Mistkit felt her sister's and brother's pelts pressed against her. Outside the moon shone. She could hear the soft snores of the kits who were only a few sunrises old. The three she-kits were Dewkit, Petalkit, and Poppykit, and the toms were Sootkit and Owlkit. All but Dewkit had opened their eyes, and Mistkit worried for her. The small kit reminded her of Frostkit when she was that young. Don't worry so much, the kit lives in a clan. It is only Leaf-fall. Leaf-bare won't be here for a while, and by then she will be strong. Mistkit smiled at the young kit, then looked back outside. She hadn't been able to sleep. She was too busy thinking. In the last few sunrises she had learned a lot about the clans. Their code was a bit confusing, but it was slowly sinking in. Defend your Clan, even with your life. You may have friendships with cats from other Clans, but your loyalty must remain to your Clan, as one day you may meet them in battle. That part was confusing to Mistkit. If all the cats lost their lives defending the clan, then their would be no clan to defend. Do not hunt or trespass on another Clan's territory. At least that part made sense to her. Elders, queens, and kits must be fed before apprentices and warriors. Unless they have permission, apprentices may not eat until they have hunted to feed the elders. If any warrior or apprentice is sick or injured, they may eat while the elders, queens, and kits are eating. That rule didn't bother Mistkit, as she wasn't a warrior or apprentice yet. Prey is killed only to be eaten. Give thanks to StarClan for its life. That part made sense too, Mistkit had suffered many cold and hungry nights, and she knew that she couldn't waste prey. There was only one more that she remembered, which was: A kit must be at least six moons old to become an apprentice. Mistkit didn't have a hard time remembering that part. She was excited to become an apprentice. Mistkit already knew a few basic fighting moves. You couldn't live in the two-leg place and not know any. In the few days her eyes were open, Mistkit had seen the trainees practicing, and even before then she could hear the older cats instructing them. After Sheep had cast them out, Mistkit had worked hard to remember them, and even harder to learn them. Mistkit was also an okay hunter. She didn't necessarily catch the prey every time, but she was better than most other four moon old kits. Mistkit had found that the hunting crouch and the attack crouch were fairly similar. Shadekit wiggled a bit beside her, and Mistkit smiled. He had been so helpful. Introducing her to the other cats in the clan, and quietly helping her when she was confused. She was glad she had such a kind brother. Above her silverpelt shined. She had also learned about Starclan. The cats who watched over both of the clans equally and lovingly. She purred, thinking of Blossomstar, and grumpy Ashnose. Without them she would never have seen her brother again. Still, Mistkit wondered. Was she really part of the prophecy. Just because they were dead, did that mean they couldn't make mistakes? Mistkit closed her eyes, realizing that thinking about it wouldn't help anything.

When Mistkit woke up it was sunhigh, and she still felt tired. She closed her eyes, regretting her choice to stay up so late, and tried to go back to sleep. Just as she began to drift off, she felt a paw prod her. Sighing, she stood up. She recognized the scent as Whitepaw's. "Yes, Whitepaw?" she said drowzily. "Cherryshade asked me to clean out the kit's nests." She said. "I could clean it, if you like." Mistkit said to her, feeling a bit awkward at the thought of someone else cleaning her nest. "No, it's fine. Cherryshade asked me to do it. Besides, it gives me a chance to see the new kits. You go off and play, okay?" "Thanks Whitepaw!" Mistkit purred, and ran off to meet her brother and sister, who were padding into the elder's den. "Did I miss anything?" Mistkit asked. "No..." Frostkit said, trying to look nonchalant, "We were just heading to the elder's den." Mistkit knew when her sister was faking, and this was one of those times. Frostkit was never nonchalant. She was interested in everything. Oftenly, she didn't know when to stop poking her nose in places it didn't belong. Once, Frostkit had poked her nose straight into a fox den, because she wanted to know what a fox looked like. The fox was asleep, luckily, but it started stirring once it smelled the kit, and Mistkit had to half-drag Frostkit out of there, as her sister wanted to look around more. "What are you hiding?" Mistkit asked. "Nothing!" Shadekit said, frustrated. Mistkit hadn't seen her brother in a long time, and she couldn't tell when he was lying and when he wasn't. Sighing, Mistkit turned and padded into the elder's den.

Oakfur, the only elder, was already telling a story to an apprentice, Sorrelpaw, who was cleaning out his bedding. "The darkness of the twoleg place surrounded me," Oakfur said, not saying anything about the kits entering. "Twoleg bins were tipped over, the litter inside covering the ground around me. I could hear the voices of a few cats, though I couldn't really make out words over the sirens. I wondered where Spiderpaw was. He was from a different clan, and he had challenged me to a battle. Suddenly, I stopped, my fur pricking in fear. In front of me, there was a large brown and gray tom. 'What are you doing here?' he had hissed at me. I still remember the horror I had felt. The huge tom's brown and gray tom was torn with scratches, more scratches and scars than a cat who had just come back from war. I had stuttered, my voice hardly more than a whisper. I was only just made an apprentice, you couldn't expect me to be brave in the face of such a large cat. 'I-I..' I had whispered. 'You what? Why are you on Death Pack territory?' the tom growled. 'Gentle, Fern..." a soft voice had said, and I saw a light gray she-cat with a white tipped tail and a belly round with kits step out of the darkness.'Ash, he is a trespasser!' the tom, who apparently was named Fern, hissed indignantly. Ash ignored him and stepped towards me, 'Where are you from?' she asked softly. 'S-sunclan.' I barely forced out a whisper. 'A forest cat! In our territory?' the tom said. 'We should take him back to the forest before Red and Dark find out that-' 'Red and Dark find out what?' A shadowy tom whispered maliciously as he stepped out of the ally-way, flanked by a dark ginger she-cat with a white tail-tip. 'Red and Dark.' Ash said, dipping her head in a submissive way, 'We were just going to get this ignorant cat off your territory.' Even though she called me ignorant, I knew she was only doing it because she was trying to keep me safe. 'I feel like you should have let us know. We would have dealt with him properly.' the ginger said,and I shrank even lower into the submissive pose that I had done instinctively. 'Red, there is no need for-' Fern started, but was cut off by the solid black tom pinning him down. 'You don't tell us what is needed and what is not.' he hissed. 'I think that they aren't loyal anymore.' Red growled, and the Ash was about to protest before Dark answered, 'Yes, Red, I think you're right. Maybe these two want to suffer the same punishment as this intruder.' 'Please Dark, have mercy on us.' Ash whimpered. Dark turned to her, and I could hear more cats gathering to see what the commotion was about. A brown tabby tom and a white tom stepped into view, and were followed by a swarm of other cats, surrounding the group. Some cats eyes flashed with excitement and entertainment, while others shone with fear for the two cats that had defended me." Sorrelpaw had stopped changing the bedding, immersed in the story. "'What do you think we should do to them, Red?' Dark purred cruelly. 'How about two moons in the prison?' Red's eyes shined with amusement at our discomfort and fear. 'Sounds fine with me.' he said to her, and the brown tabby and the white tom stepped towards us, and herded us deeper into the Twoleg place.

The building we stopped at was an old Twoleg den. There was a hole in the entrance, which had guards on either side of it. One was a spotted golden she-cat with one of her ears tore off. The other was the most strange cat I had ever seen. He had a wrinkly, pink, hairless body, and large blue eyes. 'Fern and Ash? What are you doing here?' said the golden she-cat, shocked. 'Don't ask the prisoners questions, Lightning.' The hairless cat said in a ear-piercing voice, 'You know they may not talk. How long will they be here, Shard?' He asked the white tom. 'Two moons. They were trying to sneak this intruder out.' He growled, pushing me viciously through the entrance. The jagged edges of the wood cut my back, and I let out a quiet yelp. Behind me I heard Lightning whisper soft words to Ash. Then Ash was shoved in, followed by Fern. Shard and the brown tabby padded in, and led us through the darkness. There was a large hollow in the middle, which had several cages along the edge. Almost all of the cages were full, and only about five were empty. The cages were full of cats, but I noticed that they were separated by different things. There was a group of queens in cages on the far right side, and cat about the age of warriors right beside it. On the left side there were elders, some even older than me. Next to that there were kits. Some so young that they looked like they had barely opened their eyes, and others almost the age of an apprentices. The last group in that row, the ones in the middle, were cats that looked about my age. Shard led Ash to the group of queens, and Fern to the group of warriors. To my sunrise, the brown tabby didn't lead me to the group of apprentices. Instead, they lead me to a group I hadn't noticed at first. It was the smallest of the groups, and it supported the dirt trail that we had first walked down to get to it. It was made up of just one large c

age, that already had three cats in it. The only thing that stopped the dirt from falling in was a large, flat, board of wood. The cats that were in it pressed against the dirt wall in fear when the brown tabby approached, which made him smirk. The cats looked underfed and terrified, their ribs showing through their fur. The brown tabby put one paw on the bars to help him stand on his hind legs, and with the other he pulled a slightly bent latch up, which made the entrance to the den fly inward. He roughly shoved me in, and the other cats looked at me with pity. Then the tabby gently closed his teeth around one of the bars and pulled it shut. The bars scraped against the entrance, and the latch fell closed. I was trapped." Oakfur paused, letting those last words sink in. "Did you escape?" Sorrelpaw whispered in awe. " Of course he did! Or else he wouldn't be here." Frostkit said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Yes, I survived. But just barely." Oakfur said, his voice quiet. "After the brown tom left, I looked at the different cats in the room. There was a gray and orange she-cat about my age, an old orange tabby tom, and a black tom with spikey fur. It was Spiderpaw! 'Spiderpaw, you coward! You were supposed to meet me at the edge of the Two-leg place, not lead me deeper in looking for you!' I growled, blaming him for my getting trapped. 'I was waiting there, Oakpaw, but I got caught by a border patrol. They said I was too close to their territory, but I wasn't even in the Two-leg place!' He argued indignantly. 'I assume you two know each other?' The orange tom purred. 'How could you be purring at a time like this, Flame?' the she-cat hissed. 'Yes, we know each other. We're from different clans. At the gathering we had a disagreement, but the gathering was a time of peace, so we decided to sneak out of our camps tonight and battle. But those stupid Two-leg place rouges captured us!' I had growled. 'Quiet! The guards will hear you!' the she-cat hissed loudly. 'Calm down, Lilac. The guards will hear you.' Flame said to her. Flattening her ears, she looked away, and Flame turned to us, 'Don't worry, you two. How long will you be here?' 'Two moons for me, but I can't be away from my clan so long!' I said angrily, and Spiderpaw said a bit quieter, 'Just tonight. They didn't think they had to punish me too bad, seeing as though I wasn't on their territory.' Flame looked at me, 'In two nights the next tournament will happen. I have been here long enough to understand it all. Eight moons. I am not strong enough to battle my way out. But you are. Red and Dark will come and announce it. Up on the beams of the roof there will be other death pack members watching. One of Red and Dark's head advisers will come to our section and ask for challengers, and you need to say that you want to be a challenger. They will bring you to the middle, and after everything goes silent, they will pair you up with another challenger, most likely one who is about equal to you that way the fight will entertain them for as long as it can. Don't back down from a challenge. That will double your time in the prison. If they back out, your time will be cut in half. If you kill them, however, you will be set free on the spot.' 'K-kill someone?! But-but that is against the warrior code!' 'Your code doesn't matter here! It's either live or die in the city, and the cats out here understand that! They won't hesitate to kill one of their own, let alone an intruder!' Lilac burst in, 'Do you want to be the one to kill, or the one who is killed?' I stared at her, shocked. 'I-i'm sorry. It's just, well...last tournament, my brother, Slate, he was too scared to kill someone. But he was sure that he could win without killing anyone. After I saw him die. I just couldn't battle anyone. I immediately backed out when they matched me with someone. I'll be here for another eight moons. That's why I will battle at the tournament. I'm sorry, Flame. Please don't be mad at me for leaving.' Lilac whispered those last words. He licked her head in a fatherly way and said, 'No cat should live out their life behind bars just for padding through the city. There will be other cats, and I will need to help them with the tournament. Besides, I won't be here much longer. My time will be up soon.' Not knowing what to say, I padded over to a corner, and lied my head down in the dirt, trying to block out the noise of kit wailing for their mothers. When I awoke, it was still pretty dark. The only light that shone through was from a crack in the roof. Shard was at the gate, and I saw Spiderpaw turning the corner. The whole day I practiced, and stayed up late into the night rehearsing what to do when the challenge came. I had already ruled out Lilac as an opponent. Flame said that they would match me up with someone that had similar skills as mine. Lilac wasn't nearly as strong as me in brute strength, but I wasn't as smart or fast as her. I finally got to sleep as the sun began to shine through the roof again. I awoke to a large paw prodding me awake quickly. It was Flame's! 'It's time! Get up!' he whispered, and I scrambled to my paws. It was Shard who came to our cage. 'Do any of you wish to be challenger?' He asked in a gruff voice. Me and Lilac answered at the same time, 'I wish to be a challenger.' Shard nodded, and opened the cage. I padded out slowly behind Lilac, keeping myself low to the dirt when we passed Shard.

Once we were in the center of the hollow it was hard to focus. There were cats yowling insults at us, and making bet on who would fight who, and who would kill who. The kits were the first to battle. I watched with horror as a small pure white kit, still covered with kit fluff was matched with a tortoiseshell about the same age. The white one's pelt had blood on it fairly quickly, and backed out of the challenge. It was the most horrific thing I have ever experienced. The time passed quickly. Lilac had already had her challenge. A calico slightly older than us was the one to battle her. That fight went on for what seemed like an eternity, and the cheering got louder as it went on. The calico lay dead at her paws, and I could see Lilac's eyes shine with guilt as she padded away. Finally, it was my turn. I was paired with a solid black tom from the group of apprentices who had one of his ears torn off. We circled each other, and he was the first to pounce. I clawed at him fiercely, then made myself go limp. I could feel his grip loosen as he bent down to deliver the killing bite. Suddenly, I surged upwards and ripped his other ear off. He bit at my tail and I clawed his underbelly. Finally, I had him pinned. I was seeing red by then. I swiftly bent down and bit his neck. I never got over the thought of his dead eyes. But it was necessary. Lilac was right. He was trying to kill me. He wasn't going to back out.

I tried to work my way through the alleyways of the two-leg place, and finally, I saw trees. 'Took you long enough.' I heard, and I jumped around, only to see Lilac. 'Relax. I just needed to see if you made it out.' 'Well obviously I did. And I had to kill a cat.' I said, turning away, the guilt overwhelming me. She took a step closer. 'Look, I know that you didn't like it. But I'm glad you're okay. Where are you gonna go now?' 'Back to my clan, of course. What about you?' 'I-i don't know. My brother is dead. He was the only family I had.' she replied sadly. 'Come with me. My clan will welcome you.' I said. 'T-thanks. You're not to bad.' she said, licking my cheek." "Gross!" Frostkit interjected. Oakfur purred, "You'll feel that way for someone one day, little kit. That rouge was my mate, Lilaccloud. I expect she will be retiring soon, too. In fact, me and her were just talking about that. Anyways, that's how I met her. Too bad we had to meet in such a terrible way. Me and her will never forgive Death Pack for that. It took away our innocence, killing another cat." "Thanks for the story, Oakfur." Mistkit said trying to keep her voice still. Were they really that bad? I-is my mother okay? I need to find out. Mistkit made up her mind. The second she became a warrior, she was going to find her mother.