The wind nips at his skin and the smell of pine hangs heavy in the air. He slowly blinks his eyes open and unsteadily pushes himself into a standing position. His eyes are still adjusting to the dark, so he takes a small step forward before jumping back in pain, hand throbbing. He can feel blood starting to trickle out, so he reaches for the first-aid kit he keeps on his back, only to find it is missing. Frantic, he begins to dig around in the surrounding leaves and twigs- until he realizes: he is too close to the ground. He lifts his bleeding hand up and is shocked to see that it has been replaced by the hard pad of a paw. He desperately tries to remember what happened before he woke up here- wherever here is. Then it hits him.
Vlad.
They had been fighting, he recalls. The usual taunting, a few punches and ghost beams, and then she had shown up. He tries to remember something about her, anything, but all he can see is a dark shadow with flaming red hair and black eyes standing over him, murmuring words in a strange language. She had pinned him down, and he'd been helpless while she whispered the spells over him, Vlad's maniacal laughter in the background. He had begun to fall, down, down, down, a horrible coldness sweeping over him, and then he'd blacked out and woken up... here.
But where exactly is here?
He tries taking a step again, gingerly pressing his injured foot-paw down, and winces as pain shoots through his leg. He sits back down and wraps his tail- he has a tail- around his body to try and keep warm.
Why on earth would Vlad turn him into a cat? And why was he here, in the middle of some godforsaken forest who knows how far from home. He tries going ghost and realizes he can't, and this sends a fresh wave of panic surging through his body. He hopes that Vlad had only shorted them out with his Plasmius Maximus, because for all the burden that his powers bring him, he's terrified of losing them.
He knows he has to try walking again, to begin to find his way home, when he hears it. Brambles rustle in the distance, and he is relieved to find he still has enhanced hearing- even if it is at a much weaker level than before.
"Who're you?" A large, dark brown tabby asks, appearing out of nowhere and walking up to Danny.
"I told you I smelled something off." a small gray cat whispers to a larger white cat.
"Not now, Cinderpaw." the white cat says calmly, but Danny sees him unsheathe his claws and turn towards him.
There is nowhere for him to run. Thick thorn bushes surround him, and he feels blood beginning to drip from his back where it pushes into a thorn. The white cat is creeping towards him, and getting ready to pounce before the brown cat says sharply, "Cloudtail!"
The white cats pouts and sits up.
"Why are you here?" the brown cat asks.
"I... I don't know." Danny answers truthfully.
"What's your name?
"Danny."
The little gray cat wrinkles her nose. "What kind of name is that?"
"He doesn't seem like much of a threat." the brown cat comments. Hey! Danny wants to complain.
"Might as well bring him back to camp and fix him up. He looks like he's in a lot of pain." Cloudtail says begrudgingly.
"Come on, then." the brown cat flicks Danny's ear with his tail, and Danny limps forward, the other cat falling into step behind him.
He follows the cats for what feels like forever into a quarry, where the strong scent of other cats hits him hard in the face. Cats stare at him as he walks in, some of them glaring. It feels like high school all over again. A tiny white kitten runs up to him, nearly stumbling over her own paws.
"Who are you?" she asks excitedly, and Danny opens his mouth to answer when a pale gray cat with dark flecks calls from across the quarry, "Icekit, get back here!" The little white kitten sighs and trudges towards her mother, tail drooping.
The cats bring Danny into a cave-like structure, where a cat with flaming red fur is pacing back and forth.
"Firestar." the brown cat dips his head. "We found him wandering around the Shadowclan border.
The red cat glances at him, before wrapping his tail around his paws. "Cinderpaw, please go fetch Leafpool and Jaypaw." The gray cat makes a face at being dismissed, but she leaves anyway. They sit in silence until two cats push their way into the little den, a small black one with piercing blue eyes and a tabby.
The black cat turns his head and fixes his eyes on him, unblinking.
Firestar briefs the two new cats about Danny, and asks if they have received any sign from something called Starclan. They both shake their head.
"What were you doing on our territory?" the black cat questions sharply.
"I already told him," Danny gestures to the brown tabby, "I have no idea."
The black car scoffs and opens his mouth to say something else, but the yellow tabby cuts him off.
"That paw looks pretty bad. We should probably take a look." She glances questioningly at Firestar, as if asking for permission. The red cat nods his head.
She and the black cat lead him across the camp, and Danny can hear their whispered conversation.
"Why'd you offer to fix him up?!"
"He'll tell us more if he trusts us, Jaypaw."
"He has nothing to tell us. He wasn't lying when he said he had no idea why he was here."
"But he won't tell us who he is. Maybe he's like Sol."
"Doubt it. He doesn't seem really special."
The urge to sock the black cat in the face is getting stronger by the minute.
Danny clears his throat. "Just so you know, I can hear everything you're saying."
Danny smirks as a blush creeps across the Jaypaw's face, and he stalks angrily ahead.
They walk into a cave, larger than the last one, and the yellow cat- who he assumes must be Leafpool, instructs him to lie on the little nest of moss. He happily obliges.
Jaypaw starts chewing a bunch of leaves, before smearing them across Danny's paw. He wraps it up in cobwebs, and Danny's too tired to comment on the strange technique. He mutters a thank you and falls asleep.
His dreams are restless and filled with flashes of things he doesn't want to remember, and he wakes up in a cold sweat, panting.
Jaypaw walks over to him, "You okay?" he asks quietly.
"Y-yeah." Danny stutters, images of Walker trying to torture Sam replaying in his mind.
"Here. Eat this." the cat hands him a tiny black seed, and Danny swallows it. Jaypaw leaves before he can thank him, and the rest of the night is dreamless and peaceful.