It had been over two more moons since that night.

We had traveled so far from Bella's twoleg home, I wasn't sure we would ever find Shadeclan again. I missed my clan dearly, but it wasn't like I wasn't enjoying my time away from them.

Flick and I had battle trained quite a lot in the past two moons, and I realized I was almost as tall as him, now. He taught me a few moves and I taught him the moves I remembered from my training. With this training, I could easily defend myself without getting so injured. I was able to prove this when we ran into a few dogs who had strayed from their twoleg yard.

Bella was exploring and talking about the herbs we happened to come across. She said she might not be the best fighter, but she wanted to be able to help if Flick or I got hurt again. She told us about the herbs that grew in her twoleg's garden and how she used to help healing it's patients. Bella also mentioned she noticed how close Flick and I had become, and I hadn't really an answer for that.

The scarred orange cat hadn't visited me for some time now, and Flick said he hadn't seen him hanging around. I started to wonder if he had just given up, which I was relieved by this. I didn't need to worry about him when I was busy looking for Shadeclan.

It was just past sunhigh, and my stomach growled. I laughed. "Anyone else hungry?"

Bella nodded. "Yeah, we haven't eaten since before dawn." She said.

"Let's hunt, then." Flick suggested.

I nodded. "Okay, then we'll meet back here, right outside the forest, when we're done hunting."

We were currently in a pine forest, my specialty. I hunted good in other forests too, but I hunted the best in pine forests. I nodded and we each went in opposite directions.

I opened my mouth as I sniffed for prey. The forest was foggy and there was still snow on the ground, but I could still smell the prey. It had snowed for the past two moons, and I had grown adjusted to hunting in the snow.

When I detected the scent of a squirrel, I dropped into a hunting crouch. As I followed the scent, I was faintly aware of the scent of cat. It was unfamiliar though, so I ignored it. After a few heartbeats, the squirrel came into view. I smiled and pounced on it, giving it a killing bite.

My mouth watered as I picked up my prey but before I could turn around to head back outside the foggy forest, something barreled into me.

I hissed and unsheathed my claws. The scent of cat surrounded me and when I was able to stand up and turn around, I saw an unfamiliar long-haired ginger and white she-cat glaring at me, her hackles raised.

"How dare you steal our prey, filthy rogue!" She hissed.

I glanced at the squirrel which had been flung from my jaws and was now laying down about a fox-lenth away.

"I didn't mean to steal any prey." I said. "My friends and I are just passing through. We are searching for a group of cats, Shadeclan. Have you heard of them, or seen them around?" I asked the strange cat.

Confusion washed over the ginger and white she-cat's face before her eyes narrowed. "There is no Shadeclan, but how do you know of the clans?" She asked.

My eyes widened. "Wait, the clans? Do you mean to tell me I've wandered into clan territory?" I asked, a little excited. If clan cats lived in this forest, maybe one of them would know how to get to Shadeclan!

The unfamiliar cat nodded. "Yes, you have. Why would a rogue be looking for a clan? I'd better take you back to camp so you can talk to Wolfstar." She said and nudged me in the opposite direction of where I came in.

"Wait, I need to find my friends, too. They are hunting nearby as well." I said.

The she-cat growled. "There are others hunting on our territory? Where are they?" She asked.

"I can follow their scent, although it will be difficult to find them in this fog. We decided to meet back up when we were done hunting right outside the forest." I told the cat.

She narrowed her eyes again. "Fine, but I'm not letting you out of my sight. And don't try escaping once you are reunited with your friends." The ginger and white she-cat hissed.

I sighed and began in the direction I had come, following my own scent trail. The long-haired she-cat picked up the squirrel and followed me. I could feel her watching my every move.

Soon enough, we emerged out of the foggy pine forest. I was relieved to find that Bella and Flick were already there, waiting for me. I bounded ahead and the two smiled with relief as I came into view.

"What took you so long?" Flick asked.

"Did you run into trouble or something?" Bella asked.

I nodded. "Actually, I did." I gestured to the ginger and white she-cat behind me and she narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Flick and Bella.

Bella tilted her head at the unfamiliar cat. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I am Amberblaze, a warrior of Mistclan. This one wandered into our territory and I am here to escort you back to our camp. Lightstar would love to speak with you." She said.

Flick looked at me doubtfully. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" He asked.

I lowered my voice and stepped closer to the sandy tom so only he could hear me. "If we go with her, there may be someone who knows of Shadeclan." I told him.

Flick still looked doubtful but nodded, his wary gaze turning back to Amberblaze.

The ginger and white she-cat flicked her tail and a long-haired black and white tom emerged from the fog.

"Shadowmask, my brother and the deputy of Mistclan. He's here to make sure no one tries to escape." Amberblaze said, eyeing us suspiciously again.

I sighed but nodded understandingly. Any clan would be wary of strangers lingering near their borders and hunting their food. Flick didn't seem to think it was necessary but before he could say anything I shook my head.

So we then began in the direction of their camp. Amberblaze lead us through the foggy forest and Shadowmask brought up the rear. I made sure Flick and Bella stayed with the group, it seemed you could easily get lost in this hard to see through forest.

I was beginning to think Amberblaze had gotten lost when a dense cluster of bushes emerged. I realized that I could see the bushes from farther away and guessed the fog must be clearing up. The long-haired ginger she-cat lead us through the bushes which opened up into a clearing. The camp.

There was a slight mist in the camp but nowhere near as thick as the fog covering the rest of the territory. The dens looked somewhat similar to the dens that were in the Shadeclan camp. Kits played in the clearing but once we walked into camp, the queens brought their kits back in the nursery. The apprentices were watching us with curious but wary eyes, venturing out as far out of their den as they dared. Some of the warriors were watching us with suspicious eyes from their den while others watched us from the edges of camp. There was a quiet rustling noise coming from a den about the size of the apprentices' if not smaller and I realized that must be the medicine cat den. The other den was silent, either Mistclan didn't have elders or they were all snoozing away.

As I presumed, the leader's den (which was the den we were brought to) was separate from the other dens. There was a very large pine tree with a branch low enough to leap up to and a hole at the bottom of the tree.

"Lightstar?" Amberblaze called.

"Yes, what is it?" A she-cat's voice answered.

"We found three strangers hunting on our territory. They claim to be searching for Shadeclan."

There was silence, and at first I thought the leader wasn't going to answer. Then a voice called, "Bring them in."

Amberblaze and Shadowmask brought us in through the hole in the tree. I looked around in amazement to see that the entire tree was hollowed out.

A striped sandy she-cat watched us come in from the wall of the tree. She examined us before speaking.

"Tell me your names."

"I'm Lavenderpaw, and this is Bella and Flick." I said, gesturing to the two cats.

"You have a clan name. Is Shadeclan your clan?" Lightstar asked.

I nodded. "A twoleg captured me and brought me away from my clan about four moons ago. I've been trying to find a way back to them ever since."

"I'm sorry to say there is no Shadeclan around here, it's just us, Mistclan." Lightstar said.

I tilted my head in confusion. "Shouldn't there be other clans nearby?"

Lightstar looked at Amberblaze and Shadowmask and dismissed them with a flick of her tail. Once the two cats had gone, she responded. "There was once another clan, Leafclan. They lived in the oak forest filled with streams."

"What happened to them?" I asked.

Liggtstar's voice became grave. "Something happened and their numbers began to drop. I don't know exactly what happened to them but there were fewer cats each day. Eventually, I offered them to join Mistclan. Their leader agreed to join us, and became a warrior of Mistclan along with the rest of his warriors. By the time they joined us, they had lost their medicine cat, too."

My eyes widened. What had happened to Leafclan? Why had their leader agreed to joining another clan so easily? Was the same thing happening to Mistclan as what happened to Leafclan? I only voiced one of the questions in my head.

"What about what was killing off Leafclan cats? Did the same thing ever happen to Mistclan?" I asked.

The striped sandy leader shook her head. "The fog in our territory is too thick for many animals to get through without getting lost. Whatever happened to Leafclan never made its way to Mistclan."

This took me by surprise. "You mean you always have that dense fog covering your territory?"

Lightstar nodded. "Besides a few days, yes. Mistclan cats have learned to navigate and hunt through even the thickest fog, though."

"What about your camp?" Flick asked. "Why is it not covered in fog?"

Lightstar looked at the sandy colored tom. "Our camp has a mist that comes through, but not fog as thick as outside our camp."

Flick didn't look like he was very satisfied with that answer, but he didn't say anything else.

"We're sorry we invaded your territory." Bella stepped in. "We had no idea anyone else was around here."

Lightstar nodded. "Thank you for apologizing, but it's easy to not notice us when we are hidden behind a wall of fog."

"We'll get moving then, if you don't mind." I said to the leader. "I don't mean to be rude, it's just we are kind of in a hurry to get to Shadeclan. If you don't know of my clan, then there's no other reason for us to stay here."

"Actually." Lightstar said. "The sun will be setting soon, and it's not good to travel around here at night. Why don't you stay here in our camp tonight?"

I smiled. "Thank you Lightstar. We won't be any trouble."

Lightstar nodded. "Very well then. You three may sleep in the warriors den until morning." She then flicked her tail as a signal dismissing us.

Flick, Bella and I walked out of the hollowed out tree. I lead the way to where I had noticed the warriors den was.

"We're leaving first thing in the morning." Flick whispered.

"Why so soon?" I asked quietly.

"I'm just getting a weird feeling about this place. I don't want us to be here any longer than we have to."

Bella nodded. "Yeah, the fog is kind of creepy. And there's something not right about Lightstar's story.

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about finding somewhere to stay for the night." I said as we walked into the warriors den.

The warriors watched us with cautious and suspicious eyes as we found some empty nests near the back of the den. The three of us curled up in them.

"We only have to stay for one night." I whispered. "In the morning, we can leave."

Flick and Bella nodded. "Good." Flick said.

I yawned and lay my head down. I closed my eyes and the same thoughts that seemed to be haunting Flick and Bella crept into my mind. There did seem to be something a little off here. Whatever it was though, they wouldn't have to stick around to find out.

//Word count: 2205//