"Mouseclaw! Clean this den!" Cowfat bellowed. "I told you yesterday that I wanted it spotless! And this moss is wet!"
"I'm sorry, but Snakeheart wanted me to fix the brambles over the nursery," Mouseclaw replied apologetically.
"I don't want excuses!" Cowfat snapped.
But before Cowfat could reprimand her any further, Moletail intervened. "Woah, calm down, Cowfat," she mewed calmly. "Mouseclaw is doing the best she can. She can't do everything at the same time."
Cowfat huffed and walked away, her tail lashing in frustration.
"Sorry about that, Mouseclaw. Cowfat's just getting carried away by the fact she doesn't have to do everything for a change," Moletail comforted.
"It's fine. I deserve it, anyway," Mouseclaw replied, guilt evident in her voice. "I deserve the Dark Forest, for Starclan's sake. I murdered the leader!"
Moletail shook her head. "Well, what matters now is that you acknowledge your mistake. Nothing can change the past."
Suddenly, Bramblestar's yowl interrupted their conversation. "All cats trained or in training gather around Highrock for a clan meeting!"
The cats gathered around Highrock, curiosity piqued by the grim expressions on Foxpelt and Lightningblaze's faces, and the excited expressions on Kestrelstorm, Harrierstripe, and Privetear's faces.
Bramblestar looked up and addressed the crowd. "Two seasons have passed since an awful tragedy, and the deputies and the executors and I have come to a sad but necessary decision. Mouseclaw, step forward."
Mouseclaw stepped forward hesitantly, her ears flat against her head. The tension in the air was palpable.
"We have given refuge to this criminal long enough. You have killed our leader and you must pay for your crimes. We must get rid of you," Bramblestar declared, his voice resolute.
The gasps of shock that followed Bramblestar's words were deafening.
"We will not kill you, but we will give you over to the kittypets," Bramblestar continued coldly.
"Wait! I don't want to live with two legs!" Mouseclaw cried out, desperation lacing her voice.
"It's that, or I let my executors have you," Bramblestar replied, his tone unwavering.
She bowed her head in defeat. "Starclan's will be done."
"My executors will escort you. You may choose a she-cat to go with you," Bramblestar said.
"I choose Moletail," she said.
As the executors surrounded them, Moletail walked next to her. Mouseclaw walked with her head down, her eyes swimming with agony.
"Goodbye, Oakclan, my home, and my life," she whispered before disappearing from sight.
***
"We're here," Privetear said gruffly.
The two-leg nests loomed over threateningly, their unnatural light blinding the cats.
"Leap over the fence or we'll throw you over," Harrierstripe growled.
"Okay," Mouseclaw agreed.
As Moletail saw Mouseclaw getting ready to leap, she knew she couldn't do it alone.
She made her decision in a split second. "I'm coming with you."
"What? But the clan!" Mouseclaw gasped. "Your kits!"
"Hurry up!" Harrierstripe snarled.
"Let's go!" Moletail insisted.
Mouseclaw nodded. "Together."
And they leaped over the fence without looking back.
The first thing that struck them was the scent. The reek of two legs swam over them, their musty scent making them gag.
The second thing was the scent of many cats. All of them toms.
"Uh... I guess we got through that," Mouseclaw suggested.
They went through the little cat flap and were immediately greeted by a two-leg kit. It yowled and grabbed them, running over some blocks and opening a moving wall where there were two older ones were sitting down.
The older two legs grabbed Mouseclaw and Moletail and took them to a round open object. They poured out water into the object and started to place them inside.
"Water!" Mouseclaw screamed.
"Calm down and just do what they want!" Moletail yelled.
They were placed into the warm water and scrubbed with something white and foamy which tasted awful.
They were finally let out and rubbed roughly with a soft object. Moletail and Mouseclaw were trapped in a room.
As their eyes adjusted to the harsh lighting, Moletail noticed a smoky grey tabby tom with green, glinting eyes that looked at them hungrily.
The tomcat next to him, a blue-furred one with piercing blue eyes, pointed at Mouseclaw, saying, "That one is darn pretty."
Moletail couldn't deny it, her friend was gorgeous with her fluffy sand fur and leopard markings, but the way they were looking at her was giving her the creeps.
The third tomcat, a white tom with black paws and tail-tip, chimed in, "Quite right."
"Think they'd make fine kits?" the fourth one, a snow-white tom with one sand green eye and another stormy blue eye, asked.
Moletail interrupted them, saying, "Wait just a minute. We don't want to have kits."
But the smoky grey tabby dismissed her concerns, boasting, "Oh, please. We're the handsomest toms you'll ever set eyes on. I'm Thunder that Booms in Storm, call me Thunder."
The blue-grey tomcat introduced himself as Water that Falls on Foggy Day, the black and white one as Shadow in Blinding Light, and the final one as Peridot in a Stormy Sea.
Mouseclaw asked, "Wait, are you tribe cats?"
"Were tribe cats," Shadow corrected sadly.
Thunder added, "The Tribe of the Sky is no more."
"Whatcha here for, anyway?" Water asked.
"I murdered someone," Mouseclaw explained hoarsely.
Water was unfazed and said, "Oh well, das ok. You're better off 'ere anyway."
Mouseclaw looked at him disbelievingly. "With two legs?"
"What are two legs?" Peridot inquired.
"I think 'ey means the Fur Heads," Water said. "'Ose creatures that carried you down 'ere?"
"Yes, those," Mouseclaw confirmed, nodding her head.
"Dis ain't prison, er-"
"Mouseclaw."
Thunder twitched his whiskers. "What an odd name!"
"-'ey treat ya decent, 'ose Fur Heads. We've lived 'ere many seasons and 'ey don't hit ya or harm ya, and 'ey feed ya right."
Moletail looked at him in surprise. "But when you can live in the wild! Running free and hunting your own food! Who would choose this life over that?"
Shadow shook his head. "We do not know the ways of a clan."
"Don't worry!" Mouseclaw exclaimed. "Lizardclan is the friendliest clan. They can help us!"
Peridot seemed to be considering. "I don't see why not."
"Me either," Water echoed.
"Well... I suppose," Shadow murmured.
"Light'n up, Shadow!" Water encouraged. "Livin' in the wild agayn!"
Moletail nodded. "But how do we escape?"
"That's easy!" Peridot purred. "Just go through the way you got in!"
"What about this moving wall?" Mouseclaw questioned. "How do we open it?"
Thunder snorted. "That's easy too."
He leaped up and grabbed a gray, smooth stick. Amazingly, the stick moved down, and the moving wall swung open.
"After you," he mewed in a gentile manner.
The she-cats nodded and stepped outside, their tail lashing in anticipation. The rest of the cats followed and stepped in front, leading the way.
Peridot went through the cat flap first, then Thunder, then Water, then Shadow, and then the Moletail and Mouseclaw.
Water took a deep breath. "Innit great to be free agayn?"
Shadow smiled. "I'd quite forgotten, but you're right, Water."
"I know the way to Lizardclan from here," Mouseclaw mewed, trotting in front.
The others followed; their ears pricked as they traveled through the unclaimed lands of the forest.
"Stop!" Mouseclaw commanded. "We're at the border. Not-another-paw-step-Water."
Water looked up innocently. "Sorry 'bout that. A bit o'erexcited, I am."
"Ok, when the patrol calms, let me do the talking," Mouseclaw said. The others nodded.
And soon enough, a patrol came.
"What are you doing on our border?" a tortoiseshell she-cat demanded.
"Get off our territory, rogues!" a smaller Siamese cat snarled.
"Patience, Minkpaw," the third cat, an older-looking fluffy tom with a black marking surrounding one of his startling yellow eyes. "They may not know that they are at the border."
"They might not," the tortoiseshell she-cat pointed at Moletail and the former kittypets, "but she does!" she pointed at Mouseclaw, her gaze threatening. "She's Mouseclaw from Oakclan!"
The white tom still looked unconvinced. "If you're from Oakclan, why are you on this side of the border?"
"I no longer affiliate myself with Oakclan," said Mouseclaw cooly.
"Why?" the tortoiseshell asked.
"That information is not for all ears," Mouseclaw replied.
"Then let's lead her to our leader, Antleaf," the white tom said.
"But this could be a trap!" Antleaf cried.
"If it is, we are ready," he said with a resolute face. He then turned to the cats. "Follow me."
They made their way through the marshy land, their paws getting wet as they waded across puddles and mud. Mouseclaw looked positively disgusted, but the clan cats looked completely normal. This was their territory, after all.
They finally made it to a tunnel blocked with twigs and leaves and brushed inside it, their paws stepping over many, many generations of other paw steps.
The normal bustle and talking of the clan died down as they all saw their patrol coming back with strange cats.
"Are they prisoners?" one of the kits asked excitedly.
"Hush, Robinkit," the mother chided, pushing him into the nursery, her other kits following her.
"Mottleface? Who do you bring?" a large tom inquired. He was a brown tabby tom with an air of wisdom and rigidness; his amber eyes seemed to be able to see through any lie.
"These cats were found on the border, Owlstar!" Minkpaw said.
"Minkpaw, I asked for Mottleface," Owlstar said sternly but with a hint of amusement in his voice. "Why don't you get some rest?"
"Ok," Minkpaw agreed, looking abashed. She walked to the apprentice den, looking back longingly.
"What were you doing in our territory?" Owlstar questioned.
"We wish to talk about this in private, Owlstar," said Mouseclaw.
Owlstar nodded. "Ivyleg and Swifttail! Come with me."
Moletail nearly choked in surprise. "One of your deputies is a she-cat?" she spluttered.
Owlstar glared at her. "Only Oakclan dishonors Starclan and she-cats. I would think you would be a bit happier when you saw it, but-"
"N-no!" Moletail stammered, her face shining. "That's amazing!"
Ivyleg was glaring at her.
"Follow me," said Owlstar.
They followed him into his den. Though it was extremely spacious, it was still a tight fit.
Owlstar looked at them. "So, what are you doing here?"
"We want to join Lizardclan," Mouseclaw said.
They all looked at them in surprise.
"But you reside in Oakclan, do you not?" Owlstar meowed. "Why do you want to join?"
The cats looked at each other, and Mouseclaw nodded.
"So it all started like this..."
This one was looooooooooooong, hope you liked it!
So guys: I had to remove the picture of Leapordstream cuz I think it got copyrighted or sum (cuz they said it didnt follow content guidelines) so uh- sorry!