after the clan celebrated the new deputy, duskstar ordered a patrol to be sent out.

they now had an idea of where they wanted their borders to be, but it wasn't set in stone.

the area they had chosen for territory was a bit smaller than their old territory, but they had a whole forest to expand into.

duskstar wanted to go on this patrol, because he was going to decide where to put the north border.

so now him, ashstumble, and citrinedazzle were trekking through the forest, deciding how far out they wanted to go.

"oh, me and wildflowers were exploring a bit this way yesterday!" ashstumble meowed, "i think theres a river somewhere down here, that would work well for a border."

citrinedazzle nodded. "yeah, i think that would be a perfect place... but first, we need to make sure it's not too far."

a few more minutes of traveling, and ashstumble was right. there was a river.

it was huge, and duskstar couldn't see anywhere they could cross, so this would just have to be the border.

"alright, let's mark it, then." citrinedazzle said.

-

after a long day of exploring the area near the river and marking the borders, they decided to head back home.

home. a term that the orcaclan cats were now using for their new camp.

duskstar was incredibly happy that they've pushed their grief behind them, even if just for a short while, to help with making their new home better.

as for duskstar, he had been keeping himself distracted. there was never a time that he wasn't working, besides when he was sleeping.

he now knew where the best hunting spots were, and he even knew where he could find herbs for buzzardsnow.

"who are you?!"

ashstumble's yowl interrupted duskstar's thoughts.

looking up, duskstar saw the cat.

he was small and skinny, and he had tufts of pink-grey fur. his fur looked uncleaned and gross, and his ribs showed just how starved he was. his dull amber eyes and large ears looked too big for his head.

the old-looking tom jumped, and turned to look at the patrol.

fear showed in his eyes, but he stood tall with his head held high.

"my name is wally," he rasped, coughed, then continued, "and this is my land, not yours!"

citrinedazzle smiled kindly at the elderly tom. "it's nice to meet you, wally. we're sorry for trespassing on your land. how much of this area do you own?"

ashstumble shot citrinedazzle a dirty look, and shook his head. "we can't be kind to every stranger we meet out here, citrinedazzle." he whispered, eyeing wally suspiciously.

"er- i wasn't expecting you to be so.... nice." wally meowed, as he looked at citrinedazzle.

"duskstar, what is she doing?" ashstumble growled, as citrinedazzle walked closer to wally.

duskstar shrugged, but followed his deputy.

"but uhh, i don't actually own very much of this land. i actually haven't been here in quite awhile... i grew up in this forest." wally meowed, coughing some more.

"he lied about owning land..!" ashstumble growled, walking up to join the others.

"ashstumble, please. be nice. he's being nice to us, so we have no reason to be rude to him." duskstar grumbled under his breath, before turning to wally.

"hello wally, my name is duskstar. i'm the leader of orcaclan. have you ever heard of them? we were going to claim this land as ours, but our clan is small. if you need it more, i'm willing to let you keep it."

wally smiled. "orcaclan? my grandparents told me about them clan cats. they didn't know them, but their parents did, i think. i didn't know they came back..."

duskstar sat down, and began explaining the story quickly. wally seemed extremely interested, and asked several questions, most of which duskstar couldn't answer because he didn't know.

"wow... i can't believe how strong you guys are, surviving that fire and then traveling so far! my old bones could never." wally chuckled, seeming much more comfortable around the orcaclan patrol.

even ashstumble seemed more relaxed, and even laughed a bit at wally's jokes in between the story.

"yeah, i suppose... but i think what makes us more strong is that we're dealing with the grief of losing the whole clan. though, duskstar has kept us busy, which im very thankful for." citrinedazzle purred, smiling at duskstar.

"i'm glad you enjoy it... i worry that im overworking everyone." duskstar meowed, looking at his black paws.

"you're doing amazing, duskstar." ashstumble meowed, patting duskstar's shoulder.

duskstar smiled at his friend, thankful for his support.

"you know, i think i actually have orcaclan blood... not very much, but i think my great-great grandmother was half orcaclan." wally said.

"wow, that's crazy!" duskstar exclaimed. "i never knew anything about the orcaclan that lived here, and it's cool to meet cats that have ancestors that have."

wally nodded happily, his amber eyes shining.

he looked so much happier than what he looked like when they had found him.

"hey, wally... can you hunt?" duskstar asked, tilting his head.

"yeah, of course! i don't let my age slow me down." he responded, lifting his head in pride.

"say... what if you joined orcaclan?"