The sky was milky with early dawn above a reddening forest, pale sunlight shifting through the warm-colored leaves and casting long, dark shadows across the cool forest floor. Among the trunks, a midnight-colored cat padded along, leaves crunching beneath his downy paws.

He raised his nose gently, pausing for a moment with a paw lifted from the ground, hovering mid-air. The tom then ducked into a low crouch, his belly fur touching the fallen, dried leaves.

The feral cat's whiskers twitched, pine-green eyes searching the thinning bushes, hungry for the kill. He soon spotted a squirrel, picking at an acorn among the exposed roots of a conifer.

His pupils dilated as he focused on the prey, creeping forward, making surprisingly little noise on the dying fronds underpaw.

Suddenly, the tom wriggled his haunches and sprung from his spot, scattering old leaves as he brought down the squirrel. It gave cries of terror before he sank his teeth into his throat, hearing a satisfying crunch as he snapped it's neck.

The warrior lifted his catch, realizing he had neared the Twolegplace.

He listened to the somewhat distant roar of monsters and the bustle of life. For a few moments he pondered whether or not a loner or kittypet was hidden among the endless fences and dens, spying on his world. But he just turned away and disappeared into the foliage again, heading back to camp, his sleek and dark coat brushing past the bare branches of bushes and saplings.

As he entered camp, the tom smiled. Many of his Clanmates were still resting, chatting and sharing gossip in the pale morning. The warrior dropped his catch on the freshkill-pile, grabbing a mouse and plopping down near Dapplefoot and Brightwhisker. The she-cats' were mingling about something, and the tom found himself eavesdropping.

"...I swear, they were looking right at me! Lucky we fled." Brightwhisker mumbled. Dapplefoot nodded, tail tip twitching aimlessly.

The warrior found himself curious and padded over to them.

"Hello, Brightwhisker, Dapplefoot." He greeted with a dip of his head, "What were you talking about?"

"Oh, hello Nightstream! We were just talking about how me and Dapplefoot saw two twolegs sitting on their fence and looking at the woods." Brightwhisker greeted.

Nightstream's eyes widened and he sat down, "Really? Did they do anything?"

Brightwhisker shifted to look at him better, "Nope. They just stared at the forest, chattering like two sparrows! They looked pretty young too."

"I heard a dog." Dapplefoot put in. Nightstream was about to ask more questions when he heard a call from behind.

"Nightstream! C'mon. Patrol."

He turned to see Cloudstorm, Pipitfeather and Minkpaw waiting by the camp entrance and looking at him.

"Ah, I apologize." Nightstream excused himself, standing and hurrying to join the other three. He padded aside Pipitfeather, watching Cloudstorm just ahead of him. They were heading towards Twolegplace, and for some reason Nightstream couldn't shake a nervous feeling.

Oh come on Nightstream, he scolded himself mentally, They said those twolegs didn't do anything but chat. And if Dapplefoot heard a dog it was probably within the fence's borders.

Before he knew it, they were there.

The Thunderpath's midnight-colored surface glittered eerily in the morning light, seeming almost peaceful so early in the day. But Nightstream's paws itched to turn and run back into the cover of the woods where he didn't run the risk of being smushed by a monster.

"I smell something," Cloudstorm suddenly commented, muzzle raised to the sky. Nightstream pricked his ears and sniffed the air himself. Sure enough, he could just barely make out an odd scent other than the acrid Thunderpath.

"Me and Pipitfeather will go investigate. You two wait here. If I yowl run back to camp and demand backup." The fluffy tom instructed, the gray splatters on his head and tail seeming to shine in the sunlight. With that, he and the slim she-cat slipped back into the bushes after the scent.

Nightstream seated himself, glancing around at the Thunderpath and trees. Minkpaw sat beside him, ears twitching in a bored manor.

They remained quiet, until they spotted an approaching monster. It stopped a little way down from them, three twolegs stepping out, covered in a white pelt. Nightstream and Minkpaw stepped back, but before they knew it, a twoleg had grabbed Nightstream's scruff and was reaching for Minkpaw.

The warrior wailed, hissing and scratching at the twoleg. But another came and helped hold him in place, while Minkpaw fled into the woods.

Nightstream's vision blurred. He could vaguely make out the twolegs, loudly speaking to one another in their odd voices. He could see a den-like thing with dark walls and hard webbing on the front. He was ushered into it and it was closed.

His eyes finally cleared and he backed up against the far wall of the weird, cramped den, hissing and spitting at the twolegs. Through the hard webbing he could see two white walls on the monster being opened, revealing more of the odd dens. He was placed inside and the walls shut again, leaving him in darkness.

xxx

And chapter one is complete! Hope you guys like that. Try to find the easter egg!!