A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short...but it was a quick update!
Enjoy :3
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I whip around, searching for the source of the snarl. I don't have to look for very long.
A lean, muscled black tom stands on the bank of the river, his teeth bared in a growl. Surrounding him were several other fierce-looking cats; a gray tabby she-cat, a small light brown tom, and a slender white she-cat that stood slightly apart from the rest of the group.
"Who are you and what are you doing on our territory?" The black tom spat, his blue eyes flashing. I shrank away. I really wasn't in the mood to fight.
"I'm just passing through." I mumbled, trying not to sound as nervous as I actually was.
The black tom stalked up to me. I could see that his claws were unsheathed, and I knew that I didn't want to be on the other side of them.
"Just passing through, hm?" He mused, examining me. "What happened to your eye?" Oh right, I forgot about my eye. I couldn't even feel the pain anymore, so I assumed that that was a bad thing.
"I, uh, scraped it on some brambles." I stuttered. I was never good at lying. The white she-cat and the black tom let out little mrowws of laughter.
"Brambles, right. You know, that looks really bad. You should come back to our camp with us and get it checked out." The gray she-cat suggested. I shook my head quickly.
"No, that's okay. I'll just be going now." I replied, and began to back away. The black tom snorted.
"If that's what you want." He turned away, and headed right to a river. The other cats followed him right into the river. These cats could swim! Why does that seem so familiar?
I continued across the marshy grounds.
After a lot of walking,I had found a barn. I had never seen anything more beautiful in my life. I stumbled inside, and there didn't seem to be any threatening cats, so I curled up on some hay that was in a corner.
...
When I woke up, there was a pretty gray-and-white she-cat leaning over me. I muffled a yowl as I felt some of my scratches sting. She must have been cleaning them.
"Hello, who are you?" She asked softly.
"I'm Ravenpaw. What about you?" I tried to reply, but my voice crackled, my throat hoarse. I cleared it, and tried again. "Ravenpaw. And you?"
"Ravenpaw? That's an odd name. Did you come from the Clans of wild cats that live around the lake? I know they give their, uh, apprentices that type of name." She didn't answer my question, but I was more interested by the answer she did give.
"You mean there are Clans here?" The cats that had cornered me on the marsh were probably from the Clans!
"Yes. They came here many, many moons ago, telling tales of nofurs, I mean, twolegs, destroying their old forest. My sister, Daisy, went to live with one of the Clans. I wonder how she's doing." The gray-and-white she-cat mumble reminiscently.
"Do you live here alone?" I questioned her. It must get pretty lonely around here if you're the only cat in the barn.
"Yes, I am. My mate, Smokey, died not too long ago. Oh, and my name is Floss."
"Floss. Well, I'm all alone, too. My own barn was taken over by rougue cats, and my old partner Barley was killed." I looked down at my paws with difficulty. My eye had nearly swollen over.
"That's really sad, Ravenpaw. You're welcome to stay here with me. It gets awfully quiet around here with no one else." I looked at her gratefully.
"Thank you, thank you, Floss. I'd love to. But first, I'll have to do something with my eye. It might be infected." Floss took a closer look at my eye.
"I know a little bit about medicine and herbs, and I do believe that it is infected. You'll need to get some herbs on that, pronto. I think marigold will do the trick. I'll be right back, there's some in a garden outside." She trotted outside, returning moments later with a bunch of marigold clamped in her jaws.
"You know, Floss, you're being very nice to me. I come stumbling in here, half dead, and you take me right in. We talk for a little bit, and you offer to let me stay here. And now you're fixing my eye. What can I do to repay you?"
"You don't have to do anything to repay me, Ravenpaw. It's about time something interesting happened around here. I'm happy to help." Floss replied, rubbing marigold on my injured eye.
"If you're sure. Thanks."
...
"Here, Floss. I caught this for you." I dropped a plump squirrel at the gray-and-white she-cat's feet.
"Why, thank you. Squirrel is my favorite. But where did you get it?" Floss replied, a worried look in her blue eyes.
"In the small patch of woods next to the river. It's running with squirrels." I answered, "Why do you look so scared?"
Floss shook her head. "You shouldn't have gone there. That's one of the Clans' territories. They'll rip you to shreds if they catch you hunting their prey." She warned, drawing a gray paw over her ears.
"Don't worry, Floss. I know the ways of the Clans. I used to live there, once. If there's someone unfamililar on their territory, of course they'll chase them off, but they won't kill them. That's part of the warrior code." I explained.
"The warrior code? What's that?" Floss asked, settling down into the hay.
"Well, Floss, let me tell you."
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A/N: This was kind of a lame chapter...oh well. I hope it was okay.
Reviews are always welcome.
Love, Twistedstep.
