The next day, they immediately began to travel. Johnwatcher led them; his sleek tail swaying slightly. Dawnmist and Ravenflight went next, followed by Lilacblaze. Amberclaw and Ebonywind padded together, making small talk. Midnightcall, Blackshine and Rustfern kept the back.

The group of cats bonded as small talk began to become loud purrs. Amberclaw started to fit in with the loners, no, they were Clan cats now.

They didn't have many obstacles, which led to much suspicion from Amberclaw. It didn't seem possible that they could travel such a long way without any trouble. But as days passed, it turned out that it was actually going to be possible.

"It's a long way," Johnwatcher had explained. "We have to take longer routes to avoid rogue territory."

"Rogue territory?" Ravenflight had questioned.

"Yes. Ruthless is this terrible cat who loves to kill other cats for fun. Have you heard of them? They call themselves RevengeClan." Lilacblaze had chimed in.

Fear had shot through Amberclaw. "Oh yes, we know about them. We killed their old leader, Dark. RevengeClan doesn't exactly like us."

"They've set up a lot of bases. If you enter one of them, you're dead." Midnightcall had shuddered and changed the conversation.

It wasn't long before they stopped. Their journey had already been arduous, and many cats were still recovering from injuries. The battle with the rogues, foxes, then the wolves, had taken its toll on the travelling cats.

"Let's stop in that clearing and hunt," Lilacblaze called.

Nods and mews of agreement echoed, and they settled down, Ebonywind, Midnightcall and Amberclaw leaving the group to hunt.

Ebonywind sniffed out a rabbit and they surrounded it, Midnightcall driving it out. Amberclaw pounced on it, her claws glinting silver. It was quick, despite their injuries, and the rabbit was soon dead. But one measly rabbit wouldn't be enough for the nine cats.

They seemed to have chosen a bad hunting area, as there was little prey. True, it was leaf-bare, but just only.

Ebonywind sat down, huffing in frustration. "Where's all the prey?!"

Midnightcall shrugged, licking her paw idly. Amberclaw paced around, anger filling her quickly. She began counting in her head mentally. It had been a while since she had to use this exercise, but then again, her days had been filled with trouble. She hadn't had any time to.

One oath. Two trees. Three ThunderClan thieves. Four fish. Five foxes. Six salmon. Seven salmon. Eight eagles. Nine needlefish. Ten tomcats.

Hm. I never realized it was six salmon and seven salmon. That's okay.

"We could try fishing," Midnightcall mused.

"Fish? Yuck," Ebonywind retorted.

"Let's go," Amberclaw sneered. "Two against one."

Ebonywind playfully shoved Amberclaw, who returned it. They ended up bickering as they headed down to the river.

Ebonywind perched neatly beside the river while Amberclaw and Midnightcall got their paws wet while fishing. Although Midnightcall was a ShadowClan cat now, she had grown up fishing and was very good at it.

In the end, they managed to catch four fish and another rabbit while they were walking back. It was lesser than usual, but it would be enough so that every cat could eat.

Upon arriving at their temporary camp, they split up the food. Midnightcall, Amberclaw, Lilacblaze and Rustfern took a fish each, while Ebonywind, Johnwatcher, Blackshine, Ravenflight and Dawnmist shared the two rabbits. Midnightcall had wanted to share the fish with the others, but they had all politely refused.

At night, they lay in a warm pile, using each other's bodies for warmth. It really was freezing; Amberclaw knew they would freeze to death if they didn't pile up. They had decided that the next day would be spent travelling. There was no time left to delay.

"Wake up!"

Amberclaw groggily opened her eyes, blinking. It was still dark. Then, she noticed the cats around her.

There were four strangers staring at them. One cat was obviously leading them; she was holding herself tall, puffing out her dusty red fur. Her green eyes glared at them, making Amberclaw shiver.

Johnwatcher went around waking up the other cats and they too, were shocked.

"Who're you?" a brown tabby with amber eyes growled, his fur bristling.

"Invaders!" a dark brown tabby's green eyes gleamed as she unsheathed her claws.

"We are merely passing through your land," Lilacblaze interrupted, having woken up.

"Why must you pass through our land? The cats here know about us. We're dangerous," the dark brown tabby responded arrogantly.

"Thorn, enough," the dusty red she-cat snapped sharply.

The fourth cat, a ginger she-cat with white markings and dark green eyes, mewed calmly. "We are not looking for a fight. We will escort you off our territory. Kindly follow us."

Amberclaw glanced at the Clan cats. "No thanks," she spoke firmly. "We have a quest."

"So?" Thorn retorted rudely. "We don't care about your 'quest'!"

"Thorn!" the dusty red she-cat let a snarl into her voice before addressing the Clan cats. "I am Fawn. This is Wild Wind, Thorn and Spark of Dawn."

Amberclaw was aware of Johnwatcher, Midnightcall and Lilacblaze trying to get her attention, but she continued on, ignoring them. "We just want to pass through," she insisted. "We have an important quest!"

"And I've told you we don't-" Fawn cut Thorn off again.

"What's this quest?" Spark of Dawn asked.

Johnwatcher, Midnightcall and Lilacblaze were jumping up and down now, waving their tails frantically. Dawnmist had joined them. Fawn eyed them, amused.

Amberclaw rolled her eyes at them before answering Spark of Dawn. "We're looking for the Dynasty of Truth."

Fawn's eyes went wide. "We are the Dynasty of Truth. You've found us."

"What're you doing here?" Dawnmist finally spoke. "This is so far from your camp!"

"How would you know where our camp is?" Thorn hissed.

"Are you Dawnmist?" Spark of Dawn asked wondrously.

"Yes," Rustfern replied for her.

"I've heard about you!" the ginger she-cat bounced excitedly. "You came to the Dynasty many moons ago! My sister, Midnight Eclipse, was named after your friend!"

"Eclipse..." Dawnmist breathed. "It's been so long. Where is she?"

The Dynasty cats dropped their gazes. "She's dead." Fawn finally said.

Dawnmist let out a wail of grief, turning away sadly.

"I'm sorry," Wild Wind lay his tail on Dawnmist's shoulder. "Eclipse was my adopted mother. She told me all about you."

"Wild Wind?" Dawnmist finally recognized him. "It's you! StarClan, you're so much older!"

Wild Wind squinted at her. "I remember you too. You and my mother were good friends."

"Alright, can we go now?" Thorn whined impatiently.

"Come, we'll take you to our camp," Fawn gestured with her tail in the direction of their camp. "I'm sure you'll love it there."

A/N epilogue is next!