The sun barely beating through the crack in the old wooden barn door, birds could be heard chirping in the tree that sat just outside. The nest had been there a while now, every year large blackbirds would claim it as their own and lay their tiny eggs, Finch had been trying for a while now to remove the nest, but to no avail, his efforts were at a loss, the birds just to high in the tree. The faint sound of the waterfall, where the bridge sat marking the border onto clan territory sat neatly on top of the river banks, could be heard in the distance. Mice scurrying across the old decrepit floor every now and then, the faint pitter patter as they ran across to the other side into a dusty hole in the wall, the barn was full of those.

The quiet morning was interrupted as a missive coyote sized Tom wandered inside the crack of the door\, inhaling some air into his lungs before shouting inside- ``WAKE UP``\, The tom yelled loudly\, the cats that scattered around on the many haybales and shelving units that littered the barn jumped out of their skin\, nearly loosing a life. The tom smiled proudly to himself as he pushed the doors open with a swift buck kick from his back leg\, his name was Crow\, he had a pure white pelt with some black splotches scattered around his body\, his eyes an icy blue.

``Do you have a death wish?`` A large tom with a raspy voice hissed from atop one of the shelves\, his large claws flexing out of their sockets before retracting back in followed by a long yawn.

``Don't be so grumpy Finch\, its all fun an' games`` The large tom bellow the shelf grinned up before headbutting the shelving units leg shaking the whole thing like a boa on a stormy ocean\, Finch had grey and white fur with some black scattered\, His eyes a pearly grey. Finch was the second oldest in his family of 4 siblings who lived with him in the barn along with some other cats\, Crow being just under him by a year. Finch flinched as he nearly swayed off the shelf as it shook as he'd just rose to his paws. ``I'm going to kill you`` Finch hissed again\, he wasn't a morning cat like Crow\, and especially wasn't a fan of being woken.

``Ill do it for you`` A voice muttered from the shelf under Finch\, glaring red eyes just peering over the rim of the wooden shelf he was laying on. This was Chrome\, Chrome was usually one for 'fun an' games' but he had stayed up all night guarding the barn with Hound so he wasn't a fan at this pressing moment. Chrome had a crème and white fur pattern and blood red eyes. Hound was fully black\, however\, the whole left side of his body had turned a pure white when he was a kit\, he also had ocean blue eyes.

``Sudden aggression from Tweedle-dee\, now you know you've done wrong`` A chuckle sounded from behind one of the hay bales\, a small tom came jumping out and landing on top of the hay\, This was Alpine\, He was a pure brown Tom with a white underbelly and face mask\, His eyes a beautiful hazel brown.

``I know\, How betrayed I feel`` Chrome pretended to cry holding his paw to his chest as he sat down\, Finch watched unimpressed\, Chrome rolling his blood red eyes however he couldn't help but smile\, and Alpine chuckling his head off on the haybale beside them.

``Cry me a river`` Finch grumbled scratching one of his large ears\, before sharp talon like claws wandered on into the barn\, all eyes now on the Toms in the doorway as they walked in like some sort of celebrities\, This was Hound\, Titan and Koda\, Hound standing the tallest out the of the three as they padded in\, Hound was the oldest of the 4 brothers\, 2 years older than Finch\, He stood taller than Crow and was the strongest in the barn. Titan was a dark grey tom with large Black splotches all over his body\, he was known as the 'Crazy' Cat of the barn\, His hobbies were- Not the most normal\, nor was his mental state. Koda however was a Tom who was the same coloring as Titan however more black\, He was more normal than them all\, thought clearly and was the strategist.

``Mornin' Hound\, where'd you go!`` A small\, young tom bounded over to the muscular beast\, Hound glaring down slightly before giving a smile\, before the younger tom was swooped up in another slightly larger cats paws\, This was Leto and his younger brother Rein\, Rein was a small white and light brown Tom with emerald green eyes\, Leto was the same just with Turquoise eyes. ``I was jus' sayin' hello`` The small tom pouted as he was held in his older brothers arms.

``Hes okay Leto\, you can release your hold on him`` Hound gave a smile over to the Boy with a brief laugh\, the small tom reluctantly letting Rein go.

``I apologize Hound\, Hes very full of life this morning`` Leto smiled over one of his ears drooped over\, Hound nodded before padding round them padding to the back of the barn hopping on the shelf shortly followed by Titan and Koda who sat on the shelf on layer down.

``Its like we're a fucking nursery now`` Finch grumbled quietly just out of hearing distance for Leto and Rein\, Alpine looked up at him with a slight frown before bounding off the hay going to say morning to Leto and his brother Finch watched rolling his eyes before jumping down off the shelf with a thud and stretching his lanky body out.

``They haven't been with us long\, just say hi and actually speak to them\, they're good kids\, Not as annoying as they may seem to the ***** eye`` Chrome punched his shoulder as he hopped down beside him\, Finch grumbled some rubbing his arm.

``Cheer up big brother\, today will be a good day`` Crow pat his brothers arm with a fake empathetic tone before giving a smirk over to chrome and punching him in the same spot with a laugh\, chrome bursting out in laughter too\, Finch unimpressed by the twos childish behavior\, a small rugged Tom approached them with narrowed eyes to the both of them.

``Stop bullying our brother and get to the meeting would you\, Hounds called twice already\, You don't want a third do you?`` The small tom threatened with a smile on his face\, This was Mocking-Jay\, The last brother out of the 4\, he was the youngest out of them and the shortest.

``Thank you Mocking-Jay`` Finch ruffled the kids head fur with a genuine smile\, the two got on  well\, they'd been close since Mocking-Jay was born\, Finch tended to take care of him a lot like a mother and protect him from any dangers\, mostly Chrome and Crow that is. Jay smiled and followed beside his brother over to where all the cats were sitting in front of Hound and the other two\, Shortly followed by Chrome and Crow.

``Now\, the sightings of the 'Monsters' have been more recent lately\, The reason we were out today was because I spotted a monster on the edge of the tree line just west of here over the moor. I need a few of you to go check out the area so ill be arranging a small group now to go out and have a look around for any signs of the two beasts`` Hound spoke clearly\, his deep voice commanding as he glanced over the cats heads bellow pondering on who to go\, after a few moments he'd finally open his maw\, his decision made\, ``Kingsley\, Finch\, Leto and Koda\, if you'd be so kind as to head to the western front\, Koda will show you the way to the sighting\, Other than that I have nothing more to say\, be careful and stay safe\, do not engage in any form of fighting with them unless its DIRE\, Finch I'm looking at you`` He'd point a large paw to Finch who only gave him a grumble in response\, mixed with a large yawn.

The sun was still beaming down strongly as the 4 of them padded through the thick grass and over the moor to the tree line just ahead..``Which one was it`` Kingsley called to Koda who was leading the group at the front\, Koda glanced at King before turning back to face forward\, opening his maw to answer the question. Kingsley was a reddish brown tom with white splotches all over his body\, he had oak brown eyes.

``The black one\, Also known as 059`` Koda called back in response\, his tail swaying as he eyed the treeline ahead. ``Pretty strong\, But not the strongest\, just don't piss him off or go near him if we see him\, that way we shouldn't have any issues with the mission`` Koda warned the whole group behind him with narrowed eyes. ``If you do then you put us all at risk\, our job isn't to fight them\, that can be the clans job\, we only see that they stay IN their forest`` Kingsley nodded taking in the information.

As they arrived at the treeline and walked inside, all sunny daylight had vanished, the forest was dark and gloomy at the best of times, but having to worry about 059 and maybe more monsters on top of that, if was even scarier. Leto magnetized towards Finch, Finch rolling his eyes quietly, however, staying close to the Tom, if he got scared and ran further in then it would be dangerous for all of them.

``What does 059 look like?`` Leto mumbled to Finch\, stumbling on his words slightly as his small eyes darted around\, flinching at the smallest of sounds.

``Hes just a large void like Tom\, pure black with strange azure eyes that have a piercing nature to them\, hes not the strongest as Zoda said but he ranks at least a strong second`` Finch muttered back as they walked along the tree line looking for any signs of 059.

``Whys he so strong?\, have you ever fought them?\, Why do they dwell in the woods?`` Leto battered Finch with a bunch of questions at once\, Finch blinking a few blankly to try comprehend all of them at once.

``Do you always talk this much?`` Finch leaned down and whisper shouted over to Leto who walked beside him closely not straying one bit\, as Finches hot breath hit his ear\, Leto flinched into Finches side.

``S-Sorry I talk when I'm nervous!`` Leto stuttered in defense his ear twitching\, Finch rolled his eyes with a sigh\, retracting his head back up away from the small Tom bellow.

``You two focus!`` Koda hissed quietly over to them with a furrowed brow\, as he grew annoyed by their consistent talking and arguing back and forth\, The two of them nodded over with apologetic smiles.

After around 10 minutes of looking the 4 finally picked up on a trail of footprints, however, there were more than they had originally thought-

``This isn't from one cat- This is at least 3`` Koda muttered\, his heckles standing on edge and his tail on alert. Leto slinked further into Finches side as panic rose. King placed a paw next to one of the footprints in shock.

``This ones huge!`` King gestured Koda and the others over and showed them the abnormally large footprint. Koda's eyes widening\, for someone so calm even he was starting to panic.

``What? Which ones that?`` Leto stumbling over his words asked to Koda with a worried glance.

``000-`` Koda answered before being interrupted by a loud snapping of a branch\, they all turned in unison to see a massive cat and a smaller one stood on a rock\, The massive cats mouth drooling as he stared at them with hunger in his eyes\, And 1 sitting in a tree branch just above them. ``****-`` Koda mumbled quietly to himself eyeing the drooling Tom on the rock\, 000\, 000 also known as 'Hades' Had prominent red\, mostly blood stained\, fur\, his eyes a deep blackish red\, one of them blind\, he had a large scar down the blind eye and scars all over his blood red body. The tom next to him was much smaller in comparison\, this was 097\, also known as Scorch\, he was a small tom who had half his body burnt to a crisp\, he had no skin on his right side and his face was a face only a mother could love\, half of it lost to a fire like the rest of his right side\, his right eye missing\, left only in its place a large hole. The Tom in the tree was 059\, Also known as Yokai. 000 took one step forward his stub twitching behind him\, his ragged claws digging into the rock bellow as he eyed mostly Koda.

``Run!`` Koda yowled loudly as 059 bounced out the tree and landed in front of them with a thud\, the leaves around them spiraling as the air from the landing disturbed them. The 4 of them turned and ran as fast as they could in the opposite direction from the 3 monsters\, Leto staggered behind his breathing shaky\, from a mix of fear and adrenaline. The 3 monsters behind catching up slowly\, Finch glanced back to see 059 nearly catching up to the small feline\, he'd slow down swooping up Leto in his large jaws by the scruff dodging a swipe from 059 in the process\, he'd speed back up soon catching up to the others. ``We cant go back to the barn like this\, they'll chase us until they loose us or catch us\, and they ain't letting up soon`` Koda panted stuttering slightly over to the other 3.

``Where do you think we should go?`` Kingsley yelled over to him his paws aching badly but he kept himself going\, they'd been running for around 5 minutes straight at full pelt.

``Bridsh`` Finch muffled over to the 2\, Leto's scruff still filling his mouth\, Leto was small but he wasn't tiny\, he was light though so Finch didn't mind.

``What?`` Koda shouted from the other side of King his eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he looked over to Finch. Finch rolled his eyes before throwing his head back Leto flying out of his mouth and landing on his back\, Leto's eyes widening as he was facing the monsters head on watching them drool and chase them relentlessly\, they didn't even look one bit tired. He turned back around after a matter of seconds\, facing them made him more anxious than he was\, he stuck his small head into Finches long mane like fur around his neck trying to forget about the whole incident at hand and go to his happy place.

``BRIDGE`` Finch shouted annoyed\, he was woken up to early and for what\, his death sentence?.

``But the clan!`` King glanced round his shoulder and chirped in soon turning back around\, one fall and game over\, these monsters would take all 9 lives in a matter of seconds.

``Forget the clan!`` Koda shouted agreeing with Finches idea\, ``I don't know about you\, but Id rather be dealing with clan cats than these rabid rats`` Koda shivered lightly glancing back at the monsters\, Hades still drooling sizing them all up for his lunch\, deciding who to eat first. ``Follow me`` Koda called\, taking a hard right nearly skidding on the turn.

After a few more minutes of endless sprinting in the woods, trying to avoid anything that would trip them over on the messy floor, they finally had the bridge in their sights.

As they finally reached the bridge they ran across as fast as possible\, their claws tapping loudly against the wood\, the sound of running water filling their ears. Koda glanced back before slowing down as they reached the other side\, Finch skidding to a stop as he noticed Koda fall back\, Leto sliding around on his back fur unburying his head to see what was happening\, King stopping too. ``Koda CMON`` King shouted with a slight hiss jumping up and down on his paws trying to keep his adrenaline flowing for when they started running again.

``They've stopped-``Leto opened his maw and spoke first\, to the 4's surprise the 3 Monsters had stopped at the beginning of the bridge not darning to set foot onto the wooden structure. 000 hissing slightly and sitting down glaring across at them\, the other two following his lead and sitting down.

``Why have they stopped-`` Koda muttered to himself confusion filling his mind\, Why hadn't they followed over?\, They were so intent on killing them so why?\, Is it the clan cats?.

``They're scared?`` Finch blinked a few also filled with confusion as he narrowed his eyes over to the monsters.

``We better not dwell on it now- We aren't getting across anytime soon\, and if they decide to finally cross and get us we don't want to be here when they do`` Koda sighed rubbing his head with a paw before padding over to the others. ``We need shelter\, that cloud doesn't look to good`` Koda mumbled gesturing with a paw to a large black cloud coming their direction. ``That's going to be a storm\, another thing we don't want to be near`'

``We don't know the land- Its dangerous to wander\, especially with the clan cats somewhere around`` Kingsley glanced over to Koda before looking back around the open field lands they were standing in like lost sheep.

``We don't have a choice Kingsley`` Koda hissed over clearly frustrated and annoyed\, the day had gone to shit in multiple ways\, he couldn't be dealing with kings argumentative behavior right now.

``I say we pick a direction and walk`` Finch yawned slightly unphased by all that had just gone down\, he just wanted to sleep without being woken by Crow for once.

``Cmon\, stay close\, don't stray`` Koda sighed one last time before leading the way down a dirt path east of the bridge.

They'd been walking for hours\, the night was growing close and not to mention the storm. The thunder and lightning had been closer together signaling that it was growing near to them. They'd strayed into a forest to stay clear of the rain that had started to fall slowly in the open. ``Here`` King chirped from the front of the pack\, he moved some vines and opened up a small cave like den in the side of a hill. ``Home sweet home`` He'd joke slinking inside.

``Cozy`` Koda laughed slightly as the 3 of them followed close behind King\, the small den was dry and actually decently warm\, the floor wasn't wet and was scattered with dry\, cozy leaves and moss. Finch crouched to the ground letting Leto down onto his own paws\, he'd stretch cracking his back some\, he felt older than he was\, Leto may be light and small but after a while of sprinting with another cat no matter what the size was tiring.

``Try to get some sleep all\, we'll figure something out in the morning`` Koda yawned scratching his ear before flopping down In the back of the cave on the mossy ground. ``Just in time too`` Koda hummed over to the others as rain started pouring it down\, the downfall loud on the side of the hill\, echoing inside the cave\, The thunder and lightning closely following after. The 4 toms finally settled down\, King and Koda on their own sides of the cave\, Leto however decided to sleep right next to Finch. Finch blinked a few as the small tom waddled over and flopped in his stomach\, He heard a faint night before tiny snores sounded from the small thing\, Finch couldn't be bothered to argue so he just laid his head down on Leto's torso like a pillow \, Koda glancing over to him with a smirk\, Finch rolled his eyes in response.

``Night...`` Finch mumbled to Leto who was already fast asleep\, before closing his own eyes and drifting off himself. Maybe Crow was right\, He aint so bad...