Midnightstar woke with a gasp. Lavenderhaze leaped back in surprise. "Midnightrain!"

She stared at her. "All your wounds...they're gone."

"She's okay?" Foxhunt demanded. Sunshine raced over and nuzzled her.

"Don't you dare do that again!" he ordered.

"She's okay!" Jewelkit squeaked. He leaped onto her. "You're not hurt at all!"

Midnightstar got shakily to her feet. That appeared to be true; nothing hurt anymore. If anything, she felt stronger. Energy coursed through her muscles and veins.

Lavenderhaze gazed at her and somehow Midnightstar knew that she knew what had happened. "There's only one way you could possibly be alive right now," she reasoned. "Are you...?"

Midnightstar nodded. Lavenderhaze blinked warmly. "Midnightstar! Midnightstar!"
The others were confused, but only for a moment before they too took up the chant. "Midnightstar! Midnightstar! Midnightstar!"

When the chant died down, Sunshine shared a glance with Foxhunt. "Midnightstar," he said. "We think you should see this."

"You should!" Blankkit agreed. "It's a Twolegplace!"

"The sun's up!" Snowkit volunteered.

"Hush, kits," Sunshine mewed. "Midnightstar..."

"I'll show her," Foxhunt offered. Midnightstar followed her sister a little way.

There, indeed, was a Twolegplace. It was smaller and more brightly colored than the place they'd grown up, but it was a Twolegplace all the same.

"Are we meant to live here?" Foxhunt asked.

Midnightstar shook her head. "Not here. But I think we should pass through it. I'll stay here; go get the others."

Foxhunt returned a few heartbeats later with the others. "Let's go," Midnightrain told them.

As the sun rose higher in the sky, more Twolegs appeared. The cats moved stealthily from one alley to the next.

Around sunhigh, Midnightstar heard barking. "Dogs!" she hissed. "Climb!"

They clambered onto the roof of a nearby building. Sure enough, three dogs appeared around the corner, chasing a small gray tabby she-cat.

Midnightstar saw desperation gleaming in the cat's amber eyes. She jumped for the roof, trying to climb the same way SwiftClan had, but the dogs were too close now.

"Back off!" To Midnightstar's shock, Foxhunt leaped down and clawed the dog's muzzle. "Leave her alone!" she snapped.

The dogs stared at her for a second, trying to comprehend this new, fierce danger.

Foxhunt hissed. The pack leader turned tail and ran, the others following close behind.

The other cats followed Foxhunt, climbing quickly to the sidewalk.

"You saved my life," the gray she-cat mewed to Foxhunt. "Thank you!"

Foxhunt gave her chest fur a few embarrassed licks. "No problem."

"I know it was really stupid to antagonize those dogs," the she-cat admitted. "But I really thought I could get to this food without waking them up. I wouldn't have tried it, but my sister's starving and her kits are due any day now."

For the first time, Midnightstar realized that the she-cat's pelt clung to her bones and she could count her ribs.

"But you're all so well-fed," she continued. "Where are you finding food?"

"Um−well, we actually just got here," Midnightstar told her. "We've been traveling through the forest and hunting there."

"Oh, wow," the other cat sighed. "I knew there was prey in the forest, but Ember says it's too dangerous to go in there."

"Who's Ember?"

"My sister. Her mate's name is Glare. I'm Crimson, by the way. Are you thirsty? We have water."

"I'm Midnightstar. This are my sisters Foxhunt and Lavenderhaze, our friend Sunshine, and Blankkit, Jewelkit, and Snowkit. And...yes, we're thirsty."

Crimson stared at her, amber eyes glowing. "Those are Clan names. Are you Clan cats?"

"Yes," Midnightstar said. "Uh...how do you know?"

"My mother told us stories about the Clans. You're brave, and strong. You fight battles to defend each other and hunt for prey and─" she cut herself off with a gasp. "And you have healers! Can you heal my sister?"

"We're SwiftClan. And we'll see. I think−I think we can definitely try to heal your sister."

"Thank you! Follow me!"

They followed Crimson, who led them to a sheltered alley. She directed them to a puddle, which they all drank from gratefully.

"Just let me let them know," Crimson said. She slipped ahead of them.

A few heartbeats later, she rejoined them. "Come on."

Blinking, eyes adjusting to the shadows, Midnightstar made out two cats waiting at the end of the alley. One lay on her side to accommodate her swollen belly, and the other paced anxiously. Both were painfully thin.

"Ember, Glare, this is SwiftClan," Crimson said. Her tail twitched nervously.

"I'm Midnightstar," Midnightstar said. "It's good to meet you."

Ember lifted her head. Her fur was darker gray than her sisters, but they shared the same amber eyes. Glare's fur was brown and his eyes were sky-blue.

Midnightstar saw a horrible-looking gash on Ember's foreleg. Lavenderhaze knelt to sniff at it. "I need chervil and dock," she reported briskly.

"I know where that grows," Glare offered. "I'll go get some."

That evening, they were all laying and sharing tongues in the alley. Lavenderhaze had chewed the chervil and dock to a pulp and spread it on Ember's foreleg, and Foxhunt and Midnightrain had gone hunting and brought back food for the three loners.

Midnightrain explained why they were there and what had happened to their Clan.

"Remember that old loner who passed through a few moons ago?" Crimson asked. "He said he knew a place like that. An endless field of salty water. Just follow the setting sun, he said."

"Perfect!" Midnightstar mewed. "We'll leave in the morning, if you'll let us stay?"

"Absolutely," Ember agreed. "Sleep now. We'll wake you at dawn."