I cast one last look over my shoulder. Sweetfoot sat beside her brother, Rainstep. I saw my grief and despair reflected in her eyes. Those beautiful eyes, the same shade of gold as leaves in leaf-fall. "I don't understand why we had to leave." I told Mist as we leapt over a log. "Pine and I were almost warriors!"
Mist stopped and looked at me, "We are loners," she growled. "We don't belong with so many cats." Something flashed across her gaze that I was unable to read. "You belong with your own kin." She turned and began to walk away.
Pine looked at me sympathetically; she knew how much I cared for Sweetfoot.
I lashed my tail angrily and ran ahead of my mother, blocking her path and thrusting my muzzle into her face. "They are my kin," I snarled. "They fed and protected us when we were weak." I now saw my mother had no sense of loyalty. She scrabbled backward, surprise flashing in her blue gaze. "You should be grateful to them. They could have run you off when you were pregnant and starving." I dug my claws into the earth, resisting the urge to slash them across my mother's muzzle.
"Why do you want to be a warrior so badly?"
I flicked my gaze to Pine. Her voice was quiet and calm. "Because, there is nothing nobler to me than living beside and fighting to protect the ones you love." An image of Sweetfoot filled my mind. The glossiness of her tabby pelt, the sweetness of her scent and softness of her golden gaze.
"Then you should be happy to stay with us." Mist meowed dismissively. She flicked her tail before padding past me.
"Where are we supposed to live? All the land around the Lake belongs to the Clans." I pointed out. Following them dejectedly. I promised to return to Sweetfoot someday. Nothing would extinguish my deep, burning love for her.
"There is an abandoned Twoleg nest on the far side of Shadowclan's territory." Pine answered.
Uncertainty trickled through me. "Is it wise to make our home so close to Shadowclan's border? They are the fiercest of all the Clans and the most likely to attack us and drive us out." I pointed out.
"They follow the warrior code and won't hunt outside their borders." Mist replied confidently.
I heaved a heavy sigh. I hoped my mother was right.