The wind silently stirred an elegant white and gray she-cat's pelt. Her head was tilted as she examined the stars, her own gaze reflecting the firefly-like objects.
"If only," she murmured under her breath. She stood overlooking the ground beneath her, for she rested on a branch of a tree. Her paws itched to leap down, yet something held her in place. There came an abrupt pause and a cat mewed softly behind her.
"Greetings, Crescentvision."
The white she-cat-apparently called Crescentvision- spun around, yet saw nothing.
"My apologies for intervening with you dream, though there are matters more important then sleeping at the moment."
The intruding cat's words echoed in the Queen's head and she lifted her muzzle toward the shadows, making out a pair of azure eyes.
"Awaken and go into the forest, there you will find her."
"Her?" Crescentvision inquired, yet already her dream was dissolving. "Find the her..." The cat's voice ricocheted in her mind once more. With a shuddering intake of breath, Crescentvision lifted her head, noticing she was in the nursery. Moonlight streamed into the hole in the tree, making her pelt glisten.
Beside her, three more Queens were curled around their own kits. The she-cat looked down with a relieved sigh, noticing her kit, Skylightkit, safely tucked near the curl of her paws.
A smile tugged at the corners of her face as she watched her precious young kit's flank heave with each breath. Crescentvision leaned down and nosed Skylight's ear softly before staggering to her paws.
"Mommy?" the kit suddenly squeaked, her citrine optics blinking sleepily.
"Go to sleep, little one," she mewed in an assuring tone. "I'll be right back."
Obeying her words, the little kit returned to her slumber. Crescentvision paused, watching as her kit's breathing eased until she was certain that she was asleep. With a satisfying twitch of her tail she emerged outside, gracefully balancing on the thick branch below her paws, identical to the dream that just occurred.
Crescentvision tensed her shoulders, ready to leap down. Just one thought kept her from actually doing so. Who was that cat? And what on StarClan was she saying, I'll find her?
An uncomfortable feeling crawled up her spine. Wariness. She straightened her gaze brimming with determination. With a conforming nod she launched herself from the branch, landing with a thud on the moss filled ground beneath.
Usually, an ExoticClan cat stayed up in the trees where they were built for. Yet time to time, some would stray to investigate or hunt.
The she-cat's ear twitched as she padded into her well-known forest. Her paws stepped delicately on the decaying leaves. Another breeze gently tugged at her fur. She hesitated yet again. The breeze continued relentlessly at her flank. Was it trying to lead her?
Crescentvision peered at every shadow, the wind tugging yet again at her fur. Her ears twitched and with difficult effort, she made up her mind. She veered to the left, where the breeze had tugged her. At once, the gust stopped pulling at her fur.
The unnerving silence made her wish she were in the trees, instead of the flat ground she trudged on. Her tufted ear twitched again as she tried with great difficulty to detect the noises around her. A Nightly bird chirped overhead and a tree-frog croaked nearby. Once again she swiveled her ear, as she tried in vain to hear something other then the familiar acoustics of prey.
With a jolt, an oddly familiar cry rang through the clearing. Crescentvision scaled the nearest tree, her fur puffed out as the word fox came to mind.
Another call echoed through the forest, making the white she-cat freeze. It couldn't be... The sound she had heard was faint, but still audible. The cat darted from the safety of the tree, landing with a whoosh on the ground as she tumbled through the undergrowth with deathly silence.
The sharp tang of fox stung her noise as she burst from a bush, to find herself facing the creature.
At its paws, a milky white, black striped she-kit was shivering under its gaze. With shock, Crescentvision noticed that the kit could hardly have been one moon.
The fox looked contented as it showed off its massive fangs. It let a savage snarl before snapping forward. Though before it could strike, the Queen barreled into it, slashing her claws against its cheek.
"Leave her alone!" she hissed.
The thing yelped, nipping at its attacker, but Crescentvision was faster. She avoided the orange creature's fangs as they tried to connect with her flesh. She snarled, arching her back as she stood protectively over the young kit.
The fox shook itself, drawing up to his full height. The moon glinted off its lethal digits and it seemed to sneer in glee as it noticed it now had two quarries to kill.
Crescentvision hissed, her fur bristling as it lashed out one massive paw. She ducked just in time and heard the unsettling sound of the air as the fox's paw missed.
It hesitated and began circling. The Queen, on the other paw, mimicked its movements, shielding the kit as she huddled, trembling, on the soft ground.
"Begone," the cat spat, her optics narrowed as she tried to pinpoint its next move. The fox yipped in response, drawing back its lips to expose the glistening fangs within.
A chill crawled up the Queen's spine as she heard another growl behind her. She whirled around to spot another fox. Mistake.
As she did so, she felt teeth sink into her hinds and she suppressed a yowl of agony. Her heart pounded painfully against her chest as the fox clamped deeper. The other fox, lunged, aiming for her throat.
Time seemed to slow as the newer fox's teeth scrambled toward her neck. Pain was burning at her hinds and she closed her eyes. Abruptly, the pain vanished from her leg and she peered into the gloom.
The two foxes were laying in a heap. Either stunned on dead, the cat wished not to know. She looked at her hind leg, noticing it wasn't bleeding.
That's uncanny... She thought and realized that two familiar azure eyes were looking at her. A mew interrupted her gazing. She blinked, and the unknown cat's eyes vanished into the shadows.
With a shaky breath, she noticed that she had been over the kit the whole time, protecting her from those viscous fangs. She leaned down, looking at the kit with an expression of warmth and confusion. Who would leave a kit out here? Especially with foxes out?
Blood still roared in her ears as she noticed the different features of the kit's.
She was startling white with peculiar black zigzags coursing through her legs. Her paws were filled with lynx stripes and her tail was sleek, puffy and black striped identically with her legs. Her eyes were citrine.
"Like Skylightkit," she said aloud. The kit-apparently over her fright-giggled as she pawed at the Queen's tail.
She flicked her ear in amusement, the feeling was overcome by her troubles. She wondered again where the kit had come from and where was her mother.
"Where did you come from, little one?" she questioned the kit as she dabbed a minute paw at her tail.
The kit looked up, tilting her head. Her eyes flared a darker blue and she pointed with a paw into the sky. They returned to their normal color and she continued batting at the older cat's tail as if nothing had happened.
"The sky...?" Yet this time she received no response, instead the kit yawned, settling down at the curve of her tail.
She stared at the little one, her eyes betraying her sympathy. Crescentvision stopped again, looking toward the foxes. They continued to lay motionless. She ignored them, returning to the now sleeping young kit.
"Your my kit now," she mewed softly. When she said it she was certain. "I promise I'll take good care of you." She picked up the kit by the scruff padded in the direction of her Clan's camp.
My little Mystickit.