Ashpaw would never forgive Charpaw for this.

She had decided that when Maplestar had uttered those words. She had repeated that when Mistleap and Nutpelt escorted her put of the territory.

Staring out at the open plains and grasses, Ashpaw muttered the words again. It felt so strange to not have the shadows and rustling of trees all around her, and the sunlight hurt her eyes, with all of its glaring heat.

Shaking her head, Ashpaw took a step forward, grass crinkling under her paw.

Starclan seemed to hate her...

Two days in, and it was raining.

Ashpaw huddled closer to the stray stones clustered by the streams separating territories. She was sick and tired of rain, of how hard it pounded down on her, how it left her fur clumped and heavy.

It didn't help that the wind was blowing viciously through the Open Lands, and with no trees to stop it, it raced unabashed against the wind, sending rain into Ashpaw's eyes.

Shaking herself out, Ashpaw took a deep breath, staring wearily out at the clouds crashing above her. Columns of grey crashed and fought high in the sky, yeowls of lightning and streaking thunder making the grey apprentice quiver.

It took every fiber of her being to keep herself still, to not go running back to the forest, to plead with Maplestar to take her back.

Ashpaw had to stay strong.

If she didn't, Charpaw would never let her forget it.

Screwing her eyes shut against the stinging cold of the rain, she found a growing heat inside of her, one that pushed away the numbing wetness.

Anger was a delightful warmth.

Five days.

Her half moon banishment was no where near being over.

But Ashpaw was surviving.

Currently, she was stationed at the edge of what she guessed was a mousehole. The sun was creeping higher, a welcome change from the drizzle of the early morning, but this fierce heat brought new problems.

Nothing wanted to venture out.

And Ashpaw was hungry.

Moments stretched on, but still Ashpaw sat, waiting, watching, wishing that something, anything, would venture out into her waiting paws.

Feeling a twinge of pain shoot through her hind legs, the young apprentice doubted she would be able to catch a mouse even if it sat on her nose.

Everything ached.

But she had to be patient.

The sun was at it's highest point now, yet still nothing happened.

The wind creaked through the grasses around Ashpaw, and she relished the brief coolness.

Her mouth was so dry.

Suddenly sitting up, Ashpaw scoffed. The mousehole was a lost cause, and she had spent the entire morning watching it.

She was such a fool.

She should have never tried to fight against Chawpaw on this. Her sister was more cunning than Ashpaw could ever hope to be.

There was no way Ashpaw could win against her sister in a battle of wits, so the best choice was to just stop playing the game.

Ashpaw got up, tail flicking from side to side in a wide ark, the crinkle of grass against her fur sending shivers down her spine. All she had to do was hold on. If she could make it through the half moon, she could prove that she was strong, that she could be better than Charpaw.

But to do that, she had to find something to eat first.

Her paws carried her away from the mouse hole, towards the towering shade of the pine forest, the closest she had been since banished from the territory. Fear shivered through her as she continued on, until she stood just pawsteps away from the pines.

All she had to do was take two more steps, and she would be home, where she knew where to go for the fattest mice, the places with the clearest water...

But she couldn't.

If she wanted to ever return home, back to the only place her future could ever begin, she had to trust in Maplestar's choice, and not return.

She would take her anger and bitterness from Charpaw's betrayal, and bury it deep. Ashpaw now had one focus.

She had to outshine her sister.

Her nose curling up in distaste, Ashpaw flourished her tail and stalked away from the shadows of the pines, needles prickling her paws, the wind catching in the branches high above her.

Her paws carried her away and away, farther from the territory of Needleclan than she had ever ventured, stopping at the base of the creek, separating Needleclan from the rest of the cats.

Her entire clan was cast away from the others. Just like her...

She dipped her head, lapping up the crisp, flowing water, letting it slide down her parched throat, dulling some of the neverending ache for food.

She followed the creek down, the sun arching and cresting beyond her back, working its way down to rest beyond the mountains. But for these stretching moments of sun, Ashpaw stumbled along, eyes growing glassy from exhaustion and hunger.

A flutter of wings swept into the sky, breaking Ashpaw from her trancelike state, her amber eyes following the bright speck of red as the bird soared into the sky, quickly followed by several more, flying across the waters, into the Open Lands.

A snap and crack of branches, and Ashpaw whipped her gaze across the creek, as a silver cat crashed out of the sparce undergrowth, tumbling towards the waters of the creek, mouth parted in a silent yowl as their paws worked to right themselves, helplessly skidding against the rain soaked dirt as it crumbled beneath the cat's weight.

They fell in with a loud splash, and, as Ashpaw held her breath, did not reappear.

Her legs kicked her into a run without thought, following the racing current of the creek, amber eyes widened as they searched the frothy waters where the cat had fallen in.

A dark brown cat appeared from the trees at a run, swiftly diving into the waters as Ashpaw watched helplessly from where she had run to, water lapping over her grey paws.

A disturbance in the waters, and both cats splashed onto the other bank of the creek, the silver one coughing, fur plastered to their sides. The brown one circled them, then prodded the silver mass of fut with one paw.

"Great Sky Spirits! Troutpaw, quit acting like a drowned mouse and get up." The voice was lighter, clearer, than Ashpaw had expected, revealing the dark brown cat to be a she-cat.

The silver one lurched up, voice rough from the strain of coughing. "I practically was a drowned mouse, Mothtail!" He shook his body out, water sprinkling back onto the surface of the creek, and, his body stiffening, the silver apprentice caught sight of Ashpaw.

"Hey!" He called over the creek, and Ashpaw had a surging urge to run away, far from the creek, from the dark brown she-cat who's yellow gaze was pinned on her, from the silver apprentice with green eyes lit up with curiosity.

But her paws seemed glued to the spot as the the brown she-cat stepped forward, fur prickling along her spine. "What are you doing here?" Her voice had dropped into a lower sound, a rough grumble filling the air, as if the words were a barely restrained storm.

"I'm lost."

The words didn't even sound like they belonged to her. The voice was too tremulous, a crack breaking the second word into something akin to a whimper.

Ashpaw sounded like a kit.

She hated that so much.

"I'll say!" The silver apprentice started to bound forward, but halted when the brown she-cat flicked her tail. Instead, he settled on simply waving his tail cheerfully at her, his green eyes flitting from she-cat to she-cat. "Where's your home? Do you need help getting back?"

A hiss curled out of the she-cat, as if a snake warning you to step back, or it would strike. A prickle of fear slipped into Ashpaw's gut. "Troutpaw, silence. And you—" her gaze flicked to where Ashpaw was still frozen on the other side of the creek. "This territory is no place for you to be wandering. Find your home fast, because the Open Lands are very unforgiving."

Ashpaw nodded, her amber eyes dipping down to study her paws, still feeling the gaze of the apprentice on her. "I'm sorry for intruding," she said faintly, her paws finally loosing from where they had been rooted. "I won't bother you again."

There was a chirp of dismay from the cat that must have been Troutpaw, but he did not move as Ashpaw padded away.

The sun had finally hit the tips of the mountain, and moments later, was swallowed into the rigid peaks.

Night was as cold as ever in the Open Lands, eerie eyes glinting in the light of the moon as they slid around Ashpaw, the clicks and trills of bugs crowding into the night, so there was not a breath of silence.

Ashpaw let herself wander, nose flared open for even the tiniest whiff of prey, hoping that she might stumble upon the nocturnal creatures that shared the waving grazes with her.

Hopefully she wouldn't find anything that might think she was the prey.

A cacophony of wings above, and Ashpaw flinched, eyes turning to the sky as the moon was blotted out by black, the loss of light sending her world deeper into darkness. In a heartbeat, it was over, the blackness moving away, but Ashpaw's heart was still left pounding.

She struggled onwards again, ears flicking around to capture every sound as her paws carried her back to the pine forests that were her home.

There, the crested above her, trunks strong and unwavering, but she could see the tops and branches shivering in the wind that whisked high in the sky, the dark crowns of the pines dipping achingly from side to side.

Ashpaw shivered, and not just from the cold of the breeze.

Finally, she sat just outside scents of the border, breathing in the smell of home, the faintness of safety still lingering. She padded along the border, until she found an unusual place, a tree, which she had marked before herself, was left untouched, the border curving along the back of it.

She leaned forward to catch who had done this, the warm scent of Stagpaw filling her nose.

Confusion overtook her. Why would he do such a thing? When he was so willing to cast her out along with the others, why would he change the border and leave a tree for her?

Shaking her head, Ashpaw settled into the soft dirt that surrounded the pine, paws curving out a small hollow to protect herself from the wind.

But Ashpaw couldn't sleep. She kept herself awake, waiting for some unknown thing, only knowing that she could not rest now, not when there was such a mystery surrounding this. Why would Stagpaw do this for her? Was it a trick? Was there actually a marking there, but placed so she could not smell it?

She arched her head up, nose flaring, but the only thing she could smell was Stagpaw.

In fact, it was growing stronger.

Ashpaw leaped to her paws, back arched, eyes narrowed, claws digging furrows into the earth as she unsheathed them. "Come out," she hissed. "I know you're there."

A tremble of dying leaves, and Stagpaw poked his head out from the sparse undergrowth, yellow eyes seeming like bright reflections of the moon.

"'Ello 'ere." His voice was muffled, and it was then that Ashpaw realized he was carrying prey. He dropped the mouse, then tossed it to Ashpaw with one paw. "Hungry?"

There. There was that smile that was once so familiar to her. The smile that now flooded her with warmth and hope. Her heart sped up at receiving such a smile, a similar one growing softly on her own face.

"Always," she responded.

So!!! What do you guys think? Are you enjoying the book so far?

Also, I wanted to ask you guys something important. Out of all of the clans, which clan do you think has the coolest names? You can say as a whole, or just the few names that you like.

See you next time!

~Brindle