In the forest, all was still. No breeze blew that day, and only the faintest of birdsong flowed through the canopy of sun-dappled leaves. Near the inner edge of the forest, the trees gave way to a pebbled shore, where a clear lake lapped at the stones and drew them close. Around the lake were four different terrains, including the forest itself.

Suddenly, a rush of activity shook the outer edge of the forest. A rabbit's paws thudded heavily against the ground as it raced into the cover from the barren hills outside of the woods, its paws digging into the dirt and pushing back to go as fast as it could. Its eyes were wild with terror, and its erratic movement caused the undergrowth to tremor as it passed by. Following shortly after the rabbit came a second set of paws, these attached to a slender feline body, claws grasping the earth as each touched the ground for only a moment. The cat's heartbeat pounded in their ears, that and their breath the only thing they could hear as they gave chase.

They followed after the rabbit for many fox-lengths into the territory, getting closer by minute increments with each drop and rise of their paws. After many moments of chasing the rabbit and feeling their muscles scream in protest, their pelt lashed by the surrounding branches and causing birds to squawk and fly away in their wake, they were finally close enough. They leapt onto their prey, quickly slicing open its neck with their claws. The rabbit gave a dying quiver, its body thrashing weakly under the cat, until it finally lay still. The cat let out a satisfied purr, sitting back to clean their claws of dirt and blood.

"Moon!"

Blinking their green eyes, the white cat turned to look at the other that had called their name. The black cat trotting towards them was tense, his amber eyes narrowed and his broad shoulders hunched protectively. His head was low, ears flattened against it as his eyes darted this way and that. "What in Mother's name are you doing thinking, chasing prey onto this territory?! You know the stories about this place! We'll be eaten alive, Moon!"

Moon grinned, rolling their eyes at the way the older cat was practically shivering in his fur. "Those are just kits' tales, Night, and you and I both know it. You know that no one has seen any groups of cats around here for moons! They're just saying that because they either want to keep all of the prey here to themselves or they're scared for no reason." They picked up the rabbit and padded to Night's side to nudge his shoulder teasingly, pairing it with a widened grin around their prey.

"Whatever," Night sighed after a moment, his ears flattening further to his head. His eyes once again darted around the dimly-lit forest, knowing that, according to what they'd been told when they were younger, they shouldn't be here. "I think that those wild cats are real. My mother wouldn't lie to me, you know - what is it?" He stopped in the middle of his sentence, lowering his voice as Moon flicked their stub of a tail in warning, their ears pricking to swivel in all directions. They moved slowly to put their rabbit down, then lifted their head back up with their jaws parted wide, drinking in the scents around them. "What?" Night asked again, shifting anxiously on his paws.

"Do you smell that?" Moon finally murmured in place of a proper reply, appearing for the first time since entering the forest as though they were perturbed as well.

Night began to knead his claws into the ground, frowning deeply. He opened his mouth as well, lifting it to the nonexistent breeze, but shook his head after a moment. "Moon, I don't-"

"Shhh!" the white cat hissed, cutting Night off. "Bring the rabbit and follow me."

The black tom seemed to be irritated at being bossed around, but didn't argue, picking up the rabbit and trailing after Moon, uncertainty in every pawstep as he realized they were going deeper into the forest. They kept their jaws slightly parted as they continued forward, weaving their way through and around brambles, and Night couldn't help but wonder if they'd perhaps come into the forest before at the way they seemed to know just where to rest their paws. So lost was he in anxious thought that he almost didn't notice when Moon stopped. "Here," they murmured, their eyes fixed on a place ahead.

Night's heart seemed to leap into his throat, beating wildly, while his stomach seemed to be as heavy and cold as stone. Directly ahead of them there was a slope, brambles discreetly flattened by moons and moons of pawsteps. From any other angle, Night wouldn't have noticed it, would've passed right by the tunnel made in the brush. Somehow, though, Moon had found it, and the stone of Night's belly seemed to grow heavier as he scented many cats. There seemed to be many stale scents, while only a few were fresher, and an odd, clear scent seemed to mingle with them, like breeze and open sky.

Putting the rabbit down, Night said tentatively, "Maybe we should go back."

Moon didn't seem to hear him. They began to walk right down the slope, purpose in their stride. Night hesitated a long moment before picking up the rabbit once again, trotting after them just as their flanks disappeared in the bramble tunnel.

"We're being watched," Moon whispered as soon as Night joined them on the other side of the tunnel. Night's pelt prickled, and he turned his gaze to the hollow that they'd found themselves in. Here the scent of other cats was even stronger than it was on the path. "We're not here to hurt anyone!" Night nearly jumped out of his fur as Moon raised their voice to speak to whoever was apparently watching them. "I just scented something - something told me to follow it - but I promise you that we won't hurt you!"

There was a long silence, and Night decided to forget the rabbit, setting it aside. His pelt was crawling, and he wanted to get out of there as fast as possible. "Moon, I really don't think we should-" He stopped as cats began to appear from bushes and cracks in the rock, all of them looking gaunt and sickly, thin fur stretching over their flanks.

"Who are you?" asked one of the cats suspiciously, narrowing her eyes at them. She was among the thinnest, Night noted, every rib seeming to stick out starkly against her pelt, which would've been pretty were she healthy, but that was something that Night could tell that these cats were not. Even so, many of them had their claws drawn, ready to disregard their frail states in order to defend their home if that was what it came to.

Moon's answer came and was as unexpected to Night as it was to the other cats if their expressions were anything to go by. "My name is Moon, and this is my friend, Night. Are you all okay? Is there anything we can do to help?"

"I never agreed to help any wild cats, Moon," Night whispered to them in alarm, but they still didn't seem to be listening to him. At the same time, many protests arose from the group of cats.

"How can we trust outsiders?"

"Do you think us weak?"

"You shouldn't even be within our borders!"

A sudden and instantaneous hush fell over the group as they parted, allowing a dappled brown tortoiseshell cat to come forward. She looked over Moon and Night, her gaze silently critical. Night felt as though she was going to reach out at any moment to claw the furs off of his pelt. Finally she turned to the rest of her group. "We need more fit warriors while you all recover. We must exercise some amount of caution towards how much you all exert yourselves in your current conditions. They can at least help us for a little while." She then turned back to Moon and Night, eyeing them carefully. "You can stay. If you don't mind, that rabbit would make a fine meal for a few of these cats."

"Who are you all?" Moon called out as she began to walk back towards the crevice from which she'd appeared.

Night found himself listening with just as much anticipation as Moon as they leaned towards the she-cat. She stopped with her back turned to them, then slowly turned back to the two, pausing before speaking again. "Who are we?" She once again paused, staring at the two of them, and Night thought she wouldn't answer, but she opened her jaws once more before returning to her den. "We are all that remains of the once-great clans of this forest."

Since A Feather's Tale isn't getting much feedback, I've lost a bit of motivation for it, so progress on the next chapter is going slowly. I had another idea for a story, though, so I'm hopefully going to be working on this in the meantime. Warriors doesn't belong to me, as always, but these characters do, and I have and interesting story planned for you all.