its twolegs every day. I roll my eyes and swallow my first few sarcastic comments.

"Any of y'all seen a ginger tabby tom around?" I ask as politely as I can. "Big cat, goes by Snag."

The four cats exchange a look, then one shakes her head. I'm about to thank 'em and go try somewhere else when a musky, earthy scent tickles my nose, and I spot a huge shadow paddin' between the buildings toward us. I scamper around the broken rocks to where my brother is finishin' up his mouse.

"Tigerclaw's here," I hiss.

A heartbeat later, we hear the ThunderClan deputy's soft murmur. "Cici, is that you?"

"Let's do this," Mowgli whispers.

"Are you sure?" I hiss back. "We can always lose him here in town." But the suggestion's half-hearted, and we both know it. Apart from anything else, Tigerclaw probably knows what happened to Snag.

Mowgli shakes his head and slinks out of our hiding spot, me a pawstep behind him. And there's Tigerclaw, big as ever with those burning amber eyes. His dark tabby fur is more matted than I'm used to. There's a real gnarly wound on his belly, no doubt a present from the battle.

"Did… did you come lookin' for us?" Mowgli asks.

Tigerclaw blinks at us and growls, "I don't make a habit of coming into twolegplace. What do you two have to say for yourselves?"

"You lost the battle," I say it as I realize it. "You wouldn't be all up in here botherin' with us if you had a clan to lead."

They both glare at me. "If you had acted more like warriors and less like mice, victory could have been ours," Tigerclaw growls.

Mowgli creeps closer, cringing. It's the exact same posture we learned to adopt when Bone was in an especially vicious mood. Seeing my brother that way makes my insides burn. "We're sorry, Tigerclaw. I know I shouldn't have let that cat chase me off. It was all my fault. Cici only ran 'cause she was worried about me, so don't blame her," he says.

"Mistakes belong to the past," Tigerclaw rumbles, sounding a little less angry. "I want to know if you'd let it happen again."

Mowgli gazes up at him. "Never!" he cries with disturbing zeal.

"And you, Cici? Do you want to be a warrior and fight alongside clanmates who respect you, or do you want to be prey to other rogues?" Tigerclaw demands. How does this cat know about our BloodClan problem? Has Snag blabbed?

Remembering Mowgli's words after the battle, I bend my head and say, "I suppose, if you'll be loyal to us. Did all the others make it out?"

"Everyone is alive, with only minor wounds. As long as you follow my orders, you'll be well rewarded. If not, you'll regret it with every hair of your pelts," Tigerclaw says.

As we pad out into the open space where the kittypets are basking, Tigerclaw deliberately kicks up a cloud of dust, which billows into their faces. The four cats splutter, cough, and squeeze their eyes shut. I don't hide a purr of amusement. We're long gone by the time they get to their paws.

"Things have changed," Tigerclaw explains as we go. "The other cats and I are living near ShadowClan now, but I still intend to destroy ThunderClan and kill Fireheart."

"Let us finish what we started. You won't regret takin' us back, Tigerclaw," Mowgli meows.

"I'll make sure I won't," Tigerclaw says confidently.

"What happened to Brokenstar? Is ThunderClan still holdin' him prisoner?" I ask.

Tigerclaw shakes his head. "They murdered him for trying to escape," he growls. My one encounter with Brokenstar didn't leave me with any fond memories, but I'm angry that these warriors who claim to live by a code of honor would imprison a cat unjustly. And I'm sorry as can be for Blackfoot, Stumpytail, and Tangleburr. They gave up everything to follow Brokenstar into exile, and now what do they have?

The group has made their den in a fallen tree just beyond a thick wall of bushes. They clearly took a beatin' from ThunderClan, but Tigerclaw's wound is the worst. Snag, whose thick ginger pelt thankfully saved him from major damage, winds around us, purring as he shows us where to make nests of soft, springy moss. My heart jumps when I breathe in my best friend's scent. Tangleburr licks my ears in greeting. The bite on her flank is almost healed too. But Blackfoot hisses at me, probably rememberin' how I abandoned him when my brother fled the battle.

"Are you sure we can trust them, Tigerclaw?" he growls.

"If you think they're spying for ThunderClan, that's highly unlikely," Tigerclaw meows sarcastically. "Last time they saw Mowgli, he was trying to claw Fireheart's throat, and Cici had Speckletail at her mercy."

"I didn't mean that they favor ThunderClan now. I just don't know how much we can rely on cats who turn tail and run at the first sign of battle," Blackfoot sneers.

"Then they won't come back. Cici and Mowgli know this is their last chance," Tigerclaw says, glaring at us.

I dip my head in submission along with Mowgli and meow, "I'm real sorry for leavin' you in the lurch like that, Blackfoot. I know it was wrong, but I panicked when I saw that cat run Mowgli off. I thought he might get lost or killed or I don't know what all. I promise I'll do better next time." Blackfoot still looks dubious, but he lets it go.

"We're ready for battle training when you are, Tigerclaw," Tangleburr meows enthusiastically, trying to dispel the tension. I shoot my friend a grateful look as she goes on, "Stumpytail and I saw some ShadowClan warriors by the border while we were hunting. They wanted to know if we could hunt with them tomorrow."

The exiles' former clanmates are hunting with them? I shoot Snag a questioning look.

"They're sick and starvin', Cici, in a real bad way," my best friend murmurs. "We ain't seen their camp, but the cats we've delivered fresh-kill to at the border are basically walkin' corpses."

"What, in these woods again?" Tigerclaw snorts scornfully. "How much of our prey does ShadowClan expect us to give?"

Tangleburr shifts her paws. "No, in ShadowClan territory. That's where we know the best places to find prey. But they say they'll be more successful if we help." Tigerclaw gives her a sharp look, no doubt pickin' up on the "we" business and not likin' it.

But he sounds smug when he says, "Very well, as long as we hunt separately for ourselves. ShadowClan must understand that we can survive without them." Sounds fair to me.

"Of course. Thanks, Tigerclaw. I, um, told Wetfoot we'd meet him at the border just before sunhigh," Tangleburr says, dipping her head.

"I thought you hated the clans," Mowgli says.

"Only ThunderClan. If we're strong enough to help ShadowClan through sickness and hunger, we will," Tigerclaw says.

Pride warms me inside. Maybe joining Tigerclaw is the right move after all. How different might our lives be if a group of cats like this had been around to help Mama after we ran away from the evil twolegs?

"I might take a nap before battle training," Stumpytail yawns, heading for his nest.

Tigerclaw ain't havin' none of that and blocks him with a massive paw. "Will you always be able to take a nap before an enemy attacks? No, you'll train now, with the energy you have. Understand?" Well, he ain't wrong about that. I've had to run and fight with my paws near 'bout droppin' off from exhaustion.

"I understand, Tigerclaw," Stumpytail says, flattening his ears. I guess this is our life now, I think as I unsheathe my claws and get ready to learn.