"We will join your clan," Fae said eventually. The rest of her friends stood behind her, North looked slightly hesitant and distrustful, Otter was almost vibrating with excitement, and Jupiter just stared out into the world with those unreadable, deep, amber eyes.

Nightshade bowed her head towards them, carefully masking any emotion. "I'm sure our leader Sky will welcome you into our clan."

The forest cats looked startled, unease creeping into their eyes.

"Sky?" Jupiter spoke, "Not Skystar? Was she rejected by StarClan?" Shadow blinked in confusion. StarClan? She looked to her mentor for guidance.

"The forest cats believe in some kind of after-life. They think their leaders get "blessed" by these starry, dead, cats. Sounds like mouse-fluff to me, sometimes I wonder if some of the forest cats are a bit befuddled in the head." Ivy whispered in her apprentice's ear.

"We don't... communicate with StarClan," Nightshade said carefully, not wanting to scare off the possibility of new, strong warriors for her clan. The forest cats exchanged a dubious glance but didn't question it further. The cats quickly finished off any leftover scraps from the previous night before gathering by the entrance of the two-leg den.

Shadow was buzzing with excitement, looking forward to returning to camp. It was the only place she had ever known before this mission and despite the cruel and brutal standards within the clan, it was her home. She even missed Sliver's obnoxious mews in the middle of the night.

They set off to where Frost was still guarding the captured kittypet. Nightshade had sent Flame to sprint ahead and inform the assassin about what had happened. They agreed not to tell the forest cats about the prisoner hunt yet, so as to not frighten them.

Even with BloodClan's limited medical knowledge, every cat knew that catmint would help sedate a cat or relieve pain. To keep the kittypet mild and cooperative, they would give him a large amount of the herb.

Fortunately that the forest cats didn't question Nightshade's explanation of Frost and the kittypet (now named Snowy) feeling ill and having to stay behind.

Jupiter, Otter, and Shadow were sent out to collect moss and ferns for the nests. Otter followed Shadow, chattering nonstop, while Jupiter disappeared into the forest quietly by himself.

Shadow was growing fond of the ever-cheerful Otter, who was constantly cracking jokes or boasting about his many accomplishments. Together they swiftly collected soft bedding and headed back to where they would spend the night.

When they arrived at the temporary camp, Fae padded up to them and started to help them weave nests for all the cats. Not long after, North, Quartz, and Frost came back with prey.

Jupiter picked up a large dove and came up to where Shadow and Otter were sitting.

"Let's share." His voice came out muffled by the feathers. They quickly gathered around the bird and started filling their empty stomachs. Shadow was too busy removing the feathers from one of the dove's wings to see Otter shove some of the soft dove down up Jupiter's nose.

He jerked his head back, sneezing violently. When he could breathe normally, he turned and glared at Otter.

"Really?! Was it really necessary to do that?" He growled.

"Necessary, no. Hilarious? Yes." Otter smirked, before chomping down on the dove again. Jupiter rolled his eyes when he caught Fae looking on with an amused expression. He shook his head, glaring at Otter again.

Shadow was surprised at how the forest cats interacted with each other. If Otter had done that to a cat in BloodClan, he would have gotten his pelt clawed off. She was worried about how they would cope in their new clan for a second but shrugged it off. Everyone with half a brain could see that BloodClan was a better clan than whatever they used to be part of.

Jupiter and Otter continued hurling half-hearted insults at each other until North stalked up to them and hit Otter on the head with a heavy paw.

"Stop acting like kits you two." She muttered to them. Even though she was putting up a tough face, Shadow caught a glimmer of fondness in her eyes.

"Hey!" Otter protested, shoving her away, "Brighten up sis, scowling like that doesn't look attractive, and trust me, I would know." He smirked, smoothing down his fur.

Shadow blinked in surprise, she never would have guessed that Otter and North were littermates, they were polar opposites. Otter was always joking around, chattering non-stop, and never took anything seriously. North on the other paw, was serious, the leader of the group despite her young age, and always thought before she spoke.

North looked like she was on the verge of delivering Otter another hit on the head, but Fae walked up just in time to stop it. She seemed to be the peacekeeper of the group, her sweet words always calming down everyone.

Shadow cast a glance around the circle of cats and saw that everyone was done eating. As she was an apprentice, she automatically started collecting the scraps of prey to bury. Jupiter rose to his paws and started helping her. They collected all the scraps in their jaws and padded away from the clearing.

Shadow watched as Jupiter started digging a hole, his large paws digging into the soft earth. Even though he was larger than her, he still had a bit of roundness in his ears and his fur looked softer than the other forest cats. Shadow realized he must be close to the same age as her.

He glanced up, "What's it like in your clan?" he asked.

Shadow blinked, stopping herself from blurting out the truth.

"It's amazing. We're really strong, and everyone works together in a smart way. There is almost always enough food, even for the kits!" She gushed, trying to convince herself as well as Jupiter.

He narrowed his amber eyes in confusion, "Even for the kits?" He muttered under his breath. He shook it off and asked about Shadow's family instead.

"I have a sister, Spark," Shadow replied, grateful for the change in subject, "We train together sometimes."

"What about your parents?" He asked

"My mother is a cat named Aster, but we stopped talking after I was apprenticed. And I don't have a father." She scrunched her nose, "That I know of at least, he must be someone in BloodClan but toms are never involved in raising kits. Most of us will never know who Sky paired our mothers with."

Shadow had briefly speculated about who her father could have been when she was a kit but came to the conclusion that it didn't matter, family was of no importance. That was one of the lessons Aster had ingrained into her since she was only a moon old.

Jupiter looked disturbed, but thankfully he didn't question BloodClan's methods.

"I never knew my father either. He was killed by a badger when my mother was a queen. Mousetail never recovered from her mate dying right before she gave birth to me. She got really distant after that and I was mostly raised by the other queens." He recalled, giving Shadow a small, sad smile.

"Mousefur? I've never heard a name like that before. I- " She searched for the right words, "I'm sorry you didn't know your parents that well." It felt weird saying that, as it was the BloodClan norm, but she felt like she had to say something.

"In the clans, we are given a name at birth, like Snow or Bramble, followed by kit. I used to be Smokekit, after my pelt. When you become an apprentice, you're a 'paw', so I was Smokepaw. When you become a warrior, you get a unique suffix. I never got mine, as soon as we arrived at the two-leg den, we gave ourselves new names. It's better to leave the past behind." Jupiter murmured, a pained look in his amber eyes.

Shadow nodded, intrigued by how different their worlds were. She shoved her half of the prey scraps into the hole Jupiter had finished and helped him scrape the dirt back into it. They worked together quickly and then turned their paws back to the nests.

When Shadow fell asleep that night, there was only one thing on her mind...

Another chapter!! Who is your favorite forest cat so far? Otters has my whole heart, he's so precious! Hope you guys enjoyed, and please comment your feedback, it helps me so much!!

Love you guys <33

[Word Count: 1396]