By the time Dawn got her first glimpse of the farm, it was almost dawn and the weather was becoming fiercer, with dark grey clouds rolling in and the air was becoming denser, just like before a storm. The wind was whipping the grass and stinging the young apprentice's face, making tear roll down her face. The farm was far in the distance but it was definitely what she was looking for, plus it had a shelter that she could hide in until the storm passed. As she got closer to the farm, she discovered branches sticking out of the ground, kind of like a barrier, but it was easy to get through, with silver vines draped across leaving huge gaps. But the barrier thing was being guarded by some huge beasts about ten times her size, some black and white, others brown and two cream coloured. Dawn flattened herself to the ground and creeped carefully closer to the beasts, hoping that the strong wind wouldn't carry her scent. She slipped under a silver vine and walked as quietly as she could around beasts, jumping when one of them snorted.

With her heart beating about as fast as a running rabbit, the apprentice ducked under another silver vine and onto a pebble path, the tiny stones moving under her paws and in the wind. As she kept walking, the path split into three different directions, one to a cream Twoleg house, one to a distant red shape and another disappeared into the distance. After a small moment of hesitation, she took the path to the left, which led to the big, red rock looking thing. Hopefully it would have no Twolegs in it, it had a higher chance of being abandon that the Twoleg house.

As she walked down the pebble path, more areas of green grass were surrounded in the silver vine barrier. One of the areas had three huge creatures in them with long flowing tail and big, brown feet. One was an orange colour, another was brown and white and the final one was a dappled grey. They eyeballed the apprentice but went back to eating the grass when she passed. Another grassy area had lots of white cloud-like creatures in it and they had black legs and black heads. Eventually, she reached the red structure and was not happy to find that it also was a Twoleg structure, just a much older one than the house. Cautiously, Dawn walked up to it and through the black entrance way at the front. Inside the building, it was dark and stuffy, with barely any light coming in. The ground was coated in some sort of stiff yellow grass that smelt of mouse and also had the faint scent of other cats. The first rumble of thunder sounded so the apprentice quickly darted into one of the corners of the structure, wanting to get would of the oncoming storm that would bring lots of rain, and the apprentice did not want to get wet. Dawn curled up on the yellow grass and rested her head on her paws, wishing for a nice mouse or something to drink.

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It was about midday when the storm finally cleared, and Dawn woke up shortly afterwards, her legs sore from walking almost all day yesterday. But she wasn't alone in the den, unlike what she thought yesterday. There were at least four fully grown cats standing around her and two younger kits about 3 moons old. The apprentice leapt up with a hiss, her hackles raised and claws out as she glared at the cats, unsure whether they were enemies or friends. 

"Calm down," said the oldest looking cat, a brown tabby tom with amber eyes, "we are not here to hurt you. Many stray cats come into our barn during storms." He shrugged his shoulders and looked around the red rock that Dawn had been sheltering in.

"I am Bingo by the way," he said, nodding his head to her, "and this is Bandit, Willow and Cheddar." He nodded to a black and white tom, a grey tabby she-cat and a ginger and white tom. "And these are Angel and Inky." He pushed forward the two she-kits and Dawn relaxed slightly, these cats clearly just wanted to be friends with her so it was probably best that she didn't rip them to shreds.

"I am Dawn," she meowed, dipping her head in a respectful greeting, "though I was once Birdpaw."

"You are one of those forest cats?" came the squeaky voice of Inky and the apprentice looked down at the black kit. She smiled and nodded, sending the little kit squealing in excitement, though Willow who seemed like the mother, stiffened with slight fear.

"I was a forest cat," she explained, hoping to calm the she-cat a little, "until I ran away about two days ago."

"So you have nowhere to go now?" confirmed Bandit, looking like the father of the kits, and the apprentice nodded again.

"Well you should stay with us," suggested the grey tabby kit, Angel, "can she stay with us? Please Bingo? Please!" Inky joined in pleading, looking up at the brown tabby tom who seemed like the leader. Bingo hesitated for a heartbeat before nodding slowly, turning to face Dawn.

"You can stay with us if you want," he said slowly, "but on one condition, you must pull your weight and earn your stay here." Dawn nodded, happy that she was at least being welcomed into what seemed like a small Clan.

"Yay!" squealed Inky, rushing up to the apprentice and weaving around her paws. Her sister walked up to the apprentice as well, but much more cautiously, drinking in the scent of the strange cat. As the older cats dipped their heads to her, Dawn felt like a part of her that had been missing since she left the Clan had been found again.