Spiderpaw yawned, blinking sleepily up at the large barn that loomed in front of them. "Huh, this wasn't here on the way to Tall Oaks.."

"We mustn't back-tracked in a different direction?"Ravenpaw looked worried.

"No, this is right between HawkClan and RavenClan territory, we're super close!"Ripplestrike grinned.

"Let's spend the night here,"Deerspots looked up at the dark sky.

"Yeah,"Spiderpaw meowed. "I'm exhausted!"

Brookstorm silently pushed past him and entered the barn, the rest of the patrol following after him. "Hello? Anyone here?"

Three pairs of eyes peered down at them from the hayloft, two amber and one blue. "Hello?"a voice called softly, curious.

"Would we be able to stay the night at your barn? I'm Brookstorm and this is my-errr-a kit we found named Bubble.She's wounded."Brookstorm gazed up at them.

One of them nodded, while the other two smiled. "Sure! Come on up!"

Spiderpaw peered around, spotting a broken down staircase made of wood.He leapt up it, thumps behind him indicating the others following him.

In the light Spiderpaw noticed the cats were quite young, looking like mabye 17 moons old.

"Hi, I'm Ivy, the oldest."one stepped up, one with amber eyes.

She had a light brown pelt with dark brown tabby mackerel patterns.

"I'm Fire, the middle one."

a dark brown tom with ginger paws, light brown stripes and amber eyes smiled, waving his tail in greeting.

"And I'm Juniper, the youngest."huffed a pale ginger she-cat with dark brown paws and blue eyes.

"I'm Spiderpaw, that's Birchpaw, Ripplestrike, Dewmelody, Ravenpaw, Argyle, Primrose and Deerspots.And you already know Brookstorm and Bubble."

"You've got funny names,"Juniper giggled. "Why?"

"We're Clan cats,"Ripplestrike stepped forward, lifting her chin, eyes shining with pride. "I'm the deputy, which technically means second in charge."

"Cool!"Juniper gasped, at the same time Fire blurted, "Weird!"

Ivy smiled warmly at Primrose. "Nice to see you again, Rose."she then hesitantly stepped forward to touch noses with the pretty, white-pelted she-cat, amber eyes locking with reddish orange ones.

"Yes, I suppose it is."Primrose smiled lightly, then let out a sigh. "Guys, this is my half-sister.And my other half-siblings."she nodded to Fire and Juniper, who dipped their heads.

"Oh, I didn't know you had any family."Spiderpaw frowned.

"Well, I do."Primrose changed the subject. "So, can we sleep now? These Clan-kitties have a home to get back to and save."

Ivy nodded curtly. "Of course.Sleep over there, we just spread out fresh hay."

"Thank you."Ripplestrike mewed, padding over to it and immediately flopping down with a sigh.

"Can we please do some hunting? We're starving."Dewmelody asked politely, tilting her head.

"Hunting? Like, as in mice?"Ivy looked at Dewmelody with a puzzled look, Fire and Juniper looking just as confused.

"Yeah..."

"We don't hunt mice,"Ivy shook her head. "Too hard to catch."

"The Two-legs feed us,"Juniper added. "Yummy pellets!"she purred.

"Oh- well, can we? We live off of mice and other prey."Dewmelody smiled.

"Knock yourselves out,"Ivy shrugged. "But don't say I didn't warn you."

With that, Dewmelody, Birchpaw and Ravenpaw headed back down to hunt, the rest of them curling up to wait for food.

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

Spiderpaw laid in the hay, eyes half-open.His stomach was comfortably full and he was sleepy.

The look of utter shock on the three littermate's faces was hilarious.When Dewmelody and the two apprentices had returned, at least four mice dangling from each of their jaws, they had gaped at them, asking how they'd caught them all.

Spiderpaw smiled thinking about it, his tail curling around his nose.

He could hear them now, quietly talking about the Clan-cats sleeping in their barn.

Letting his eyes fully close, he easily fell asleep.

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

Spiderpaw felt his heart soar as he padded through the familiar-yet-unfamiliar HawkClan territory.

"This is it, guys,"Ripplestrike breathed. "Today is the day we get back home!"

Brookstorm looked tired, his shoulders and back slouching, but he looked determined, too, and sped up a bit, Bubble unconscious on his back.

Just then, HawkClan scent flooded Spiderpaw's nose.He spotted a patrol rushing toward them.

They halted, neck fur bristling. "What are you doing on our territory?"Wiltedsap, the HawkClan deputy, asked suspiciously. "And who are you? You don't smell like Clan-cats.."

Spiderpaw hadn't even realized they wouldn't.Sure they'd been gone, but not for very long.

"We've FalconClan cats, and a few rogues.We went looking for Spiderpaw's sister and are back now, but a cat named Shakenpaw is teaming with the Shadow Paws to destroy the Clans!"Ripplestrike blurted.

Wiltedsap narrowed his eyes, muscles ripple beneath his glossy brown and white pelt. "Destroy the Clans? Which ones, all of them or just one?"

"I'm assuming all of them."Ripplestrike replied.

"Should we bring them to see Brookstar?"Poppygaze asked, eyes wide.

Badgepaw and Cherrythroat shifted nervously behind them, eyes darting from the patrol to the ground.

"Yes,"Wiltedsap nodded, flicking his tail. "Follow us."

The HawkClan cats spread out, surrounding them in a large circle.

As they entered the camp, everyone gave them curious looks, stopping what they were doing.

Brookstar slid out of her den, eyes narrowing. "Greetings,"she meowed, dipping her calico head, blue eyes flicking between the HawkClan patrol and the others.

"Hello, Brookstar,"Ripplestrike dipped her head respectfully.

"They were found on our territory, walking back from finding a long-lost Clanmate,"Wiltedsap explained. "They said a cat named Shakenpaw is leading The Shadow Paws to destroy the Clans."

Brookstar frowned. "Is that so.."

Spiderpaw held his breath as she talked quietly with Wiltedsap and Gingerheart, barely able to hear a few words.

"What do you think will happen?"Ravenpaw whispered, eyes darting between him and the talking cats.

"Not sure."Spiderpaw replied with a shrug.

Brookstar nodded, padding back over to them. "We'll let you go home,"she meowed, making them sigh with relief.

"But first, you must come with us to tell RavenClan."

Word count: 1006

We're getting close to the end of the book!