The sun had reached its height in the sky, and back on the plains, Clan cats would be sharing tongues and basking in the soft, warm light. But in the city, the sunlight that filtered through the gaps in the looming gray buildings was cold, and the shadows that stretched across the rough stone walkways were colder.

The cats continued on, their paws landing lightly on the unfamiliar asphalt, though each one was beginning to feel a longing for the cool wind that whistled past the branches of the towering oak. Hero, however, swaggered forward with confident ease. He was used to the rugged surface of stone, and his paw pads weren't nearly as sore as the cats who staggered on behind him.

"My everything hurts," Swiftpaw complained, her tail dragging forlornly behind her.

Snowpaw had kept pace with her throughout most of the journey, and now his green eyes glowed with concern. "She means to ask how long it will be until we get to..." His eyes flicked about, scanning the surrounding area. "Wherever we're going."

"Don't apologize on my behalf," Swiftpaw snapped irritably, and Smokewhisker came to a halt in front of the other Clan cats.

"Hero, we're not used to this terrain. I think it's time we rest again," Smokewhisker suggested, and Hero glanced back at the group of cats, noting the frown that tugged at the corners of Lilypool's mouth as she stopped behind Smokewhisker.

Hero nodded at Smokewhisker, and the immense tom turned to gently nudge the ill-tempered Swiftpaw towards an area where the sunlight washed over the cobblestone. Snowpaw timidly followed after the two, and Jayflight followed suit; for the first time Hero realized she didn't have any burlesque objection to give. These cats must have been truly tired.

Hero exhaled, gazing at the cats who he'd dragged along on his journey. Jayflight had curled up on a pile of newspapers, falling asleep in a matter of moments, and Snowpaw soon padded over the top of her, while Smokewhisker tried to groom something black and sticky out of Swiftpaw's fur. Lilypool sat atop a stone pillar, and their eyes met for a moment, though Hero quickly looked away from her and continued into the alleyways.

He remembered everything about this place. How the wind whistled past the wires that were strung from building to building, and the way pitch black night swept through the streets like the wings of a great, dark bird. His mood begun to lift as his paws carried him forward, away from the shadowed labyrinth of passageways that made up the majority of the boundless city. He leapt nimbly onto a ledge that protruded from a brick building, then sprung onto the pole that ran across the apex of the chainlink fence with practiced ease. 

Three more bounds brought him to a cantilever that stuck out from between the bricks at an odd angle, and he crawled towards its center, letting his tail dangle off the edge and sway in the tranquil breeze. From here, he could see the roofs of the adjacent buildings, and the flaxen-colored light that glittered off the metal fixtures that adorned each one. His heartbeat felt hollow in his chest. He belonged here.

"Hero!" The pale tabby tom turned to face the source of the voice, blinking in incredulity as he spotted Lilypool perched on the top of the fence. She wobbled a bit as she tried to keep her balance, glancing up at him and adjusting her posture to appear less unsteady. "I'm coming up there!"

"No, you're not!" Hero objected, laughing under his breath in amusement. He stood, the beam shaking slightly under his weight, and began to effortlessly make his way down to where she waited. "Stay there, I'll come to you."

Lilypool didn't argue with him as her paw slipped, and she nearly topped off the fence altogether. The wire quivered as Hero landed beside her, and Lilypool's claws instinctively unsheathed to better grasp at the smooth metal. "D'you need some help?" Hero inquired, seating himself a tail-length away from her and tilting his head to the side in a manner that could be considered endearing.

"No, no, I'm fine," Lilypool assured him. She carefully tried to turn around on the narrow pole, but it shook as she did so and she stopped her attempt immediately. "I, uh... just wanted to stay and ask you a few things."

"Sure," Hero simpered, flicking his ear as if gesturing for her to continue. Lilypool stuck her tongue out at him, then managed to sit down on the top of the fence, and flinched at the touch of the chilling metal; though she tried to mask it with a confident smile.

Lilypool curled her tail around her paws. "I was wondering about your powers. You said you had some sort of abnormal finder power, but so far I haven't seen what it even works, and I don't understand why it can't help us to find Whiteshadow."

Hero pretended to look as if the question surprised him, though in all honesty, he had expected it sooner or later. "It's not some kind of psychic thing, if that's what you're asking. It's just - when I woke up in that workshop, I started to notice things. I can see the way everything connects, like a spiderweb of information; I usually just call it extreme observation," He explained, and Lilypool appeared fairly intrigued by the concept. "I'm just as confused as you on the subject of Whiteshadow. I can find anything I understand, and as far as I know, I understand everything. No matter who they are, everyone shares the same basic qualities, the same instinct to put themselves before everyone else."

"But Whiteshadow doesn't," Lilypool concluded, appearing to comprehend his implication. "He never does anything for himself."

Hero nodded. "Exactly. He's-"

"Completely unpredictable," Lilypool concluded. There was a moment of quiet, and then Lilypool looked back up at him, as if to pose another question. Then another alarmingly loud voice rang out and interrupted her.

"Hey!" Swiftpaw yowled, and Lilypool nearly slipped from her perch. The two cats glanced down at Swiftpaw ,and Lilypool bristling in annoyance. "I think I found the cat you were talking about!" 

"Bling?" Came Hero's incredulous reply. "I doubt he'd be near here."

Swiftpaw swished her tail impatiently. "He called Smokewhisker an inconsiderate bread-munch."

Hero sighed. "Right, that's him," He decided, hopping down from the fence with a muffled 'thud'. Lilypool followed, landing with considerably less finesse, then trotted off ahead of him. "Come on then, you two."

"What's a bread?" Swiftpaw whispered to Snowpaw as the three cats returned to the rest of their group, though the apprentice only flicked his tail to indicate equal confusion. 

"Bling!" Hero called out to the jet black tom, who appeared to have been blaring incomprehensible insults at an unnervingly calm Smokewhisker. The tom turned to Hero as he approached, and suddenly grinned as he recognized him.

"Hero! Long time no see, eh, friend?" Bling began, ignoring Hero's resulting grimace. "Just ran into this great big oaf, we got into a bit of a scuffle." He then glared directly at Smokewhisker, who rolled his eyes, remaining completely unperturbed. 

"Told ya," Swiftpaw chirped, and Lilypool shoved her away from the gathering of cats.

"Listen, Bling," Hero started, glancing at the surrounding area before stepping closer to him. "We need information on a cat who may have passed through here, black and white patched tom by the name of Whiteshadow. Thought you might be the cat to ask."

Bling straightened his posture, appearing flattered by the statement. "Well, my knowledge doesn't come easy," He boasted, curling his tail over his paws. "I may know something about Whiteshadow. But if you want information from me, you're going to have to get me something in return - you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours."

Swiftpaw mouthed the word 'What?' from where she set a few tail-lengths behind Hero.

"Bling, we really don't have time for detours," Hero clarified.

Bling scrunched up his nose. "Now you're sore at me."

"I'm not-" Hero stopped himself mid-sentence. There was no arguing with this cat, he knew that from experience. He sighed audibly, though his tail lashed in veiled agitation. "Fine. Tell us what you need."

"Good on you," Bling piped up, and his eyes were slowly drawn to the watch that was clasped around Hero's neck. "How about that?"

"No." Hero snapped.

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding," Bling assured him, seeming entertained with himself. "I know you'd never part with that. No, there's something else I need - something that was stolen from me."

"And what would that be?" Hero furthered, though he sounded relieved. 

Bling looked thoughtful for a moment, a behavior which Hero found odd, all things considered, though so be fair everything about this cat was odd. "It's a gold sort of metal chain, with these really shiny rocks embedded in it."

"A necklace," Hero offered.

Bling nodded definitively, grinning in return. "That's the one."

Hero bit back his next retort, and instead inhaled, readjusting his composure. "So what happened to your necklace?"

"If I knew, I wouldn't need you," Bling reasoned, and Hero groaned in exasperation. "You know where to find me." He added, and without another word, trotted off down the alleyway, where his pelt melted into the shadows and he vanished completely.

A few moments of silence followed as the cats exchanged confused and apprehensive glances. "I'll go wake Jayflight," Smokewhisker muttered, padding towards where the grey tabby she-cat lay, as she had slept throughout the entire exchange.

Swiftpaw scratched at a spot behind her ear. "What's so important about a 'necklace', anyways?"

"They're like currency," Hero began, only to realize that the Clan cats probably didn't know the meaning of the word. "Different items hold value to certain groups of cats, like gangs and factions. They can be used to negotiate peace and barter, but they're also prized possessions, and stealing them could easily result in conflict. Necklaces, watches, and bracelets are among the items that hold the most worth, but cats often try to acquire more useful things like leather bindings and scraps of metal."

Swiftpaw blinked. "I understood about half of that."

"What you're saying is that different groups of cats hoard these things," Snowpaw meowed thoughtfully, seating himself by Swiftpaw's side. "So, don't we just have to find a group of cats?"

"What'd you wake me up for?" Jayflight mumbled, padding up to the rest of the group.

Hero considered Snowpaw's words, admiring how simplistic his thoughts were.

Wait - but it was that simple.

"Follow me, I think I might know who could have stolen the necklace!" Hero announced, and dashed off down one of the adjoining passageways.

"Not again," Swiftpaw griped, and Snowpaw cuffed her over the ears fondly before the two raced after him. Within moments, the cold stone was bare of any presence.

<——————>

The city buzzed with quiet noise, the eternal absence of silence. Somehow, this ambience proved to be soothingly tranquil, unbroken and unfaltering. Except, of course, for the distant sound of bickering forest cats, who had arrived at their destination in due time.

"Can we please just go in?"

"Shut up Jayflight!"

"Both of you pipe down a notch, we're trying to remain inconspicuous," Smokewhisker meowed in an undertone, and both Swiftpaw and Jayflight glared back at him. All six cats were crouched under a metal overhang, their whiskers twitching in anticipation. "Hero, how exactly do you know this is the place?"

Hero swallowed, though his tail twitched with excitement. "There are several groups of cats in the area around where Bling lives, but only three near where we found him wandering. He didn't remember the exact description of the necklace, and he didn't seem excessively concerned with finding it, which means he already knows where it is; and that's why he was staying so far away from his usual hunting grounds. Out of the three aforementioned groups of cats, only two of them are known for keeping hoards of currency, and only one is known for stealing it."

"Can we actually do something? The longer we sit here the more likely you are to talk," Swiftpaw muttered.

"Right," Hero replied, shaking his head as if to dismiss his thoughts. He hadn't gotten to do this in a while. The building that stood in front of them was constructed of wavy metal plates, with ramshackle wooden planks serving as a roof of sorts - a warehouse that had been abandoned for several years. Hero turned to the others, tail swishing in confidence. "I've got a plan."

This chapter's a bit shorter than I usually write them, but I liked the way it turned out. It did end up being a bit late, and as such I felt the need to stake my claim on this story part, so here's a segment of my interim commentary.

[If somebody publishes this before I am done with it I will actually punch you in the throat]

~Frost