Brindlestar was running for her life.

Her paws barely touched the ground before she was already mid-stride once more, nimbly leaping through tall grasses and weaving through a maze of trees. Her pursuers grew close, their determined yowls and hisses of frustration filling the otherwise silent night. Those whom she had once trusted now turned on her like starving wolves, wanting nothing more than to tear her to shreds.

Rather suddenly, she was blindsided by a heavy force that knocked her off her paws. She hit the ground hard and tumbled through the thicket, thorns and branches snagging her fur. She was scarcely able to scramble to her paws before a cat exploded from the undergrowth in a blur of black fur, teeth bared and claws extended. The tom tackled her to ground, using his larger body to overpower her as she struggled to escape.

"Pathetic!" He spat with a flash of his fangs. "I'm going to take every single one of your lives, making sure you suffer each and every time StarClan makes the mistake of reviving you. And I'm going to enjoy it because you deserve nothing less, you flea-bitten coward!"

Brindle winced as his claws dug into her shoulder blades. "This will get you nowhere, Hazefall! StarClan will not stand for it!" She hissed, knowing her attempts were futile.

There was no reasoning with someone as deranged as Hazefall had become.

"I beg to differ! They shall only watch as I stain the soil with your blood!" Hazefall yowled, lifting his paw to strike a blow to her neck.

Brindle's eyes widened in horror. Before he could land the killing blow, however, another cat lunged from the thicket and took him to the ground. It was Flintnose, RidgeClan's medicine cat.

"Brindlestar, go! Hurry!" Flintnose urged, his silver hackles raised as he stood over the fallen Hazefall.

Brindle hesitated, caught between defending her clanmate and escaping while she had the chance. She gave Flintnose one final look of longing as her ears pinned against her head.

"I'll come back for you, Flint! I'll come back for everyone! I promise!" She yowled.

Flintnose smiled as he glanced over his shoulder at her. "I know, now go!"

She nodded and turned to dart into the undergrowth despite how badly she wanted to stay. Her duty was with her clan, but she knew that she could not stay. It was too dangerous for her. As she pushed herself to run faster, she couldn't help but wonder if this was the last time she would ever see her clanmates.

Would RidgeClan survive without her?

Only time would tell.

•
•
•

"—ou think they're dead?"

"No. I saw their paw twitch."

"Maybe you're just seeing things."

"I know what I saw, Scuff."

Faint voices trickled into her ears, stirring her from slumber.

A soft groan escaped Brindle as she was coaxed back into consciousness. Her eyes fluttered open, everything around her becoming blurry for a few seconds as her vision cleared.

Where was she? She didn't remember falling asleep. Last night was only a blur in her mind.

"Hey, they're waking up!" One of the voices exclaimed.

"Where.. am I..?" Brindle croaked, struggling to lift her head. "What happened... to the forest?"

Two cats stood over her. One was a young tom with blue-grey fur and the other was an older calico shecat. The tom looked no older than an apprentice. Was the shecat his mentor?

Fear instantly struck her. Had she accidentally entered another clan's territory in her rush to escape?

"The forest?" The shecat tilted her head, then chuckled. "We're a long ways away from the forest. Is that where you came from?"

Brindle swallowed thickly as she unsteadily pushed herself into a sitting position. Every muscle in her body absolutely ached, weakened by the previous night's excursion.

"Yes.." She murmured, looking up at them. "What is this place?"

"Cats call it different names depending on where they're from. We just call it the Sweeping Plains." The shecat answered. "Oh, I guess we should introduce ourselves. I'm Blister, that's Scuff." She gestured to the tom with her head.

Fear etched itself deeper into Brindle's heart. They were rogues. She was in rogue territory. Just how far had she traveled overnight? And why hadn't they tried to kill her yet?

"Don't you have a name?" Scuff interrupted her train of thought, his curious amber gaze intently trained on her.

"A n-name?" Brindle sputtered without even thinking, causing a hot wave of embarrassment to wash over her.

Of course she had a name! However, it was a clan name. If they figured out she was a clan cat, they would certainly kill her for trespassing. She had to think of something—fast.

Suddenly, as if the memory had been summoned by StarClan themselves, she recalled a nickname that her mother used to call her as a kit.

"Hawk. My name is Hawk." She stated.

"Hawk? I like it!" Blister said with a smile. "You must have sharp eyesight, then."

Relief washed out the embarrassment and Brindle forced an uneasy smile. "Yeah, you could say that."

She rose to her paws, shaking out her unkempt fur. It would probably take ages to pull every leaf, thorn, and burr from her pelt.

"Are we going to take her back to camp? Aster won't be pleased." Scuff asked as he turned to Blister, bearing a slight scowl.

Blister rolled her eyes. "He will be when I tell him we found another hunter. Besides, she's fit and strong. I can see that without even having to test her." She went over to Brindle's side and gave her shoulder an encouraging nudge. "What do you say, Hawk? Wanna join our little band of ragtags?"

Brindle wasn't used to such casual conversation. Frankly, the entire encounter had confused her beyond belief, but at least these rogues were treating her kindly. The least she could do was return the favor. It wasn't like she had much of a choice in the matter, anyway. She couldn't return to RidgeClan.

She smiled and gave an affirming nod. "I don't see why not."

"Great!" Blister exclaimed, her eyes lighting up with excitement. "Let's get a move on, then! Our camp is just beyond that ridge over there."

As she padded alongside Blister, Brindle faced an internal conflict. Every instinct she had was screaming at her to run as far as she could from this place. Clan cats never worked with rogues, let alone became a member of their group!

But she wasn't a clan cat anymore, was she? StarClan had yet to revoke her seven remaining lives and strip her of her title. Did that mean they still believed she was the true leader of RidgeClan? If so, was she destined to return someday and take back her rightful place as leader?

These swirling thoughts gave her a headache, so she pushed them aside in order to focus on the present. This ordeal must be part of the path StarClan had laid out for her. It was the only possible way she could convince herself that it was meant to happen.