Spiderscar yawned, turning to gaze at Mildewcrackle, who's head was resting on his back.Her eyes were closed and her chest lurched with every breath.

"Good morning, Mildewcrackle." Spiderscar whispered, shifting into a sitting position as she awoke and lifted her head.

"Morning, Spiderscar."she mumbled sleepily, blinking the tiredness out of her eyes.

He stretched, walking out of the den and immediately yelping as something fluffy collided with his side.

"What was that?"he snapped, looking down to see Leafpaw shaking his head on the ground.He leapt up with a smile.

"Sorry, Spiderscar! I didn't see you there! I was just getting my mother something to eat before her, Branchpaw and me go hunting!"

Leafpaw rambled excitedly, which quite surprised Spiderscar.He was usually the more quiet one.

Then, without even a goodbye, Leafpaw was gone, tearing through the camp with a vole in his jaws.

He turned to go back in the den to see if Mildewcrackle was hungry, and flinched as Flowerblossom stumbled out, her stomach heavy with kits.

Her eyes seemed clearer than yesterday, when they appeared foggy, which was good.

"Hello, Spiderscar,"Flowerblossom smiled. "Can you get Mildewcrackle and I some prey, please?"

"Of course."Spiderscar murmured, already heading for the prey pile.

He grimaced as he saw the prey pile.It only had two small squirrels and a tiny mouse left.He picked up the squirrels reluctantly and took them back to the nursery.

I'll have to go hunting with the others later.

This leaf-fall is already savage, I can't even imagine what leaf-bare is going to be like.

Entering the nursery again, Spiderscar dropped the squirrel at his mate's paws, who smiled warmly up at him.Her swollen stomach heaved as she lifted her head to lick his chin. "Thank you."

"Now, I better go hunting, but I'll see you later, okay? If you need anything, get Spiritflight or Milkywish, alright?"

Spiderpaw murmured, frowning.

"Of course,"Mildewcrackle purred, bending to take a bite of her squirrel. "You've told me this at least fifty times.I'll be fine.It's not even like the kits are due anytime soon."

Nodding, Spiderscar slipped out of the den.He hurried for the warriors den, poking his head in. "Sunspark,

Forestdapple, Birchcut, Stormnose and Ravenflight, want to go hunting?"

Sunspark raised his head sleepily. "Really, Spiderscaaarrr....this earrrly?"

he yawned, Birchcut waking up with a start beside him.

"Sure, let's go!"Forestdapple meowed, leaping to his paws. "I'm more than ready!"he nudged Stormnose, rushing out of the den.

Stormnose looked startled, shaking her head to fluff out her fur. "Uhhh-come on Ravenflight!"she mewed, nudging her friend before padding out.

Spiderscar ducked his head out, starting for the exit after them, aware of Sunspark trailing behind.

"So,"Spiderscar meowed, as they headed deeper into their territory. "where do you guys wanna hunt today? Forestdapple always picks out the best spots."

Forestdapple shrugged. "I'll let someone else choose, today!"he purred lightly, leaping softly over a fallen branch, Spiderscar scrambling un-gracefully after him.

"Really?!"Sunspark beamed. "I will! I know where we can hunt, follow me!"he suddenly darted left, and everyone crashed through the bushes after the golden tom.

Assuming they were headed for the dry clearing, where most birds hung out, Spiderscar slowed down as it came in sight.But Sunspark kept on running, scaring a flock of black-birds up into the trees as he whirled by.

Ravenflight cast her brother a strange look, which he returned, speeding up to run alongside Sunspark. "Hey, buddy? Where are we going? Soon we'll be at the end of our territory."

"I know,"Sunspark panted, eyes gleaming in amusement and excitement. "Don't worry, this'll be fun, I'm sure you'll enjoy hunting in this place."

Spiderscar frowned as they crossed their border, now in Unknown territory.He skidded to a stop, but Sunspark kept going, disappearing over a fence leading to a two-leg house.

Everyone else stopped as well, panting and gasping.Birchcut flopped on her side, eyes tired, white Ravenflight leapt onto the fence and gazed down at where the golden cat had disappeared.

"Sunspark? Where'd you go?!"Ravenflight called, dropping back on the ground and shrugging to Spiderscar.

"Sunspark, is this a prank? It's not funny."Spiderscar growled, leaping onto the fence and onto the other side.

"Calm down,"Sunspark rolled his eyes, laughter brimming in his bright orange eyes. "This is an abandoned two-leg den that's infested with rats.Huge, juicy rats! I thought it'd be fun to get some."

"You could have at least told us where we were going before dragging us here, though."Stormnose said wryly, dropping down beside Spiderscar.

"Sorry,"Sunspark dipped his head, then looked up as everyone else hopped over. "Do you still want to hunt here?"

"We're here, so we miswell,"Ravenflight shrugged, already starting for the house.

"Come on,"Birchcut smiled. "This'll be fun, and good food for the Clan!"

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Spiderscar flopped down on the grass in his territory, panting.The hunt had be fun, and they'd caught plenty of rats!

"Okay,"Stormnose mewed, sitting down beside Spiderscar and licking her jaws. "I must say, Sunspark, that was fun."

Sunspark's whiskers twitched. "I know, right? It just makes your bones feel great."

"How many did y'all catch?"Ravenflight tilted her head slightly, bringing the last of her rats back to the spot. "I caught seven."

"Six."Forestdapple grinned, admiring his massive gray one.

"Five."Sunspark nosed one of his.

"Nine!"Birchcut meowed, nudging her smaller rats forward into the pile they'd made.

"Eight."Spiderscar nodded, wishing he'd caught the most.He shook his pelt, clearing his bitter thoughts and smiling at Birchcut.

"Four."Stormnose frowned, then giggled as Ravenflight burst out laughing.

"How are we planning on carrying these back to camp? It'll take all night."Forestdapple glanced up at the darkening sky with a look of disappointment. "Was this all for nothing?"

"We'll post a guard, and the rest of us can take some back.Then we'll get help to carry home the rest."Spiderscar shrugged. "Nothing to it!"

So everyone grabbed as many as they could, leaving Birchcut to watch over the leftovers, and started back to camp.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-

A young two-leg bent down, scooping up a large calico cat, a huge smile on her face. "I love you, kitty!"she boomed, squeezing the cat softly with her hands.

The she-cat purred, then wriggled, dropping onto the ground.She padded to the door and scratched lightly on the wood, glancing back at her owner.

"Be back soon, Peppermint!"she grinned, opening the door for the cat, who charged out.

Peppermint leapt onto the fence in her backyard, gazing out at the forest.She breathed in the scents of nature, and let out a contented sigh.

"Hey, Maplestar."came a slightly angry mew, causing the calico to jump, fur bristling.She calmed down a moment latter, glaring at the bluish-gray tom who'd spooked her. "I prefer to be called Peppermint, but hello, Wolfscar."

"Whatever."Wolfscar sighed. "I came to tell you I saw those Clan-mutts hunting rats in the abandoned house across the street."

"So?"Peppermint scoffed, her glare deepening.

Wolfscar rolled his eyes, sitting down on the fence beside her. "You've gone soft, Peppermint."he hissed, digging his claws into the wooden structure under him. "Don't you want to kill them?"

"So what if I have? It's the smarter thing to do.Did you really believe we could beat the Clans once and for all? No, I don't want to kill them! Not anymore, at least."

"Seriously?! After all we've been through? Slatescar said-"

"I don't care what Slatescar said.I'm not getting revenge on them.I've changed, Wolfscar.I've found people who love me, and a new cat-friend! I don't need you and you're blood-thirsty-ness!"Peppermint snarled, leaping onto the ground again.

"You should be like Shatteredfur and I and find some house-folk, they're quite pleasant to live with."Peppermint added, pushing through a small hole leading into the garage.She jumped onto the window-still and squeezed through a crack in the window, dropping onto the ground in the front yard.

She trotted across the road, not even glancing both ways.She lifted her chin high, the bell on the collar around her neck jingling loudly.She heard scratching sounds from over the fence in front of her, and leapt up, peering down at a black tom with patches of gray fur.

"Hey, Shatteredfur! How you been?"she asked, snorting in amusement as he backed up, his head stuck in a plant pot.

"I need help!"he growled, scratching desperately at the pot. "It smells like old dirt and worms in here!"

Leaping down, she placed both paws delicately on the pot, then yanked hard, flying backwards as it popped off.

"Thanks,"Shatteredfur shook himself, dirt flying off his muzzle. "I'm never going looking in plant pots for food ever again."

"That's smart."Peppermint rolled her eyes, sitting down in the flower garden. "What are these? They stink."she nudged some bright yellow flowers with a paw.

"Dandelions,"Shatteredfur wrinkled his nose. "They smell horrible, don't they? I seriously don't get why my house-folk likes them."

Peppermint giggled. "Your house-folk are quite weird -- like you -- so it makes sense."

"They aren't really!"Shatteredfur protested, then squinted. "Okay, they kind of are.Anything new with you?"

"Wolfscar told me that he saw those Clan-cats we tried to kill, hunting in the abandoned house."she explained, tail flicking.

"Oh,"Shatteredfur nodded slowly. "Wolfscar isn't over the whole 'destroy the Clans' thing, is he?"

"Nope,"Peppermint sighed. "Neither is Slatescar, I don't think.Although I haven't seen her in a while, I wonder where she disappeared to?"

"Not sure,"Shatteredfur shrugged. "She'll be fine, though."

"My house-folk adopted a puppy yesterday,"he changed the subject, shivering. "It's horrid! He chases me everywhere and barks at me all the time."

"That's terrible!"Peppermint winced, flinching as a bark echoed from inside the house, and a fluffy white face appeared in the window.

"I'm really sorry."

"Don't worry about it,"Shatteredfur grinned. "I'll put him in his rightful place.I'm the alpha in my house."he unsheathed his claws.

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Slatescar sat in the tree branch, eyes closed.Viperclaw shifted beside her, a low growl escaping his throat.

"I can't believe they'd hunt our prey from our house!"he hissed, watching Spiderscar's tail disappear as he leapt over the fence, rats in his jaws.

"We should've attacked them!"

"We're heavily outnumbered."Slatescar sighed, blinking open her eyes. "Why try?"

Viperclaw didn't respond, just glared at Sunspark as he returned, grabbing the last dead rat.

"Stop being like that,"Slatescar snarled. "We'll get our revenge someday."

"Uh-huh.And how exactly? Our team shrunk to three, if Wolfscar even counts."Viperclaw brooded.

"I'm not sure,"Slatescar whispered ominously. "but we'll find a way, don't worry."

-/-/-/-/-/-/-