"Welp, you're better now. It never even happened. Bye."

Rusty's eyes flickered to the middle of the cave, where a large blue molly lied at the base of a brilliant blue crystal, etched with the elegant claw-made carvings of wolves and cats.

"Who's that?" He mewed inquisitively.

The wolfwalker perked his ears and spun around to face him. "Nobody a kittypet should be concerned with! Now go back to your twolegs. I don't want twoleg pets stickin' their snouts where they don't belong."

Rusty's fur puffed up defensively, and he raised himself up to look larger. "Hey! You don't own the forest!"

The scruffy wildcat looked at him, annoyed. A sudden glint of mischief shone in his round yellow eyes.

"Well, kittypet, if you're not gonna leave, I guess we'll just have to make ya!" He giggled.

"What?"

The wolves that had filled out the cave suddenly made themselves known, their footsteps echoing across the cave. They trotted around the wolfwalker obediently, and advanced menacingly towards Rusty.

He backed up, and the wolfwalker bounded towards him, biting the air. Like some sort of signal, the wolves barked and sped up, their claws clacking nosily against the stone as they lolled their tounges.

Rusty yelped, and turned tail out of the cave's exit. He kicked up dust as pebbles became displaced beneath his paws. The loud scramble of wild wolf paws followed soon after him.

He madly dashed into the forest, thundered by the wolves and the wolfwalker, who lolled his tongue out like he was one himself.

"Hahah! Run, kittypet! We're after ya'!" The grey tom barked, leaping over the wolves to Rusty's side.

"Why'd you come here in the first place, anyways?" He mewed curiously, though Rusty barely registered it through the adrenaline of being chased by wolves.

"Hunting." He breathed out, urging his paws to run faster.

"Oh, a hunter? A pampered kitty like you?" He ruffed playfully.

"You're a cat, too." Rusty responded, more than miffed to deal with the wild cat on top of a pack of wolves.

"I'm no cat, I'm a wolfwalker!" He growled, mischievously bumping into Rusty's side.

Beneath all that long fur, the wild cat had strong enough paws to knock Rusty off balance. The orange tom skidded downwards across the grass, scrambling to find a foothold that would let him regain control.

Before he could, however, he felt the muzzle of a wolf toss him into the air. He landed stomach-first onto the silky black back of one, the wind knocked out of him.

"When I sleep, I'm a wolf, when I'm awake, I'm me, Greypaw! Greypaw of Thunder Pack!" The wolfwalker yowled into the treetops, the wolves barking as if to prove his words. "What's your name, anyway?"

Rusty had managed to pull himself upwards, though it was hard keeping all four legs steady on a moving wolf.

"Rusty." He replied, panting.

Soon they came to the barrier of vines. Rusty knew it would open from his past encounter with its magical archways, but with a pack of wolves running full-speed, it stood no chance.

Vines lashed outwards in an explosion of yellow magic, and a black stream of wolves tumbled through the gaping hole they had created. Rusty managed to jump out of the way and land on his feet, but Greypaw was squashed beneath the ball of fur and panting jaws.

With a bark, the wolves jumped off him, licking at his messy fur with slobbering tounges. Not getting squished by wolves must be a wolfwalker thing, Rusty mentally noted.

"Hey, you can't go out in the daytime where the twolegs might see you! Mammy said so. Go back to bed." Greypaw grunted, and with disappointed whines the wolves swept back through the hole in the barrier.

Rusty blinked, without his wolf pack, Greypaw didn't seem so threatening. He looked to be about the same age as Rusty, and his untamed fur was full of leaves and flowers.

"Was the blue cat in the cave your mom?" He cautiously asked.

"Who else would it be?" Greypaw chuckled.

"Are any of the other wolves, uh, wild cats too?" Rusty glanced at the hole in the vine barrier, which was slowly starting to repair itself with yellow magic.

"Packs of the stars! How big do ya' think my family is? Greypaw mocked a gasp, pretending to be offended. "Only cats born in this forest with pure wild blood are wolfwalkers!"

An awkward moment of silence passed over the two toms, unsure of what to do next.

"Technically, I'm not supposed to be out here." Rusty broke the tension. "If my housefolk, erm, twolegs, saw me talking to a wild cat, they wouldn't be very happy. Smudge would freak out!"

"Great, It's my duty to get rid of a tresspasser, anyways. Close your eyes." Greypaw responded.

"What? Why?"

"Don't want you coming back to our den. It's secret."

Rusty stared at him blankly.

"I already found it, who's stopping me from going back?"

"Oh, just start walking." Greypaw grunted. "I'll point you back to Twolegplace."

Rusty stood still defiantly. "I came here to hunt, I'm not leaving till I get something!"

Greypaw stood still in thought for a moment.

"The wolves hunt really big animals that last us days, so I guess you could catch a bird or something. This way hunter-kittypet-rusty cat!"

And with that, the two were off towards Twolegplace.

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Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait guys! It's been.. 5 months and i guess technically a year?? woops.