My leg doesn't hurt anymore at all, and I have to say it's pretty great that I can admit that.

Since most of the cheetahs left to go hunting, I talked to the she-cat that was pregnant with kittens about how I'd broke my leg. When she heard about it, she shook her head sadly and peered down beside me right at Diamond.

Though Diamond was actually a grown cat now, she looked very small and had the playfulness of a kit. Sometimes she would waggle her back legs and peer up at me.

"You better watch out, Fallan! I'm a wolf and I'm going to get you!" And she did, pouncing right on my tail every time. It made me laugh when she did, but I knew it probably looked weird having small cats here.

So what, though? Diamond was my best friend.

I was happy we were finally here. Spirit really had remembered Mother-cat's directions all that time ago. Since I moved slower, time seemed to go slower now. That was all right since we were among Bronze's pride now.

After we all shared prey, Spirit and Storm talked to the brown-ish cheetah with yellow eyes. I could only hear what they were saying once, when I chased Diamond around their legs. I stumbled once by accident, my lame leg catching on a dip in the ground. It didn't hurt, but knocked the breath out of me.

It kind of moved how it wanted to now, stiffly and sometimes dragging when I forgot to hold it up. That's alright though, because I can still play with Diamond. At least until my leg tripped me up.

I can tell she's tired by the time all cats are done grooming and so am I. We barely got here before sunset. Diamond seems to be the one who makes a signal, yawning, so Bronze tells Hazel the pregnant cheetah to let us sleep in her den.

After she leads us around the small pond, I see a giant tree and rock close to each other. Both provide a den, but instead the cheetah walks around those and back to the water-front. The shore is smooth with large flat stones near it, and small shrubs. She shows us a hidden den, close to the water near an outcrop of rocks.

I fall asleep fast, knowing Hannah has followed. I know because I feel her flank press against me and Diamond, the air warm inside the den.

-------------------------------------------

Spirit is grumpy sometimes, but since she got with Storm she hasn't been as mad. I'm greatful for that, because the next morning she actually let's us train! And with the other cheetahs, too.

The other she-cat in this pride is Daisy, who is my age and has an older mate that she doesn't talk about much. Really, she only just stands by him and watches the training. A white chest makes her stand out from the other cheetahs.

I notice both of the she-cats in Bronze's pride only watch. The she-cats in our Pride must be different because Diamond, Midnight and Spirit join in.

Hannah sits beside me and Diamond, looking sad again so I nudge her shoulder and stick out my tongue.

That almost always makes her smile, and when she does I go back to seeing the flattened grass circles.

There's three small clearings made for cats to practice fighting moves in. Midnight is battling with a younger cheetah, who has short fur and small ears. His shoulders are round and short, but they're harder to see because they are far. The cheetah actually looks grown- just short and stout.

Aspen practices moves on Storm, who counter-attacks but isn't quite fast enough. Aspen, though small, has weight to him and knows how to swipe fast. Storm has a smile so he seems not to be trying his hardest and having fun instead.

Now, I know this is unbelievable- but Spirit is actually training with Bronze. Yep, another cheetah who can match her moves!

She keeps raising up on her hind paws, matching blows until both of their ears must be smarted. Storm must see that Spirit is getting tired, because he yells over his shoulder. The two leader-cats step apart while trying to catch their breath. Both have tufted, messy fur.

"Spirit, switch Midnight fighters and you can switch me!" Aspen looked a bit taken aback at training with Spirit, then flattened himself with his tail curled determinedly.

Honestly, that looked like a lot of fun. But I knew my fighting moves had always been too slow, and when I thought I was missing out I just played! Diamond was beside me now, so I swished my tail for her to scramble after. Hannah looked down at her foster-kit who was all grown up lovingly.

"After they're done, Diamond, do you want to practice some moves?"

"Yes, mother-cat!" Diamond ran up to Hannah's legs, only slightly smaller than Midnight was next to Spirit. Her face had broadened out, and wasn't as round as mine. Diamond really looked and acted older now, as she stepped off on her own to watch the bigger cats. Her fur was sleek and well-groomed all the time, an example of Hannah's good grooming teaches. When she sat, she curled her tail around her paws like Hannah, too, I noticed.

"One day, I'll fight like them. I bet I could fight a wolf with my flips. Storm taught me how to attack with them!" She seemed excited to want to try them on Hannah and a pack of wolves already.

"Well, with a wolf you'd have to be quick and flash out your claws every chance you get."

"And your teeth," I said. Actually, why was I saying anything? I didn't know better. I was a crippled cat...

"Yes, especially that." Hannah stepped forwards seriously, and bent down to her foster-kit's height. Diamond's large round eyes returned her mother's gaze closely.

"You should attack for the eyes and neck if something big ever attacks you." I almost rolled my eyes. Hannah was always trying to protect her.

Well, at least she was teaching Diamond how to protect herself. In the past, Hannah hadn't even let Diamond train. It was about time!

I laughed a few times after Diamond fell and rolled over, but she got the hang of it quick. She was a fast learner, the kit that had seemed like a sister to me! Well, a way younger sister.

She was having so much fun, and even leaped on Hannah's neck and clung on. But soon Hannah got tired. Then one of Bronze's pride trained with her, and she actually knocked him over!

Diamond was strong, especially in her back legs. After getting bored and tired of watching, I had to lay down. My leg wasn't hurting but it was hot here, right in the light.

"This is great! It's amazing here," Diamond said after her training. She was panting hard and smiling. She looked too happy for me to be grumpy at for rousing me.

"I know," I enthused. Diamond was right. Here, there would never be any wolves. And soon we would have our own territory!

Of course, I wished we could stay with this group. They were energetic and so nice to us already.

Spirit makes a sound that seemed like a grunt of annoyance, so I look over to see her sit up and push a well-muscled tom away. Her fur is ruffled from the scuffle, but I can tell she was winning because the tom is breathing harder and slumped. Storm watches from behind her, then moves forward.

"What is it? Did he hurt you?"

"No! Of course not. It's just...

I'm not sure, but that scent... It just doesn't smell right."

I sniff the air.

What's Spirit talking about? It smells great here, and I can even smell fish somewhere in the distance. Wouldn't it be great to fish today? But then the light blinds me when I try to look downhill at the river, which sucks. The Great Paw is very strong today.

"It smells like another predator animal," advised Aspen. He had the best nose of our whole pride, which I was about to point out but don't get a chance to.

"It's probably a lion passing along our lines," Bronze advised. He looked shorter than Storm. In fact, Storm had bigger paws and fur than all the cheetahs here. Plus he looked way different since he was black. What kind of cheetah was black, with a head that big and legs that thick? Plus his gigantic paws.

"Aren't lions dangerous?" Hannah asked suddenly, from close near me. Holy Star-cat! I hadn't thought about lions being out here. What did they even look like?

"Not against a group as big as us. Their Pride's far off, past more cheetah territories, but they don't rule these lands or any border around us."

"Then what's that smell?" Midnight asks. Geez, they all sound nervous. I can smell it now, too, sharp and musky and actually kind of familiar.

"I think we should go to scout for territory soon," Spirit claims. I wish we didn't have to leave, unlike everyone else who seems suspicious now.

"Okay. We can hunt first, if you'd like. My cats usually train in the evening, and my belly feels empty." The brown-ish cheetah looks like he isn't very worried about the smell. I don't know if I am either.

"I'm telling you, that smell is a passing lion. They don't bother us." Bronze's younger son speaks in his defense without checking the wind's scent first. The only cats who seemed worried are in our group, including Hannah and Midnight.

Hunting is fast because we all work together. The entire pride, even Diamond and Hannah, go off hunting except Spirit. She sighs as she watches Storm walk away by himself. Does she feel like she shouldn't leave me alone? Now that Diamond was grown up and Hannah had taken a mate long ago, that didn't bother me.

"You can go with him," I say to her cheerfully and mean it. I don't care if Spirit goes- besides, I was going to talk to Daisy about pinecones around here anyways. She'd told me there's a forest on the edge of their territory. Now that was worth exploring.

"How have you been, Fallan? You've really been okay?"

Aww-Spirit seems to really care, but she doesn't need to be worried.

"I'm fine, Spirit. Really- my leg healed the way it is now. Plus we're at Cheetah Pride."

"I know. I'm sorry, I just get worri-"

"I'm so happy and glad we made it to Cheetah Pride. And Bronze said they have caught gazelle lots of times- herds pass through these grasslands every few days!" Hannah shows up from the grass, talking while Diamond's neck is falling from a heavy rabbit. The calico seems proud, though, her black and white tail flicking back and forth.

"What are you guys talking about?" My sister asks, her green eyes warm. She looks happy at least sometimes now; since Blaze died. It felt as if she weren't really... complete without Blaze.

"About how we can't believe we're here now," Spirit purrs. Thankfully, no cat is dissapointed about Cheetah Pride being separated into different prides. That doesn't matter, though.

"We're going to have a home," Diamond throws in. Hannah bends down and nuzzles her, and soon Diamond is leaning over to groom her paw with tiny tongue strokes. I watch as Aspen and Midnight show up for a moment, then Aspen chases a butterfly off with glee and appears embarrased. He clearly wasn't thinking about his old human-place anymore.

"Well... We made it, you guys. We finally made it." Spirit says, her blue eyes sparkling when I turn around. She's the only cheetah here with blue eyes, and I have a feeling she's special because our mom had blue eyes, too. Or more like, I know that she is. Most Cheetahs had blends of yellow to brown eyes.

I know we all are three sisters who spent their whole lives on a journey.

Every cat got full, and laid down in the flattened grass under the shade of a single large, twisted tree. The smell from earlier was forgotten but I'm guessing it was a skunk.

"We can go to the river soon if you like. I know we haven't shared our territory with another Pride like this in a long time," their leader said. His Pride-mates mewed to agree. I want to yowl yes out loud, but thankfully Spirit agrees so I don't say anything. The morning had passed slowly in comfort, but the hottest part of the day was now here and the pool water was warm.

"That's great to hear, and we're all happy to help hunt when we can. Some of us know how to fish, too." Spirit, Midnight, Storm and Aspen beside them all look happy, smiling and laying in the grass. Blaze raises an eyebrow at us but looks comfortable as he lounges too. I bet I do, too, because it's amazing to be here!

"That smells is stronger now," Aspen said right before we leave to go to the river, when my back-fur gets very warm. I'm so excited, my three mobile paws can't stay still. I can still pounce on and chase Diamond, though, so I do and she shakes her ears in protest. I don't care, though, after she laughs because she knows it's funny.

"Stop it, Fallan! There's something..."

Even she is focused on the smell now, though. Some of our Pride looks nervous and Daisy gives us a nervous look. Her light sandy coat is suddenly slightly lifted and wary, as we walk on. I notice she's way smaller than most of the male cheetahs in that Pride, and so am I. Though I feel chubby compared to her.

"That scent is stronger now, Spirit. Bronze, something's up. Are lions attacking your pride?" Midnight says. I actually feel kind of worried now too, only because everyone else is worried. Why'd they do that to me? I wasn't worried until now.

"That's not lions..." Aspen says, his orange ears pricked. They aren't like mine- the difference is pointy instead of round. Plus, he has stripes and not spots, so.

"I think it's a skunk," I say to put some effort in.

"That smells like dogs."

Suddenly, Spirit's fur is bushed out and Storm stands really close to her. Daisy cowers now, and the pregnant cheetah crouches on the ground while her mate stills. Bronze stretches his neck really far, craning it over the hills in the distance.

"Should we be worried?" Blaze's other son says.

"There's something coming from far away. Like, really far, but it's huge in numbers and it's moving fast."