I kept on walking determinedly. The sun was high in the sky and we hadn't eaten since the night before. I didn't want to stop until I reached Clan territory.

I heard Bella starting to slow behind me, though. I forgot I was travelling with a former kittypet.

"Should we stop to hunt?" I asked her.

Bella nodded and sat down. "I've never traveled this much before, I've never even been outside the twolegplace."

"Do you know how to hunt?" I asked, hoping she did.

"Well, I've caught a bird once, but I let it go. I only ever ate what the twolegs have me." Bella said.

I nodded. "Okay, so I'll hunt." We had just entered the forest the day before, which meant this was territory I could hunt in. It wasn't a pine forest, but a forest was still a forest.

Bella smiled and watched me look around for any signs of prey. I know she was worried about me since I wasn't even seven moons yet, but I was worried for her because she was just a kittypet. Did she even have any fighting skills? If we got attacked, we would both be in trouble.

I kept my ears pricked and my eyes focused as I crept through the undergrowth. This forest was more for Cloudclan cats, but at least it wasn't a field or river. I'm not a very good runner and I can't fish.

I stopped when I saw a bush move. I backed up and kept still, hoping my fur would blend well with the undergrowth. Remembering my bright eyes, I narrowed them.

I watched as a mouse scampered out of the bush. It dug at the ground before going to a different spot, doing the same. Scavenging for food, I guess.

When the mouse was close enough, I lunged. I landed squarely on the mouse triumphantly before sending a quick bite to the base of its neck.

After covering the dead mouse with a few fallen leaves, I searched for more prey. I missed a raven and a vole but was able to catch a squirrel. I went back for the mouse before padding back to where Bella was waiting for me.

I dropped the mouse at her paws. "Have you ever tried freshkill?" I asked.

Bella shook her head. "Not once." She sniffed tentatively at the mouse.

"Just be careful of the bones, and you'll be fine. The mouse will have tiny bones, but they aren't hard to find." I took a bite of my squirrel and purred. It reminded me of home.

Bella took a small bite of the mouse. She made a weird face but continued to eat. I figured she was just so hungry that she'd eat anything.

Once I finished my squirrel, I licked my jaws and pushed the bones into a bush. That way no predators would come looking for the animal who ate the prey.

Bella looked confused but did the same after she finished as well. She also groomed herself. I guessed she was missing her home.

"You don't have to come on this journey with me, you know." I said. "You're meant to live among twolegs who can give you food."

Bella gave me a look. "Lavenderpaw, I'm not leaving you out here to fend for yourself. You may be used to living in the wild but your only just over six and a half moons old. You can't have been an apprentice for long, which means you don't have much training. You're crazy if you think I'll abandon you to a world full of danger to return to the twolegplace."

I sighed and then nodded. "You're right. I wish I had trained more before I left, but I didn't know I was going to get stolen by a twoleg." I shook my head and stood up. "We'd better get going before the sun disappears tonight."

Bella sadly smiled and stood up, padding beside me. After a few quiet moments, she spoke.

"Why don't you tell me more about your clan? That way I'll be able to understand it more when you talk about them." The cream and white she-cat suggested.

I nodded. "Well, there are different ranks in the clan: kits, apprentices, warriors, queens, medicine cats, elders, the deputy, and the leader."

"You're born as a kit in the nursery. You're supposed to stay in camp untill you're an apprentice because it can be dangerous for a kit alone in the forest. You can't become an apprentice though until you're six moons old."

"Then you become an apprentice. The apprentices either train to be warriors or medicine cats. My brother Mosspaw is training to be a medicine cat." I smiled sadly.

"Once you have trained enough, you become either a warrior or medicine cat. The warriors defend and hunt for the clan. They also train apprentices. Medicine cats heal injured and sick cats, kind of like the twoleg that healed me, I guess. Medicine cats also communicate with Starclan, but I'll explain them later."

"Then you have the queens. They are the mother's or she-cat who help care for the kits in the nursery."

"The elders are the oldest cats in the clan. They have served the clan for long enough and the clan now helps take care of them. Like the apprentices have to help clean their bedding and we all hunt for them."

"The leader and deputy are the highest ranks in a clan. The leader leads and watches over the clan. They get nine lives from Starclan so they can lead their clan for seasons and seasons. The leader also gives apprentices their mentors and gives them their new warrior names when they become warriors. The deputy is basically the second-in-command, and helps the leader."

"Starclan are our warrior ancestors. Cats go to Starclan if they were good and to the Dark Forest if they were evil. Starclan guides living cats but they never give a straight answer. Instead they give cats like leaders and medicine cats prophecies and omens about bad things to come for the clan."

"Finally, there are the four clans: Lakeclan, Rabbitclan, Cloudclan, and Shadeclan. Lakeclan lives on an island surrounded by water and they mostly eat fish. Rabbitclan lives on an open moor and mostly eat rabbits. Cloudclan lives in a forest kind of like this one, except the branches are higher up. Shadeclan, my clan, lives in a shady pine forest. We mostly eat squirrels and ravens and crows."

The whole time I talked, Bella's seemed intrigued. As we walked, I watched her expressions change whenever I would mention something new. The kittypet seemed interested by clan life, and I wondered if she would enjoy living in one. Maybe she could join Shadeclan once they returned?

"Wow." Bella said when I finished. "Clan life seems complicated."

I shrugged. "Not really. Oh, and I forgot to mention something. The Moonstone, where medicine cats from all clans meet up to talk with Starclan on the half-moon. That and Starclan lives in Silverpelt. Each shining speck in the night sky of Silverpelt is a warrior of Starclan."

Bella stopped and I tilted my head. "What's wrong? Should I explain it a different way? Do you miss the twolegpl-"

"Shhhh." The cream and white she-cat hushed me by covering my mouth with her tail. She looked around wearily and I did as well.

I opened my mouth to taste the air and froze. A fresh, strange scent wafted around them. It was unfamiliar, but carried the scent of twolegplace with it.

"Dog!" Bella exclaimed just before a huge brown and black dog leaped snarling out of the undergrowth.

My eyes widened in fear and I raced towards the nearest tree. "Climb up!" I called to Bella and scrambled up the tree.

Bella was shaking and backed slowly away from the dog. The beast snarled and followed her with the same pace. When the she-cat felt her tail back into the tree I was in, she froze and gulped.

"Come on, climbed the tree!" I called down to her.

Bella appeared to be trembling. "I-I don't know how!" She said fearfully.

The dog licked it's jaws while hungrily at us. When the creature lunged at Bella, I landed on its head. I don't remember consciously making the decision to jump, one moment I was in the tree the next I was batting at the dog's eyes with unsheathed claws.

Bella watched in shock and fear. "Lavenderpaw, what are you doing?!" She exclaimed.

I couldn't answer though, I had to be fully focused on the battle. I didn't really have any experience with fighting on top of an opponent, but I had to think. I knew if I clawed the eyes, the dog wouldn't be able to see and would probably run off. Before I could injured the dog enough though, it flung me off.

I landed roughly against a tree and hissed in pain. I would not up though. Remembering my training with Pinepaw, I feinted to the left once I stood up. The dog charged at me but I was able to roll out of its way. The creature was just able to skid to a stop before ramming into the tree.

I pounced onto the dog's back before it had the chance to turn around. I clawed at its eyes and ears. The dog shook its head from side to side. When that didn't work, it bent its head and bashed me into the side of the tree.

Eventually, my grip loosened enough to fall to the ground in front of the beast. My head whirled and I looked blearily up at the dog. It out a paw on me and dug it's claws in. I gasped for air and I could feel the breath being forced out of me.

This is it.

I'm sorry, Starclan.

I'm sorry, Bella.

Please don't forget to vote and comment, thank you!

//Word count: 1660//