Daisyflower stood blindly, not sure of where she was. I'm lost, that's what. The only thought that was allowed to penetrate the absolute fear that crawled up her spine. She had been blind for some time now, and she had sort of gotten used to it. You see, when one sense goes out, the other heighten to fill in the void. When you're blind there's a lot of void. Her hearing was so acute that she could always know where a sleeping kit or apprentice was in the camp, even without looking.

So it was no surprise to her when she knew Parchpaw and Lichenkit were gone. They had stormed off in anger and then, they had stopped breathing. The scariness of that had overshadowed anything she could have felt during the snake attack. She went to talk to them and had somehow fallen asleep.

And now...she didn't know where she was.

Blinking in confusion, she padded forward a few steps and tripped over a root that was sticking out. "Ouch!" she cried. "Damn it! I should've gone out more! I can't do anything like this!"

But even as the words left her lips, she smelled something. A familiar scent. Standing, she took a deeper breath. "I know that scent...but from where?"


...


Lichenkit moaned and rolled over. Where was she? Where was the sound of camp, and the other kits? Where was the warm, comfortable moss of the nursery, and the smell of the fresh kill pile? Where was her mother?

The thought of her mother's last conversation with her fired angry memories through her head and prompted her to sit up. She remembered getting mad at her mother, and storming off, and then...what? Falling asleep? Does that happen? Whenever she'd gotten mad before, it usually faded, but she never ran off to sleep.

Looking around, the kit felt fear begin to crawl through her. Was this some kind of sick prank? The thought was so comforting that she could actually picture Sandkit, and Blackkit about ready to pounce on her from behind. Jumping in fear, she turned around and looked all around. Fear turned to anger and she began to talk absently.

"Very funny, Cinderkit! When I get my paws on you..." Her rant trailed off into silence. What was there to say? When I get my paws on you, I'll make you pay? Somehow that didn't make the bill.

Whatever the case, she was alone, and she knew it as much as she knew she missed her mother. Once more she pictured her family back at camp and she got a last image, the last thing she'd seen. Her father, Shrewclaw, glaring at her from behind. Dappleberry with a concerned gleam in her eye. Fernsniffer watching in alarm and hurt. Sandkit and Blackkit cowering behind Swiftbreeze, who looked upset and scared enough to kill a coyote.

I really scared them back there, she thought. Although it's nice to be feared like a warrior...will I be in trouble? She wondered how she'd get this passed Stormstar. "I fell asleep and woke up somewhere else" didn't seem to cut it, and worse off, it was the truth.


...


Daisyflower walked carefully through the forest. She didn't have vision to help her, and her blindness was really slowing her down. Whenever she thought she had a clear path, one more tree root or low hanging branch would catch in her paws or conk her on the head. She was so caught up in dead leaves and broken twigs that her claws ached from how many times she'd had to claw her way out of some sort of tangled mess.

This is StarClan's way of punishing me, she thought, trying to ignore the nagging sensation that StarClan wouldn't punish an elder. Send the blind brat to a place she can't walk. That'd do her good.

Her movements had grided to an almost standstill as she had to check, double check, and then check again to make sure the ground was clear before she could take a tentative step forward.

Her thoughts, however, were twice as fast as her movements, or more. She would think one thought and before her ears could twitch she will have thought something else. So many questions, so little answers...the addition of panic made everything seem slow and unmoving. Uncertainly, she put her foot down once again. This time, she caught a small glimmer of vibration. Fear crawled and icy panic choked her as the weeds a few yards ahead of her parted and a large brown she-cat stepped out, coated in the unfamiliar yet strangely significant step.

"Need some help?"


...


Lichenkit could have sat there for days, or moons. She lost track of time. With the sun covered by a thick canopy of leaves from the trees in full bloom, she couldn't even tell if it was day of night. So this is the forest? she thought as she looked around. Very different than what I'm used to.

"And it will continue to be, young one," said a voice from behind. Double taking in fear and panic, she turned to see a large spotted cat approaching her. From behind she saw a stone gray she-cat with bright blue eyes, and a tortoiseshell she-cat with blue eyes. The spotted cat in lead, though, had amber.

"Wha?" Lichenkit asked, disorientated. She could have sworn that thought had been hers alone, in her head. Had she been talking without realizing it. "Where am I? Who are you?"

The spotted she-cat sat with her tails wrapped around her paws. Her two companions did the same thing. "I could ask you the same thing," she said. "So tell us, who are you? And what are you doing in IvyClan territory?"


...


Daisyflower stumbled along behind the brown she-cat, wondering if she was insane or not. "Are you sure this is right?" she asked delicately.

"Of course!" hissed her guide. "Where else would I be?"

"Well, it doesn't sound right?" Daisyflower argued. "That I, a blind elder with no means of transportation, fell asleep and woke up here?"

"I don't know about that" the cat said. "I do know, however, where I ended up. Days of wandering lead me here. I met the cats and I met their leader. Not the kindest bunch, let me tell you."

Daisyflower shook her head. "What did they do? Where are we?"

The brown she-cat flicked her tail over Daisyflower's mouth to silence her and knocked her paws out from under her, pushing her down. "Stay down," she breathed into Daisyflower's ear, but no sound came out other than an exhale. After what felt like seasons, she finally, warily, allowed Daisyflower to sit up.

"What was that about?" growled Daisyflower. "What's going on?"

"They were here!" the cat said. "They know we're here, and it's only a matter of time--"

"Tell me who they are! Now!" Unsheathing her claws, Daisyflower crouched. "I may be blind, but I can still fight. Tell me where I am!"

"Shut up, they'll find you!" Sighing, the she-cat sat down. "Calm down, I'll tell you. But please be quiet."

Daisyflower nodded and sat. The cat began. "I am a traveler, as you know from the last time we met. You weren't so picky then, and you seemed sure. Everyone called me stranger, evil. But my name is Wolf. I left your camp in disarray. Feeling bad for me but worse for you, I traveled in disappointment till I stumbled here. Here they told me that I am not welcome and chased me out. Running from them, I found you."

"Yeah, but where is here? Who are they?"

"They are ColdClan. And they are evil. Stay away from their camp, and stay away from them."


...


"IvyClan?" asked Lichenkit. "I've never heard of it."

Purring, the spotted cat nodded, indicating Lichenkit's size. "And you are a kit. A StormClan kit, but the smell of it."

Ears pricked, Lichenkit stood in stone silence. The she-cat shook her head. "Tell me how you got here, kit."

"I--I don't know. I was angry at someone and...I woke up here."

The cat's eyes were bright. "An angry kit storms farther than ever before. Well, you've come to the right place. I'm Leopardstar, leader of IvyClan. This is Dawnfrost, my deputy, and Ivyflower, my third-in-command highest ranking warrior." She indicated the stone gray she-cat and the tortoiseshell behind her. "May I have the honor of knowing your's?"

Lichenkit dipped her head. A leader! I'm Lichenkit, daughter of Swiftbreeze and Shrewclaw, sister of Blackkit and Sandkit. Soon-to-be-apprentice of StormClan."

Leopardstar purred. "Well, Lichenkit, daughter of Swiftbreeze and Shrewclaw, sister of Blackkit and Sandkit, soon-to-be-apprentice of StormClan, if you're looking to escape from harm, you've come to the right place." She indicated the tree line that up until now had gone unnoticed by the kit. "That over there is the ThistleClan border. You don't want to go there. They aren't as kind. But we can get you home, nice and safe."


...


Daisyflower stared in wide eyes. "What do they do to cats in ColdClan?" It even sounded like a bad name.

"I don't know. I'm not a part of it. If you're so interested, ask them. But I'd extremely advise against it."

"Well then," said Daisyflower. "You wandered here, dya think you can wander me back?"

Wolf didn't answer. She never got to. For right then, the undergrowth parted and cats stepped through.

"Well," said a dark voice. "Looky what we have here. I thought we chased you out, dog." Wolf growled back in response. "And a blind, elder." He stepped closer and sniffed at her. "From StormClan, well, now Scarletstar's going to have to do something, now isn't she? Can't wait to show her our new prisoners that I caught."