"Is it really time to go?" Commander Moon asked that afternoon. Braveleaf and Lillian were sitting in front of her with their kittens.

Braveleaf purred. “We’ll still support your Family, Commander.” Lillian nodded to this as well but her dull orange eyes were round. “We do appreciate all that you’ve done for us.”

Commander Moon blushed at the compliment. “Well, please travel safely.”

“We will.” After that, the two grown cats and their kittens trotted out of camp while have quiet conversation among themselves.

Once out of sight, Commander Moon heard shuffling and spun around to see Lionpool padding up to her with her ears down. “Moon, do you think it’s possible Sean and Lily could be made Trainees early?”

“Why?” Commander Moon questioned. She didn’t see any reason of her friend’s kittens to be made Trainees early. They were already thriving from all the Trainees currently training.

Lionpool lowered her gaze. “It’s just, I keep losing them,” she whimpered her cerulean eyes brimming with sadness.

Commander Moon placed her tail on Lionpool’s shoulder. “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” she meowed. “It’s your first litter after all.”

Her friend started to lighten up. “You’re right,” she purred as she headed back to the Nursery. Commander Moon followed to see how her own kittens were doing.

Inside the Nursery, the new expecting Mother Dovetail was curled up in a ball with half of her face covered up by her fluffy tail. Nearby, Commander Moon’s kittens were wrestling with each other and Lionpool’s kittens. All five of them stopped when they noticed their mothers present inside of the nursery.

“Hi, Mom!” squeaked Peach as she approached the purple molly, her pink fur fluffed up from play fighting.

“Hello, my little darling,” Commander Moon purred. “I see that you all are doing well.”

Storm puffed his chest out. “Of course, we’re your kids.” His dark blue eyes shined with pride.

Commander Moon purred at the sight of how much her kittens have grown. It seemed like only yesterday when she just birthed them into the world. All her memories vanished when she heard loud yowling coming from outside of the nursery.

Rushing outside, the purple molly spotted a familiar black child bent over while panting heavily. Sweat dripped from his face and Commander Moon wondered just how far Lucky had run to get all the way here. Trainee Gray and Villie were standing on opposite sides of the boy.

“He wants to see you,” Villie hissed keeping her purple eyes on Lucky.

Commander Moon lowered herself to see Lucky’s sweaty face. “What is it? Did something happen?”

“Sport Family,” gasped Lucky. “They snatched Bluebell and ran off.”

“Isn’t that Braveleaf’s son?” Trainee Gray asked Commander Moon, his purple eyes wide.

“That is,” Commander Moon mewed. “But it hasn’t even been hours since they left.” Truthfully, it has probably only been twenty minutes since Braveleaf and Lillian left.

Did these Sport Family hooligans trespass on our territory? Commander Moon wondered. She lashed her tail out as she meowed, “Can you locate where this Sport Family camp is?”

Lucky nodded. “I’ll be back as soon as I find them.” He ran right out of camp entrance as he said those words.

Commander Moon sighed and placed one paw on her head. How was she supposed to stay focused on Bluestep if other Families were going to get in the way and cause trouble? She wished that Noseherb would drop down from the sky and give her advice.

“Did any of you see Braveleaf while you were out?” Commander Moon asked Villie and Trainee Gray.

Trainee Gray lowered his ears. “I could smell both hers and Lillian’s scent, but it got mixed up with some strange scents,” he cried.

That scent must’ve belonged to Sport Family, Commander Moon realized. This is the first time she’s ever heard about them though and she was starting to wonder if other Families were starting to form each day.

“Those kit-snatchers will be learning their lesson soon,” Villie hissed whipping her tail back and forth. She then turned to her son who was shaking a bit. “Be prepared to fight.”

Trainee Gray sniffed and padded away without saying anything. Commander Moon wondered if Braveleaf and Lillian were out there frantically searching for the lost Bluebell. I need to find them. She needed someone to come with her in case they were to run into anymore Sport Family cats.

Scanning the camp, her eyes landed on Littletail who was stretching while flexing his claws out. He stood up tall when he noticed Commander Moon approaching him. “I heard there’s a missing kit.”

“Yes, I want you to come with me so we can find Braveleaf,” explained Commander Moon.

“I’ll be glad to help!” Littletail charged toward the camp entrance causing Commander Moon to purr as she followed suit.

Outside camp, the sun shone on the once bare trees who now had snow replacing their leaves. Commander Moon kept her nose down while following the scent trail. There was a strange scent mixed in with Braveleaf and Lillian’s. She remembered the two stating they lived near Bluberry.

Bluberry is near my old home, Commander Moon told herself. She took a turn left and made sure to stay low as she padded across the field filled with only flowers that weren’t covered by snow.

“Isn’t this where Flower Family live?” Littletail asked from behind Commander Moon.

Commander Moon lowered her ears. “This is the only way back to my old neighborhood,” she hissed quietly. Her owners would come here and have their little picnics while enjoying the beautiful flowers. I remember this place not being owned by animals…

As they kept going, the stench of the road filled Commander Moon’s nose and she spotted the road up ahead. She quickened her pace, adrenaline kicking in as she was getting near the road. All was going well until a loud voice filled the air.

“Stop right there!”

Stopping in their tracks, Commander Moon and Littletail gulped when a very tall black and white molly came waltzing on over with a familiar russet colored vixen Commander Moon watched chase Sochi and Stray Dog out. Both women looked at them with disgust clear as day on their faces.

“Why is everyone trespassing on our land?” The russet color vixen spat. She glared at Commander Moon who looked away nervous.

The tall molly beside straightened her tail. “Calm yourself, dear Foxsoul, let’s see what these heathens have to say for themselves.”

Commander Moon took a deep breath. “I didn’t know of any other way of getting back to the neighborhood,” she explained intimidated. She has never seen a cat with that long of legs. There was a bright green collar wrapped around her skinny neck as well.

“That is unfortunate,” the black and white molly mewed. “However, you should’ve came to our camp rather than being sneaky.” She took a couple steps closer.

Littletail snorted. “Just let us pass this time!”

Foxsoul bared her fangs. “Why should we?”

The black and white molly giggled. “I’ll let you pass if you refer to me as, ‘Your Highness’.”

Shining Skies, please help, Commander Moon pleaded. She was starting to get antsy from all this. This cat must be Commander or Queen, whatever she wanted to call herself. What surprised her was when Littletail lowered himself.

“Please let us go by, Your Highness,” he mewed humbly. Commander Moon stared at him with gaping jaws.

“Perfect! Now call me Queen Flowerseed and you can officially go by,” the black and white molly purred.

“You told them to call you, Your Highness, as a deal, not Queen.”

All of them froze when a Shadow Portal appeared, and a pale purple tom walked out to which Commander Moon recognized to be Windglide. He looked like he was doing better from when she saw him a couple months ago before Commander Gray’s death.

Flowerseed looked offended. “How dare you interrupt us?” She unsheathed her claws from her tiny paws.

Windglide narrowed his gray blue eyes. “They need to get somewhere,” he hissed. He glanced at Commander Moon and Littletail before flicking his tail for them to get moving.

Smiling, Commander Moon and Littletail bolted off. She heard Foxsoul cursing after them, but she wasn’t going to stop to see if the russet vixen managed to get past Windglide. All they need to do is get to Bluberry before it got dark. Once they made it to the road, they stopped to catch their breath before continuing.

In the distance, Commander Moon caught sight of an indigo-colored molly conversing with a bright gold molly. Braveleaf! The mother must’ve stayed back to keep searching for Bluebell. Dashing across the street, Commander Moon hoped no cars would come by since she didn’t bother looking left or right.

Heart pounding, the purple molly and her Campmate stopped when they reached the sidewalk near Braveleaf. The indigo molly looked mildly surprised at the sight of Commander Moon. Even the bright gold cat was staring with wide eyes at the Guardian cats.

“Did you hear about my son?” Braveleaf exclaimed. Her yellow eyes were wide and dark circles appeared under them, showing that she had been crying.

Littletail nodded. “Of course! Lucky is locating their camp as we speak,” he mewed.

Commander Moon locked eyes with the bright gold molly. Something about her seemed familiar as if she’s seen her before but she couldn’t place a paw of when. Breaking eye contact, the purple molly put her focus on the conversation with Braveleaf and Littletail.

“May I join you?” Braveleaf asked. “I just know he’s probably terrified right now.”

“Just be prepared, they may fight,” Commander Moon warned.

“Not surprising,” Braveleaf purred.

The bright gold molly lowered her ears looking a bit frighten. She stared straight at Commander Moon. “You be careful,” she mewed shaking.

“Um…okay?” Commander Moon was confused by this bright gold molly. She wanted to ask for her name, but the house cat bolted straight into some nearby bushes and disappeared.

Sighing, she signaled to the others to follow her as they go home. She hoped that Windglide managed to convince Flowerseed to stop pestering them as they travel across the flower field.

To her surprise, Commander found the pale purple tom waiting for them when they made it back to Flower Family territory. He looked to be gazing up at the now evening sky. His gaze lowered when Commander Moon and her posse got closer.

“You’re still around?” Braveleaf meowed shocked.

Windglide grunted. “I needed to say a few words to Commander Moon.”

Commander Moon only pointed a paw towards herself and saw a small smile form on Windglide’s face. “Have you heard of Group 16?” He kept firm gaze on Commander Moon.

“Well, I did meet some strange humans,” Commander Moon admitted. She didn’t want to tell him about that voice that has strangely stopped speaking to her over the last month.

“Be weary of them,” Windglide growled. “Iceflame and I are still unsure of their true goals.”

Littletail wagged his short tail. “I’ve never really trusted humans so no worries about me,” he meowed. Commander Moon rolled her eyes when Braveleaf started purring at what the red tom said.

Windglide spread the wings on his side out. “Good luck on your journey,” he meowed before taking off into the air. Commander Moon only smiled and continued back to camp.