I was walking along the side of a small Thunderpath, the twilight sun seeming to turn my pelt a pretty auburn color and my eyes glimmer. The hard concrete beneath my paws sent little sparks of pain through my nerves, and I paused to inspect them. Grit and dirt and StarClan knows what else were lodged deep into the soft skin of my paw, and blood oozed out from small puncture marks. Leaning down, I gave them a good licking to try to get it out, although I knew it was no use: the concrete stretch was filthier than anything I've ever known before I ran away.

Even now, I still find it hard to believe that I had chosen to run away from my own home. That I couldn't handle it and had to leave just so I would be safe. I could handle myself, could fight pretty well. It wasn't like I needed protecting from my own nightmares: I was about as tough as a badger when it came to my territory.

While a part of me knew that leaving was stupid, I also knew it was smart. Something wasn't right with RiverClan, and I was entangled somehow with it. Twigpaw and Thymepaw had been thinking not about themselves, but for everyone else. And I was grateful that I was far away from Stoneheart.

His name still sent shivers of fear through me, even though I was miles away. I had been through several patches of Twoleg nests, not daring to escape into the forest, moving from patch to patch as my old life seemed to grow smaller behind me with every step. It didn't seem right to leave everyone else behind, but I trusted Twigpaw to know what he was doing.

My stomach suddenly growled, breaking my thoughts as I licked my dry muzzle. It had been two days since I had eaten anything actually fulfilling (a squirrel that had happened to practically run across my paws a few Twoleg patches ago) and I could already feel the fatigue dragging me down. I needed to eat something soon if I planned to keep moving until I was absolutely sure I could let my guard down.

Then I heard it, a noise so soft it was hardly detectable. Something lapping at water, and as I listened I immediately felt hope rising in my heart. I began to pick up my pace, heading for the next Twoleg nest over.

When I reached it, I saw a white fence barring my way. They were kind of like borders that were much more physical than territorial, like they were just there for the Twolegs to be able to tell that this was their territory or not. I've seen Twolegs yell at each other happily over it, like it didn't even exist. Pretty weird to me.

Lucky for me, this fence was about half the size than the ones I normally see. Easy to jump up to the top of, if I did it right. Coiling my muscles up, I got ready to spring, bending my back legs before leaping high. I made it to the top, and scrambled to pull the rest of my body up before I slipped off. Pulling myself together, I surveyed the scene before me.

Grass filled the entire space that the nest didn't, each blade oddly looking the same height. Flowers bloomed in patches, every patch different from the others. A small post stood in the middle of it all, a small object perched on top of it. As I watched, a small bird flew right into the object, vanishing inside it, like it was its home or something. A couple bees buzzed lazily around the flowers, looking fat and round from here.

"Well, hello." An arrogant voice said beneath me, and I looked down, surprised. A tortoiseshell tom sat below me, tail flicking idly in the air. His green eyes seemed to pierce right through me. "Never seen you before."

But I wasn't looking at him anymore. Near the nest, a small pool of water surrounded by grey stones looked inviting, and I felt like racing over there so I could drain it whole. My mouth, which felt like sand before, now began to drool as I something orange flickered near the surface of the black water –a fish. Dinner and a drink, right there in front of me.

I was on unfamiliar territory though. I couldn't tell if the cat below me was hostile, if he would let me drink and hunt. Form my small but growing experience with Twolegs and kittypets, chances of that happening were very small. It was more likely that he would send me off to go starve and die of dehydration.

Suddenly I felt a pair of meaty, huge, hairless paws grabbed me around my middle, and I felt fear sparking through me, causing me to stiffen before freezing as the Twoleg kit (which I hadn't seen since I had been staring to intently at the water) pressed me roughly to it. Its skin, even through the weird fur it was wearing, felt hot and uncomfortable, and as the tom chuckled at my expression and the fear rolling off of me, I felt as if I might pass out with exhaustion and fear.

Then a Twoleg screamed at its kit through the entrance of the nest, and the paws relaxed. There was a pause, and then I felt the kit shift, leaning down to set me gently on the ground before removing its sweaty paws off my flank. I felt like taking the longest wash possible just to get it off of me, but I had more pressing matters at the moment.

"Looks like they'll let you stay," the tom said, and I stared at him. "I'm Jack by the way. Smoke is somewhere around here, but he'll come soon to meet you. What's your name?"

I was too thirty and hungry to respond, and immediately streaked across the grass to the pond. Dipping my muzzle down to drink, I felt like sticking my whole head into the water if that's what it took to get rid of the burning ache in my throat. But instead I took hurried, huge sips, trying to take it all at once. There was a soft rustle near me, and I knew that Jack was watching me as I quenched the fire, and then stuck my bloody and gritty paws in the water. I didn't pay any attention to him though.

When I was ready to try fishing, I perched at the side of the pool before remembering Jack. "I can fish here, right?"

"Fish?" He said, as if he never heard of the word before.

"Yeah. I'm starving."

"And you want to eat the fish?"

"Yeah." So? Who cares? I'm about to die here!

"Wow, okay. But I think that my owners will get mad at you. How about having some of my food instead? I didn't eat all of it anyway."

I nodded, uncertain. What did kittypets eat? I never really paid attention to them when I saw one, so I didn't really know. Hopefully whatever it was it tasted like fish.

He led me up near the nest, and I slowed down as we got closer. I didn't trust Jack, much less the Twolegs, so I didn't know if this was a trap or not. But as he got close enough, he walked across the smooth stone that looked like something I had heard a kittypet call a patio. Weird word. As Jack walked across the patio, he walked up to something before turning to me. "Are you going to come up here and eat or am I going to have to give it to you?"

"I'd rather you give it to me." Probably sounded like a prissy kittypet, but I didn't really care. I couldn't walk blindly into a trap.

Jack sighed, and then began to nudge it slowly to me. When he got it near the grass, I walked up to it and looked down. It was a dish half-full with something that looked mushy and disgusting. Leaning down, I curiously and cautiously licked some of it, and cringed inwardly at the taste. It tasted nothing like the rich tang of fish or squirrel, but I swallowed it down anyway, taking it in concentrated doses.

As I finished it off, a rough, strong voice sounded. "Found a new friend, Jack?" I looked up and saw a dark grey tom, fur shining softly in the glow from the nest as he walked across the patio. His eyes were a deep dark brown, and I felt a weird flutter in my chest when he looked at me. "She's pretty, I'll give her that, but I don't think she's your type."

Jack rolled his eyes. "Smoke this is…um…what did you say your name was again?" He asked me.

"I didn't say anything about my name, and it's Petal." A fake name, as well as a fake history that I would have to come up with later. Just taking precautions.

"Petal, this is my buddy Smoke. Smoke, this riffraff is Petal."

I ignored the name and instead focused on Smoke. His dark eyes made him impossible to read, and for some reason I found myself liking that. "Got a place for me to stay the night?"