Midnightrain woke the next morning feeling sore. Her paws ached from walking all day.

"Can we hunt?" Lavenderhaze yawned.

"Yeah," Midnightrain said. "Alright. Sunshine, Foxhunt, come with me. Lavenderhaze, watch the kits."

"I always watch the kits," Lavenderhaze grumbled. "Fine."

After several failed squirrel-catching attempts, Midnightrain sighed and sat by a river.

"Midnightrain!" Sunshine called. "Hey, I caught something!"

Midnightrain looked up. Clamped between her friend's teeth was a thrashing fish, silver in the sunlight.

"Good job!" she called. They shared the fish and continued on their way.

Before too long, the forest began to change. The trees got thicker and closer together and the shadows darkened. Subconsciously, the cats clumped together, wide-eyed, pelts brushing.

Perhaps to distract themselves, they began to talk. They talked about prey and hunting. They talked about forests and Twolegplaces. They told stories to each other about long-forgotten battles and ancient journeys.

"We're going on a journey, aren't we?" Jewelkit asked sleepily.

"Yes," Lavenderhaze mewed. "A great journey."

"That's cool," Blankkit purred. "And we're gonna be heroes, like in the stories."

"Exactly," Lavenderhaze agreed. "Brave heroes. Cats will tell stories of us for moons."

"I─"

"Shh!" Foxhunt hissed suddenly. They fell silent. "Do you smell that?"

Midnightrain inhaled and almost coughed. There was a sort of smell in the air, rotten and foul. "It smells like..."

A black-and-white shape lumbered into view ahead of them.

"Badger," Lavenderhaze whispered.

The creature turned to them and glared through beady eyes. Then it lunged.

"Protect the kits!" Midnightrain yowled. She leapt at the badger, which flung her off like a rat.

She landed on the ground and whirled to see the creature seize Foxhunt between its jaws.

"Foxhunt!" Midnightrain flung herself at the creature again, aiming for its eyes. Her sister managed to scramble free of the heavy jaws.

Sunshine jumped onto the badger's back. A literal badger-ride, Midnightrain thought dizzily. She snarled and jumped up again, digging her claws into the soft flesh of the creature's throat. Satisfied with the blood staining her fur, she tried to move away.

That was her mistake. She felt sharp teeth close on her neck, cutting off her yowl. The badger shook its head and released her.

Midnightrain flew through the air and landed hard on the ground. Blurrily, she saw the badger lumber away and her friends gather around her.

She tasted her own blood in her mouth. Her fur felt absolutely soaked, both with her own blood and the badger's.

"Midnightrain!" Jewelkit cried. He looked up at Sunshine. "Is she going to be alright?"

Sunshine didn't answer. He nudged Midnightrain's nose with his own. "Midnightrain?"

Midnightrain drew a shuddering breath. Why did it hurt to breathe?

"Midnightrain, come on, you're okay," Snowkit said. "Get up!"

"Fix her!" Foxhunt cried to Lavenderhaze. "Do something!"

"Midnightrain, please," Sunshine mewed softly. "Please, please get up."

"M' okay," Midnightrain murmured. "M' fine. Just...a second..."

And then the pain overwhelmed her and everything went black.