Main- Volume I: Imminence [WIP]

[Amandus]

-Volume I: Imminence-

It literally took a year just to finish this first volume alone. I've recently started the second one, and I don't have a clear idea on where this is going. For big stories, I just like to improvise as I go along. You'll probably get better ideas on where the plot might lead to as you read further along; a lot of the early scenes are just fluff.

Prologue:

    Four warriors hurried along in the night, awaiting the right moment when all of those who settled in the campground also settled into a deep sleep in the dead winter. One of the girls crouched at the side of an RV, peering around the corner for any sign of wakefulness. She frowned and squinted, struggling to see into a tent from across the area. She saw no movement.
    She and a few of her Clanmates were sent on a raiding patrol for a day to go to the Hodgdon Meadow campground, one of the few campgrounds open in winter. Her Clanmates' lives depended on this raid; it would provide medicine, food, and warm blankets. Their Clanmates would be back home, waiting in suspense for them to return safely.
    "Do you think-?" a warrior whispered, but the leading one silenced her by raising her hand. The leading warrior flinched and backed up slightly when a man came out of an RV next to the one they were hiding behind. Another man followed him. They were only silhouettes in the darkness, though they stood near a lit RV. They wore heavy winter coats, and held flashlights.
    One of the men spoke quietly, "Think we'd better keep an eye out for those thieves, wherever they are. I don't know if they even sleep in this campsite-" he was interrupted by the other man, "All we can do is report them to a park ranger. They'll take care of things from there. Just stupid kids, probably." The men began walking away from the RV after one of them turned off the lights. They shone their flashlights around as they walked off in the opposite direction from the Outcasts.
    The warriors shivered at their words, apparently the cold of the night didn't yet chill them to their bones. None of them spoke. The leading warrior motioned for the others to follow her to the blue tent she watched. They stayed low as they shuffled to it. A warrior unzipped the tent as the leading one stared in the direction the men wandered off to, and they went inside. In it was a man, woman, and two children, all resting calmly in their sleeping bags. "Try finding a key to the food locker," the leading warrior hissed, and carefully picked through their bags of things.
    She found $30, a few fleece blankets, and hand sanitizer. The warriors cautiously stepped over the sleeping bags as they searched. "Got it," another warrior whispered and held up a key, her blue eyes wide. The leading warrior nodded, permitting her Clanmate to go outside to open the small brown metal box of food. She saw that another warrior got cold medicine and a pair of gloves. The third one grabbed a yarn snow cap and empty gray tote bag- useful for carrying their loot.
    The blue-eyed warrior rummaged through the food locker, managing to take a loaf of bread, canned soup, sausages, and a package of bacon. She eyed the other tents around her warily, but they were each dark and still. "Here," a warrior held out the tote bag, and the other carefully placed the food inside, "Let's go...I don't want to run into those people." The warriors hustled out of the campground in the direction of their home several miles away- to the camp of StarClan.

[Amandus]

Friday, February 20th, 2015:

[7:05 A.M]-

    In the faint light of the Sun rising over the mountains, ThunderClan's patrols parted ways, climbing the rocky hill opposite from Merced Lake. To the North was the Merced River flowing through the hills, its mouth that fed the lake had a small wooded area and a brushy meadow climbing uphill next to it, where ThunderClan resided. On the opposite side of the river ran a makeshift trail that followed it, which further made its way around the Northern side of the lake.
    Grace, Celine, and Hadley trekked up the smooth, sheer, gradual cliff with occasional shrubbery and gnarled trees growing from cracks. Brown stripes ran down the mountain's gray stone. The warriors have gone up this cliff many times, taking care not to step on loose stones, and maneuvering around steeper areas the same way they always have. They reached the top of the cliff, covered with a coniferous forest, and they shook at the more intense cold at the higher elevation. They were assigned to patrol the southern border- to keep watch for rogues.
    "Should we at least try to hunt on the way?" Hadley asked irritably, reminiscing from earlier when Celine said they probably wouldn't find any animals to kill, and that they should focus on guarding their territory from any sneaky rogues. "There aren't any around, especially this early in the morning," Celine muttered to the less experienced warrior as they walked through the forest.
    Ignoring the quarrel between her Clanmates, Grace thought she would find something, and so took her bow out anyway. Celine noticed and rolled her eyes. She broke into a jog and called to the others, "We need to hurry over to Gray Peak!" The two other warriors began to catch up with her, though reluctant to run through a forest with rocky terrain.
    "Is Dale there?" Hadley said as she breathed heavily, hoping to see the loner that day. Dale was a young hermit woman, though Domestic, who lived in the mountains around the Gray and Red Peaks. Though it isn't her real name, it literally means "living in the valley". ThunderClan patrols often visited her and exchanged food among other things. Hadley hadn't met her yet.
    "Maybe? I don't know."
    The warriors continued their hike toward the snowy mountain range, and the sky slower became brighter.

[8:00 A.M]-

    "Hello? Dale?" Hadley cried out for the loner as the patrol trekked through a forest climbing up the hill to the peak. I don't even know what she looks like, she thought. The snow was half a foot high; the warriors lifted their feet to cover as much ground as they could. Grace eyed the summit ahead, wondering if Dale was waiting from there. Celine stood and looked around as the others continued on.
    They reached the top of the mountain, and peered down to see a panoramic view of a rocky, snow-covered wasteland, with not a soul to be seen. Celine sighed,     "She's not here today...let's go south." She turned to begin the walk toward Red Peak, less than a mile away. She stopped when Grace yelled, "I see her! She's coming up the mountain."
    Celine ran back to the spot her Clanmates were at, and they watched a blond woman in a gray winter coat and hiking boots come up the mountain's steep western side. Dale looked up after hearing Grace, and called back,
    "Oh, hi-" she hesitated, not knowing their names, "-warriors! You're all here just to see me?"
    Dale used black trekking poles as she maneuvered up the cliff. Celine answered, "Yeah, but we're gonna be going down south soon."
    "Checking for rogues, I guess?" Dale said without looking up. She put her trekking pole on a loose rock for a moment and gasped when the rock fell loose and rolled downhill.
    Dale tiresomely reached the summit next to the warriors, and sighed as she sat down and crossed her legs. The warriors sat beside her, and she took off her backpack and unzipped it. "I brought some food for you guys," she murmured breathlessly, and took out saltine crackers, various bags of candy, and a bag of potato chips, placing them on the ground.
    Hadley smiled gratefully, putting the food away in her backpack, and Dale asked, "What are your names again? I don't think I've seen you before either." Dale looked at Hadley. Grace and Celine re-introduced themselves, and Dale nodded. "That's Hadley. She became a warrior not too long ago," Celine added. Dale reached out to shake Hadley's hand and smiled.
    "Is there anything special going on for the Outcasts?" Dale looked at Celine and Grace quizzically as she opened her water bottle to drink from it.
    "No, everything is normal, for now. What about with the Domestics here?" Grace replied.
    "This park is pretty much empty at this time of year...except for Badger Pass, of course. At least in winter it's quiet and peaceful. I was in Yosemite Valley for a week and it was almost abandoned, basically."
    "You visit RiverClan?" Hadley interrogated and tilted her head.
    "No, I don't even know where their camp is...I only know you ThunderClan folks! I just wander," Dale explained and drew a line in the thin layer of snow on gray rock, "But for now I have my campsite back in those woods." Dale jerked her head to the direction she came from, behind her.
    Grace stood up and stared down the mountains to the South toward Red Peak, observing the place for any Domestics or rogues. Along the side of the peak she noticed a ragged-looking girl coming North. She was struggling not to slide down the side of the mountain, and a couple times she almost did, brown and gray dust flying from beneath her. She had slightly frizzy, reddish-brown hair and wore brown boots. "I think I see one!" Grace exclaimed to the others. They stood up and looked at the rogue, and Dale said, "I don't understand where she's trying to go. Maybe I should go talk to her?"
    "No! We don't talk to rogues," Celine snapped and narrowed her eyes, traipsing toward the approaching rogue, who still hadn't seen them.
    "Hey!" Grace shouted, and the rogue looked up and squinted at the warriors and loner awkwardly, "We see you!" Without a word, the rogue turned and darted down the side of the mountain, stumbling a few times before disappearing into the pines below.
    "Guess she didn't want a fight...sometimes they do," Celine shrugged and continued staring into the forest far below before turning back around, "I think we should be going now. We need to be tracking that rogue so she doesn't try to sneak in from another place."
    Dale frowned and nodded, and Hadley looked up from beside the loner and asked, "Won't you visit our camp sometime? Celine said that you have before."
    "Maybe in a week or so. I just came back from Yosemite Valley yesterday, so I need to rest for a while," Dale replied and rubbed her forehead, "I guess you should be tracking that rogue now."
    Dale bent down to pick up her trekking poles, and the warriors nodded and said goodbye as they began to head South. Dale jokingly saluted and answered, "Until we meet again!" She turned to carefully make her way down the slope to the west as they parted ways.
    "She seems nice," Hadley commented as the patrol followed the way the rogue escaped to.
    "Yeah, but we don't get to see her a lot," Grace slid a little down the slope below Hadley, "She goes all around the park. It's weird how she hasn't gotten to know the other Clans."
    "I think it's because she actually believes what Victoria told her about other Clans- they shouldn't be trusted," Celine pondered and glanced back at her Clanmates, "Not that they should, at least for her. She's so naive that if she ever met ShadowClan or something, they might try to use her against us. I'm glad she isn't interested in meeting them."
    Celine stopped for a moment and gazed into the woodland further off, "Hurry! I don't want to lose that rogue."

[Amandus]

[9:00 A.M]-

    Elizabeth gazed at the desolate highway as she stood on the side of it. She and her patrol were still hidden, but somehow felt exposed, at the edge of the spruce woods. Tioga road was closed in the winter due to the sheet of ice that covered it the entire season. Across the empty road was the land of ShadowClan.
    A chilly breeze blew gently from the west, and a raven crowed. Rachael glanced around, thinking it was too quiet. "I think we need to stay around here for a while. You never know if ShadowClan will try to sneak across the border," Elizabeth broke the silence, "Go hunt; I'll keep guard here." Elizabeth sat against a tree in a spot that wasn't covered in snow.
    Elizabeth stared into space over the inactive road as her Clanmates parted ways. On the other side were only more trees and snow that stretched far past Elizabeth's sight. The wind occasionally blew a light dust of snow across the ground.
    A few minutes later, another Outcast appeared on the other side of the highway, browsing through the undergrowth and trees for something, oblivious of the ThunderClan patrol. Elizabeth glared at her from her spot under the tree, and the warrior looked up at her after inspecting a bush. The warrior flinched slightly and darted away, further into the woodland.
    Elizabeth sat up a little and turned to look behind the tree. She saw Ellen a few yards away, looking up in the trees for any songbirds. Her bow was ready.
    "Did you see that?" Elizabeth inquired and stuck her thumb out towards the road. "See what?" Ellen asked anxiously, thinking the other warrior was talking about a bird in the trees.
    "That ShadowClan warrior across the road! She saw me and ran away."
    Ellen cocked an eyebrow and looked down from the trees. She strode towards Elizabeth, not once looking away from the land across the highway, "Since when does ShadowClan do that?"
    "I don't know, it was probably an apprentice. I don't remember seeing her at the last Gathering," Elizabeth stood up and brushed off her pants.
    Elizabeth noticed that Ellen caught a Steller's jay earlier; it was tied to her backpack. Ellen looked away to her left and frowned, "I hope Alexa gets better. It'd be terrible if one of the only Outcasts who died this year was a novice."
    "Rose said she only has a cold...nothing will happen," Elizabeth muttered and shook her head. She began walking away to look for Rachael.
    "Rachael? Come on, we need to check the rest of the border!" Elizabeth yelled into the trees. She saw the younger warrior stepping through the undergrowth with a rabbit hanging from her hand. She was also holding a bunch of dry, browned tall grass in her other arm.
    Elizabeth sighed, "We should get going if we want to make it to lunch on time. We can hunt on the way." She turned south, moving past the trees, bushes, and rocks in the thick woodland.

[Amandus]

[11:00 A.M]-

    Rose sat quietly beside the campfire, sorting out dried foliage gathered in summer and fall to make a plant mix for her Clanmates. A black pot hung over the crackling fire, boiling lake water as it bubbled, and the nurse occasionally poured a small amount of sugar in to sweeten the blend once the plants were added.
    The great leader, Victoria, lazily flipped magazines as she dozed in the sleeping bag in her tent. One of them was the latest edition of National Geographic; its cover with an artsy illustration of Naia, an ancient girl who apparently became the "first American". Victoria skimmed over the articles throughout, all of which wrote about the "firsts" in different topics.
    The leader yawned and closed the magazine, picking it up along with the rest and shoving them back to the side of her tent. She left the warmth of her tent to check on the nurse's cooking, standing over her from behind as Rose tossed ground up grasses and leaves into the pot.
    "I hope you're not using all of the plants we've gathered! That mix spoils easily, I know," Victoria remarked and went around the nurse to take a look at her cooking. A green and brown mash-like substance bubbled in the water, giving off a musky smell.
    "No...this isn't even half of the plants.," the nurse retorted and mixed the food with a wooden spoon. Victoria didn't reply and strode to the shallow, dusty hole in the ground next to the deputy's tent, the "food pile".
    She frowned at how scarce the rations were, only a few bags of chips, and even fewer rabbits and squirrels. "Somebody better find a deer, soon," Victoria whispered to nobody.
    She turned back to rummage through the boxes in her small tent for her yarn and different beads found in raids long ago. The leader often had nothing better to do than to make jewelry. She found a piece of soft, light brown yarn almost a foot long, and dropped it on the floor next to her as she sat cross-legged. Victoria had a plastic container with three drawers that a Clanmate once found in a tent. She opened the middle drawer and ran her hand through the scattered beads.
    Some of the beads were those manufactured by Domestics, brightly colored and made of smooth plastic or metal. Others were also wooden and showed intricate patterns. ThunderClan sometimes crafted their own beads out of wood, and painted or carved them into images of animals or plants.
    Victoria grabbed a few Domestic separator beads as well as a bunch of Outcast beads. some with painted flowers and deer, and held up the yarn to string them. She made a pattern that went bead-separator-bead-separator. A total of twenty beads were strung onto the fuzzy yarn, and she tied the ends of it to complete the work. She sighed and laid the necklace on top of the container, figuring she'd give it to one of the warriors.
    "Victoria?" the leader heard the nurse outside speak quietly and with worry. She came out of her tent to see Rose standing past the edge of the forest to the northeast, past the apprentices' tent and near the river. She crouched behind the undergrowth.
    "What is it?" Victoria spoke at a normal volume, from which Rose faltered with uneasiness. The nurse looked toward the trail across the river that meandered around the lake, murmuring, "Look at them."
    Walking to the campground further away, across the dull lake, were three men. They looked more formally dressed than hikers, without backpacks or trekking poles, and walked with haste, disregarding the scenery.
    "Don't they know the campground is closed now?" Rose said suspiciously and frowned. Victoria narrowed her eyes and examined their clothing. They certainly weren't the every day hikers typical in the summer.
    "They must have something to do with the camp...probably working for the park," Victoria shook her head and turned away. Rose glanced at her as she still hid behind the bushes, "Should I still watch them?"
    "Yes, and tell me if they do anything important. I'll tell the others about them," Victoria looked back and disappeared into her tent.

[12:00 P.M]-

    One by one, the patrols filed back into the camp, weary and hungry. Some warriors sat in front of the fire to warm themselves while others retrieved food and cooking supplies. Rose poured her plant mix into many bowls for her Clanmates. The warriors coughed at the wisping smoke rising from the campfire.
    Megan approached Victoria, who stood in front of her tent, reporting, "There were no disputes with my patrol today, and nothing else strange, either."
    Victoria blinked and crossed her arms, "Rose and I found a group of people walking on that trail to the campground earlier. They weren't normal hikers...they looked and acted differently. Their clothes were different, and they didn't even look at the mountains. Rose thinks they were investigating the campground."
    The deputy was surprised; she couldn't remember ever seeing people like that in the park, "Corporate, maybe?"
    "No, they weren't wearing suits. I don't know, just tell the warriors to watch out for them," Victoria sat down in front of the campfire as warriors ate their plant mix     and shared bags of chips. Rose returned to her tent to give Alexa her food.
    Megan spoke up as her Clanmates munched at their food, "Victoria has told me that some strange Domestics have been looking around the campground earlier today- so everyone, avoid the campground for now!"
    The warriors exchanged worried looks and continued eating, no comments made. Catherine tried to look past the trees and across the lake but saw nothing significant. She pondered the idea of going to the campground during free-time to see what could be there, despite the deputy telling the Clan not to do so. She finished eating her plant mix and got up to put the empty bowl in a stack next to the food pile.

[Amandus]

[7:00 P.M]-

    The warriors managed to scrape together a few kills from the days' patrols. The squirrels fattened during the winter, but the rabbits were awfully thin with very little meat on their bones. ThunderClan paid no mind; it wouldn't be long until winter was finally over and Yosemite would come to life again.
    ThunderClan relaxed in front of the fire, as the mountain air had chilled even more for the evening. The Sun had almost completely set; most of the sky was navy blue, but the West was still glowing pink. Thousands of stars began to faintly glitter across the darker part of the sky.
    Some warriors played poker on a wooden platform used as a table placed near the campfire, while others sketched trees and mountains or strung jewelry. Alexa sometimes coughed hoarsely from the nurse's tent.
    Celine tried her hand at ice fishing on the lake, carefully walking across the dry, frozen water for about fifteen feet before punching out a hole with a stone chisel, then pulling the circular slab of ice out to reveal water almost black. After dragging up a box she brought to sit on, the warrior picked up her fishing rod and cast it down into the murky waters, and waited.
    Catherine rested by the campfire, warming her hands before rubbing them and putting them back on the ground. Then, she saw Victoria come out of her tent to join the huddling warriors.
    The warrior stood up and went around the other side of the fire, and stood above the leader, "Victoria?"
    "Yeah?" Victoria didn't look at Catherine, curled up on the ground.
    "I was wondering if I could take a look at the campground over there. May I?" Catherine requested, but expected backlash from the leader.
    Victoria slowly turned her head to face Catherine, "Seriously? And you think you can go over there by yourself? What do you even think you'll find?"
    "I don't know, anything. I'll look for cameras and get rid of them."
    Victoria turned away, afraid her former mentor would see her rolling her eyes, "Go, but it's your fault if anything happens to you!"
    Catherine ignored the leader's remark, and ran past the camp, west, to find a smooth rocky area where the river was thin enough to jump over. The outcrop sloped down, and the warrior used the momentum to leap over the small river, and jogged up another rocky area to reach the rough stone trail that lead the unusual Domestics to the deserted campground.
    Catherine stopped when she reached the trail, staring across the lake, where night had already fallen. She then continued down the trail, dreadfully thinking, I should have brought a flashlight. The trail eventually ran into a wooded area once the river fed into the lake. The trees were shrouded in darkness, and as the trail rounded the lake, Catherine felt like the only person for miles around.
    She finally reached the side of the lake the campground was built, but it was still not visible through the thick forest the trail lead through. Conclusively, the trail went around the outside of the camp, an incomplete oval of white canvas cabins, with a trail head building and stable for pack horses further away.
    Catherine was hesitant to enter the campground, still standing on the trail. She then slowly walked off the trail, looking around at the trees for any kind of surveillance.
    When she reached the center of the campground, there was a bonfire area with benches situated around it, dry tall grass sprouting near it. The warrior then heard a slight mechanical sound from behind, and turned around to barely see a camera attached to a small pine tree that zoomed in when it caught her movement.
    Catherine sprinted to the camouflaged tree camera and tore it off the trunk, threw it to the ground, and smashed it with her feet. She picked it up, and saw that it was broken enough for her to pry it open, revealing black film, which she tore up to the point where it was irredeemable.
    Catherine almost gasped when a man opened the door from inside a cabin, looking around outside, "What was that?"
    The warrior scrambled back to the trail further into the woods, keeping low. The man wore sweatpants and a jacket, and took out a flashlight. He pointed it at the tree the camera was attached to, and then noticed it was gone. He then pointed it down to what little remained of the broken camera.
    "Hey! Robert, Aaron, look at this!" the man exclaimed, and speed-walked out to the site.
    "What, Michael?" Robert yawned and stepped down from his cabin.
    "We already have someone breaking the camera!"
Aaron ran to the base of the tree and bent over to pick around the camera's pieces, and sighed, "Yeah, we won't be able to see this film."
    "But how is someone else here? I'm sure they didn't have permission to come here, the way we did," Robert wondered, and looked around. He didn't see a trace of another person in the campground.
    Michael didn't answer the other man, and wove his flashlight around the campground, "You're hiding somewhere!"
    Catherine shivered in the undergrowth next to the trail, trying hard not to make noise by rubbing against it.
    The three men separated, searching different parts of the forest that surrounded the campground. Catherine froze when Michael was headed towards the trail. He stopped once he reached the trail, looking in the direction in which it surrounded the lake. Catherine crouched only a few feet away, and fell backwards when she tried to step back, making the plants around her rustle loudly.
    "You!" Michael shouted, and the scrambling warrior was revealed when he shone his flashlight on her. Catherine darted away, but knew better than to lead the Domestic to ThunderClan's camp. Instead, she decided to run uphill to the North. The man chased after her with rage.
    She found what looked like a small valley of forest that climbed uphill, and with rocky terrain around it. On its left side, a cliff abruptly grew from it.
    "Come back!" Michael cried. in vain at the warrior, who was too quick for him. Catherine hopped over rocks that jutted from the grass, and dodged trees. The valley ended, and Catherine continued up the gradual slope for a moment, before realizing the man gave up on chasing her down. He apparently stopped at the base of the valley, and ran back to the campground.
    Catherine carefully made her way back to the trail, ensuring none of the men would notice. She stopped once she reached the trail, and watched the Domestics meet again, looking between the canvas cabins.
    "It was a girl! She ran up that hill over there," Michael told the others and pointed Northeast.
    "Then why didn't you get her?" Robert said angrily.
    "She was gone; it looks like she climbed past the mountains."
    Robert and Aaron sighed, and Michael responded, "We'll get whoever's been stealing from this camp, and all the others. I'll have to tell the rangers back at the park office about this one."
    The Domestics silently returned to their cabins. Catherine, shocked, began to sprint back up the trail to go home.

[Amandus]

[7:45 P.M-]

    As she sat near the campfire, Rose heard Catherine pelting up the trail from the other side of the river, though she couldn't see her past the thick edge of the forest. "She's coming back!" the nurse cried to her Clanmates.
    Just moments later, the warrior skidded into the camp from the West, panting. All of Catherine's Clanmates gathered around her, invoking questions about her trip to the campground:
    "What's out there?"
    "What did you see?"
    Victoria, aggravated from all the noise, made her way to the front of the crowd, "Quiet!"
    Megan also added, next to the leader, "Give her some space!"
    Catherine finally caught her breath, and calmed herself before stating, "The Domestics were there." Her Clanmates gasped and murmured.
    "So you saw them?" Victoria demanded, outraged. Catherine nodded slightly. Victoria further implored, "What were they doing?"
     "They were...well, I saw a camera on one of the trees there, and I smashed it on the ground, and then one of them heard what I did, and he came out to see with the others, but I hid by the trail. They didn't see me, but then they started looking for me. So then...one of them found me in the bushes and started chasing me, but I went up the hill by the campground instead of leading him to our camp," Catherine explained, and the others were intrigued, "It didn't take long for him to give up. He thought I disappeared in the mountains. I saw him go back down the hill and he told the two other guys about me, and that they'll tell a park ranger. After that I came back here."
    Victoria glared in dismay at how the Domestics knew the warrior was there, "Great, so now the people that work at this park will know what one of us look like! Catherine, I won't be allowing you to raid the campground at all this spring, even if those Domestics aren't there anymore. We can't risk anything," the leader lectured her, "Because if you get caught, we all are. It's a slippery slope."
    The leader paused, still looking at Catherine as she turned away, "Nobody is going near that camp until I see them go with my own eyes!"
    The crowd of Clanmates quietly broke up after Victoria disappeared behind the flaps of her tent. They all sat back down by the fire, Rose settling next to Catherine.
    "Are you hurt? You said you were chased up a mountain," the nurse glanced over the warrior's body.
    "No...but I feel terrible. What if we have to wait months before raiding the campground? We won't be able to get anything. And we have no way to contact Dale unless we run into her while patrolling."
    Rachael entered the conversation, "Maybe if we run into Dale again, we can have her steal from this campground for us. SkyClan does that with their loner, I think."
    Rose gave a thoughtful look, "That'd be a little better, but I don't think we want anything to happen to Dale."
    "I'd hate it if she got caught. I don't even think she'd want to do it, at all," Catherine muttered and shifted in her place.
    Hadley, who rested nearby, added to the discussion, "My patrol actually saw Dale at Gray Peak this morning, and she said she'll come to our camp in a week. Maybe we could ask her about it when she comes?"
    The other three Outcasts stared at her blankly, then looked away and nodded. A chilling breeze blew through the camp, distorting the crackling flames.

[Amandus]

Sunday, February 22nd, 2015:

[7:00 P.M-]

    That day and the one before that, warriors sent to patrol the east side of their land stayed at least six hundred feet away from the sullen campground as they hastily passed by it. Meanwhile, Victoria would sometimes stare across the lake, dreading that another warrior would be spotted by one of the three investigators.
    The ice on the lake was starting to melt along with the thin sheet of snow on the ground, not permitting anyone to go ice fishing during free-time. The campfire's glow barely reached beyond the dark woods; the Outcasts were thankful that the Domestics would never notice it.
    Elizabeth half-heartedly drew a bear standing amongst some trees, using a picture from a nature magazine as a reference. Other warriors yawned occasionally as they stared at the fire, some leaning on each other.
    A few warriors suddenly woke up from their half-sleep, startled when they heard a rustle in the undergrowth from the part of the forest at the base of the mountain towards the South.
    A familiar voice quipped, "Hey, ThunderClan!", and Dale appeared at the edge of the camp. All the warriors stood up excitedly and rushed toward the loner, exclaiming, "Dale!"
    Hadley enthusiastically said to Grace and Celine, "She's here early!" Victoria came out of her tent and watched her Clanmates pester Dale. Some were even trying to get into her backpack for food. Dale felt it being unzipped and quickly pulled it off her back, "Hey!"
    Victoria intervened, "Enough!", trying to push her Clanmates away from the loner, adding wearily, "Just let her show us what she has."
    Dale laughed nervously, "I actually didn't get anything for you guys, this time. I'm just here to see what's up." Some of the warriors looked disappointed, but said nothing. "What is up?" the loner asked them.
    Megan glanced at Victoria, who still stared at Dale, before answering, "We saw some Domestics go to the campground on Friday, then...during free-time, Catherine here wanted to go over there to see why they went-"
    "I broke a camera, and then one of them saw me and chased me through the mountains," Catherine interrupted the deputy.
    "The point is she was...'discovered' by a Domestic, so we may not be able to go to that campground for a long time, if those people are still there," Victoria explained.
    Dale blinked, "Oh, that doesn't sound good at all...but what does that have to do with me?"
    Hadley replied, "I was wondering if we could have you raid the campground this spring when it opens again, instead of us going there ourselves."
    "Like, you could go stay there for a few days, like a normal camper, but then steal things at night and bring them back to us," Rachael added.
    Victoria's eyes widened, "What? Nobody has told me about this!"
    "But does it sound good, Victoria?" Hadley cocked an eyebrow. Victoria didn't reply, and Dale stood there in the dark with a mix of surprise and concern.
    "But I'm not that experienced in stealing, like any of you," Dale spoke up, "I'm not saying that I don't want to get stuff for you, but I don't want to go to jail and never be able to help you again."
    Some warriors muttered in concern, trying to think of a compromise in order for Dale to steal for them.
    "I'll...see what I can do, but I can't make any promises. It opens in April, right?"
    The warriors nodded, and the loner continued, "Ok...but what if you asked RiverClan or something for help in the meantime?" Dale wasn't confident in her idea; she hardly knew anything about ThunderClan's relationships with other Outcasts.
     Victoria stared toward the fire in thought, "I don't think they would be thrilled. It's normal during wartimes, but it's unusual to ask another Clan to give you things."
    Megan added, "RiverClan is 'wealthier' than us, kind of, but...I think you should go talk to WaterSpirit at the Gathering, Victoria."
    The leader nodded silently, and Dale said, "Yeah, see what RiverClan has to say about it. Hopefully those Domestics leave soon before you have issues getting what you need in the spring." Dale noticed that the trees around the camp had become mere silhouettes, and the campfire appeared brighter, illuminating the camp more extensively. She began to back away, "I'd better be going. Getting dark, and I have my own camp to get home to."
    The warriors started waving hesitantly, some saying their farewells quietly. "Bye, guys!" Dale pushed through the undergrowth, out of the camp, and headed south over the mountain nearby.
    "...I don't think WaterSpirit will help us," Victoria muttered.
    "I'm sure she'll understand our situation," Rose answered, watching as Victoria turned away.
    "No, she won't!" the leader snapped, "Have we ever asked them to do us any favors? No, and her Clan has never even been put in such a tight spot as this!"
    "But shouldn't they know how to get around Domestics better than us? They're surrounded by them every day. Maybe they could help us raid this spring, even if those agents are still there."
    Victoria stood in front of her tent, facing it, then sighed, "And if they say 'no', then all we have is Dale, who probably can't do much."
    Rose nodded from behind the leader, who went inside her tent without another word. Rose turned around and looked at Catherine sitting before the campfire with the others. The old warrior faced the fire, looking back from the corner of her eye, and lowered her head with an expression of guilt and shame that wrenched the nurse's heart.
    The nurse sat beside Catherine, saying, "I don't think Victoria is really angry at you, Catherine. She's just frustrated that, like, Dale can't do anything right now, and RiverClan might not agree to help us..."
    "Which is my fault," Catherine didn't look away from the fire.
    "No, it's the Domestics' fault. You were just trying to see what was going on with them. There's nothing wrong with that."
    The warrior didn't reply, Then they caught me because I didn't hide well enough. She and her Clanmates were to huddle around the fire until it was time to go to sleep, and await the day of the Gathering.

[Amandus]

Saturday, February 28th, 2015:

[5:30 P.M-]

    ThunderClan had hastily eaten their scarce dinner before skipping their evening patrol in order to begin their journey to the Gathering Place in Yosemite Valley. The Outcasts typically didn't need to bring anything there, except for any unwanted items they may want to trade. However, at this time of year, they determined it would be best to keep any belongings to use to their advantage.
    A few warriors decided to bring extra money they stole from the campground last autumn; perhaps they could make it the grocery store in the valley. Victoria stood before her Clanmates, asking, "Everyone ready?" Her Clanmates all nodded, and Victoria led them up and along the Merced river, and jumped across to reach the gravel trail leading west.
    Every time her Clan walked the John Muir trail, Victoria was reminded that it was the same path Lisa and the other original members took in order to create their settlement at the lake. The temporary exodus of her Clan every Gathering was for some reason a bleak event, probably since they had known many Clanmates who could no longer join them, yet they still always had a sense of hope for momentarily uniting and making peace with all living Outcasts.
    The trail was nestled between two mountain ranges, the whole way staying alongside the low, half-frozen river. Sometimes, Victoria asked her Clanmates to jog, or otherwise speed-walk, in order to reduce their risk of being late. Usually, the Clan was silent throughout their journey.