Disclaimer: I own neither Warriors nor Cats.
Rumpleteazer gripped the branch tightly with her claws. Don't look down don't look down…She tried not to think about the water rushing beneath her as she slid, inch by agonized inch, across the branch.
Almost there...
She was aware of the other kittens waiting on the bank of the river—her brother, Mungojerrie, was watching with an expression halfway between admiration and anxiety; Mistoffelees, whose paws were nearly transparent due to nervousness; Jemima, who was close enough to the bank to be in danger of falling in herself; and Victoria, who was the only one not watching as Teazer got even closer to the end of the branch.
Just one more inch…
Finally, her paws reached the end.
"I did it!" she crowed, straightening and turning to face her brother and friends. "Told ya I could—"
With a crack, the branch snapped in half and sent her plummeting into the river.
The freezing water hit her like a lightning bolt; she gasped, and as she did so water poured into her open mouth. Thrashing desperately, she fought uselessly against the current as it swept her downriver. Teazer was dimly aware of her friends crying out as they ran along the edge, shouting for her to keep her head afloat. Her muscles burned as her waterlogged fur began to pull her under.
There was a flash of black, a splash, and then Teazer felt teeth grip the scruff of her neck. She twisted around, trying to get a glimpse of her rescuer, but the movement sent them both spinning and the teeth dug in harder.
Mungojerrie watched in agony as the mysterious black cat swam with his sister in her teeth. As soon as Teazer was dragged onto the bank, he ran up to her. "Teazer!" He jumped back suddenly as she crawled to her feet, her shoulders shaking as she hacked up water.
Jerrie hadn't given much thought to his sister's mysterious rescuer, but as soon as he knew that Teazer wasn't going to die he remembered her and turned, just in time to see a black tail disappear into the bushes. "Hey, wait!" He raced after her, ignoring the brambles that dug through his fur as he tried to catch up with the strange cat.
At the edge of the Junkyard she finally whirled around to face him. "What?" the cat snapped in an aggravated tone. She was much older than Jerrie, with pure black fur and green eyes that were, right now, glaring at him with enough force to freeze a lake in July.
Jerrie almost found himself shrinking back, now very aware that not only was she larger than him, but from her stance she was a fighter—and a good one, too. He swallowed and pulled himself together. "I just wanted to say…thank you for rescuing my sister."
"It was nothing." She turned around to leave.
"Do you have a place to stay tonight?" From the looks of her, she had been living on her own for a while. "Because you could always stay at the Junkyard for the night. I'm sure the elders will let you…"
The she-cat blinked for a moment, obviously surprised by such an offer, but then she shook her head. "I…I can't."
"Why not?"
"There's a place I need to be." She turned back around, ready to go away again, but Jerrie couldn't help but ask one more question.
"Can you at least let me know your name?"
The she-cat hesitated, her tail twitching, but she finally shrugged.
"You can call me Holly."
