The sky was black, with the glimmer of stars providing faint light from up above. The forest was almost quiet, the sounds of crickets chirping filling the cat's ears.

She padded through the dense woods, eyes wary. She hadn't been here before. The customs and ways of the wild were foreign to the cat. Her paw steps crunched the leaves, making noise. She was oblivious to the danger.

Suddenly, a heavy weight bowled her off her paws. The cat fell with an oof. Gazing above, she met a pair of yellow eyes.

"Who are you?" A voice hissed, pinning her down with sharpened claws. The she-cat winced. "I-I..." she tried to respond, but the cat dug their claws in harder.

"Oakley!" Another voice called. "Who is that?"

The she-cat watched as three more cats padded into view. In the lead was a long haired white she-cat. Her blue gaze bore into the cat who had the she-cat pinned down.

"Well, Frostine, it appears we have an intruder," the cat sneered. As he moved, the she-cat began to see his fur. He was a reddish-brown tomcat. His fur was thick and held stripes on his face, legs and tail. His yellow eyes reflected his prideful nature.

"An intruder, you say?" The white cat, Frostine, repeated Oakley's claim. When the Tom nodded, she narrowed her eyes. "Get off her. Let's give this scrap of fur the chance to defend herself," she ordered.

Oakley looked as if he was about to protest, but a sharp glare from Frostine allowed him to give in. He stepped off the she-cat, who staggered as she rise up to her paws.

"Stranger," Frostine's icy words were now directed at the she-cat. "Who are you?"

The she-cat shuffled her paws. "M-My name is Audrey," she began nervously. Her brown tabby pelt was fluffed outwards with fear. "I-I lives in the big twolegplace about a few days of walking from here, and I-"

Audrey was interrupted by a shocked gasp as one of the cats in Frostine's patrol raced towards her. "You're from the big twolegplace?" He asked her once more.

As the brown tabby nodded quickly, the cat glanced back at Oakley and Frostine. "Maybe she knows what happened to Lightning!" He meowed eagerly. When Audrey gazed at him with confusion, he turned back to her and explained. "Lightning is our leader. He's been missing for over a moon now. He said he was going to the big twolegplace to visit some allies that we have there. But he never returned..."

Now, Audrey could've told the truth. She had never heard of any cat called Lightning. Maybe she could use this to her advantage.

"What does he look like?" She asked, her voice quavering.

The blue-grey tabby who had approached her flicked his tail. "He's a big ginger tomcat. His eyes are a bright yellow, and he has one bitten ear, thick fur, and, oh! Some scars on his tail, too,"

Audrey widened her eyes. "I think I saw a cat like that," she needs innocently. "But I couldn't talk to him. He had been hit on one of the big Thunderpaths, by the look of him,"

All four cats froze. The other she-cat in the patrol let out a wail. Frostine and the grey tabby's tails dropped. Even Oakley looked sad, his eyes dim.

"He can't be dead!" The she-cat protested, but Frostine held out her tail.

"I choose to trust this Audrey cat," the white she-cat responded. "Lightning would never abandon our group, unless he had no choice,"

Frostine nodded to the brown tabby. "Thank you for telling us this," she hesitated, choosing her words carefully. "Would you like to cone back to our camp? It is the least you can do, considering how much this conversation has benefited my camp mates and I,"

Audrey blinked. She hadn't expected an invitation so quickly. "If that's alright. I don't want to intrude where I'm not welcome,"

Oakley let out a snort, while Frostine nodded. "Then it is decided. Oakley, you and Ocelot will finish the patrol. Minerva, you and I will escort Audrey to our camp,"

As the two cats guided Audrey to their camp, a wave of wonder filled the brown tabby head to tail.

Say, I wonder how many good things will happen to me if I bend the truth a little, she pondered to herself.