The Unwelcome

Prolouge
"We're driving you out, Thickfurs!" a golden tabby she-cat hissed. They were in the alleys of Twolegplace, and the golden she-cat was one of many hissing cats surrounding Naida's group of cats.

"Why are you driving us away from our homes?" hissed a black tom at Naida's shoulder. "When you are the ones who intrude on our territory?"

"We need the prey, and we don't need you!" hissed the she-cat, unsheathing her claws. In less than a second her entire group launced themselves at Naida's group, turning the alleyway into a bloody battlefield.

"We must leave, Night Wind!" I called, referring to the black tom, whom was my brother. "We are outnumbered!"

"Come on, Star!" Night Wind called into the group of fighting cats. A ginger-golden she-cat with yellow eyes lit with battle ememrged. Star joined my aide while Night Wind retrived the rest of the group from the fighting, one by one. Star and Naida tried to help, but he snapped at them and told them he could do it by himself.

Suddenly Naida was choked and fell to the ground disgusting, twoleg garbage filling her nose as it was pressed into a dirty puddle. Although she couldn't see, or smell through the garbage, she could tell it was the enemy golden tabby she-cat. Star tried to attack her, but she drove her back. She was tugging on her collar, cutting off her airways. The little metal heart-shaped tags stabbed into her throat and she gasped for air.

Suddenly, Naida could breath and stand again. She jumped up and scrabbled after my attacker, to find Night Wind had pushed her off Naida. The group fled, leaving the hostile golden tbaby she-cat behind. "We will find a new home." Naida assured Star as they ran.

Chapter 1: Flameheart
Flameheart crouched in the shadows. She gazed at the snow rabbit less than a tail-length away. She bunched her muscles and pounced. She landed square on the rabbit's back dug her claws into its soft white fur. She bit its neck then started digging in the soft snow. She dug deep in and dropped the rabbit into the hole. She scraped the snow over it, hiding it.

Suddenly, she heard a thump behind her. She turned and saw her daughter, Snowpaw, looking annoyed. "What was that?" Flameheart asked Snowpaw.

"She threw a snow ball at you." meowed a white and black tom.

"Don't be a tattle-tale, Flutterstar!" Snowpaw purred at her mentor. Flutterstar smiled, and Flameheart's whiskers twitched with amusement. Other leaders would have scolded Snowpaw and banished her from leaving camp for a moon. However, Flutterstar was kind to his apprentice, unless she really needed tough love.

Flameheart turned away from HailClan territory and meowed, "I have to go, Flutterstar, Snowpaw. Have fun with your training session." Flameheart was deputy of HailClan, but was staying with FreezeClan for awhile with her brother, Tabbysnow. Tabbysnow had been injured by a snow fox and chased into FreezeClan territory. FreezeClan took care of him, but he was still too injured to return home. Flutterstar agreed to let them keep Tabbysnow until he was better, on the condition that a HailClan warrior would stay with them. Flameheart voulenteered.

Flameheart padded down a path to the Snow Rabbit Hollow, a place in FreezeClan territory that always had rabbits. She suddenly sunk through the well-trotten path to her chest. She struggled out and gazed up at the sky. It was unusually hot, and the snow was getting soft. She hoped that the snow wouldn't melt. She had been raised in snow, and didn't know how to cope in hot weather.

Chapter 2: Tabbysnow
Tabbysnow flicked his ears as a strange creature flew around him. "What is it?" he asked, the tiny bug-like thing buzzing in his ear.

"I looks..." pondered a golden she-cat sitting next to him, Lightheart. "I think... Hm.."

"I think it looks like a horsefly, only black and yellow." meowed a blue-gray she-cat (Frostfern), pawing at it in the air.

"What's a horsefly?" Tabbysnow asked, flicking his ears again as the creature buzzed around his head.

"It's a flying bug that bites Twolegs." Frostfern replied. "I used to catch them when I was a kit."

"You were around Twolegs as a kit?" Tabbysnow asked, surprised.

"I went exploring one time, when I was a troublesome little kit." Frostfern tipped her head back and stared at the bracken-and-ice weaved celiling to the Medicine Den they were sitting in. "Lightheart and I both left camp, but once we got far off, we got seperated. Lightheart ran into a patrol and was taken back to camp. I ran into a Twoleg campsite and was kidnapped. I was a Kittypet for a moon before I could escape and come home."

"Wow, sounds like a big adventure for a little kit." Tabbysnow meowed, pawing at the creature in the air.

"Hehe, because you never had big adventures as a kit." Lightheart jabbed him playfully with her paw. "I remember you and Flameheart leading the other clans home after they had left.

"They weren't that far." Tabbysnow batted at some moss in his nest and averted his eyes.

"You're too modest." Frostfern meowed.

Tabbysnow flicked his ear as the creature landed on it again. "I can't take it, this thing is so annoying!" he hissed, swatting the bug-like thing. He stood, slowly and painfully because of his injuries. "I'm going to go find something to do."

"Don't strain yourself too hard!" Frostfern mewed after him, standing and disappearing into the herb store while Tabbysnow and Lightheart padded out of the den.

"Is it just me or is it really hot?" Lightheart panted as they emerged into the sunshine.

"Not just you." Tabbysnow glanced up at the blazing sun. "Hope it doesn't melt all the snow."

"Don't worry, it's never too hot for long." Lightheart assured him. The two cats peeked into the nursery and saw a litter of kits rolling around inside.

"I wanna go outisde!" meowed a yellow-golden she-cat with white patches, Brightkit.

"You can't go outisde, not without someone to watch you." meowed a white and blue queen, flicking Brightkit with her tail.

"We'll watch them, Frostbite." Lightheart meowed.

"Sure." Frostbite meowed, prodding Brightkit and the others out into camp. She turned around and went inside to take a nap while her kits played.

"Is it just me, or is Frostbite really tired lately?" Tabbysnow meowed, settling down out of earshot of the playing kits.

"She's been continuing with her warrior duties, so she hasn't had much time with the kits." Lightheart replied, laying next to Tabbysnow. As they watched the kits playing, they unconsiously leaned against each other, rubbing their pelts together.

"I'm Brightstar!" Brightkit meowed, climbing the fresh-kill pile and standing tall.

"If you're leader, then I get to be deputy!" meowed a blue and white she-cat, Frostkit.

"Your name will be Frostheart!" Brightstar meowed, flicking her sister's head with her tail.

"Yippie!" Frostkit meowed.

"I'll be a warrior, Snowfall!" meowed a tom that looked exactly like Frostkit, Snowkit.

"And I'll be Star, leader of StarClan and protector of KitClan!" meowed a white and golden she-cat, Icekit.

Lightheart and Tabbysnow exchanged a glance and purred with laughter.

Chapter 3: Polarpaw
Polarpaw was curled in her nest, snoring soundly. She felt so peaceful, like nothing could possibly go wrong on a beautiful day like this. Suddenly, she was awoken from her partly-awake state by a jab in the side.

She leaped up and saw a gray tom apprentice poking her with his claw. "I was sleeping, Shiverpaw!" Polarpaw pouted at her brother.

"Snoweagle wanted you to go battle training, and said you'd slept long enough." Shiverpaw mumbled apoligetically. Polarpaw frowned,ever since she had discovered his secret power, her brother had seemed frail and weak. She wasn't the only one who had noticed; Shiverpaw's mentor, Snowmelt, entered the apprentice cave at that moment and flicked his apprentice's ear with his tail.

"Shiverpaw, you really should stop being so afraid and jumpy." he frowned when Shiverpaw jumped at the touch. Then the black and white tom looked over to Polarpaw. "Come on, Snoweagle said that we could do battle training together."

"Great!" Polarpaw bounced out of the tunnel and into the main cavern of HailClan's camp followed by Smowmelt and Shiverpaw. The gray tom was hanging his head and his tail dragged on the ground, making a line in the dust on the floor. Polarpaw gave a worried glance over her shoulder at her brother before she collided with something solid and fluffy.

"Keep your eyes....peeled!" Snoweagle meowed, playfully smacking his apprentice with his paw on his last word. Polarpaw fell, but jumped to her paws and swatted playfully at her mentor with both paws, claws sheathed. Snoweagle was a snow-white tom with dark tabby patches, just like Tabbysnow, for he was Tabbysnow's and Flameheart's father; making him Polarpaw's grandfather along with mentor.

"Let's go, Polarpaw." Snoweagle meowed, smiling. Snoweagle turned and padded away, taking long strides so Polarpaw would have to trot to keep up. Behind them Snowmelt padded, slowing his pace so he could have a whispered coversation with Shiverpaw. Poalrpaw wondered what they were talking about, but they would notice her if she dropped back to eavesdrop.

Chapter 4: Shiverpaw
Shiverpaw avoided gazing into the stern eyes of his mentor as Snowmelt stared at him. "Shiverpaw, is there something wrong?" Snowmelt asked, blinking at him.

Shiverpaw shook his head, not trusting himself to speak. Polarpaw had told him and Snowpaw not to tell anyone about the prophecy and their powers. "No." he whispered, still not meeting his mentor's eyes.

"I know there is, you've been acting really odd lately." Snowmelt poked him with his unusually pink nose, trying to make his apprentice face him. Shiverpaw flinched away, trying to speed up and walk with his sister. However, Snowmelt stopped dead and grabbed the little gray tom's tail in his teeth, dragging him back.

"Ow! Ow! Ow!" Shiverpaw squealed, trying to pull away. Snowmelt let go of his tail once he had dragged him back far enough, then blocked his way with a paw.

"There's a difference right there, Shiverpaw." Snowmelt meowed sternly. "Whenever I used to pul your tail, you'd just pretend it didn't hurt and swat me!"

Shiverpaw stopped trying to dodge around his mentor and dipped his head, voice quieting down. "There's nothing wrong, I... just..." Shiverpaw suddenly leaped over Snowmelt's paw and raced ahead, clearly not wanting to continue talking with his mentor.

Chapter 5: Naida
Naida shivered as a chilling wind blew snow into her fur and nose. She stumbled on, leading her group of loners through the snowy land. Her loners all had thick fur, unlike the group that had chased them out of twolegplace, but they still weren't used to cold temperatures.

"Naida!" came a yowl. Naida flipped around to see her brother, Night Wind, pointing at the ground.

"What is it?" Naida asked, padding over to the black tom. When she was at his side, she saw he was pointing at a hole in the ground. Actually, he was pointing at a bit of blue blanket that was covering the hole.

Naida poked her nose inside and scented other cats. The hole was about two tail-lengths tall and one tail-length wide, and was hidden in between two big piles of snow. The only reason Night Wind had found it was because the snow around it was melting. It was in the side of a rock cliff that blocked snow from comign in behind.

"There's othe rcats in there." Night Wind meowed, "I'm surprised they haven't noticed us."

Naida flicked her tail. "Go back in the group, Night Wind." she meowed. Night Wind looked like he was going to protest, but his sister had that look in her eyes. He turned and trotted back into the group of loners, which was waiting about a tree-length away.

Naida poked her nose inside again and called, "Hello?"

Chapter 6: Polarpaw
Polarpaw froze. Snoweagle froze beside her. When Shiverpaw caught up to them, he stopped dead, right before slamming into his sister. Snowmelt padded up behind them, wondering what was wrong, then he scented it, to.

"Hello?" the voice called again. Polarpaw was the first to move, darting froward. She reached under the twoleg-thing covering the cave and sunk her claws into the stranger's quick as lightning. She dragged her in and tossed her into the cave, flicking her tail for Snoweagle to join her blocking the cave entrance.

The stranger smelled like Twolegplace, she was a tortiseshell-and-tabby she-cat with green eyes and a purple collar with little metal hearts as tags. The tags had some Twoleg symbols on them, but no clan cat could read them.

"Who are you?" Snowmelt hissed, jumping in front of the stranger. The loner cowered on the floor, eyes wide with fear a tthe sight of all these cats with bulging muscles. Even the cat who was no more than a kit had pulled her inside with surprising strength.

Chapter 7: Flutterstar
Flutterstar padded after his appprentice, the blinding sunlgiht burning his fur. However, Snowpaw had inherited her mother's, Flameheart's, short fur, and was blissfully unaware of the heat. Suddenly, up ahead, Snowpaw froze.

"What is i-" but Flutterstar stopped the second he scented what had made Snowpaw stop. He raced ahead, suddenly forgetting the heat, toward the cave.

Flutterstar suddenly met a big group of loners outside his cave. "What are you doing in HailClan territory?" he asked them, hissing and fur bristling.

"We're waiting for Naida!" called one loner, from the middle of the group. "She went inside and hasn't come back out!" the speaker emerged from the group, revealing himself to be a strong, black tom. For a moment, Flutterstar was sure he recognized him, but couldn't place where he had seen him.

"Who's Naida?" Snowpaw asked, meeting her mentor and joining his side.

"You loners need to get out of our territory!" Flutterstar hissed before anyone could answer the apprentice. Then suddenly, something registered in his mind. This... Naida, she (or he) was inside the cave! He turned to the cave and raced inside to find a tortiseshell-and-tabby she-cat in the center of camp.

"What is the loner doing in here?" he hissed.

"We were chased out of our home." the she-cat explained quickly. "We need a place to call home."

"You can't stay here, this is HailClan territory!" Flutterstar hissed. Icecrack appeared out of nowhere and flicked her leader's ear with her tail, a signal to say that she wasn't dangerous and to calm down.

"We just need a spot to live and some prey," the she-cat begged, "This could be the perfect place for us to live! We have thick furs, and we could catch snow rabbits, and if enough of us work together, we can bring down a snow fox!"

Flutterstar raised his head and flicked his ears in surprise, "You want prey? Why do you think we would give you prey?"

"I'm sure there's enough to spare." the she-cat meowed, stepping forward hopefully.

"Enough to spare!" Flutterstar seemed to glow with sudden anger. "These are hard times, and we have a lot of cats and clans! We barely have enough wtihout feeding random strangers that just waltz into our territory and steal our food!"

The she-cat didn't answer for awhile, then padded past Flutterstar and sat in the exit to the cave, eyes suddenly full of anger. "If you refuse to give us home, we will drive you out of yours and take it, like what happened to us with those Thinpelts!" and the she-cat slipped away, leaving the cave in silence.

Chapter 8: Flameheart
Flameheart sighed and licked her paw as she waited, the sunlight beating down on her fur. She hardly noticed this, however, because her pelt was very thin. She was waiting for Frostbite, a FreezeClan warrior, to return with his prey. Flameheart had her prey at her paws, two snow rabbits and a small Arctic Tern.

"You copied me!" exclaimed a voice. A white and blue-ish tom padded out of the forest of Evergreens over to Flameheart, dropping two snow rabbits and an Arctic Tern, the same as Flameheart.

"You copied me!" Flameheart purred with laughter. "I got back first!"

"I guess we'll have to hunt again, or just call it a tie." Frostbite meowed. Flameheart and Frostbite had been in a small competition between the tow of them- who could catch the most prey?

"Naw, your Arctic Tern is bigger than mine." Flameheart meowed, poking the small, dead bird in front of her.

"But your snow rabbits are biger than mine." Frostbite meowed, "Come on, let's bury these and go hunting again!"

"I guess FreezeClan won't mind the extra prey." Flameheart sighed. The two cats buried the fresh-kill in the snow, then padded into two different directions.

After a few minutes, Flameheart came upon a huge snow rabbit. she snuck up on it and pounced, but the snow crunched under her paws and the rabbit took off. She ran after it, but it shot down a hole. she followed it and hooked its fluffy tail with her claws. The rabbbit kept trying to run, but Flameheart dragged it backwards as hard as she could. She eventually tugged it out of the hole and pinned it to the ground, killing it quickly.

"That was more trouble than it was worth." Flameheart sighed. She picked it up in her jaws and dug in the snow to bury it.

Suddenly, something slammed into her side. She dropped the rabbit as her attacker pinned her on her back in the snow. She shook the snow out of her eyes and looked up at the she-cat. It was a golden tabby she-cat, hissing at her. She must be a loner.

Suddenly, the she-cat stopped hissing and gave Flameheart a curious look. "Don't I know you, Clankitty?" she asked.

"I dunno." Flameheart meowed. while the she-cat was distracted, she heaved her off and stood quickly. However, instead of attacking Flameheart again, the golden she-cat grabbed her dead snow rabbit and ran off. "She was just stealing prey!" Flameheart hissed to herself.

She gathered her strength for a sprint and raced after the she-cat. She ran for a long time, and just when she got tired, the she-cat ahead of her stopped. Flameheart stopped, too. They seemed to have come upon a camp, right on the border in between FreezeClan and HailClan. She watched the golden she-cat carry the snow rabbit and drop it in front of a tortiseshell-tabby she-cat. The two started eating, but, suddenly, a black tom emerged out of nowhere and knocked the golden she-cat aside, meowing, "Don't eat without me!"

Flameheart suddenly felt as though she would drown. She knew the loners were bad news, but she wasn't worried about that. There was something about the black tom. "Night Wind..." she murmured, eyes wide in fright. "Not him... Anyone but him..." She started breathing hard. She was in panic. What if he told? What if he did it again? She felt her paws carrying her away from the loner camp, panting hard. Before long, she tripped and fell into the melting snow. She lay there, crying.

Frostbite found her, panting and crying int eh snow,a nd helped her to her paws. "What happened?" he asked, but Flameheart refused to tell. He brought her back to camp, and Frostfern gave her an herb for shock. She still refused to say anything, and just sat next to Tabbysnow. Her brother knew, but if Flameheart didn't want to tell anyone else, he wouldn't say a word.

Chapter 9: Polarpaw
Polarpaw paced in circles, impatient. She was waiting for Snowpaw and Shiverpaw. They were going out hunting alone, Snowealge had permitted it.

Polarpaw suddenly looked up, and found herself face-to-face with Flutterstar. She back up slightly, moving away from the large tom's gray-tinted muzzle. "I have a mission for you." Flutterstar whispered.

"A mission?" Polarpaw asked, surprised, "for me?"

"Yes," 'Flutterstar nodded, sitting next to her, "Well, for your littermates, too. I need you to find the loners' camp."

"Why?"

"Because we need to know where they've settled down, they could be easy to block in and drive out if they're in the rock cleft near twolegplace, but if they're near ShiverClan territory, they'll be tough to drive out." Flutterstar whispered. He flicked his ears at the entrance to the apprentice's den tunnel as Shiverpaw and Snowpaw emerged. "You tell them, then you'd best be off."

"Yes, sir." Polarpaw meowed.

"But remember," Flutterstar meowed stermly, "don't make yourself known to the loners, and above all, don't attack anyone or let anyone attack you." the leader turned and trotted away as Polarpaw's littermates approached.

"What did Flutterstar want?" Snowpaw asked, her eyes following the old tom slip into his den.

"He told me that we're going on a secret mission!" Polarpaw whispered excitedly. She quickly explained the mission to her littermates, and Snowpaw quivered with joy, while Shiverpaw seemed afraid.

"W-We have to do WHAT?" He asked, shivering with fear. As he shivered, the world shook.

"Earthquake!" one of the warrior hissed. Most cats hid in their dens, while other raced out of the cave/camp.

"Ccaalllmmm dddooowwwnnn, SSSShhivvverpppaww!" Snowpaw meowed, her voice shaky because of the vibrations. Polarpaw reachedforward with both front paws and held his shoulder, trying to make him stop shaking. Shiverpaw tensed his muscles and worked hard to make himself stop shivering. The world stopped shaking, and Snowpaw sgihed with relief.

"You gotta learn how to control that." Polarpaw meowed, "That almost got really bad."

"You never used to be such a scaredy cat," Snowpaw pointed out, "You finding out you have this power has turned you into a quivering mouse instead of a brave warrior."

Shiverpaw hissied in annoyance at Snowpaw, but Polarpaw smacked him with her paw. "Believe it or not, Snowpaw's actually got a pont." She meowed, "But that's for another time. First, we need to find those loners."

Chapter 10: Polarpaw
The three apprentices padded through the melting snow. Polarpaw and Shiverpaw were burning in the sun, but snowpaw was trotting along happily, her short pelt not as bad as her littermates' thick coats.

"I scent that snow-brained tortiseshell-tabby she-cat from earlier." Polarpaw meowed, lifting her nose to sniff the air.

"Great!" Snowpaw trotted along behind Polarpaw while Shiverpaw padded sullenly in the back, his head bent and his tail dragging in the slushy snow. teh three apprentices followed the scent until they came to the FreezeClan border.

"They're in FreezeClan territory?" snowpaw asked, leaning forward to flick her sister ont eh ear with her tail.

"I can't tell, the scent is drowned by this stupid FreezeClan scent." Polarpaw sighed.

"Could you scent them again on the other side of the border?" Snowpaw asked, a mischvious glint in her blue eyes.

"No way!" Polarpaw meowed, stomping her paw into the slushy snow, accidentally splashing their pelts with sludge. "Sorry." She meowed, then continued, "We're not tresspassing in another clan's territory! What if we met a patrol?"

"But did Flutterstar ever say anything against crossing into a another clan's territory?" Snowpaw asked, licking the sludge out of her chest fur.

"Flutterstar didn't, the Warrior Code did!" Polarpaw snapped.

Snowpaw spat the sludge off her tounge, it tasted disgusting. The melting snow must have mixed with the mud beneath. "Well, he gave us a mission. The mission is to locate the Loners' camp. Flutterstar didn't say anything about what to do if the camp is in another clan's territory."

Polarpaw knew it was no good to argue with her sister. In their little litter, Snowpaw was the happy, cheery one, she was the practical one,a nd Shiverpaw was the brave one. Or, Shiverpaw had been the brave one, now he was scared all the time, and timid.

"Fine." Polarpaw meowed, and the three padded over the border. After a long tiem of walking around aimlessely, Polarpaw still couldn't find their scent. "This is hopeless." She sighed. "Let's go back."

"Wait, let's just look around a bit more." Snowpaw meowed, "Maybe we can look for mom and Tabbysnow before we leave!"

"Stop trying to get us in trouble!" Polarpaw hissed, turning around. "Let's get back before a patrol finds us."

"It's too late for that." came a voice. All three apprentices flipped around and came face-to-face with a FreezeClan patrol.. A white and blue-ish tom led the patrol.

"What are three HailClan apprentices doing so far into our territroy?" he asked them.

"Wait, I know these cats." meowed a she-cat. She was a pretty golden she-cat, and she seemed familair. Suddenly, Polarpaw remembered that she was one of the FreezeClan cats to come and report why Tabbysnow was staying with them.

"You're Lightheart." Polarpaw meowed, dipping her head. However, Snowpaw wasn't quite as polite. She raced forward and sniffed Lightheart's paws. "Snowpaw!" Polarpaw hissed, and Snowpaw raced back to Polarpaw's side and dipped her head too. "Honestly, are you a kit?" Polarpaw whispered out of the side of her mouth.

"I think we should bring them back to camp." Lightheart told the tom. "They're Flameheart's kits, they probably just came to visit her."

The tom sighed, "Fine."

Chapter 11: Tabbysnow

 * The night before*

Lightheart and Tabbysnow padded along in the moonlight. "you're so pretty in teh moonlight." Tabbysnow meowed, "It makes your pelt look silver."

Lightheart sighed, "I can't believe that I'm deptuy."

Tabbysnow tipped his head to the side in confusion. "Why?"

"I just don't know if I can keep track of the deputy duties, especially when I'm such a traitor."

"A traitor?" Tabbysnow blinked.

Lightheart stopped and gazed into Tabbysnow's eyes."I am a traitor."

"How so?" Tabbysnow asked.

"I love you, Tabbysnow, and I can't ignore that."

"That doesn't make you a traitor, exactly..." Tabbysnow meowed, afraid that he didn't have much of an arugument.

"Oh, Tabbysnow, I don't know what to do." Lightheart cried, collapsing to the ground.

"It's okay, Lightheart," Tabbysnow meowed, laying next to her and pressing his pelt into her's. "Everything will turn out okay."

"How do you know that?" Lightheart asked, glaring at him.

"I don't." Tabbysnow responded. He licked the she-cat's golden fur, which was silvery in the moonlight.

"I love you, Tabbysnow." Lightheart sighed.

"I love you too, and everything will turn out fine as long as we know that's true." Tabbysnow replied, but doubt ningled in the back of his mind.

-

The End

to be continued in Buried Memories