As she stomped furiously through the forest, Snowyfern realized something. She had no clue what she was doing or where she was going.
She wandered down to the lake and stared at her reflection for a little while. "Maybe the barn cats from the Horseplace will let me rest there for the night," she thought aloud. "And if they don't… well, I have to start somewhere."
So, with this plan in mind, Snowyfern set off for the barn.
Snowyfern crept under the fence and padded toward the barn, keeping a wary eye on the horses in the corner of the field. Scenting a cat, she looked around.
"Hello," a familiar-looking gray tabby tom greeted Snowyfern warily. "What can I do for you?"
"Ah, I was wondering if I could stay here tonight, I'm just passing through," Snowyfern said politely, looking closely at the tom, trying to remember where she'd seen him before.
The tom looked at her with a scrutinizing eye, as if seeing whether he could beat her in a fight or not. "Yeah, sure. As long as you leave by tomorrow at sunhigh. I'm Storm, by the way."
"Snowyfern."
Out of the corner of her eye, Snowyfern thought she saw the tom smirk. When she glanced at him, however, his face looked impassive.
Storm led Snowyfern up a ladder onto the barn's roof. He jumped down onto a pile of prickly stuff and Snowyfern followed. Storm flicked his tale at the pile of prickly stuff. "You can sleep on the hay, unless you'd prefer the floor. When you're done getting settled you can look around or hunt. There are plenty of mice in the barn," he said, padding away.
Snowyfern scented the air, ready to hunt. She hadn't eaten since before her vigil and there were pangs of hunger in her belly.
She pinpointed a mouse under some of the prickly hay by the wall. Dropping into a crouch, Snowyfern crept forward.
A few seconds later, Snowyfern was sitting on a pile of the hay and enjoying her long-awaited meal. She stretched out, feeling her pelt being prickled by the hay.
Thinking to herself that this would be a very uncomfortable nap, Snowyfern's eyelids drooped and she drifted off to sleep.
Snowyfern found herself floating in nothingness. She couldn't see anything, feel anything, or hear anything.
"What's going on!?"
Snowyfern couldn't hear her own exclamation, but somehow she knew she'd cried out. A great, orange flame reared up in front of her.
"His heart was burned by his destiny," a terrible, echoing voice boomed. "She must douse the flame, though Death will stand in her way. Let the foreign ones and the misguided ones accompany her."
Snowyfern found herself on the ground of a forest, shadows floating around her. Letting out a cry of fear, Snowyfern ran. The shadows followed, clawed paws extending from their ebony interior. Sharp claws pierced her tail and she was falling…
Snowyfern woke up on the floor of the barn, her heart racing. She sat up and there was a panicked 'meew'! as a frosty-furred kitten tumbled away from her. The kitten's claws unsnagged from her tail as it tumbled away and sat up. "Hi!" it squeaked. "Who're you? I'ma Frost. I haven't seen ya b'fore. 're you moving in with me and mumma Icey and dada Stormy?"
Snowyfern was still shaken up by her dream, so it took her a moment to register that there was a kitten sitting in front of her, tilting her head and waiting for answers. She was saved from having to answer by another frosty gray cat bounding out from behind the piles of hay.
"Frost! I told you not to wander off!" the she-cat scolded. "Go back to the nest with Flight and Sleet."
Frost hung her head and trudged back into the unnoticeable gap between the wall and the prickly hay.
"I'm very sorry," apologized the frosty gray cat. "I'm Ice. I'm guessing you're Snowyfern; the one Storm told me was resting here. Might I ask where you're from?"
"Ah, I used to be in a Clan. One of the large groups of cats that are settled around the lake? My father, Whiteblaze, framed me for something and had me kicked out. I really miss my Clan and my friends, already. I doubt I'll be cut out for loner life, but I can't think of any other choices," said Snowyfern, glad to be telling her story to another cat.
"Oh, that's terrible," Ice said sadly. "Maybe you can stay here?"
"Eh, Storm didn't seem to want me around for long, and I don't want to overstay my welcome. I wish that I hadn't been so stupid and had realized that my father was going to do what he did, then I'd still be in my Clan," sighed Snowyfern.
Ice tilted her head and Snowyfern saw her resemblance to her kit. "Well, isn't there some other possibility?"
Snowyfern frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Why don't you make a Clan?"
Woo! Dramatic riddle-y prophecy time! It's so obvious, just like last time! XD
Don't expect every-day updates all the time, I just didn't have much homework and, surprisingly, writer's block didn't trap me this time. So enjoy it! XD
Here are more descriptions:
Storm – a mottled gray tabby tom with yellow eyes
Ice – a frosty gray she-cat with amber eyes
Frost – a frosty gray she-kit with green eyes
Flight – a creamy white she-kit with yellow eyes
Sleet – a gray and white tom-kit with green eyes
I'll update whenever I can!
-LS