Dovewing sat up. She was in the warriors' den and until a few heartbeats ago, she had been dreaming peacefully. What had woken her? Behind her, Dovewing heard a rustle and her neck fur stood on end. Carefully, she turned but it was only her sister, Ivyleaf, shifting in her sleep. Dovewing pricked her ears as she heard another sound, a sound that couldn't have been made by a cat. It was a curious sound, like a river and a cat's purr mixed together, and as she listened, it rose and fell in a soothing pattern, confusing Dovewing more. What creature makes that sound? She wondered. She raised a paw to wake her sister, but stopped herself. Ivyleaf had been plagued by awful dreams of The Place of No Stars only a moon ago, Dovewing wanted her to get every bit of rest that she could. Carefully, she picked her way through the den without waking anyone and out into camp. "Hunting" she explained to the cat on guard as she exited camp. As she padded out of the bramble tunnel, she nearly collided with Bumblestripe. "Watch where you're go- Oh, it's you." He mumbled, recognizing Dovewing. "See you on patrol." He mewed as he went into the tunnel, tail drooping slightly. Dovewing watched him for a few heartbeats, feeling guilty about the way she had treated him in the past moons. Sure he had been annoying, but he was also a good cat. She called after him. "Bumble stripe, I-" but was unable to finish her sentence as the tom whirled around and growled "Look, I know you don't like me around but Squirrelflight put us on the patrol so-" "Bumblestripe, that's not what I was going to say at all!" Dovewing interrupted, surprised by the ferocity of Bumblestripe's gaze. "I-I wanted to say…Look, there's this weird sound I keep hearing and I want you to come with me to find out what it is." Bumblestripe blinked in surprise. Dovewing was surprised too; all she had meant to say was that she was sorry.
"Do you really want me to come with you?" Bumblestripe asked.
Dovewing surprised herself again by answering
"Yes."
And she meant it.
They padded down the lakeshore toward the gathering island, with the sound growing louder until even Bumblestripe could hear it. "What is it?" he asked. "That's what we're going to find out."
The island smelled strongly of twolegs, but strangely, they were silent for once, so just the sound drifted into Dovewing's ears. It was even more beautiful here.
"Dovewing, what is that?" Bumblestripe breathed into her ear.
She noticed that he was trembling, and the fur on his spine was starting to lift.
Is he actually…afraid of it? Dovewing thought to herself. The sound was so, so… alluring, and enchanting, Dovewing couldn't even describe it but she wanted to hear more.
"Dovewing!" Bumblestripe broke through her reverie.
"Okay, okay! Keep your fur on!" She closed her eyes and casted out her senses to the island.
As she expected, there were many twolegs, but they were all sitting on some raised platform thing, watching a group of 5 twolegs in front. Each twoleg in front was holding a stick and drawing it across the tails connected to something carved from a tree. Some of the tree carvings were as big as cats while others were bigger than the twolegs themselves. Each emitted a strange humming and singing sound, some high and some low. Altogether, it was the most mysterious yet enchanting thing Dovewing had ever heard.
"What is it?" Bumblestripe repeated.
"I-I don't know."
"Then let's go back to camp!" Bumblestripe hissed. "I have better things to do, like sleep!"
But Dovewing couldn't bear to leave the sound, she wanted to hear more. She couldn't help but compare Bumblestripe with Tigerheart. Tigerheart wouldn't have complained. Tigerheart would have loved it. But then, Tigerheart likes me for my powers, not for me. She reflected sullenly.
"I don't want to. I want to listen to it more." She stated petulantly. She was tired of being bossed around by this tom.
"Don't act like a kit! I know you can hear it from camp! I don't know why I even liked you!" Bumblestripe yowled, then his amber eyes widened "Dovewing, I –"
"I see." Dovewing hissed coldly, stung by his words. "Well, I liked you well enough until you wanted more. You know what I hate about you Bumblestripe? You hover. I can take care of myself!" She spat, flicking her ears for emphasis on the last part, before bounding away towards the island.
Bumblestripe almost went after her, but stopped. "She can take care of herself." He mewed sarcastically. As he turned to go back to camp, he realized the sound was indeed beautiful. He listened to it until it stopped, enjoying the soothing rise and fall of it, then headed back to Thunderclan territory feeling calmer than he ever had.
Maybe we can just be friends. He thought as he bounded over the dewy moor, muscles rippling underneath his coat. I won't hover so much.
Long after the sound had ended and the twolegs had left, Dovewing sat thinking at the base of the island. When the sun started to rise over the lake, turning everything golden, she started back to camp. Strangely, the dawn reminded her of the sound, and Bumblestripe's warm amber eyes. She pushed the last thought away. Bumblestripe could be a furball, but he was also nice too. Maybe we could be friends.
This is what I think how some cats to react to music; especially cats with super hearing and love issues. R&R!
P.S. The instruments were a violin, viola, cello (3), bass, and harp. I imagined them to be playing Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata written for a string quintet… if that even works. ;p