The sky was a bright blue and the air was warm. It was the kind of day that was clearly meant for being lazy, but here is where Delilah found herself, dashing headlong through foresty undergrowth. She weaved back and forth under bramble and fern and gorse, determination mixing with a kind of pulsating fear that she'd never known before. She was searching for someone, someone important, and was terrified of what she would find.
Thing is, she didn't know who she was looking for. Some innate part of her knew it wasn't her brother, Rusty. But who else could it be? It certainly wasn't Smudge, the pudgy furball from next store. Unless this dream was an alternate reality where she actually liked the idiot, but that was ridiculous.
A sharp cry from ahead made her heart stutter and she roared out, "NO!"
"NO!" Delilah jolted up, heart pounding and eyes wide. It took her only a moment to realize she was in her housefolk's kitchen. Her brother was gone, but she had a feeling she knew where he was. She growled and grumbled but hauled herself shakily upward to search him out.
The fresh air made her relax muscles she hadn't even known were tensed. Stars glittered up in an inky black sky, and crickets chirped a soothing lullaby. Delilah closed her eyes and tipped her head up, bathing in the moonlight like she would the sun.
"Delilah!" A whine escaped her before she could stop it. There went her peace. Delilah opened her eyes into a glare and fixed it on the fat black and white known as Smudge. Smudge's eyes were wide, and his pelt seemed a little more bushed up than usual. Like he was actually afraid of something. Or maybe, afraid for someone? "Rusty went into the woods and hasn't come back out yet!"
Okay, so maybe he really DID have a reason to be freaking out. Delilah let out a groan and hung her head, debating mentally if she should go after him. Bah, who was she kidding, of course she would. Freaking Rusty, freaking forest, freaking Smudge. "I'll go get him. For now, Smudge, go home. Whatever adventure Rustbucket thinks he's having, you'll hear about it tomorrow."
Smudge looked relieved, and Delilah didn't even try to not roll her eyes. Like he would have actually went in. She took off in a trot, tail flicking irritably behind her. When she found Rusty she would claw his ears off for being so stupid. The forest was a dangerous place, even going beyond the rumors of wild cats. There were foxes and badgers and owls that could carry off a kitten his size. Who would protect him if she wasn't there?
Speak of the devil and he shall appear. A blur of red was hurtling towards her, zigzagging between the bushes. Delilah was about to call out for him when a gray blur started chasing him. Protective instincts surged and she darted forward, a yowl bursting from her throat. "GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY BROTHER."
The moment she and Rusty got close enough, he went low and she went high, jumping right over him to bowl over this… apparently animated furball, because fur was all she had in her mouth when she chomped down on it. It was a living cat, that much was proved when a shocked 'mrow' met her ears but dear Gods, did someone cast a magic spell to bring a hairball to life? Because that's what her initial thought was.
Her opponent twisted to throw her off and she let go willingly, rolling onto the ground to leap to her paws between Rusty and his attacker. It was an incredibly fluffy tom. He seemed to be about their age, being still incredibly small. Strange thing was that as soon as she got between them, he seemed to calm down. Whatever aggression he had seemed to have disappeared. "Gotta admit, wasn't expecting reinforcements. For a kittypet you've got a pretty fierce bite!"
Delilah spat out bits of fur and made a disgusted face. "If I cough up a furball I'm finding you and stuffing it down your throat." she growled. Dismissing him momentarily, she rounded on the panting Rusty and aimlessly swiped a sheathed paw at his head, not really trying to hit him. "And you! You're lucky you're my brother, or else I'd leave you here to get your pelt torn up. What were you thinking? How many times do I have to tell you, if you're going somewhere new to explore, take me with you! I know you can protect yourself decently enough but we both know I'm the better fighter! If you get into trouble and I'm not there to get you out of it, bad things will happen Rusty. Mainly because you're like eighty percent of my impulse control."
His ears had been flattened sheepishly all throughout her rant, but now he flicked one up with an amused quirk of his lip. "Only eighty? Remember that time you thought it was a great idea to sneak up on old Bruno while he was sleeping to yowl REALLY LOUDLY in his ear? Remember how he chased you up a tree and I had to rescue you by playing distraction while you jumped from the tree to the fence? Any of this ringing a bell? Because I certainly remember it."
They scowled at each other for a few moments before the gray kitten started snickering. "You guys are funny!" Delilah exchanged a sheepish glance with Rusty. She'd actually almost forgotten about their audience. "My name's Graypaw, and I'm an apprentice of ThunderClan!"
Delilah blinked again. She'd heard of Clans before, from both strays and other house cats she'd met. The former claimed the Clan cats as greedy and closed minded, chasing away and belittling anybody who doesn't follow their way of life. The one or two house cats that actually knew about the wild cats called them terrible bloodthirsty savages, eating live rabbits in one bite and sharpening their claws on the bones of their victims.
It was complete crap, of course. She'd seen rabbits before, on other lawns around town. No way any cat, not even a wild one, could fit one of those squealing flailing suckers in their mouth. And if that part wasn't true, it would stand to reason that the latter wasn't either, right?
Rusty apparently hadn't even heard of those rumors before, if the confused look on his face was anything to go by. It was that look Graypaw focused on. He gave the hiss of someone whose pride had been wounded, a sound Delilah knew intimately well, and proceeded to dump a whole load of unimportant information on him. Unimportant because they were leaving soon and would never see Graypaw again.
Rusty seemed fascinated, transfixed as he was by Graypaw's stories. Delilah rolled her eyes but let him have his fun, choosing to sit instead to the side and keep guard. Just because Graypaw wasn't hostile anymore didn't mean the danger had passed. Her ears twitched with each new sound she encountered, and her eyes swept across the surrounding bushes for the slightest disturbance.
A new scent came to her, one she didn't know, and Delilah tensed at the same time Graypaw did. "I smell cats from my Clan!" Graypaw looked back the way he had come, prompting Delilah to follow his gaze. She didn't see anything, but that didn't mean there wasn't anything there. "You two should go."
For the first time since she'd met him, Delilah was in agreement. "Come on Rustbucket, fun's over. Time to leave." She surged to her paws and got behind Rusty, using her nose to steer him in the direction of the fence. "Nice to meet you Graypaw, hope to never see you again, bye!" Before the two kittypets could get very far, someone stepped in the way. Two someones, really.
The first was a blue-gray she-cat. Her muzzle was silvered with age, but her blue eyes still glinted with a fierce light. She was smaller than her companion, but that made her no less formidable. Delilah knew instinctively that this was not a cat to cross. She had multiple scars all across her body, but there was a distinct nasty looking one across her shoulders that made Delilah wonder how she could have possibly survived it.
The other was a golden tabby tom. He stood a head taller than the she-cat, putting the tips of her ears at just his chin. It meant that he practically dwarfed Delilah, who was the smallest of the cats currently gathered. His eyes were yellow and currently aimed at Graypaw, sharp and disapproving. The most curious thing about him was the extra fluffy scruff that wound around his neck, like a lion's mane.
Delilah took all of this in the span of a few seconds, and immediately got between them and her brother, inadvertently also shielding Graypaw from the tom's gaze. The she-cat spoke first, her tone at once frosty and calm. "And what, exactly, is going on here?" Her gaze flickered between all three young cats before settling on Delilah.
Good, that was what she wanted. Delilah met her gaze evenly, not backing down even when she heard Graypaw's explanation about this she-cat, Bluestar, being the supposed leader of his Clan. With a stare like that, she could believe it. "Absolutely nothing of interest. My brother and I got turned around and Graypaw was just escorting us home. So sorry to have been a bother, we'll be leaving now."
She started to go around the two older cats, subtly flicking her tail for Rusty to follow, but the she-cat swiftly got in the way. "I think not, young one. You will leave when I permit you to leave and not a moment before."
Delilah growled low in her throat. Leader or not, who did this she-cat think she was?! Delilah would go wherever she wanted to go whenever she wanted to, and no forest fleabag would tell her otherwise! She dropped into a crouch with her tail lashing about furiously behind her. The tension rocketed in the clearing, kittypet and Clan leader staring each other down to see what the other would do first, when a whisper of her name made Delilah's ear twitch.
She risked a glance behind her and felt annoyed resignation. Rusty and Graypaw had dropped into crouches far more submissive than hers, and both were staring at her with wide, panicked eyes. Rusty's ears were pinned back, and he looked at her with a wordless plea to just back down.
It went against everything Delilah stood for, but eventually she sighed loudly before shifting back on her haunches to sit with a loud 'thump'. "Let's get one thing straight." she growled, pointing at Bluestar with a paw. "I'm not staying because you want me to. I'm staying because Rusty wants me to. Huge difference. I am not afraid of you."
Bluestar stared at her unblinkingly for another three heartbeats before murmuring, almost to herself, "No, I don't believe you are." Delilah blinked. If she didn't know any better, she would almost call that a curious tone, almost contemplating. But before she could think more on it, Bluestar spoke again, this time addressing the two toms behind. "Rise, the both of you." Rusty and Graypaw did so, looking like they were expecting to be clawed any second. Bluestar didn't speak for a long moment. "All three of you displayed good qualities tonight, unexpected qualities."
Lionheart finally piped up, having been quiet this entire time. "Graypaw. Though you should not have been so close to Twolegplace," and here he gave a reproachful look that melted into a warm one, "you attacked the intruder bravely, despite not knowing how many there were."
The praise was as unexpected as it was heartily welcomed. Graypaw swelled up to almost double his size, fur and all. Delilah gave a little roll of her eyes, and the motion was caught by Bluestar. Bluestar narrowed her eyes in warning, and in response Delilah gave an even bigger roll of her eyes. Personally she thought Graypaw had given up too easily, but hey, what did she know?
The next 'compliment' went to Rusty, and came from Bluestar. "You, kittypet, have sharp eyes. You would have caught that mouse had you been a little quicker. A natural hunter, I would think. Perhaps even a good one, with a bit of training."
… Training? Oh, Delilah got a bad feeling about that. Apparently it was her turn now, though. "You came running to your brother's aid without question, and shielded him from further threat. You're a protector, not a trait I would have expected from a kittypet."
Delilah narrowed her eyes into slits until only a bit of bright green showed. "So glad you think so. Can we go now? Only, Rusty has a friend waiting for him, and, well, I just don't like you."
There was a sharp hiss and a slightly pained whimper behind her. This time Delilah didn't dare look away from the adult cats. Lionheart looked like it was physically hurting to not swat at her while Bluestar appeared… Actually a little amused? "Well, I can't fault you for being dishonest." She meowed dryly. She gestured once for Lionheart to calm down. "Just one more question. We've been watching the two of you, and wondering how you would fair in the wild. Often we would see your brother," and here she flicked her gaze to Rusty before looking back at Delilah, "looking into the forest. You, you've never given more than a cursory glance in our direction. So, tell me, what brings you to our territory now?"
Was she serious right now? Yes, yes she was. So without further thought, Delilah pointed at Rusty. "Followed him, met Graypaw, beat him up. That's about it." That didn't seem to satisfy anybody, so she continued with a very put-upon sigh. "You're right, the forest never fascinated me like it did my brother. We've both had dreams of it, but I've never had that yearning he has. I get my fill of adventure by exploring the rest of the town. The one thing we have in common is that yearning for freedom. Despite that, I go where he goes. If Rustbucket thinks traipsing about the woods is a good plan, then into the woods I go."
Bluestar hummed and exchanged looks with Lionheart that Delilah couldn't decipher. There were subtle twitches and expressions that spoke of a long companionship, and Delilah was almost envious of their obvious bond. Finally, Bluestar looked at the up-till-now mostly ignored Rusty. "And you? We've seen your attempts to catch birds and the restlessness in your paws. What finally friends the curious kittypet into our territory?"
Perhaps he'd been bolstered by how almost friendly the Clan cats had been, but Rusty said possibly the stupidest thing he could have said at the moment. "I only came to hunt for a mouse or two before going home. Surely there are enough to go around?"
Delilah gaped at him even as Bluestar and Lionheart immediately started bristling with sudden aggression. Even Graypaw was looking at him in horror. "There's never enough to go around! If you didn't live such a soft life, you'd know that!" Panic made Delilah hastily back up and hiss at the angry warriors. Not even she could take on two fully grown cats and expect to win. She was pretty sure her brother's big mouth was about to get them killed.