Brightheart sat on her haunches in the main clearing, sighing in pleasure as the warm newleaf sun touched her pelt. Her bones creaked with age, for she was an old cat now. Her mate, Cloudtail, sat beside her, his fluffy white tail laid over her own. Sitting here with him reminded her of a time when they were young, way back in the forest territory. A time that was filled with danger, but also joy. Brightheart closed her eyes, remembering.

She and Cloudtail had gone out for a walk together, enjoying the crisp leafbare air. They were still new warriors then, and decided to go out and explore beyond the ThunderClan borders, just a bit.

Until it started to snow. At first, it had just been a few flakes, so they had kept going. After all, as Cloudtail had said, why go this far for nothing? Who knew what they might find?

Brightheart blinked her eye, clearing it of the snowflake that had fallen in. She struggled to see Cloudtail trotting just ahead of her, his pelt barely visible amongst the snow.

The snow began coming down faster, in larger quantities. Soon, Brightheart felt her whiskers beginning to freeze over slightly. "Cloudtail! We have to go back, this is a blizzard!" Fear edged her mew.

In front of her, Cloudtail slowed, his blue eyes fixed on her worriedly. "We can't, Brightheart. The snow's too heavy, we won't be able to find our way back. We have to keep going, we'll find a place to shelter eventually!"

Brightheart nodded, recognizing the sense in what he said. Sure enough, a few minutes later, they stumbled across an old Twoleg den. It was clearly abandoned, for much of the wood was rotting and there were a few small gaps in the walls, but it would do.

Brightheart and Cloudtail hurriedly rushed inside through the open door, but as soon as Brightheart squeezed through the gap between door and wall, the wind pushed the door closed. She heard a click, and, with a bolt of fear running through her, she realized it sounded just like the click of a Twoleg contraption locking. They were trapped.

"We'll just have to wait out the storm and then try to find a way out of here, I guess." Brightheart mewed after she and Cloudtail finished checking the place for any gaps large enough for them to fit. The effort had proved unsuccessful.

Brightheart wandered to the center of the room. Despite being trapped, Brightheart was inexplicably glad that she and Cloudtail were out of the blizzard.

As the winds howled outside and snow leaked through the small gaps, Brightheart's stomach rumbled. She realized that if they were stuck here for a while, and the Clan couldn't find them and help them, they could starve.

Cloudtail nudged her, mewing softly. "Brightheart, what's wrong?"

Shuffling her paws, the she-cat suddenly felt rather stupid for worrying. Why wouldn't they get out? They could probably claw a space big enough for them to fit through. Turning to face him, Cloudtail blinked his clear blue eyes expectantly. Brightheart sighed, deciding to tell him.

"I was just thinking... I don't want to die here," she admitted, flicking her ear. "We could starve, or the walls could collapse, or we could freeze-"

Cloudtail interrupted her gently, flicking his fluffy tail to her muzzle to quiet her. "Brightheart, we won't die out here. We're going to sit here until the storm calms down, then, when we feel ready, we'll find a way out and head back to ThunderClan. We won't starve, or freeze, and-" Cloudtail paused, thinking. "Well, actually, the place could collapse on us, but it won't. Because I'm going to get you out of here alive, Brightheart. I promise."

Brightheart nodded, finding that she believed him, that she believed him with her whole heart. The ginger-and-white she-cat rested her head against the tom's fluffy white shoulder, relaxing at the sound of his heartbeat.

Eventually, after sitting together awhile, Brightheart rose, jumping up onto one of the ledges jutting from the walls of the cabin, peering through a large piece of clearstone that replaced a section of the old wood.

The white light that had been filtering in the entire time she and Cloudtail had been in the Twoleg cabin suddenly seemed a whole lot harsher up close. Squinting her eye, Brightheart looked out at the blinding white landscape, hoping desperately that she would see the flicker of a pelt in the trees at the edge of the clearing amongst the snow.

Flakes still poured down from the sky, but they gradually slowed. Behind her, Brightheart could hear Cloudtail padding around the small room and clawing at the easily accessible holes, scrabbling to try and widen them.

Eventually, Brightheart turned, leaping down from the small ledge and padding over to Cloudtail, who turned to her with a dejected expression.

"It's no use. All the edges around the gaps are frozen solid. We won't be getting through there anytime soon."

Brightheart sighed, all feelings of hope washed away. As she lowered her head, Cloudtail came up to her, nudging her. "Hey, it'll be okay. ThunderClan will find us soon, I promise."

Brightheart nodded, pulling away from him gently. Trying to be optimistic, she padded over to one of the corners of the room, curling up as tight as she could, trying not to shiver. She purred gratefully when Cloudtail followed, his warm fur pressing against her comfortingly.

At some point, Brightheart must have fallen asleep. She was awoken by the cold. Opening her eye, Brightheart shivered as she realized Cloudtail was no longer beside her. Rising to her paws, the she-cat stumbled slightly on numb paws, before stopping and waiting for feeling to return to them.

A few moments later, Brightheart lifted her head, and finally noticed Cloudtail crouching near a hole in the wall, right where it met the floor. Stomach growling loudly, Brightheart walked over to him, joining him in clawing at the wood.

"It's almost free, I can feel it!" Cloudtail muttered under his breath as he clawed at a large chunk of frozen, rotting wood. Brightheart grunted in agreement.

"How long have you been clawing this thing?" the ginger-and-white she cat mewed.

"A while. Oh- there we go!" As he said this, Cloudtail shoved the piece of wood outside, and it fell against the snow softly. At his nod, Brightheart stood and wriggled through, splinters scraping her pelt painfully.

When she stood on the other side of the wall, Brightheart shook out her pelt. Cloudtail squeezed through the gap a moment later, and did the same.

After standing there in silence for a while, Brightheart took the lead. "Come on, we'd better get back."

She heard Cloudtail's pawsteps crunching through the snow behind her, following.

After a little while, Brightheart stopped, lost in the snowy white.

Behind her, Cloudtail sounded confused as she turned to face him dejectedly.

"We're lost, aren't we?" he asked, concern in his clear blue eyes.

Brightheart began to nod, before freezing halfway through as she heard something.

"Wait, do you hear that?" Brightheart asked, excitement building up in her. "It's Treecut Place!"

Cloudtail stepped up next to her, pressing his cheek against hers. "Well," he chuckled softly. "I guess that we aren't lost in the woods after all."

And so, the two warriors headed home.

Brightheart opened her eyes, yawning. She had forgotten about that adventure with Cloudtail. Even though they had been trapped and lost, years later, she still had to smile upon the memory.

The sun was hovering low in the sky, and with a feeling of contentment in her chest, Brightheart stood, heading for the fresh-kill pile.

In the end, both she and Cloudtail had made it home safely, much to the delight of ThunderClan. Maybe they had been lost in the woods that day, but at least they had been together. They always would be.

This one was for x-_Snowy_-x 's writing competition. Hopefully it was okay... I'm not going to say what I think of it because I refuse to rant about how much I don't really like it... ANYWAYS... yeah, there it is.