A pink nose poked out of the bushes, catching a whiff of something fresh. The tiny cat came stumbling out, white pelt blazing in the green bush. Stumbling on three legs, the fluffy pelt shone as the she-cat stretched, shaking her head to clear the fog that still lingered in her head. Another cat came through the leafy bush, her golden pelt sticking out in the sea of green with recovering scars dotting it.

     Snow let out a happy chirp and jumped in a small circle, chasing her tail. "Here! Finally!" she exclaimed, rubbing against Hurricane, who curled her tail around the white cat that she had begun to treat like a daughter. There was another kind of commotion and out came a tan-colored tom, shoulders sagging with exhaustion. The two she-cats glanced over and only one of them looked delighted to see him arrive.

     Lightning stepped out and sat down, looking annoyed, but seeing the two of them well, Hurricane could tell he was glad to see that neither of them had gotten lost or injured - after they snuck away from him, again. She joked and pranced around him claiming it was for Snow's health that she moved around and adjusted to running and fighting with just three legs before they left. Both knew that the tom had sharp senses and could easily pick them out any time of the day.

     "Hurricane," he started out. "I know you're against this idea, but I think it's time we try to find Wildfire."

     "This again?" she repeated, wrapping a paw around Snow, pulling the disabled kit close. "Even if we did go after Wildfire doesn't mean that your father will send cats after you or I. You know how he keeps his threats."

     "You sure talk when you haven't lived with him as long as I have," he snapped back, cold. "If anything, it's reversed."

     "True," she answered, facing Lightning. "But like I keep saying, even though it's only been a moon, are we ready to take any action? With our small group of cats, that's not going to be easy. Especially if some cats are expecting kits."

     "Then we don't take them, it's as simple as that." Lightning flicked his tail impatiently. "For as much as you talk about sticking together as a family, you don't seem very eager to go back and rescue that family." He looked at Snow and she wandered out of Hurricane's grip and made her way back to the small camp they shared with a few other cats. Alone, she smiled and pointed her tail toward the Tribe of Roaming Spirits.

     "Look, I know you want to go back and save Wildfire and I do too. You know that I've visited that territory many times but can't seem to find Firestorm or Blizzard, so I never get updates. I'd like to at least see them before we just barge in and take her back. I know cats who would gladly let us in, but Python still bugs me and makes me wonder what exactly will happen if we're caught. Not to mention he's the leader, and his word overpowers most," she mumbled the last part quietly. "You know Python's never liked me and only kept me around because of my affliction to the Tribe of Shining Suns."

     "And why do you think he kept me around?" Lightning snorted. "Your skills have gotten better, and if you've been able to sneak into his territory and go unnoticed, sticking your nose in his camp shouldn't be any harder."

     "That doesn't mean I worry about her. Wildfire's always going to be Wildfire, there's no changing that, but what if something's changed? Unless you have any idea of what has happened over there, I don't know if he's changed." Hurricane pondered, unleashing her claws to dig out a small diagram on the ground. Lightning peered at her drawing curiously, watching with intense determination.

     She managed to draw out a messy circle in the dirt and made little marks in the soil, representing the small group they had. Her and Lightning acting as a leader of the group - when in reality, they both snuck away from the responsibility and let the cats who had the skills to lead take over. There was Fern, the determined yet hard-working she-cat they had found during a hunt, and the calico she-cat promised to help them with their goal, promising them what little strength she had. Vixen had originally gone after Snow, thinking the white she-kit would be a good bargaining chip for prey, and after Lightning caught her in a trap, she settled down and grew close to Wasp, the golden tom Hurricane trusted her life with.

     The other toms, Swallow and Dust, had been traveling the place in search of a home after surviving for so long after the Tribe of Shining Suns destroyed their home. Hurricane constantly had to take trips and visits to them to remind them they weren't out for revenge, and rather, a better solution to a life where perfect and imperfect cats could live in. The last she-cat of the group, Freckle, was expecting kits, mate to Swallow. Snow mainly stayed near the spotted she-cat's side, but when she learned that both Lightning and she were going out for a hunt or just a long walk, she'd be quick to join them.

     Their forces were small, but Hurricane was happy with it. Gathering cats that supported neither side was rare, and finding cats that were willing to fight by her side was like pulling fleas from a clean pelt. The nights didn't seem so long and time seemed to have slowed for a few moments, giving her the chance to relax and spend time with the other cats.

     But she never forgot the three Storm Siblings that resided in the claws of Python and the four cats that had grown up with her all the way back in a nightmarish paradise.

     One day, she promised. One day, I'll see you guys again.

     "Stop spacing out," Lightning remarked. "Sitting here in silence makes things awkward. Plus, I'd prefer it if the cat who I'm trying to talk to responds once and a while."

     "Most of the time it's me that has to wake you up," she countered. "All right, if we want to sneak in and grab Wildfire, it has to be the two of us and maybe Wasp."

     "But you need him back to watch over the camp," Lightning noted. "Unless you plan to do this at midnight."

     "I plan to do it at that time. That's the time when Python's most active, but that's also the time when Wildfire might have the freedom to get up and move around. I can't imagine her state right now, always lying in her nest waiting for the next day to pass."

     Lightning rolled his eyes. "If you're so worried about her, why don't we go tonight? I know you want to gather her, Blizzard, and Firestorm. Your next goal is to find Magnolia and Leopard? Or are you just giving up on that entirely?"

     "No, not yet," she answered, looking in the direction of the Training Den. "I feel like there's a chance we can go out and find them. My mother told us that she might be around that den. The best thing I can do is go there and ask if they have any idea how to end the Tribe of Shining Suns."

     "And let Father take over? I'd rather see those cats you call siblings leading that tribe than him."

     "Isn't that surprising, for once, you aren't saying anything bad about them," Hurricane noted, not paying him much attention. "I'm more worried about what we're going to do. I know that tribe by heart, but never once have I seen a group of cats walk to the Training Den with a new batch of kits. I wonder what's happened over there."

     "You miss them," a part of her whispered. "You want to see them even after everything that happened."

     "This is just a guess, but do you think if we managed to beat them, would they finally give in and listen to you? The last time you tried talking to them didn't go so well and when they did, they weren't in the best mood." Lightning closed his eyes and let out a hiss between his teeth. Hurricane let out a sigh and locked eyes with him, standing her ground.

     "I try not to think of them, but I think of them every day. It hurts to see them broken and without Cardinal with them anymore. They lost a family member in that battle..."

     Lightning's eyes flashed with hurt and Hurricane immediately stopped talking. There was one cat that they had lost as well, way before the battle happened. She turned her head away from the mountain and walked past him, passing by coldly. Her ears flicked, hearing the tom follow her distantly, saying nothing as their thoughts connected to one cat. A sassy, bratty, but fiercely loyal black and white calico Storm Sibling with the power and strength of a crashing wave.

     One that was struck down by rogues.

     She shook her head clean of Tsunami's image, entering the little camp, greeted by Snow with a small bump on the shoulder. Wasp looked up from his spot and looked delighted seeing her back, and then the grin in his eyes doubled at the sight of Lightning, who didn't make eye contact. Speckle was resting in the shade of a tree with Vixen attempting to climb it, sharpening her claws as she chatted up a storm with the black cat. The only one who was busily rushing back and forth was Fern, curious and confused glances trailing her by Swallow, unsure whether to join in and help the hard-working she-cat.

     Hurricane, before Lightning could completely slip away, trotted over to the small den they shared and flicked her tail inside, and he raised an eyebrow. He gave in and the two slipped in, blocking out the commotion from outside.

     "What is it?" asked Lightning.

     "Tonight, will you go with me to get Wildfire? Waiting to find Firestorm or Blizzard might take too long. I don't want to make anyone wait any longer then they have to," she proposed. "The best thing we can do is slip in and hopefully find someone like Sheer, Lizard, or Butterfly. If it's a cat like Viper---"

     "I'll take him," he suggested. "I know you stand no chance against him, and if Wildfire or Blizzard found out that you were murdered as you were trying to save them, then they'd go mad and possibly get themselves killed in the process."

     Do you doubt me? Hurricane wanted to say that, but she kept her tongue down and forced her fur to lie flat.

     "If I happen to run into Sheer, I'd like to take him with us," Lightning said. "I think he'd make a good member of this small group."

     "Yeah, that sounds good with me," she answered. "Having another ally will be nice. Perhaps Butterfly will join us if she finds out that Wildfire is leaving. Speaking of her, does she know that her friend isn't dead?"

      "I don't know, I didn't go back with her because someone had to invite me to go with you," he retorted, narrowing his eyes at her mockingly. "Great choice, by the way."

     "And I don't hear you complaining too much." Hurricane poked her head out of the entrance, her eyes trailing in the direction of the Tribe of Roaming Spirits. That was where Wildfire was waiting for some cat to free her. She felt a tingle of excitement nip at her paws at the thought of reuniting with a cat that liked her and didn't want to kill her on spot.

     Hurricane kept her snickering to herself at the thought of Arrow or Serval's raging outbursts at the sight of her. Out of her birth family, she figured Maple and Blaze wouldn't be too bothered by her appearance, but she knew that approaching them could mean danger and she didn't want to meet her death by the claws of her older brother or sister. Neither of her remaining younger siblings would want to see her - except one, but she had passed away. Dandelion, maybe, but she figured that the old she-cat had her own problems to deal with.

     The Storm Siblings were a different story, and Hurricane felt a sense of security around them, even if she knew that there was something that held them back. Something that held them back, but getting called as their sister and welcomed into their home was more than enough. True family or not, Hurricane couldn't ask for a better group and only hoped all four of them saw her as a valuable member of their pack.

     Lightning nodded and looked out with her, eyes set on the same camp as her. "That sounds good, I'll go with you."

     "Great," she said. "If this goes well, we might be in the right trail to victory, Lightning."