Author's Note:
Wow, I had very little views on the Prologue. 25 is barely anything! C'mon guys! Get some friends over here! I'd appreciate it, but I won't hold the story hostage like some authors do.
*spoiler* No more transformations! *End spoiler*
How's Rose doing after the fall? Find out after the review replies!
Gingy: I don't exactly agree with you. It is less words than the average chapter in a good chapter book, so it's not even really standard. Plus, if I only used the dream segment, it'd be 597 words or so, which'd be my shortest chapter ever. Then Chapter One would be still 5,000 words. Not true by the way, the whole second one was wonderful. Rose Is on the mountain at the moment, yes. No, Jack was not a cat and Thornclaw isn't crazy like in Fever. :3 Thanks for reading!
LoTS: Thanks for reading!
Shout: It's long and I'm proud. :D
Here we go!
Chapter One: The Rose and her Thorn
Warmth. That was one thing I didn't expect after an avalanche. I expected crushing cold, the feeling of dying, or even falling farther down the mountain, but not warmth. The ground beneath me was cold, but I barely felt it. The warmth was too great for the ground to freeze me.
However, one thing concerned me. I felt a presence through the warmth. It was larger than me, and the cat was asleep, its flank rising and falling steadily. Apparently, I had been saved. Whether the cat would be friendly or not was a mystery. Maybe I should leave now before he woke and return to the cabin. Would Jack even accept me in so soon? I have no information, so he wouldn't hold up on his deal until I have some.
Deciding to leave, I opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed was the giant cat laying next me. The cat was male, and he was much stockier than me, which scared me. Could he hurt me if he wanted to? The second thing I noticed was that we were in a large cave, though it was more like a system of caves, with visible splits everywhere, with our resting place as the main cave. How did I get here? The tom must've been freezing digging her out of the snow and dragging her into a cave. Speaking of dragging, I could feel some scratches and bruises where I must've slammed and scraped into rocks. They didn't hurt much though.
Yawning, I began to get up. However, as I got halfway up, I felt my chest tighten and I sunk back on to the floor, coughing. After the bout left me, I wheezed. What the hell had happened to me? Did I hurt my lungs?
I jumped as I felt the cat shift up. He was awake. I finally took a good look at him. He had long black fur with a pair of sparkling amber eyes. It seemed as if he had no place in the mountains, with all of the snow, but he was here, and he was the cat she'd from the path. She was right. He had been watching her.
"Oh, well that's not good," he murmured, "I didn't save your life only to have you die from disease." He seemed proud, yet he didn't seem very talkative. Weird combination.
I tilted my head, rasping, "Why did you save me? I have nothing that I can give." I was still afraid that the calm cat in front of me would snap and kill me.
The cat paused, as if pondering the question. "Anything for a beautiful she-cat like you," he finally replied. His reply aggravated me. I had better things to do than to be hit on by a cat I just met.
I scowled, "I don't have time for flirting! I need to get back home!" The cabin was my only option. I had no sense of direction in this barren wasteland. I would probably fall down a cliff within five steps. This cat could help.
"Flirting?" The tom explained, "Never! I was just stating the obvious. Your eyes are especially beautiful." He seemed at ease even as I grew more and more tense.
I glared at him, "Stop it! I know you saw where I fell from! Can you take me there?" I had nearly had enough. If this cat flirted one more time, I'd navigate through the snow myself.
The cat sighed, "Fine, I'll take you back to your owners, but you should run free. The other kind are bird-brained, and they aren't good for anyone. He got up slowly, as if he was burdened by something. He turned his head back towards her, "Oh and by the way, My name's Thorn." He slid out his his claws, probably showing her the origin of his name. They were long and very thin and sharp at the end. I shivered as I imagined ripping through me like a knife through butter.
I frowned, "Run free? In this place? I just want somewhere warm to stay! Oh and also, I have no owner. I just live with them, but I have to agree, they are stupid." The cabin was cold, but it was much better than sleeping in the snow.
Thorn laughed, "Trust me, if you live there, you're owned by them. They don't care whether or not they leave. If you want somewhere warm, just stay with me, I can take us somewhere warmer." He looked right into my eyes, which disturbed me, "I told you my name, now tell me yours."
Rose admittedly found herself stuck in Thorn's glittering amber gaze. "Oh, well, it's ummm, it's Rose." It seemed as if Thorn's eyes had a life of their own. It felt like they were holding her in place, as if he was a male Medusa.
Thorn smiled, "What a beautiful name. Rose. It sounds perfect." His gaze darkened, "Time to return you to your home. Let's go before it gets dark." He turned and slowly padded towards the entrance, waiting for me to follow him.
I sighed. If I had hands then I probably would've strangled Thorn by now. "Alright then, I'll go," I mewed, padding up next to him at the entrance, waiting for him to lead.
He smiled, "I'm happy to be in your service Rose." He bounded out into the cold. Shaking my head, I jumped after him. The cold immediately stung my muzzle, making me flinch, but I pushed on after Thorn, who wasn't going any slower for her. I could see his black pelt contrasting against the snow, which helped a lot. It was very foggy, and if she lost Thorn, than she'd either starve or freeze to death.
However, I happened to bump into him as he stopped. We both flopped to the ground, panting. I lifted my head up, breathing heavily, "You're...you're pretty fast for someone as large as yourself." My lungs still felt bad, but it wasn't bad anymore, so I found some energy flowing into my paws.
Thorn laughed softly, "I try." Getting up, he beckoned me to follow him again, "We have to go up now." I blinked. The path wasn't a true path, it was a large pile of boulders that seemed to make a natural staircase. As Thorn began to climb, he paused and looked back at me, "Be careful, okay? These rocks are kind of slippery."
I sighed. This wasn't going to be easy. Unsheathing my claws, I used them to climb up boulder by boulder, until I was in step with Thorn. He looked sideways at me, "How are you doing?"
I glared at him, "While other than my freezing paws and my cough, I'm perfectly fine. I certainly enjoy growing icicles on my whiskers!" I wish that I'd never agreed to Jack's stupid deal. If all cats were like Thorn, she'd freeze herself to death.
Thorn sighed, "Would you rather be left to die under a layer of snow? Even if you don't want to run wild with me, I'll get you to your owners." As he spoke, we reached the top of the boulder pile. He dipped his head, "Follow this path up and you'll get to your owners."
I sighed, "Well, goodbye then." I bounded up onto the path, mewing over my shoulder, "Thanks for, well, saving my life!" I didn't hear a response. Looking back, I saw that he had turned, beginning to climb down. Blinking against the wind, I began the climb.
Once I finished, I found myself overlooking the cabin porch, where Jack was sitting. He seemed to be holding a syringe. Maybe that was the antidote? I watched to see what he would do. As I watched, he got up off of his chair and walked towards a cliff. I watched in horror as Jack threw it off the cliff, laughing. If that was the antidote, then I was screwed. Damn.
I nearly jumped over and attacked him, but I thought better of it. Jack would gladly kick her off the cliff. The deal was off. Furious, I turned away and stalked back down the path.
Not long later, I realized what I'd done. I was all alone. I'd pushed Thorn away and Jack had betrayed me. Unless I found Thorn again, I'd die. I had no way to get food. How do cats get food anyways? This mountain seems barren. Surely there had to be some life up here, or else Thorn wouldn't be up here.
I finally reached the bottom of the path. Now all I had to do was climb down the rock pile. Simple, right? Apparently not, because as I scrambled down the first rock, I missed a pawhold and began falling. I bumped painfully into some of the rocks on the way down, until I landed with a light thump on one of the snowdrifts.
I sunk in to the pile, my pained yowls muffled by the snow. As if this was my worst nightmare, I began to panic. Memories of the avalanche overwhelmed me, and I found myself flailing around in the snowdrift. However, a moment later I found myself slipping out into the open, wet but still alive and well. I wheezed heavily, feeling familiar pain in my lungs. Was this going to be a problem? If I fell in shallow snow, would I panic again?
Once I recovered, I got up, trembling. I'd have to hope Thorn hadn't gotten too far away, or else I'd be done. I began to follow the path that I saw Thorn take. It was steep, but it led to a large clearing, so maybe he was resting down there.
After a slow climb down, I managed to safely hit the ground below. Looking around, I could see nothing but rocks and snow, but there were no visible paths. Where did he go? I walked around, looking for clues, when I saw a hollow a few feet up the side of a rock wall, nearly covered by fallen snow. Curious, I stretched up to investigate.
Suddenly, a familiar smell hit my nostrils and I felt something grip me and toss me to the ground, pinning me. I twisted my head to see Thorn. "I thought you were leaving?" He mewed, light surprise evident even through his calm tone.
I growled softly, "Who says I was coming after you?" I didn't want to give him any more encouragement. He was annoying enough, but I needed a guide.
"You didn't want to leave me! You wanted to follow me instead of those mouse-brained owners, so you came after me!" Thorn purred. Apparently he had his encouragement anyways.
I'd had enough though. "I only want a guide out of these mountains, not your companionship! Now get off me!" I hissed. Being pinned against freezing rock was nice and all, but I'd rather warmth.
"Oh. Okay then," Thorn mewed, slipping off me. I gratefully jumped up to my paws, shaking snow off of my pelt, not caring whether or not it landed on Thorn. I knew I'd been kind of harsh, but I had no regrets.
I turned to him, "I do ask one other thing though. Could you teach me how to hunt? I need to learn, so that when we separate, I can get food." I certainly hoped that the wilderness I'd seen on the way to the cabin was edible, because I would have to fend for myself.
Thorn hung his head, "Don't worry Rose, I'll take you down the mountain. Once we reach the bottom, I'll take you to a forest and teach you how to hunt." He pointed his tail at the hole in the wall, "That's where I've been staying for the last few days. I have some prey inside for us to eat." I was pretty hungry, considering I hadn't ate in what seemed like forever.
I followed him in, pushing past the fallen snow and entering the den. It was much smaller than the cavern they'd been in earlier, but it was large enough for three or four cats. I smelled something very appetizing in the corner of the den. A moment later, I realized that the smell came from two small rabbits and a mouse. I'd have to eat animals that humans keep as pets? Hopefully it would taste as good as it smelled. I sat down across from Thorn, who'd already ripped off part of mouse, blood dripping from his jaw.
As I stared hesitantly at the mouse, Thorn piped up, "The mouse is going to turn into a block of ice if you stare at it any longer. Go ahead, try it, it won't kill you." Reluctantly, I dipped my head and snapped up a medium sized portion. It was better than I expected, but the specialty steak had been much better. I could definitely eat more. "Do you like it?" Thorn mewed, hope in his eyes.
I nodded, "Not that great, but I'll eat until I'm full." I did as I said, sharing the mouse and half a bird, which I happened to enjoy more, with Thorn. After I finished, I laid down on my side, content. Next I could look forward to hunting once we finished traveling down the mountain. The lack of hunger and the warmth of Thorn at my side slowly lulled me to sleep, as the winds buffeted across the windy landscape that they were to traverse.
A/N:
Wow! Thorn has appeared, and Rose doesn't really like him. She plans to split once they leave the mountains, but Thorn doesn't seem so pleased. Is there something going on? How do they play in with the Clans and the prophecy? Well, you'll just have to find out.
Less than half of what I had in the prologue, but I felt a need to stop it there, because I now know how to end Chapter Two.
For my Echo of a Clan fans, my next chapter that I post will be for that story, not this. Hopefully I'll be refreshed.
What don't you like about this chapter? Please say in your reviews. ConCrit isn't allowed, it's encoraged!
Time to study for mid-terms!
