Chapter 1
Robin watched from inside her housefolk's home as the orange tom fought with Callie, the calico cat next door. Callie
was scared to death, and ran off as soon as she saw the tom. Instead of stopping to gloat, the orange tom ran after her,
and swiped at her again. Callie, this time angry, retaliated. A pain-filled howl signaled that she had hit her mark. The tom
raced off, not looking back, for the ninth time this week.
The brown patched tabby she-cat sighed. She was mystified by the way the tom acted, not gloating when he could
have won the fight between himself and Callie. Not that she wanted Callie to lose the territory she lived on with her
housefolk, of course. Callie hadn't been the won to aggravate Robin and her siblings. Punky, the crazy gray-and-white
she-cat had been called, had tried to fight them from outside Hershey's Twoleg home, and Robin wasn't allowed
outside.
That misfit she-cat was gone now, though. After she had mated with some cat or another a couple times, her housefolk
had gotten rid of her. Robin didn't know where she had gone, and didn't care. She could here the two dogs barking,
worked up from the sounds of the fight. She ignored them. They were stuck in their dens, locked in by the Twolegs.
She, personally, was relieved, although they hadn't chased her more than a couple times. She just didn't like it when
they were out.
A loud meow brought her attention back inside. Her brother, Mischief, was sitting below the windowsill where she had
perched, watching her.
"What do you think you are doing?" The classic tabby-and-white tom asked. "You usually don't stare aimlessly out the
window unless there's something out there that interests you."
He was trying not to pry, Robin noticed, but his eyes were very interested. "I was watching that orange tom."
Mischief's eyes narrowed. "He was back again?" His tail swished angrily. "Why does he keep coming back?"
Robin shrugged. "If I could go outside, I'd ask him," she replied mildly.
"Go outside!" Mischief spat. "Why do you want to go outside so bad? It's not like our housefolk treat us badly or
anything! They even feed you special food, since you got sick from eating the kind we had before. Why don't you like
it here?" His fur was bristling.
Robin hissed back, "Why don't you mind your own business? I saw you staring at Sassy from next door! You stop
prying in my life and I'll stop seeing what's going on with you two!"
Mischief flinched and backed off. Robin smiled. It seemed her bluff had worked. She had been taking a gamble with that
one, but she had decided she had to try.
"Seems our brother has a crush he had hoped to keep a secret," a timid voice purred. Bubbles, her fluffy orange sister,
padded into the room.
Robin smiled at Bubbles. She hardly ever came out of hiding. "It's nice to see you out again," she murmured.
"Yes. Now that our housefolk are gone for two days, we have the place to ourselves." They talked for about two hours,
then Bubbles said, "Well, I've got to go see what I can get into. I never get to have any fun when out housefolk are
home."
Robin turned back to the window as Bubbles walked away. The tom was walking toward her house. She watched
interested, as he limped into her housefolk's garden. He had a large number of wounds, ones not inflicted from his fight
with Callie. His paw was bleeding quite heavily. Robin lost sight of him as the tom went under her window, and into her
backyard.
Jumping off the windowsill, Robin ran to the opposite end of the house. The housefolk had installed a small flap in the
door for her to go outside into a large, cage-type area. She could see everything perfectly, she just couldn't get away.
She shoved her thin frame through the door. She was the only one out of all the cats to ever use it.
The tom wasn't around the house yet, if he was coming at all. Robin leapt into the small tree that had become her
favorite perch. She blinked, tail lashing, as she waited for the tom to walk around the corner. Her fur bristled as the wind
picked up. Where did he go? she wondered. He was coming around the house. Maybe he went in the other direction.
For all her thoughts, she didn't move from the tree.
The orange tom limped, not noticing Robin in the tree. He stumbled once, then twice, before finally falling to the
ground. Hershey leapt out of the tree, and padded silently to the edge of her outdoor area.
"Are you alright?" the she-cat asked, trying not to startle him.
The tom jumped, and spun around. When he saw Robin, he groaned and turned away. "There's nothing you can do to
help me," he muttered. "House-cat."
Robin glared. "I've been watching you," she said abruptly. You've been fighting with Callie, but I don't think she did
that to you."
The tom glanced her way, then sat down with a heavy sigh. "Of course your friend, Callie, or whoever, didn't do this to
me. Callie had been wandering on my territory, and I followed her here."
Robin looked at him skeptically. "Your territory?" Her voice was quite interested.
"Across the stream quite a ways from here," he muttered. Its not like it'll make any difference. What trouble can a she
bring to the me? Its not even like she really cares.
"We all live in different territories. Cats like yourself could never live the way I do," the tom added, somewhat smugly.
Robin's gaze could have peeled paint as she glared back at the orange tom. "You think I couldn't?" She hissed. "I was
born out there, you stupid furball. You didn't stop to think that maybe I would have roots out there?"
The tom backed up as quickly as he could, dragging his injured limb behind him. He didn't know what possessed this
she-cat. They were never this brave when it came to standing up to warriors. "How am I supposed to know?" He spat,
trying not to show the intense pain he felt, and not succeeding.
Robin saw his look, not really one of hostility. "I was born far beyond here," she said quietly. "One of my siblings died
there, and so would have rest of us. We were lucky to be rescued by the housefolk I live with." The she-cat's tail
twitched. "I don't know if I'm really happy about it. Everything's not what it could be here." Without another word, she
turned and padded toward the door to her home.
"Where are you going?" the tom asked, panic in his voice. If she brought her housefolk back with her, he wouldn't be
able to get away.
Robin stopped at the tone in his voice. "My housefolk are gone for a quarter moon," she said, her voice cheerful. "Oh,
and by the way, my name's Robin." She turned her back on the tom and slipped inside the door.
"Wait!"
Robin stuck her head back out the door. "What?"
"My name is Briar."
Chapter 2:
Briar limped his way back to his own territory. His wounds were bleeding still, and pain filled his every step. He had
Robin's scent on him, from being near the Twoleg place. He couldn't stop to get rid of it, he had to get back to camp. He
was nearly unconscious when he finally stumbled through the into his home.
Dove, his sister, saw him first. "Briar!" She cried, and ran to his side. Her brother's dark fur was stained by blood, and
his eyes were fluttering shut. "Briar, you'll be okay, I promise. Keep your eyes open, please!"
Even with his sister's pleas, Briar couldn't stop the overwhelming darkness that was trickling into his mind. "I- , I need-
,help," he gasped, and fell unconscious. The last thing he heard was his sister's scream.
Briar was falling, falling into a dark abyss. He yowled, but found he couldn't speak. He flailed, trying to get a grip on
something, on anything. His voice came back to him when he saw the bottom, sharp pointed stones whose tips gleamed
in the moonlight, tips that could run him through. He screamed.
Then, out of nowhere, Robin's face appeared out of the corner of his eyes. Briar turned to face her, even as he was
falling. He looked at the ground, bowing his head to the brave she-cat, and saw the ground had changed. The smooth
land of Fourtrees stretched beneath him. With a fast twist, Briar landed safely, albeit somewhat heavily. He saw
movement and turned.
His mother walked toward him, and reached out for him. Then, with an agonized cry, she jerked away, as if she had been
shocked. She couldn't touch her only son.
Take care of Dove for me, Briar. I trust you. His mother's voice filtered the muddled darkness in his mind. "I will,
Mother," he promised, just as he had when he was a kit.
Briar. Briar... Briar, wake up!
The orange tom woke with a start. His sister Dove stared down at him with concerned eyes. "Briar, you're awake! I
thought you weren't gonna make it." She swiped her tongue across his ear. Any other time Briar would flinch and turn
away, but he didn't. He didn't have the energy to.
"Brother, where were you? How did you get so torn up?" Dove's eyes were filled with anger.
Briar avoided her eyes. "I went past our stream. I went over beyond Crossfire and Firestarter's place, and across to
Callie and Sassy's. and I figured out who lives beyond them."
"Really? Who?" Despite her anger, Dove was very curious about these things. She didn't dare go anywhere because of
all the toms that ran around.
Briar smiled at his sister's interest. "A she-cat named Robin. She has a temper, too. I got all scratched up before I met
her though. She saw me chasing after Sassy." He blushed.
Dove frowned. "Still?" By now I'd think that poor cat has had quite enough of you! Leave her alone for a while will
you?" She shook her head. "Back to your explanation."
Briar winced. "I'll leave her alone, alright? All I wanted to do is talk to her, and all she sees is a ruffian covered with
scars." He sighed. "Anyway, after I got chased off by Callie, I thought I'd go get a drink of water. Since I wasn't quite
sure where I was, I cut across Robin's area, and went straight into the loners' place."
Dove glared at him. "I thought you learned where Weasel put his boundaries last time you wandered in there." Her face
softened. "He was defending Rye again, huh?"
"Yeah."
Briar wasn't really thinking about that. Dove left him alone when she seemed sure he was alright. He turned his head to
see his wounds. He gasped in spite off himself. He was covered in gashes, blood still staining his coat. He had really
been beaten this time.
Briar turned over. He carefully set his head onto his paws, and closed his eyes. The tom thought back to the dream he
had. Take care of Dove, phhht. More like have her take care of me. He shook his ead and tried to clear his thoughts
. Robin seemed nice enough. She didn't flinch away from me as soon as she caught sight of me. The tom took a deep
breath to calm himself.
Like as not there's already some tom padding after her. There's no way I'd have a chance with her. Even so, she's a
housecat. Why do I want anything to do with her?
Despite himself, he was still intrigued by the fiery she-cat. He would go back to see her as soon as he could slip away
from Dove.
Chapter 3