"Come on, Oak! Where is the 'fighter' I saw when you opened your eyes?!" Pine yelled to the young, five moon old Oak.

"Your too quick!" He gasped, out of breath. "Plus, your like, ten whole moons older then me!"
"

Its our job to go hunting for the crew. Especially now that Jay is expecting Ripple's kits!" Pine meowed angrily. Oak had the feeling she didn't like him that much. Her torn ear let some sun come through, making her sour face even creepier to him. What did she expect from him?! He's only five moons old and she expects him to keep up with her and catch prey! It was outrageous!

"Ugh! Go home, Birch! Take Oak with you! I can get prey myself!" Pine yowled angrily at the black-and-white cat that was following them in the bushes. Oak felt a little sympathy for Birch. Pine liked to yell at him, along with himself, a lot. She doesn't like to spend time with them and always rejects Birch at everything she does. He managed to race past Pine arguing with Birch, and then caught scent of a mouse. He stalked it quietly, his small size a huge advantage, making it so he easily dodged pass branches and twigs and trees. He found some damp leaves and padded along them, only to find a huge fox devouring the mouse he scented. His eyes widened with the chance. If I can get that fox down, Dove will love me and Pine will, too hopefully and there will be food for everyone! He thought excitedly, and waited for the right moment, before pouncing onto the fox. It yelped in alarm and tried to bite him off, but he firmly held onto its flank. He started nipping the fox's leg, and the fox managed to grasp his leg. He yowled in pain as the fox held onto his leg, trying to pull him off of it. It managed to do that and pinned him down. He closed his eyes, ready to die. He just wanted to get food.. and his last breath will be smelling the rank of fox. Just then, a black-and-white blur shot across the tree branch, grasping onto the fox's back. Another shape, a lighter brown one, got a hold of its' flank. Oak realized with a pang of joy that it was Birch and Pine, viciously clawing the fox to save him. The fox yelped with pain and let go of Oak. Through the thick fur of the fox, Oak could see that Pine was managing to use her sharp, hooked claws to rip the fox's flank. Drips of blood fell from Oak's leg and his belly, but he managed to leap onto the fox's head and scratch its eyes. It yelped with pain again and tried to get away. He got down, biting and scratching its legs. Finally, as the sun began to set, the massive fox landed onto the ground with a thud. A pool of blood, both fox and cat, surrounded the fox, and Birch smiled weakly but happily.

"You guys saved me..! Why?" Oak meowed, confused.

"We saw you race into the woods. We heard the yelp and knew you were doing another mouse-brained thing again. Birch had the idea to stop you before you get yourself killed." Pine explained. "I knew Mother would kill me if I let both of you die, so I went to help you."

"Well, we have a whole fox to share with the whole crew!" Birch squealed. "We should let Jay eat first, since she's really close to kitting . . ."

"Lets bring it back, then!" Oak meowed and limped back to camp with Pine and Birch, helping them drag the fox back over to camp. Snowwatcher and Buzzard were keeping guard and gasped when they saw the fox the young cats caught. They let them into the giant camp full of different caves. They continued to drag it over to the food cave and managed to rip part of its flank off for Jay. They brought it to the Nursing Cave and Jay looked surprised. Before she could start eating it, the young cats went to get more for the others. They were the ones that have to distribute the food to everyone once there is more food to give out, after all. They gave the last pieces to the guards and went to get the rest to share with their parents.

"That was a mighty fine catch, guys. Where'd you get it?" Night asked.

"We got it in that big pine forest." Pine replied.

"Wow . . . Wait . . . Jay should have had her kits by now . . . lets go see if she did." Dove meowed, racing out, the last sight of her before she vanished was the flick of her tailtip. Oak, Birch and Pine followed her.

When they got to the nursery, Jay had four kits. "Meet Moon, Raven and Owl, and Crow." She meowed proudly.

"They're lovely, Jay." Dove meowed softly. Moon's eyes slowly opened, revealing big yellow eyes. She blinked at the cats and, for the first time ever, Oak saw Pine's eyes melt into awe.

"I'm going to go patrol." Pine mewed, and Oak and Birch nodded, and she nodded too, and then they went out together.

"What will you do later today, guys? I mean, if you don't want to do boring hunting and patrolling all day with me." Pine stuttered.

"Well, I could patrol by the edge of the territory." Oak mewed, and Birch looked to him with an uneasy feeling.

"I should go with you." Birch blurted. "Your just so young, and . . . I don't want anything to happen to you."

The distressed look on Oak's face proved he didn't want to go alone, either, so he nodded. "You comin' too, Pine?"

Pine nodded and they went over. They heard something and smelled the reek of something, and came closer to investigate.