"Twoleg's," Tigerstar's dark tabby pelt was bristling in agitation, the word came as a half spit, half snarl. "Creating vile, disgustingly foul smelling dens. How a cat can live in one is beyond me."

Tigerstar was walking alongside Firestar as they resumed following the river that was thankfully leading away from the Twolegplace they had just escaped from. Tigerstar was grateful for that at least.

Tigerstar never wanted to step another paw within a mile radius of a Twoleg den for as long as he didn't need to. Being lost in that Twolegplace had been a terrible experience, one he didn't ever want a repeat of. The massive tabby tom was also grateful that none of his warriors had been there to see him wandering around completely lost and relying on a Twolegplace rogue to help him navigate through the never ending labyrinth of Twoleg dens. But Tigerstar did have to admit that those rogue's, who he first dismissed as nothing more than minor nuisance, had been quite helpful in his search to find Firestar.

Tigerstar, after being separated from Firestar, hadn't wasted the time to begin searching for the sleek ginger she-cat. The tom had thought the she-cat could be waiting just over one of the twoleg fences. But the further into Twolegplace he went, the more he began to doubt that Firestar had even left the river, and when he tried to retrace his steps he became lost.

That's when he ran into a group of cat's led by a huge hostile, dark brown tabby tom with a flat, scarred face, and a shredded ear. He has a deep scar going from his neck to halfway down his flank, and yellow eyes that held nothing but contempt as they glared at the intruder in their territory. Tigerstar didn't want to waste any time with the worthless flea-ridden crowfood. However the leader, Dodge, seemed ready for a fight. And who was Tigerstar to resist giving the tabby what they were asking for?

Tigerstar took great satisfaction in letting out all his frustrations and anger onto the overconfident Dodge. Tigerstar batted the tom-cat around as though he were merely a piece of fresh-kill. Tigerstar was bigger, stronger, and an experienced senior warrior with more skill and technique in fighting than the leader of this ragtag group of cat's.

Tigerstar relished in the feeling of triumph as he put the rogue in his place. Along with defeating Dodge, Tigerstar could see the fear that was put into his followers, who had thought that Dodge was undefeatable.

Tigerstar didn't stick around long to gloat over the defeated brown tabby, one that he didn't believe to be capable of defeating even a seasoned apprentice.

Instead Tigerstar had continued on his search for ThunderClan's missing leader. Though it wasn't long before he realized he was being followed. Out of the corner of one of his pale amber eyes, Tigerstar caught a glimpse of a small, brown tabby tom that was trying to discreetly follow

him. Tigerstar had thought the tom-cat had been sent by Dodge to tail him, and when Tigerstar sharply diverted around a corner he crouched and waited for the exact moment the cat had rounded the corner to pounce and pin the cat beneath him.

Tigerstar had threatened him. However, Shorty, as he introduced himself as, merely showed his admiration and wanted to get to know the fierce ShadowClan leader. At first Tigerstar was skeptical and wanted nothing to do with the enthusiast rogue, but then the idea of using this cat's ability to navigate Twolegplace came to mind and he reluctantly willing to follow the tom to an abandoned Twoleg nest.

Tigerstar didn't like the place one bit. It smelled foul and was littered with Twoleg rubbish. Everything was foreign and strange to him, it put him in a bad mood. When he met Shorty's friend's, it wasn't a very warm greeting. They were just as much suspicious of him as Tigerstar was of them. But when Shorty explained what had happened, and what Tigerstar did to Dodge, their hostility toward him somewhat lessened.

Tigerstar met the cats known as Cora, Snowy, Coal, Percy and their leader Stick. Despite their earlier misgivings, Stick and his group were open to helping Tigerstar in finding Firestar. Something Tigerstar was very grateful for. Shorty had been the one to help guide Tigerstar through Twolegplace, helping him search through Twoleg nests and their gardens. Searching in places any cat could have gone and hide. They went slow and looked thoroughly for any sign of the ginger furred she-cat with jade green eyes.

They were so caught up in looking for Firestar that they didn't realize that Snowy had decided to accompany them. The white she-cat only made her presence known when they had come to a Twoleg nest that stunk of fish. Exclaiming her hunger for the foul smelling water dwellers as the she-cat unwittingly jumped over the fence and into the Twoleg garden.

Almost instantly the sound of barking could be heard with Snowy's yowl of terror. Tigerstar didn't hesitate to jump down into the Twoleg garden, nor did he stop to think that he owed nothing to these rogues and instead protected the she-cat who was petrified with fear.

Shorty managed to get Snowy to move and to safety. While Tigerstar had, after fighting a few heartbeats with the large dog, managed to escape from the garden. However in the scuffle, Tigerstar was separated from the rogue's. And not only that, when he landed in an alley, he had jumped right on top of what he assumed was Twoleg made webbing. Embarrassingly, Tigerstar in his efforts to remove himself got his paws caught in the tiny open spaces of the web, and when he tried to unhook his unusually long front claws he only succeeded in tangling himself up more. And that is how Firestar had found him.

Tigerstar huffed in annoyance. No longer wanting to think about that awful experience. Instead Tigerstar turned his attention back onto Firestar, the sleek-furred ginger she-cat who had been listening quietly to his long rant with mild amusement.

"Now, how much farther do you suppose SkyClan had gone from here?" Tigerstar asked.

Firestar seemed to think the question over. Before shaking her head, "I'm not sure. I don't think Clan cats would want to settle so close to Twolegplace. We should just keep following the river."

Tigerstar murmured in agreement. Though it wasn't the answer he wanted, they didn't have any other options. The tabby tom wondered if they would have to walk all the way to the rivers source in order to find the SkyClan camp.

If they did. What would they find?

0o0o0o

It has been such a long time since I've updated!!! This was originally going to be longer but I haven't written in such a long time that I wanted to get a chapter out now rather than later where I might procrastinate!! I hope you can all forgive me!!! I've been so upset and angry ever since my father died and I just needed time to work on myself. Now though, I plan to get back to writing this series!! Maybe not frequently, but I'm going to do more than I used to!!! No more year long waits!!!