"This.....this is bad," Ciderheart meowed. Sorreltail brushed beside her.

"It's ok. We.....we should find shelter here," She meowed.

Movement in the bushes caught Cinderheart's eye.

A dark gray pelt leaped.

Cinderheart sprang back.

"Cinderheart!" The tom gasped.

"Graystripe!" Cinderheart meowed.

"You left the Clan to?" Graystripe meowed.

Cinderheart sighed. "Yes," She meowed.

"Awww," Graystripe sighed. "Come with us!" He meowed.

"Graystripe!" Bumblepaw meowed. "I've missed you!" He purred.

Blossompaw came running over. "Graystripe!" She purred.

Heartbeats  later, Graystripe was taking them to their camp.

"So...." Cinderheart began. "Where is this....camp? What's it like?" She meowed.

"We....uhhh......decided to camp up in a tree," Graystripe stammered.

"We're cats, not squirrels," Sorreltail purred.

Cinderheart stiffened as she heard Graystripe's voice. "It's here!" He mewed.

Cinderheart sprang through the bushes and saw a tree. It was tall and had thick branches. Leaves were all around it in a bushy circle. Weak sunlight shone through the thick branches.

"Graystripe!" A voice called.

Three moons had passed. Cinderheart sat quietly beside her daughter Jaypaw and her son Stonepaw

"I don't get why Ashstar would throw us all out like that," Jaypaw was meowing.

"I know! I'm his son!" Stonepaw flicked his tail to his sister. "And you're his daughter!" He growled. He flicked his tail towards Cinderheart. "And you're his mate!" He growled.

Jaypaw sank her claws into the bark of the tree. "And Ashstar fought  me," She put in. 

"And he almost killed you!" Stonepaw growled.

Jaypaw felt her neck fur rise. Then a loud crack split the air. 

Thunder crashed down on the tree that was five fox-lengths away from the tree they were on.

"Run!" A cat wailed.

Jaypaw saw her brother who was crouched on the tree limb. He stared at the orange flames that were feeding off the tree. Jaypaw darted forward and grabbed her brother's scruff. 

"Come on!" She growled. "Get to your paws!" 

Stonepaw shot himself out of her teeth and raced down the tree. Jaypaw leaped down after him.

"Jaypaw! Look out!" Her brother wailed.

Jaypaw saw the tree tipping over. She shot herself forward and tumbled into him. 

The tree, burnt from the fire, was already reaching them.

Jaypaw grabbed her brother by the scruff and shot forward, making her paws carry her as far as they could. She sprang past her Clanmates but then tumbled into a puddle of rain water. She stopped carrying her brother and went on ahead, running, running......running....running.

I've got to get away, she thought.

She dived under ferns and twisted around the trunks of trees. Thunder cracked across the sky and a heavy rain started falling.

Got to get away. Away from everything.

Jaypaw stopped dead. She wouldn't abandon her Clanmates like this! 

She turned tail and raced back.

Stonepaw shook raindrops from his fur. He looked around for Jaypaw, but didn't see anything. He stood silently in the puddle of water, its murky color engulfing his gray paws.

"Stonepaw!" A wail sounded from behind a tree.

Stonepaw thought he had lost his mind when he thought the tree was talking, but a gray she-cat stepped out.

Stonepaw ran forward to touch his sister's shoulder with his nose. "You kept running and running!" He meowed.

"I was sca-" She broke off as thunder cracked across the sky, lighting it up as it tore the sky like a claw.

"I was scared," Jaypaw's voice was filled with irritation and amusement.

"We have to find the group!" Stonepaw meowed.

Jaypaw trotted alongside her brother. The dark gray rain clouds had opened up to reveal the bright sun. Its rays warmed the pelts of the cats. Water dripped from leaf to leaf on a bush. Birds flew here and there, as if nothing had happened at all.

"Our home!" Graystripe wailed. 

He stared up at the fire-burnt tree. The leaves were black and shriveled. The bark was stripped and black. The shadow of the tree hung on the ground, touching the leaves and bushes.

"We are homeless!" Squirrelflight growled. Her dark ginger tail lashed once and a heartbeat later it lashed again.

"You know what that means," Graystripe called. "We'll need a new home,"He finished and lashed his gray tail.

Millie stumbled over. "We can't move now, not when I'm about to have your kits," She meowed.

Graystripe's eyes widened with horror. "Well then, we need to create a shelter. First, we need to find sticks, rocks, brambles- anything that is a good barrier," Graystripe flicked his tail towards Ferncloud. "Ferncloud, Foxpaw, and Icepaw, I want you to search for brambles."

"I shall be the leader," Squirrelflight meowed. "I share Firestar's blood."

"Good. I'll be the deputy. I was once, and I'll be it again," Graystripe meowed.

"Graystripe, you and Bumblepaw, are going to collect the sticks," Squirrelflight meowed.

"On it!" Graystripe called. He raced off with his son behind him.

"Cinderheart and Stonepaw, collect rocks," Squirrelflight meowed. 

Stonepaw started to move but stopped dead when he had heard Squirrelflight's voice.

"Wait! Get moss!" Squirrelflight meowed.

Stonepaw angled his ears. A good but boring job! Stonepaw bolted past the burnt tree and halted for Cinderheart to catch up.

"Now lets hurry. If we do, our paws will drop off once we come back!" Cinderheart purred.

"Will they really drop off?" Stonepaw asked. "We can't run without them!"

Cinderheart didn't reply, instead, she slipped past her son and stopped as she saw a tree, thickly growing with moss.

"Look," She meowed. "Moss."

Stonepaw lunged forward but landed in a large puddle of water. Water showered over him and the sun made the water drops glitter.

A shriek of alarm startled Stonepaw. He leaped back and stood beside his mother, bristling.

A black and white she-cat stepped out. Her forepaws touched the edge of the puddle.

"I'm lost!" She mewed. "Can you help me?" She asked.

Cinderheart stepped forward. "Where are you heading?" Her voice was gentle.

"My...uh....twolegs threw me out!" The she-cat growled. "They put me in their car and drove into the middle of this forest, then, they left me out here to starve and die alone!" She exclaimed.

"Car?" Cinderheart mewed.

"A car! That piece of metal that has black paws!" The she-cat sounded irritated. Her pelt was matted and one of her ears was torn. She was thin, Stonepaw could see each of her ribs. Even a patch of fur was missing from her tail; it was crusted with died blood.

"I came across some other cats. I asked for help but all they did was rip me to shreds!" The she-cat mewed.

"What is your name?"  Cinderheart meowed.

"Moss. My name is Moss," The she-cat replied.

"Well, we were collecting moss. We got thrown out of our Clan for..uh...no reason," Cinderheart meowed. "Help us carry some moss and we'll take you to our camp-or-what's left of it."

Stonepaw's jaws were filled with the bitter tasting moss. Its flavor still hung in his mouth.

As they entered camp, Stonepaw could see that cats were weaving brambles around trees and there was already a fresh-kill pile. 

"Who's that?" Squirrelflight mewed.

"Hi? I'm Moss!" Moss meowed.

"Can we let her stay?" Cinderheart meowed. "I mean-we can't just leave her to starve in the forest!" 

"Alright," Squirrelflight meowed. "Lets announce it," She turned and bounded over to a rock that was jutting out of the ground. "Gather around!" She called.

"Follow," Cinderheart beckoned Moss with her tail. 

Stonepaw followed them and saw that Moss didn't have a collar.

"Who's that?" Jaypaw, who had just come up, was asking her brother.

"You'll see. We found her when we were collecting moss. And- oh, hey, her name is Moss," Stonepaw meowed.

"When Cinderheart and Stonepaw were hunting for moss, like I had told them, they found a she-cat there," Squirrelflight meowed. She flicked her tail to Moss so the kittypet could explain.

"My name is Moss. My twolegs threw me out. They put me in their car and drove off!" Moss explained.

Cats were cocking their heads and confusion slipped from their pelts.

"A car is a monster. Whatever you cats call it," Moss sighed.

The cats started looking impressed.

Stonepaw heard the birds singing. It was close to night. The leaves of a nearby tree swayed and made Stonepaw dizzy. His eyes flickered towards the setting sun, it was hiding behind a huge dark gray cloud. That one's full of rain... Stonepaw snapped his head back to Squirrelflight.

"Moss is now a cat of our group!" She called.

"And Sorreltail, I want you to train Moss. She'll now be Mosspaw."

"Mosspaw! Mosspaw!  Mosspaw!" The cats mewled.