There it was, Cherrytail sighed. It taunted her just out of reach. Always swaying so close that she could almost touch it. But so far that she could do nothing but watch. It wasn't fair! she thought crossly, staring at it wistfully. She could only wish she had wings like a bird. to just fly without problem to grab it.
She blinked and looked down in shock. There it was! Before her sat a bowl of frothing liquid white foam: cream! The tortoise-shell she-cat licked her lips expectantly as she dipped her head. She reached out a tongue, lapped up the soothing liquids with a pink tongue, and tasted... moss?
Cherrytail blinked open her eyes. No, not cream. It was all a dream. She spat out bracken and moss like she would crowfood. She had been chewing her nest in her sleep again. Bleh!
Something russled next to her. "Cherrytail?" A pair of yellow eyes stared at her in the dark.
The tortoiseshell she-cat shifted in her nest, pretending to be asleep. Sparrowpelt stared at her for a few more moments before turning over and promptly falling asleep again. But the she-cat stayed wide awake.
She couldn't take it anymore! These dreams were really begining to stress her out. Time and again she'd dream of the delicious cream her Twolegs used to feed her. It'd only make her heart ache like a painful thorn to think about them too. They used to care so much for her and Sparrowpelt. Were they worried now? And all that delicous cream...
Abruptly Cherrytail stood. She cast a furgive look at her sleeping clan mates; soft snorings met her ears. Quiet as a mouse she moved over Waspwhisker's spread out form and left the Warriors den, out into the cold outside. It wasn't snowing, thank StarClan. She trotted up the gorge, keeping her ears pricked for signs of a guard. And, when she was well past the gorge, sped to a run.
((_endpage_))
"Cherrytail?" Hutch blinked, surprised to find the breathless tortoiseshell SkyClan warrior in front of his door step. Much less in the middle of the night. If he had not left his den to go do a bit of nighttime exploration, he might never have met her. "What are you doing here?"
"Shh!" she flicked her ears around fearfully. So far, so good. She had trekked throw Twolegplace, using memory to find Hutch's Den. After a forethought, the she-cat had decided it wouldn't have been best to go back to her old home. She had no doubt her old Folks would give her some Cream if she meowed for some. But she doubt they'd let her back out. They'd probably keep her shut up in the Twoleg den forever.
Not what she'd consider a comfortable welcome.
So here she was now, standing before Hutch. The Kittypet had lost a bit of muscle since his absence of Clan activity, but not enough to consider him fat just yet. And it felt strange to see so much light coming off the many Twoleg dens even though it's night out. Cherrytail was used to the cool darkness back in SkyClan. It felt too vulnerable out here without cover.
She shook herself to rid of the tension. "Hutch. Would you happen to have any cream?" she asked quietly. She only hoped her voice didn't sound desperate.
The brown tabby tom tilted his head. "Yeah... My Housefolk left me some before going to sleep. I was about to get some but-what are you doing here?"
Cherrytail flattened her ears, shivering from the cold. Stupid Leaf-fall. "I would like some cream," she mewed. "Would you mind sharing?"
She didn't waver as Hutch's eyes widened. He had only been a warrior of SkyClan for a few weeks, known under the alias of Shortwhisker before returning back to his kittypet-life. But Cherrytail knew he had enough knowledge of Clan life to understand it was against the Code for SkyClan cats to eat or drink anything from a Twoleg.
Whether he remembered or not, Hutch dipped his politely nevertheless. "Of course," he mewed. "I have plenty." He led the way to the flap on the door, casting a look over his shoulder. "But it's inside. You'll have to come in." He warned.
Cherrytail looked up at the Twoleghome. In the dark it looked like some huge disfigured monster. Waiting to gobble her up with its large window-like-eyes leering down at her. Watching, waiting...
She shook her head. She couldn't believe how alien it felt being back in familair grounds. "Let's go," she answered with grim.
((_endpage_))
"Mhh..." Cherrytail closed her eyes in bliss as her tongue lapped up the first cool liquids of the frothing white cream she had been dreaming for days on end. They were in the kitchen, with Hutch standing aside politley to allow his old friend some of the cream first. He shuffled his paws as Cherrytail continued to lap up the rest of the cream, as she imagined each flavor that sent her taste buds rolling and fantasizing.
Soon the licks turned to slurps, and not long great big laps. In no time the she-cat was scraping her tongue at the bottom of the lid. The bowl was empty.
She paused. "Erm, Sorry," Cherrytail mewed embarrassingly, grooming her whiskers.
Hutch prodded the bowl with a paw. His eyes looked wistfully at the empty container that used to hold his precious cream. "That's alright, I guess. Come back anytime?"
Cherrytail looked away guiltily. "I don't know, maybe. Listen, I got to go. Bye!"
"Oh, well bye-" Cherrytail didn't hear the rest as she quickly left the Twoleg den, belly on the ground. She burst through the small flap, and out into the cold night. In no time the she-cat was looking over the Gorge of her home.
She looked around carefully. More frightened of coming across a guard than a predator. The she-cat carefully made her way down the Gorge, ears pricked everywhere. She didn't know where Shrewtooth would be now, but she knew with his black pelt he could camouflage himself easily in the night. That'd make it a lot harder for her to spot him.
"Who's there?"
Cherrytail jumped and whirled around, fur bristling. A pair of yellow eyes stared at her like two small suns. They quivered. A moment later a black tom stepped nervously out of the shadows as quiet as a mouse.
He sniffed. "Cherrytail? What are you doing up?" he asked in relief.
She blinked blankly.
Shrewtooth looked over her shoulder. "Were you going out for a walk?"
Cherrytail nodded vigorously. 'Yes! I needed some fresh air. So I decided to just take a little walk."
Shrewtooth blinked. "Oh. Well, be careful next time. There could be foxes o-r-or badgers out there." He looked fearfully over her shoulder again, his body crouched.
The tortoise-shell she-cat shook her head in exasperation. She rubbed her cheek with the black tom's to ease him. "Don't worry. You're doing a fine job. Remember what Leafstar said: if you find any trouble, let us know. Don't try tackling it on your own."
"I will. Thanks Cherrytail. Good night."
"Night."
Cherrytail stalked back to her den, thankful that Shrewtooth was too nervous to have noticed the evident smell of cream and Twoleg scent on her pelt. His nose was probably too clogged with his own fear scent to have noticed anyone else, she thought piteously.
With a sigh, and a full bell, she lay back in her nest. Only pausing to knead it comfortably before she lay back down And, for the first time in days, slept peacefully without dreaming a single drop of cream.
I got this idea from a passage in Firestar's Quest. I think it was Hutch whom Cherrypaw and Sparrowpaw had met with Firestar when looking for cats to invite to SkyClan. He offered them cream in the book before they left. And I still remember when the she-cat looked excited at the thought of trying some before Firestar warned them against it. The thought's stayed with me for some time until I actually typed it out.
And, here it is X3