"Do you mean all of Skyclan?" Jadestar mewed cautiously. "Because I can't split up what's left of my clan like that." The calico's diluted cream-and-grey fur was ruffled. She closed her jaws to listen for Crescentpaw's answer, fronds waving behind her.

"I would prefer all of your clanmates come. As you're saying, it would be safer that way. If all of us temporarily join up on one Clan's territory, we can come up with a strategy to contact Starclan." Crescentpaw licked a paw and drew it over her whiskers as she talked. It was cool beside the undergrowth shielding them the from sunlight.

Jadestar nodded. The forestry rustled around them. The scent of hickory sap was sharp on the fitfull wind. Air hardly penetrated the thick trees, causing a damp heat to settle across their backs. Yet in here, Crescentpaw didn't have to squint her eyes. There was plenty of shade to shield them from the strong sunlight. And the ground beneath her paws was cool and smooth, rather than prickly and uneven like in Shadowclan land.

"It sounds like a plan. My top priority is to keep my remaining clanmates alive, but of course we seek Starclan's will." Crescentpaw twitched her ears, holding onto her patience wisely. "Great."

She was raring to get going. Deep green shadows pooled underneath the ferns that were gathered in growing heaps behind them. She whisked her thick tabby tail.

If they left now they might make it to Thunderclan territory before nightfall. But is that wise? She didn't know. In Riverclan the wolves were more likely to attack you at sundown or after.

"Why did your clanmates send an apprentice across the territories instead of a warrior?" Jadestar interrupted her thoughts.

"That's hardly important," she mewed, hoping to start stressing the essence of time.

Sootface looked offended, but Crescentpaw didn't mind. As huge as the Tom seemed to be, he didn't seem like much. He hardly ever held gaze with anyone when he spoke, and still wasn't looking directly at her now.

"I have a question while we walk back to camp for your other Clanmates." Crescentpaw ushered them forward, but she didn't even know what direction to go. Sootface's hackles sprang up in offense.

"Jadestar, are you Rainpaw's mentor?" Since Sootface was her father, the dark-black tabby-and-white she-cat assumed that Jadestar must be her mentor.

"Ah, no." Jadestar looked faintly embarrassed as she turned toward the direction of camp. She trotted along on powerful hind legs. Despite her thick muscle tones the she-cat's pawsteps hardly made a sound. "Rainpaw is actually mine and Sootface's kit. We lost her littermates a few moons ago." Jadestar looked over at her... mate? with distain; if that's what he still was.

Huh. "Oh..." she trailed off uncertainly.

They probably lost their other kits to the wolves. And maybe Jadestar blamed him for it? Crescentpaw couldn't tell. But the Skyclan leader was still glaring at her deputy right now.

After a moment, Sootface noticed and gave his own deprecatory grunt.

"Are we going?" He said, his voice full of contempt.

She bounded over to Jadestar's side, following the leader through flattened undergrowth. A lick of wind whooshed through Skyclan's trees and across her back, tugging Crescentpaw's ears back and teeming with the scent of forest prey. Her jaws began to water.

"Pepperpelt is her mentor, but she's caring for her kits right now. So we have been her acting mentors." Jadestar explained as they walked into an illuminated shaft of sunlight. Little sprinkles of pollen flitted throughout the sunbeams.

Blue-grey Rainpaw turned her head away. She looked on as if she had nothing she wanted to add to the conversation.

"So... you're the leader and deputies kit?" Crescentpaw pried. She couldn't help being ever so curious.

"Yeah," the smaller she-cat said minimally. Crescentpaw could tell that she was very shy, and so turned her attention back to Jadestar.

"I'm sorry about your kittens." The apprentice said sympathetically. She didn't lay it on thicker than that, though. Jadestar nodded with pale-green eyes briefly closed.

The four clan cats padded underneath expansive tree canopy together. Sootface trailed at the rear.

Grasshoppers bounced up from their footfalls, scattering away when they were disturbed by the cats ambles. Rainpaw timidly stepped over a thin stream on the way there, looking over at Crescentpaw anxiously but not saying a word.

Skyclan territory was very hilly. Crescentpaw crossed several rises and dips. With the patrol's guidance she skirted wildflower clumps and blackberry bushes, then followed a well-worn trail through the woods. The maple trees with Cypress vines wrapped around their trunks were hulking, unmoving figures. A few of the pines from Shadowclan land also spilled into Skyclan land, which became more prevalent as the cats made their way North. She passed a few clumps of strong-smelling Goldenrod, but was too inexperienced to indentify them.

When they made it to the Skyclan camp Crescentpaw was surprised by how high up it was. The other clans had their camps closer to the Lake. But this is a good idea. It prevents flooding during the rainy moons.

It was Jadestar who led way through the open entrance, a raised footpath with a ditch full of leaves beside it. The other side hosted a twisted mound of oak tree roots that were stretching far into camp.

Pine trees surrounding the edge of the neat clearing all had snapped-off lower branches, providing as much open space on the ground as possible. The canopy above was crowded, providing admirable coverage; to where hardly a single Skyclan cat would've had to sit in the sun. And less attacks from hawks.

Cedar and juniper grew in swathes amongst the edges, bordering a small waterfall along one edge that was ridged with flat stones. The camp looked like some sort of restful oasis, with a couple low-hanging hazel tree branches stretching their widespread leaves down low and cooling the camp's floors. The dome felt safe and well-protected, despite the fact that Crescentpaw could see battered den walls amongst the warrior- made camps.

There were massive gaps between various tree-roots, cleared out and broadened in order to provide nest spaces inside. They were screened with drooping willow fronds. Other dens were dug into hillocks and well-circulated by having broad entrances. They were reinforced with twigs and bark, plastered all along the edges so that the den entrance wouldn't fall in on itself. Giant butterbur leaves were plastered to the entrance tops with dried mud, providing a screen of shade as you entered the den.

This camp was in better condition than Crescentpaw's own. She enviously looked over at Jadestar, waiting for the she-cat to make the first move.

"Pepperpelt! Cloverkit! Oatkit!" The Skyclan leader yowled, and almost at once two kits hurled from between the strong roots of a giant elm tree. They darted around a pine and through the shorter grasses up to their leader.

"Wow! Look at her eyes, Cloverkit. They're so cool!"

A speckled grey she-cat emerged from the den after them. There was a wide partially healed bite-wound stretched across her neck and lower jaw. The scab looked itchy and dry. It veered off of her jugular on one side.

She got lucky the wolf missed her throat.

"Hey, Jadestar." The she-cat halted with caution as she spotted Crescentpaw. "What's she doing here? And why does she smell like Riverclan?" The queen's eyes were wide and apprehensive.

"Because she is," Sootface sounded exasperated. The apprentice was beginning to wonder if that was just a common trait of his. She nonchalantly looked over at the kits while Jadestar explained.

One tomkit was bright yellow-orange, with very faint stripes along his flank. He had a white tail-tip. His legs were slightly lighter, but otherwise the kit was completely solid-colored.

His littermate was a smaller bi-colored she-cat. She batted at her brothers ears and pounced on his thin tail. Her spiky white fur turned black in places, giving the little kitten a dipped-in-mud appearance.

Neither kit had any newborn-fluff left behind their ears. They leaped and rolled with the expertise of long-legged nimble apprentices. As the kits tumbled and dodged in a play-fight at their mother's paws, Crescentpaw looked up.

"They look far past old enough to become apprentices." This time Crescentpaw didn't bother to hide her confusion, she just said it out loud.

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Rainpaw