The moonlight cast an eerie glow upon 8 sparkling eyes. The eyes darted back and forth, looking from each other to a pair of steady, staring green eyes and back again.

"Well, uh, um, uh what are we gonna do?" A nervous voice broke the silence. The green eyes remained staring straight ahead.

"You know, Isis, it helps a lot when we know the plan!" A smooth voice pierced the air while its owner, obviously upset with the leader, rustled in the cardboard box the group was hiding in. Still the green eyes did not move.

"For crying out loud! Perhaps if you could hint us about it?! Are we having tea or robbery?" A sarcastic voice with a richer British accent than the others said.

"All in due time my sweets," came the silky smooth voice that belonged to the cat with green eyes. Out from the shadows of an alley, a tall, willowy, black figure with a few thin white stripes on her upper half, emerged and stepped into the lamplight. She glanced left and right then motioned behind her. Following her came two more cats, both tall and thin. A final cat then stepped from the shadows; she was red, smaller than the others, with acute ears and a crafty air about her. They all wore identical bands of green leaves with silver metal upon one of their forearms

The first cat spoke "Now Ivy and Laurali, you go behind the warehouse and see if Macavity is anywhere near. Whether he is or isn't you report to me at the pier!" The two cats, one Siamese and the other with light fur and a dark pattern enveloping her body left in a hurry, without question or sound. The cat with the green eyes then turned to the smaller cat. "Piper, you listen closely now. I want you to go tell Dash that we may need his assistance. He'll know what I mean."

"Yes Isis, bu-" Isis held a paw to Piper's lips and pointed with one claw toward the street. Piper left.

Isis knew that she had to find Romeo, she needed his help too.

The two tall cats seemed to glide upon the streets, their footfall being barely audible. A building known as the warehouse to the cats was coming up ahead.

I pray to Terpsichore he's not there, Laurali thought nervously. She had heard gory rumors about the leader of this new group of cats. He was harsh on good days, murderous on bad. If he catches us… Laurali didn't dare think of the consequences.

In unison the two cats slowed to a walk once the building was looming overhead. Macavity was often found here when conferring business with the rats. Filthy creatures, only Macavity would think to negotiate with them. The Siamese walked in front of Laurali in the narrow alleyway as they both looked everywhere around themselves for a trace of the mystery cat. The air didn't leave behind any clues either.

"Okay, let's go back," Laurali said, relieved.

Like a bolt of lightening, a figure darted toward the queens. It pushed them out of the way, into the shadows, as it continued down the alley. Ivy was just about to get up when three more figures darted through the back street. The three cats stopped in front of the queens' hiding place, looking above at the rooftops.

"You imbeciles! I can't believe you let him get away!" One of the cats said in a deep, angered voice.

"Boss- we are, it's just that…" A shorter cat said nervously.

"Just figure out WHICH WAY HE WENT!" The cat's voice bellowed.

Shards of moonlight broke through to reveal the face of the angry cat. It was a handsome, tall, ginger tom with a menacing look on his face. Ivy gasped at the sight of this cat. Unfortunately, the cat heard her.

Dash was waiting for Piper behind an abandoned Chinese restaurant. She smiled when she saw that he had remembered their secret meeting place. He was leaning against a side of the building, looking down at his paws. He was thinking deeply and did not move until Piper approached him. Piper was surprised that he hadn't caught her scent from a while away, but she had been gone so long that it was understandable. Dash lifted his head to the oncoming cat and smiled when he saw her face. They embraced each other, each happy at seeing their mate after so long.

Dash looked down into Piper's eyes and asked "Why were you away from me for so long?"

Piper only smiled. "I missed you." They kissed each other on the cheek, as was their personal custom. "You didn't tell anyone did you?" Dash's face suddenly tensed as he looked at Piper.

"No! Of course not!" It was strictly against the rules to have a mate amongst any of Isis's associates. But Piper felt a love so strongly toward Dash, as did he for her. She simply couldn't give this up. If Isis were to find out, it would mean dismissal from the clan. Isis won't find out Piper said to herself.

"Isis said that we might need your assistance. What does that mean?" The short red queen said after she and Dash had walked together silently paw in paw for awhile.

Dash closed his eyes and let out a loud sigh. "It means that you and your clan are going to war with someone."

"Don't worry, we Amazon can handle anything that comes our way." Piper laughed. Isis's clan was often called the "Amazon" due to the fact that it was an all-queen tribe and that they were fearless. The only difference was that at least one of the queens was found with a tom at some time or another. "Let's just hope this doesn't involve Macavity."

Once the last of the cats departed Isis walked cautiously down an abandoned street, looking behind her every so often. She had to find where Romeo had relocated himself since she was gone with the clan on business. Romeo was always relocating himself. He said it 'kept he and his comrades safe' so that no other cat could find him. Isis raised her nose to the oncoming wind, trying to catch his scent. All she picked up was the common smells of the humans in the city. From behind her she heard a noise, but she continued to walk. The rustle began again.

"How long have you been here?" She didn't need to turn around, she knew her stalker would follow.

"Long enough to know that you've sent your hench-kitties off to do your dirty work again." The mystery cat joined Isis at her side.

"Romeo, oh Romeo! You know, you can get hurt eavesdropping."

"Oh dear! I am so sorry momma, I shan't do it again!" Romeo replied sarcastically.

Isis stopped walking and looked at Romeo. "Why are you following me?"

"Why are you trying to find me?"

They stared at each other for a moment.

"Oh to be young again," Isis sighed, remembering her wild days with her former mate that stood before her.

"Oh indeed." The black and white tom responded.

"Why?" Romeo questioned after moments of silence.

"Why what?"

"Why are you-" A scream in the distance interrupted Romeo.

"It's Ivy!" Isis said instinctively, turning to the direction the sound had come from.

"Ivy! Ivy! No!" Laurali screamed frantically as she ran after her friend's captors. One of the cats had slung Ivy over his shoulder like a bag of loot and was running with her down the alley. Ivy lay unconscious on his shoulder, the result of a blow. The pursuit continued down a busy street full of humans. Two of the three cats from the alley maneuvered in between the humans' feet, slowly losing Laurali among the crowd.

Regaining her breath, Laurali ran like a hound in pursuit of a rabbit to the pier. If she was lucky, Isis would realize to meet her there.

"Isis wants us to meet at the pier," Piper said to her tall mate.

"Let's wait awhile, I want to hear about your journeys." Dash grabbed her arm as she started to walk.

"I'll tell you about it while we walk."

Once again, paw in paw, the two began to walk.

"It was so wonderful, travelling. On a ship especially. We had fresh fish everyday, delivered right to our mats on the floor of the captain's quarters," Piper began.

"Wait! Why did you go?"

"Oh, we were supposed to meet with the Calypsos, to fight the Pollicles on the other side of the sea, but that never happened. I met a pirate onboard who said that the Calypsos had attempted to gain the land that the Pollicles held by themselves, without our help. Those stubborn idiots! They should have never have tried it. And now there's a rumor that those dogs dumped them into the sea."

"And you think that you would have been much help to them? The four of you?"

"Don't scoff! We have our ways. Besides the reason we haven't expanded is because Isis says that expansion of the clan leaves more room for traitors. At least this way we can all trust each other." Piper paused for a moment. "As I was saying I met a pirate onboard, she was actually the captain's personal cat. He called her Karma, but she went by Roxy. We became fast friends. She told me about so many voyages she had gone on. She encountered human pirates who bowed to her! They were afraid of her to say the least."

"I missed you." Dash broke in.

Piper smiled up at him. "I missed you too."

Isis was waiting for Laurali at the pier. The tall blue eyed queen sprinted to her, stopping just a few feet in front of her and Romeo. Isis could see the anxiousness in her eyes.

"She- it's- Macavity and- she-" Laurali leaned against a nearby pole, spitting out her words.

"Omigosh! Macavity! What are we going to do?!" Romeo turned to Isis.

"We have to find where he took her." Isis said almost calmly.

"Please let me go with you!" Laurali pleaded. Dash and Piper approached them from the left. No one noticed that they were holding paws for a few seconds.

"Go with you where? What happened?" Piper said to Isis.

The tall black and white queen turned to Piper "Macavity has Ivy, we have to find her and bring her back." Piper put a paw up to her astonished face.

"Well what do you want us to do?" Romeo questioned, referring to him and the other tom.

"I don't know yet."