The scent of the forest lingered in the air, a cruel reminder of the life I was being ripped away from as I was pulled away from the large monster that I knew my daughter was shut inside.

I actually managed to feel the smallest twinge of happiness, knowing full well that I was giving the Twoleg that was carrying me a hard time. His grunts of struggle were obvious, and his grip seemed to loosen just a bit as I practically went berserk – yowling until I gave myself a headache, and my unsheathed claws slashing in every possible direction.

A cat or any other creature on earth would think that I was losing my mind, which I had to admit wasn't far from the truth. Being ripped away from what I felt was my true home had been horrible enough, but that suddenly felt as inadequate as the smallest mosquito once Wrenkit had been put in that cage – a cage that I already knew was going to be separate from wherever I was going.

And I continued to fight – as useless as I knew it would be – when sure enough, the idiot Twoleg that still had me in his paws began to carry me towards the other large monster. And almost just as rapidly as the Twolegs had done with my daughter, they opened up a cage in the other monster, and didn't give me even a half of a heartbeat to try and escape as they practically threw me inside.

I then almost felt as if I was being struck by lightning as I heard the bang of the cage shutting, following by what I was sure was them locking it shut. It had the same effect – resulting in my fur bristled out, my bones weak, and my heart practically stopping.

I was trapped.

And when the large, heavy door at the back of the monster closed shut, its noise echoing like it could spread through the whole earth, my last bit of hope disappeared.

And I practically felt numb with shock as I let myself sink down to the frigid floor of the tiny encapsulation, the equally cold air seeming to dig deep down under every single piece of fur that I had. And my mind seem to be swirling with every single negative thought and simultaneously with absolute nothingness as the monster then began to move, all of the other metal cages quivering as the vehicle shook back and forth.

The journey was a tumultuous ride, each bump and jolt a painful echo of the distance growing between ThunderClan and me. For the entirety of the travel, all I felt I could do was stand there, my legs sprawled out, my claws unsheathed, and my fur bristling out so much that it was brushing against the walls of the cage as I just stared ahead at the void of complete darkness.

And with how eternal the ride felt, with the sounds of the quivering cages, the rumbling of the monster, the bumps that it made that sometimes brought me to be airborne, and the darkness around me, I honestly felt as if I was dying, or that I might as well be dead.

In fact, this felt like a fate worse than death.

However, I managed to somewhat snap out of my complete dejection once I felt the monster come to what felt like a complete stop, causing my unsheathed claws to uncomfortably scrape against the cage floor.

And after waiting a few more moments, I could now be sure that the truck had now come to a full halt.

I had no idea how to feel about this. Because no matter what, right at this moment, I had no idea what would be waiting for me outside of this monster.

I then found myself letting out a hiss, my eyes quickly shutting as I then was practically blinded by the Twolegs opening up the back of the monster once again, an overwhelming amount of sunlight breaking through, and exposing me to the harsh reality outside.

Then, the Twolegs from before seemed to burst in there as quickly as if they were the ones that were being held captive, several of them sprinting into the monster's belly and grabbing cages – cats looking just as angry, fearful, or confused as I was trapped within the small bars.

It didn't take long at all for one of the Twolegs to make their way to where I was, where they found me hissing still, my fur still fluffed out to full capacity as I pressed myself against the back of the cage.

And I felt sick as I briefly met the gaze of the Twoleg, his eyes looking as apathetic as they would be if he were to be staring off at the sky at nothing.

And the sight probably brought me to retaliate just as much as I initially planned as he gripped onto my cage with both paws and began to carry me out of the truck. I didn't have much to work with now that I wasn't directly being carried, but I tried with all of my might to scratch at his paws that I now had direct access to.

But although the Twoleg seemed to wince and let out some grunts of pain every once in a while, my efforts seemed to go to nothing. And realizing this, I suddenly felt that all I could do was stand in that cage, staring up at the Twoleg in complete bewilderment. How? I then thought to myself. How can you possibly do this to me – take me and so many other cats away from their home, and see them yowl and fight, and act as if you don't care?

I then couldn't help but let out another hiss and slash at one of the Twoleg's paws one last time. How can you rip me away from my daughter and expect her to fend for herself? Let your other Twolegs hurt her?

I then truly felt like I was losing my mind when within I split heartbeat, I went from feeling pure shock and betrayal to pure helplessness and sadness - sinking down to the cold floor of the cage and beginning to whimper into my paws. How could you leave a mother to worry about her?

I then whipped my head back up after a few moments, forcing myself to stand up as I then frantically looked around, trying to look more closely at the other cages being carried around me. Oh, Wrenkit, where are you?

Although I'd already been pretty sure before I started looking, I was almost immediately disappointed to find absolutely no cat that looked like my daughter. In fact, it was clear to me pretty quickly that all of the other cats around me all looked at least my age, and older.

Clearly, the kits and the older cats were meant to be separated, and were being taken to separate places.

For the hundredth time within the last quarter of the day, I found a violent growl rising in my throat once again as I glanced back up at the Twoleg carrying my cage. Great StarClan... I then brooded. How?

Then feeling another wave of anger, I practically threw myself at the top of my cage as I attempted to shred the Twoleg's paws once again, feeling numb with rage at the thought that this furless idiot likely knew where my daughter was, and I did not.

And again, the Twoleg only showed the smallest signs of fear and resistance as he stepped through a doorway, the sunlight disappearing behind me as I was carried inside of a building – something I had hoped I would never do again once I left BloodClan.

But here I was, the cold air and weird stench of the indoors striking me like a lion's claws as the Twoleg walked deeper into the nest. Twoleg voices now overwhelmed my ears, and the scents of cats and other animals were flooding into my nose. Simply the fact that it was all so unfamiliar made me feel nauseous.

The Twoleg then took me through another doorway that brought me into an area that was just as loud and scent-filled as the last one, but now, I was staring ahead at what looked like a glorified version of the truck full of cages I had just been in.

And by glorified, I simply mean that it was an area full of cages that wasn't a moving monster in complete darkness.

And also, the cats that filled the cages didn't look scared at all. Sure, there seemed to be the rare one or two that clearly hated the tight space, but several of them had clearly become acclimated to whatever this situation was, simply snoozing in their cages, grooming themselves, or enjoying some food or a drink.

I'll have whatever they're having.

I then let out a gasp, letting all four of my unsheathed claws grip the cage floor again as I felt myself being lifted higher off of the ground, and then violently pressed against one of the open cages that was in the room.

I knew exactly what this idiot Twoleg expected me to do, and this was his strategic way of him getting me out of this idiot cage without him having to touch me.

He sure was lucky for that.

And he also was lucky that I wanted to get as far away from him as possible, and that at this moment, anything sounded better than being trapped in the cage that he was carrying me in.

So, I moved forward, carefully taking steps out of the cage I'd been carried here in, and into the much more stable cage that was pressed up against the wall of this room.

I then barred my teeth, letting out another ruthless hiss as I felt the cold paw of the Twoleg push me deeper into the enclosure before violently slamming the small door shut behind me and locking it.

And truthfully, I have absolutely no idea for how long I stood in that idle position that the Twoleg had left me in after closing the case, where I simply stared at the silver wall in front of me, which was filled with slightly lighter squares where light from the room behind me leaked through the cage bars.

And soon, where the light from the early sunrise outside leaked through the cage bars.

Sure, I could have spent all of this time trying to find a way to escape, which I suppose I eventually would.

But weirdly, while that was the first thing on my mind, it almost simultaneously seemed to be my last.

That is because the fact that my daughter had been ripped away from me, and the fact that both of us had been ripped away from our home, was at the forefront of my mind.

I was so full of shock, fear, and anger that at that fact that I felt like I couldn't move. That I needed to take the time to fully reconstruct my mind and my reality.

Nothing else about my existence seemed to matter. I hadn't eaten for at least half of a day, and I was probably starving; I hadn't gone for a drink of water since sunhigh yesterday, and was probably thirsty; I of course hadn't bothered to groom myself since the disaster had occurred, and my bristled fur was probably tangled and sticking in every which direction.

And sure, while there was a food bowl full of gross slop, a small bowl of water, and now all the time in the world to groom myself, none of that seemed to be anything that mattered right now. I was so full of so much denial and numbness that I couldn't even think about basic survival.

The last time that I had felt even remotely like this was when Chrissy and Sparrow had been killed, and then when I had witnessed Scourge kill Tigerstar. At least in those instances, I got to choose how to cope with those situations, whether it was in a good or bad way.

But in this situation, I was simply stuck with my grief-stricken thoughts, with nowhere to go, nowhere to run, and absolutely no one around me to console me. Surely even StarClan was distant from a place like this.

And like I said, I honestly have no idea how long I spent simply staring at that cage wall, slowly watching it change color as the night and day moved along outside as I tried not to fully break down and whimper like the most insane cat in the entire world to all of the cats in here that surely were trying to sleep.

For a while, the rising daylight was my only indication that time was actually passing until I flinched by the loud bang of a door opening at the other end of the room, followed by the heavy footsteps of what sounded like several Twolegs walking in.

And actually, the curiosity overpowering me as it always did, I actually managed to bring myself to turn around, facing the side of the cage that I'd entered from and padding up closer to it.

Almost immediately, I was able to notice what looked like a younger female Twoleg leading an older pair of Twolegs deeper into the room. All three of them seemed to be speaking in such joyful, excited tones that made me sick, and all three of their sets of eyes were wide and bright with awe as they looked around.

I then froze as they began to pass by my area, and I felt my fur begin to rise once again and prickle with fear as the younger female Twoleg slowly came to a stop, seeming to look back expectantly at the couple behind her.

It was then that I realized that it more seemed to be the two of them that were looking around more actively, their gazes still excited but also contemplative as their eyes seemed to rest on individual cages for long periods of time. But... why?

I then flicked my ears, having to try with all of my might to hold back a shocked and indignant hiss as I swiftly and quietly made my best attempt to back all the way up to the very back of my cage. No...

I hadn't given myself the capacity to put the pieces together before or to fully acknowledge it, however, thanks to my time in the Twolegplace, I knew exactly what kind of place this was that I had been put in.

An animal shelter. More like an animal torture chamber.

Twolegs thought that they were being saints by putting any animals that they found in these cages in these places, giving them food, water, and somewhere somewhat warm to live and sleep.

But apparently animals couldn't live like this forever, and while several of them could stay in these shelters for a long while, the Twolegs that run these places are fully under the assumption that one day, these animals will be able to go on to a better life with Twolegs that chose to take them.

Twolegs that chose to take them.

As this continued to echoed in my head, I also continued to violently press myself against the back of the cage, anxiously watching as these Twoleg visitors partook in what I now knew was likely a search for their new cat to hold hostage in their home.

And as I also tried to stay as still as possible, I also prayed to StarClan harder than I ever had before (hopefully), praying to them that I would be ignored completely, and that I would be given time to one – be able to calm down and develop a sound mind and two, find how the heck I was going to make my escape.

But I guess I should have been a bit more specific with my prayer.

Because it sure seemed like StarClan was going to give me an escape – right here and right now.

Suddenly, it felt as if my entire world was collapsing around me once again when for the second time within this day, I made direct eye contact with a Twoleg that clearly was looking at me with a goal and an intention.

And my heart suddenly seemed to sink to the core of the earth when that female Twoleg I'd locked gazes with completely lit up at the sight of me. And as she then pulled her male Twoleg closer to her so that he also was looking at the cage, I knew that I was doomed, and that I wasn't finding Wrenkit or my way home any time soon.