Moonlight tried to be quiet as he slipped into the Shadowclan clearing, but he couldn't keep himself from shaking the sleep-smell off his fur. He didn't like sharing a den with other cats, let alone this many. They didn't seem to like sharing space with him, either.
He'd arrived at a bad time, it seemed, stumbling into their camp as they mourned a fallen leader. He'd heard that Clan cats took whole days to mourn the dead, especially those they'd submitted to, but he hadn't entirely believed it. What was the use? Mercuryrose, as they called her, was dead. She didn't benefit from this, and the living Clan members certainly didn't. But he'd kept his mouth shut, done his best to look impressed and somber as the cats wept poetic about the dead leader. He wanted to - had to - make a good impression.
It had been contentious, but Shadowclan had decided to let him stay, at least for now. If he could, he'd wait longer before sneaking out, wait until he was less of an oddity, until his scent was less noticeable. But time was something he didn't have.
The night was clear, and Moonlight's nearly-white pelt gleamed beneath its namesake. Thankfully, there were no Warriors here to see him. He padded on silent paws to the edge of camp, and at last slunk into the shadows of the pines.
It didn't take long to realize he was being followed.
He was done for. He'd disturbed one of the Warriors, and they'd seen him leaving. They'd chase him out of their territory, and he'd be back to square one. If he was lucky.
He turned, tail lashing, ready for a fight if a fight was coming.
The cat in front of him was not a Warrior. She was barely older than a kit, and noisy on her paws as she hopped after him. Moonlight flattened his ears back, scowled at the young cat in confusion. "What are you doing out here?" he hissed.
Moonlight pricked at the question, and bit down on the urge to snap that it was none of Morningpaw's business. He had opened himself up to it by asking her first, after all; and one thing he was learning about Morningpaw was that trying to shut her out would only make her push harder.
"I... needed a fresh start," he said. Not untrue. "And I'd heard a lot about the Clans. I guess I wanted to see if everything I've heard was true."