When a housecat named Rusty steps outside his home and into the woods, he finds a wild kitten named Graystripe. Graystripe tells Rusty that his pack, known as Thunderclan, is in danger from another clan of cats, Shadowclan, which is led by the villainous Brokentail. Shadowclan is threatening the three other clans in the local woods, Riverclan, Windclan, and Thunderclan. Brave Rusty decides to join Thunderclan, renamed Fireheart, for his bright orange fur, by Thunderclan's leader, Bluestar. On Fireheart's quest to become a warrior, he uncovers a mysterious giant gem, friendship with Graystripe, a sick cat known as Yellowfang, and that Bluestar's best warrior, Tigerclaw, is actually working with Shadowclan. Can Fireheart, Graystripe, Yellowfang and Bluestar work together and stop Shadowclan?

As long as any cat can remember, four clans have lived in a forest where they live like warriors, hunting food for there elders and those unable to hunt for themselves, defending there borders to protect there clanmates and families, and following a code that leads them toa well lead life. One day a cat named Rusty enters the forest in curiosity and his life will change forever. . .

as long as any cat can remember there has been four clans in the forest. A house cat named Rusty travels to discover them for himself but he does much more than exploring the forest.

Into the Wild follows the adventures of a house cat named Rusty. One day, he is invited to join ThunderClan, one of the four Clans of wild cats living in the nearby forest. Rusty agrees, is taken into the Clan, and receives the new name Firepaw. Firepaw becomes friends with fellow apprentice Graypaw, but also encounters hostility due to his outside origin. The real reason, however, that Firepaw was asked to join the Clan, is due to the fact that there is a prophecy that states that "Fire alone can save our Clan". Firepaw encounters various adventures in his training to become a warrior, and receives his warrior name, Fireheart at the end of the novel.

INTO THE WILD is the story of a domestic cat, a kittypet named Rusty, who joins a community of feral cats known as ThunderClan. ThunderClan is one of several feral communities occupying adjoining territories; Rusty is drafted to train as a warrior to help protect the traditional borders of ThunderClan territory as other clans threaten to overrun them. This was an engrossing read, with believable characters and situations. My original fears that it would fall into cutesy-poo language -- talking cats, after all! -- and situations were unfounded. In fact I admire the author''s ability to create immediately understandable terms used by the cats -- sunhigh for noon, for example. INTO THE WILD is the first in the author''s Warriors series, and is followed by FIRE AND ICE, FOREST OF SECRETS, RISING STORM, A DANGEROUS PATH, and THE DARKEST HOUR. The series has also led to a sister series, Warriors: The New Prophecy, with three books to date: MIDNIGHT, MOONRISE, and DAWN.