Chapter 2: Dreamworld
Rain pelted down from the darkening heavens and struck the ground. Leaf-bare was nearer and nearer with each passing day, but the destination for the clan still seemed so far away.
A cold wind blew, making the rain strike down in a diagonal line. The falling droplets were icy like shards as they hit the cats' flesh.
"Let us rest for a while," Breezestar's voice rang across the bare trees as the clan padded silently through the dying woods.
The deputy halted and stood beside him, sweeping his ringed brown and black tail across the hard ground, stirring up a few dried, dull leaves and dust. He watched as the cats settled under the trees and amidst bushes, looking for a place to sleep for a while without getting as wet as they would fully under the falling rain.
"Warriors and apprentices," Buzzardstrike called, earning their attention. "I will lead a hunting patrol and we'll try to find as much prey as we can. Some of you can also patrol this area and see if there is any danger. If there is, we will immediately move to a new place."
Some of the warriors nodded, others murmured in understanding as they walked over to join the OakClan deputy in a hunting patrol. They glanced around at the trees, only a few leaves still dangling from the branches, and looked to the vast hills and plains that were behind them. This place was so strange and foreign, nothing like the dense, thick, protective forest that they used to inhabit. Only some more sunrises, maybe a quarter-moon, before they would arrive at their goal—the mountains.
A young ginger and white apprentice shook out her pelt, sending a small shower of droplets falling to the earth. She sighed and followed the warriors when she heard a familiar call, snapping her head up to see an older grey and white she-cat talking to her.
"Dawnpaw, we're going on a hunting patrol," the apprentice's mentor announced. "Prey is scarce and we need to try harder."
"But Brightsky, it's pouring and there's no prey here," Dawnpaw cast her tired leaf-green eyes down at the ground, shaking out her fur again when she felt the water collecting in her pelt weighing her down. Her ears drooped. "Sometimes I feel like giving up. What's the point of this?"
Brightsky gazed down at her apprentice and wrapped her tail around her paws, taking in a quiet breath, falling silent. She knew the past sunrises have been hard for her. The day when Dawnpaw was made apprentice was also the day the great forest fire burned down their previous home. Every time Brightsky looked at her, she could see the sparks and flames of fear igniting the young she-cat's eyes. She tried to suppress it, but the ashes and fire was burned into her memory, burned into all of their minds.
"Dawnpaw," her mentor finally breathed out, glancing at the other apprentices and warriors who were already leaving for the patrol, but she didn't care right then. "I know it's been tiring and difficult, but don't lose hope. I promise we'll find an even better home. It's all going to turn out alright, you'll see."
Dawnpaw sunk down and turned her back to her mentor, her eyes narrowed. She stayed silent.
Brightsky sighed and shook her head slightly, turning and walking away, leaving the ginger and white she-cat alone.
"We're working for all we have left, and that's each other," Brightsky mewed softly at last before padding away.
Dawnpaw flattened her ears and shut her eyes, refusing to take that as true. She refused to believe her home was gone now, everything they've worked so hard to protect had been extinguished by flames.
But she knew it was.
She looked around, seeing cats working, hunting, protecting. She willed her paws to move forward and help too, but for some reason, she couldn't. Was it pride? Longing? Grief? She wasn't sure, but that stubborn feeling gripped on and she just couldn't.
The young cat listened to the howling breeze in the distant, lulling her into a dreamworld at last. A world where everything was perfect, where war and disasters didn't happen, where it was newleaf throughout all seasons.
A world that she could only emptily hope for.
A bit short and not very exciting yet but please still review! After a few chapters the actual plot and everything sort of begins.
Fact #3: I wish I could buy all the balloons and just let them free.
