The next night, I'm busy dashing about gathering resources.

Right now, we needed shelter. Even though they help us find prey, TrivorClan aren't allowed let us pass their boundaries.

But that's OK.

We can do this.

We can stand on our own paws.

We won't back down.

What exactly are we planning?

We won't resort to violence or hostility, like the Rogues in the original Warriors series.

Instead, we're gonna be persistent.

We're not supposed to show our faces to the Clans again, but that gave me an idea.

Our strategy is just dilly-dally like Sally on the borders between our Clans, maybe hunt a bit of prey, and then if someone shows up we do flight instead of fight.

I would normally fight, but I need to learn when to retreat.

"Duskspirit, I found a nice river and a supply of moss!" Mistblossom comes up.

"Nice! Any neighboring territory you could find?" I ask.

"Not yet. But if we do, we'll alert you. You know, you're kinda like a leader!" my friend smiles.

"I couldn't be a leader! Even if I wanted to! I'd get us all in trouble. But thanks for the thought." I laugh.

Mistblossom is a good friend. If I was a leader, I would make her deputy if she was a Warrior.

"Snowdrop and Silversky are becoming awfully close recently..." Mistblossom grins to when the white she-cat and silver tom were chatting.

"Oh, really?" I smirk. "Well, how close?" I giggle.

"Snowdrop seems to be really impressed by Silversky's medicine cat knowledge..." Mistblossom stifles laughter.

"I wonder if they'll get any closer soon..." I say playfully.

I go off to find Moonstone. She's reliable for finding resources. She's a good hunter too.

Suddenly I see her bounding up with Emeraldshade. They are laughing about something.

"What's up?" I smile.

"We were just at the JetraClan-LuktraClan borders! Lightningstar saw us. Her face was hilarious! She knows about what happened due to Semi-Clan Jetra cats. She just saw us dart across the border, running around like insane." Emeraldshade splutters with giggles.

My face falls.

"Wait. She saw you?! What if LukesseClan find out?! Emeraldshade, you weren't outcasted with us!" I panic.

"Relax, she only knew Moonstone. And just her appearance, not her name." Emeraldshade assures.

"That's a relief. We don't want you out of the Clans as well for associating with us." I breathe a sigh of gratitude to StarClan.

"You sound like a leader. Careful before people start calling you Duskstar!" Moonstone laughs.

"It doesn't work that way." I remind.

"Still. We don't fully understand this world." Moonstone says mysteriously.

"I guess." I shrug, but I agree with her.

I trod off to find somewhere to make a den.

Then I find something amazing.

A huge field stretching further than I can see...

And it's filled with ruby roses.

A crystal aqua river with moonlight reflecting off the stones at it's bed flows through it all.

I never knew this area of the Ship Plains existed.

How did we miss this natural beauty?!

I ran back to get the others. They had to see this.
___

"A medicine cat den would be handy by the river. We could wash wounds in it. Is there any herbs nearby?" Silversky asks.

"I'll check." Snowdrop runs off eagerly.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Medicine cat den? We're rogues, not a new Clan!" I remind.

"Yeah, but if anyone gets injured we can at least have somewhere to treat them." Darkflame suggests.

"Oh. Fair enough." I don't see how we would get injured choosing flight for fight, but I can't argue with the doctor.

"Found some stuff!" Snowdrop runs back.

"Nice. Thanks Snowdrop." Silversky smiles.

Mistblossom may be right, heh heh...

"Emeraldshade!" a cat yelps, running over. He is a rusty tom with brown eyes. "We have a problem!" he leads us to the far side of the glade where TrivorClan are hidden. We crouch behind a hedge and two trees.

Cats.

But I am not alarmed.

"Those are PetroliviaClan cats. They don't like violence." I assure. One cat is really small, the size of a kit. The other is...

Oh crap.

Wolfshine.

She won't be happy if she finds us.

So she won't.

"Flight!" I hiss and we all scatter.

Wolfshine looks in me and Darkflame's direction, but she doesn't see us lying on our stomachs in the grass, making ourselves as flat as we can. I don't know how she doesn't see me. Darkflame camoflages with the dirt, but I am pretty noticable as a black cat with a white belly, tips of paws and tail with ink blue eyes.

But Wolfshine and the kit still walk away.

We all come from hiding. Snowdrop shakes her fur, after ducking into the stream. It doesn't have a current and is only up to our chests, so she was fine.

I am impressed by everyone's sharp reflexes and instincts. If we could do drills like this, we would be able to hide from any enemy.

But I didn't know PetroliviaClan was near here.

To be honest, they're not too strong of a Clan yet, so I don't think we should play our little game with them.

Also they had nothing to do with the outcasting, so...

"OK. I think we're almost ready to start being, well, persistent." I smile at my friends.