Chapter 3

Finally, Rivermist arrived with a group of cats. Moon looked over the other cats warily.

"Is this the Flameclan cat you found? She doesn't look like a Flameclan cat to me!" Heatherwhisker sniffed with disgust.

"Well, she is whether you like it or not. Get used to being around her!" Rivermist mewed angrily.

Puddlejump sniffed Moon's face. Moon shook out her fur and took a step back away from Puddlejump.

"If you don't like how I look you should look at yourself!" Moon snapped.

"Hey, hey! Let's not yell at each other. We need to set off before sunset." Flamelight said. Rivermist nodded in agreement. Heatherwhisker snorted.

"You are a Flanclan cat?" Puddlejump asked.

"What the heck is Flanclan!?" Moon asked, her ears slightly flattened. Heatherwhisker held back a chuckle.

"Don't mind Puddlejump, he isn't the brightest. What's your name?" Heatherwhisker asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Um.... Moon... Shadow?" Moon meowed slowly. Let's hope Heatherwhisker is as dumb as she looks!

Puddlejump laughed.

"Nice name Moonshadow! It sounds mysterious. I'm Flamelight." Flamelight meowed. "Those cats right over there are Heatherwhisker and Pebblestorm."

"Why is he so quiet?" Moon asked. She flicked her tail in the direction of Pebblestorm who instantly began staring at his paws.

Pebblestorm stared at Moon.

"He's a little quiet." Rivermist stated.

Moon shrugged.

"Now Rowan lives in a barn a little ways off. We should arrive there in a few days unless we run into trouble." Moon meowed.

"Hopefully Icepaw wasn't seen by a dangerous rouge. Maybe he'll camp out somewhere until we find find him." Greenheart said.

The group traveled through the trees past the root on the ground. The sun was starting to get lower in the sky.

Soon rain began to fall and Moon found herself slowed down by her heavy wet fur. She shook the rain out of her fur, splashing Heatherwhisker on purpose.

"Watch it!" Heatherwhisker snarled. Moon grinned to herself. Puddlejump decided to live up to his name and he jumped into puddles and splashed everyone. Moon flattened her ears as water dripped from her whiskers. She shivered. Man, it's so cold out here!

"Stop splashing everyone Puddlejump! You'll slow us down!" Rivermist meowed.

"MMEEEWWWW!!!" Puddlejump meowed. He wanted to keep jumping.

Pebblestorm silently pointed out a cave in the distance.

"It's getting late." Greenheart said. "We should rest there."

The cats entered the drippy, musty-smelling cave.

"Do we HAVE to spend the night in this disgusting smelly cave?!" Heatherwhisker groaned.

"Would you rather sleep outside?" Moon growled. Heatherwhisker didn't answer but, glared defiantly at her.

Rivermist, Moon, and Flamelight left the cave to look for twigs and grass.

"Honestly Pebblestorm is pretty cute. I never met him, but he seems sweet. He never talks but I like the tom."

Flamelight smiled. "Yeah. Maybe you should try to get him to come out of his shell. Try talking to him tonight, he might appericiate someone opening up to him."

Rivermist picked up some twigs with her teeth. Moon awkwardly shifted her paws. Talking about love wasn't exactly her strong suit. Pebblestorm might not be interested in Rivermist, although it is hard to tell when he's so quiet.

"Do you have any ideas of what Rivermist should say to Pebblestorm, Moonshadow?" Flamelight asked

It took a few moments before Moon realized that Flamelight was talking to her.

"Oh. Um... Just... try not to be too loud? And uh....." Moon trailed off not sure what to say.

Rivermist chuckled. "Yeah. Good suggestion Moon."

Flamelight folded one ear back. "Why did you just call her Moon?"

"Wow! Silly me! Moonshadow. Not just Moon. Sorry Moonshadow." Rivermist grinned.

"Sure no problem." Moon meowed smiling slightly. Let's just hope that Flamelight doesn't suspect anything.

They returned to the cave and made little nests for everyone.

"Thank you so much!" Greenheart cheered.

Pebblestorm curled up on his nest. Rivermist took the nest beside his. The rain began to pour even harder outside.

Moon glanced at Pebblestorm and Rivermist. I'm sure Pebblestorm will warm up to her right away. She heard Heatherwhisker huff from behind her. She curled up tighter and yawned. She felt herself drifting to sleep.

She pounded through the forest the moon shining brightly through the trees. The rain has stopped now! She padded farther on throught the forest then suddenly stopped realized she wasn't alone. Moon heard voices echoing from a clearing from a little ways off. Moon silently slunk through the trees. From the clearing ahead of her she could see a black tom next to a cat with gray and white fur. She leaned closer to listen.

"Please! Let me go." The white and gray cat begged.

"Of course. Once your friends have arrived." The tom snarled. Then, Moon realized who the tom was. That's Rowan! And if that's Rowan then the gray and white cat next to him must be Icepaw...

"How do y-you know they're coming here?" Icepaw stuttered. Rowan chuckled darkly.

"I have some friends that lurk in the shadows. They always know what's going on in the forest." Rowan growled. Icepaw flattened his ears and backed away fearfully. Moon suddenly gasped. Oops, didn't mean for that gasp to slip out! She saw Rowan whip his head around to her direction. He was staring right at her!

"Hey Pebblestorm..." Rivermist said. Pebblestorm turned his head in her direction, his eyes half open. I am terrified. I hope this goes well.

"I'm Rivermist. I'm surprised I haven't met you yet. Pebblestorm continued to stare at her.

"Um. I have trouble sleeping sometimes. I get anxious. Do you ever sleep well?" Wow. What an awkward question.

Pebblestorm got up and stretched. He looked outside, where it had finally stopped raining. He turned around and looked at Rivermist.

"Do you want me to come outside with you?" Rivermist asked. Pebblestorm nodded. Her eyes widened.

She felt Rowan's dark green eyes linger on her for a few moments. She felt her her heart beat slightly faster. It was almost like she could hear her heart. Thump. Thump. THUMP. Finally, Rowan looked away and went back to talking to Icepaw. She felt her fur flatten with relief. Can't he see me?

"P-please don't h-hurt them!" Icepaw whimpered. Moon narrowed her eyes. Rowan should be the one hoping we don't hurt him!

"Oh. I won't hurt them not until, I get what I need from them." Rowan growled. Icepaw stared at his paws, trembling with fear. Moon held back a growl in her throat. She felt a rush of sympathy for the small apprentice.

"What are you going to do t-to them?" Icepaw whispered. Moon pricked her ears waiting for Rowan to respond.

Pebblestorm led the way out of the cave. He padded up the hill over the cave, and at the top of this hill, You could see the whole forest and a beautiful waterfall in the east.

"Wow!!! This is so beautiful! How did you know about this?" Rivermist meowed.

"I am good with direction." Pebblestorm said quietly.

Rivermist smiled at hearing his voice for the first time. He had a sweet voice that was easy on her fluffy ears. Rivermist wrapped her tail around her body and stared down at the scenery. The moon shined and the stars sparkled above her as if Starclan itself was giving the two a gift.

"We should probably go to sleep back in the cave. I wanna see this in the morning though." Rivermist said.

Pebblestorm nodded and they trudged down the hill and went back to bed.

"I'm just going to ask for something from them." Rowan meowed. Moon suddenly she stumbled blindly backwards without meaning to. She tripped over a rock and fell down the hill from behind her. She felt stone scrape her and sharp plants cut her. She landed with a thump at the bottom of the hill. She tried to scramble to her paws and go back up the hill but she couldn't move. My leg is broken! Her fur was sticky as blood dripped from her scratches. She tried to move herself but couldn't. Suddenly, she felt eyes staring at her from all around her in the trees.

"Moon.... Moon..." They whispered. Moon began to tremble uncontrabally. Who were these cats?

"Moon. MOON."