"I can't believe he'd betray us like this."Birchpaw stared at the ground, sinking her claws in and out of the ground.

"I can,"Spiderpaw growled. "I never trusted him."

He lashed his tail angrily, baring his white teeth.

"We know that,"Brookstorm rolled his eyes. "You've told us, like, fifty times now."

Ripplestrike and Dewmelody remained silent, seeming deep in thought.

Deerspots had began pacing, a light frown on his face, although the didn't look worried. "Can the Shadow Paws and Shakenpaw really defeat all the Clans?"

"I'm sure they can, if they really want to."Ripplestrike snarled suddenly, standing up so quickly, she knocked Dewmelody over sideways.

"Those mange-pelts can do whatever the they please! No one is there to stop them."

"Then we have to go get my sister and go stop them."Spiderpaw shrugged, as if it was that simple.

"Are we almost to where your sister is?"Brookstorm curled his tail.

"I think so? I'm not exactly sure, Sunpaw didn't tell me much."

Spiderpaw frowned, glancing up at the trees. "I can see Tall Oaks from here, so mabye another days walk?"

"Then let's move,"Dewmelody mewed sternly, standing up. "We have to daylight to waste.Move your paws every-cat!"

Spiderpaw fell in line with Birchpaw, and sighed.

He glanced sideways at her, and saw she looked distressed. She was usually so happy, that it pained Spiderpaw to see her like that.

"You alright, Birchpaw?"

"I don't know."she admitted with a sigh. "It's just.....Everything is happening so fast.Things and cats are disappearing in the blink of an eye.Shakenpaw was like a brother to me....what if he is lost to evil forever?"

Spiderpaw remained silent a moment, then opened his mouth to say, "Well...I'm not exactly sure, but, Shakenpaw doesn't seem evil.If I learned anything, it's that he just is easily convinced.I'm sure it'll be fine."

Birchpaw opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off as she rammed into Ripplestrike's hindquarters.

The deputy had froze, ears perked.

"Shhhh!"Ripplestrike hissed quietly, angling her ears in all directions.

Her paw was lifted slightly off the ground, frozen in place.

The sound of rustling caused Spiderpaw to look to the left, and he blinked as he saw a cat emerge from the bushes.

She slunk out of the bush, not looking scared at all.

She had sleek white fur, light reddish orange eyes, a pink hew to her whiskers, a long, silky tail and a narrow muzzle. "Hello, Clan-kitties.I see you're far from home."she mused, sitting down and wrapping her gorgeous tail around her petite paws.

"Who're you?"Dewmelody narrowed her eyes suspiciously, stepping a bit closer to the rogue.

"The name's Primrose,"she chortled. "And you are?"

"Dewmelody.This is Ripplestrike, Deerspots, Brookstorm, Spiderpaw and Birchpaw.We are currently missing a member."she replied, nodding to each cat as she spoke their name.

"Lovely!"Primrose shrilled. "I don't suppose you know Viperclaw?"

"We heard his name, but don't actually know him."Spiderpaw answered, before Dewmelody could.

"Oh, alright.He's a friend of mine.I catered to him whilst he was traveling."she waved her tail, dismissing that topic. "I decided to go for a long walk.It's never fun staying in once place, I tell you.Way too boring, if you ask me."

"Well, it was nice to meet you, but we really must be going-"Ripplestrike went to move, but was startled as Primrose gasped dramatically and rushed in front of the front of the deputy.

"You mustn't leave me! What's so important you can't stay and chat for a while?"she begged.

"I have to find my sister, Ravenpaw.We're heading for the Tall Oaks."Spiderpaw put in, walking to stand next to Ripplestrike.

"Oh, well, I do hope you find her."she stood there, watching them with wide eyes as they started forward again.

As they walked, Spiderpaw felt eyes in the back of his head, longing and sad.

"She wants to come with us, doesn't she?"he sighed.

"Probably,"Brookstorm lifted his chin. "Who could resist me and my good looks?"

Birchpaw rolled her eyes. "You literally got hit by a monster."

"What do you say?"Dewmelody turned to Ripplestrike. "Let her come or no?"

"It wouldn't hurt,"Ripplestrike sighed. "Besides, she might be of use to us."

Spiderpaw turned around. "Primrose, do you want to come with us?"he frowned.

"Oh! Me? Well, I wouldn't want to be a burden......So, of course I'll come!"

Primrose bounced over to him, smiling.

Ripplestrike nodded. "Okay, moving out.We'll reach the Tall Oaks soon."

-/-

Spiderpaw trembled in excitement as the Tall Oaks loomed before them.

He felt Primrose look up beside him, and did the same.

Perched on the branches above were a flock of ravens, screeching into the darkening sky.

"Here we are.."Ripplestrike meowed quietly, gazing in awe at the beautiful trees.They were much taller than the trees at home.

"Ravenpaw?"Spiderpaw padded forward, tracing a paw over the rough bark of the Oaks.

The faint sound of bird wings fluttered overheard as Spiderpaw saw a hole in one of the trees, hidden decently by roots and leaves.He slipped away from

the rest of the group and clambered through, smelling the strong scent of dirt.Hidden amongst the nature smells was a light smell of cat, one that sent warmth into Spiderpaw's heart.

Ravenpaw had been here. Or was here.

Determined to find his long lost littermate, Spiderpaw flattened himself to the ground and crawled along the tunnel.It seemed to be going down, slanting.

He followed the sound of water, and soon popped out in an underground cavern.A large puddle of glowing blue water streamed in the cave, lighting it up some.

"Ravenpaw?"he heard Dewmelody's voice call from above.She must be standing right above Spiderpaw.

"S-Spiderpaw?"a gentle meow sounded from across the puddle.Spiderpaw squinted, glancing over the water to see the form of a beautiful black she-cat, yellow eyes staring straight into his.

"Ravenpaw...."he breathed.

Suddenly he felt something barrel into him and he heard a loud screech.

Claws dug into his sides and Spiderpaw shrieked in terror, clawing blindly.

"Stay down!"hissed a protective, angry cat as they pinned him down, hot breath on his ear.

"Argyle! Calm down!"Ravenpaw burst out, hiding her amusement.She slipped into the water, wading across to stand beside Spiderpaw and the mystery cat.

The cat --Argyle-- narrowed her eyes, before reluctantly getting off Spiderpaw.

She sat down, curling her speckled white tail around her paws.

"Ravenpaw, you didn't tell me you'd be having a guest."

"I didn't really know, either,"Ravenpaw meowed calmly. "This is my brother.The one I told you about."

Spiderpaw leapt to his paws, nuzzling Ravenpaw in the neck. "Ravenpaw! I can't believe it's you! I can't believe I didn't remember I had a sister..."

She rasped her tongue over his ear. "It's alright.I understand what happened.Spiderpaw, this is my friend, Argyle."she pointed her nose to the white furred cat, who had patches of ginger fur.

"Hello."Argyle nodded curtly.

"Hi.."Spiderpaw also nodded, then turned to Ravenpaw. "We have to get home, quick.This cat named Shakenpaw is taking the Shadow Paws to destroy the Clans."he rushed, nudging her up the tunnel.

Ravenpaw's eyes widened as she stumbled up the path. "That sounds horrid! What happened?"

"I'll explain more on the way, come on."

Argyle followed closely behind Spiderpaw, her eyes narrowed.

As they burst out into the night air, Ripplestrike let out a breath of relief.

"I thought we'd lost you, Spiderp- wait- you look like a gi- Ravenpaw?"

Ravenpaw grinned. "I do look a lot like Spiderpaw."

Spiderpaw popped up beside her, Argyle next. "Found her!"

Brookstorm groaned. "Now there's two of them?"

"Plus me,"Argyle pointed out. "I'm a lot like both of them, too."

"Who're you?"Birchpaw asked, a light smile on her face.

"Argyle.Ravenpaw's best friend who was also stuck here."the she-cat replied.

"Nice to meet you."Dewmelody dipped her head.

Ravenpaw twined her tail with Spiderpaw's, nudging his neck. "I like your friends already."she purred.

"Meh, they're okay,"Spiderpaw grinned. "Just mabye stay away from Brookstorm."

"I can hear you, y'a know."Brookstorm rolled his eyes.

"Let's go! Let's go!"Birchpaw whined suddenly.

"We can't travel in the dark,"Argyle meowed. "Let's spent the night in our cave, then travel at dawn."

"You're coming with us?"Deerspots asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Of course,"Argyle stepped up beside Ravenpaw. "Where Ravenpaw goes, I go."

"Then let's get some sleep,"Primrose yawned. "I'm exhausted."

They all made their way down the tunnel again, paws heavy.

Curling up to sleep, they all managed to fit in.

I'm glad we found you, Ravenpaw......