"Your hopeless", Liam teases. "Where am i going to sleep tonight?", I ask. I'm defiantly not going to sleep on that cold, hard cave floor. "We have beds made of moss and other soft stuff in the cave, they are at the back of it so that no mildew gets on them. You'll have to make your own though", he says.
"Joy", I say sarcastically. Suddenly i hear a loud howl. "What was that?" I ask fearfully. "We have to get going. NOW", he orders.
We run back to the cave quickly. None of the others are in sight. "Where are they?" I ask. Listen to me, I'm full of questions tonight. "In the cave. They're frightened. Hurry, get inside", he says, pushing me forward.
I walk into the cave; it smells strongly of cat fur. Someone allergic would have a heart attack in here. "Follow me", Liam says.
Further back, I start hearing whispers and breathing. Then they come into view. Some are in cat form, some are in human form.
"Okay we're at my bed, or nest as you would call it by it's looks. You stay here while i go ask Vrent if we have any extras", Liam says and walks over to the lion. I watch them talking for a minute. Could it really take that long just to ask for a borrowed nest? I cant believe myself. I'm about to sleep in a freaking CAVE with a bunch of cat characterized strangers. If you looked up the word 'loon' in the dictionary, I'd be one of the examples. I plop myself down in Liam's little nest thingy. He wasn't kidding, it really was soft.
I close my eyes and only focus on sounds. Letting my ears tell me about the world around me. Zoë wrestling with Zack in cheetah form...the steady drip, drip, drip of water from the ceiling...the wind blowing the grass outside the cave. This is one of the plusses at being a werecat. This is why I haven't killed myself yet. That, and i would never leave my mom without someone. If there is an afterlife, id ask god to put me in hell. As my own punishment.
"Vrent says you can have Gwendor's nest", Liam says. He has the nest in tow behind him, a trail of moss in it's wake. I hesitate before taking it. "Where do I put it?", I ask him. "I don't know. Next to mine I guess", he whispers quietly. "Okay". I set the nest on the ground barley touching Liam's nest. "Night, Star ",he says, sleep thick in his voice. But i fall asleep before I can answer.
"Rise and shine!", Vrent yells, his voice echoing through out the cave. I squirm in my nest. Something is tickling my nose. With my eyes closed, I swat it away. It tickles my again. Who ever is tickling me is going to pay. My eyes fly open, but I squint in the harsh light. I notice how detailed everything looks. Wait, I shifted! While I was asleep. How strange. Ha ha. It was just my tail tickling my nose, I think. BAM! Something furry and warm fell on me. I panic for a second, but calm back down when I see it was the twins, Zack and Zoë.
"Oh my gosh. Sorry!", Zoë apologizes and bounds a couple feet away. Do I scare her? "You pushed me on her! ",Zack accuses. "No. You pushed me", Zoë says with a hurt face. "Tag! Your it!" Zack says, running away. "Whoa! ",Dakota says, jumping out of their way.
"They never like changing into their human forms", Liam's silky voice says. "Oh my god, Liam! Stop sneaking up on me", I say. I roll over to look at him. He actually has a shirt on. HALLELUJAH! "We have to go scouting in an hour", he says, yawning loudly.
"What? Wait I have to go home and get cleaned up. I probably have leaves in my hair", I say, reality hitting me smack in the face.
"I see no leaves", Liam says.
"No I mean my hair. Not my fur", I correct.
"Well you don't have to shift back just yet. We usually just stay in cat form until we need to go out in public".
"Grrrr. I'm going to regret this", I mutter.
"Well...um...we are going to be scouting for the rest of the day. And night".
"But that's so long!", I complain.
"Do you have any idea what time it is? Its 2 in the freaking afternoon! We are naturally supposed to sleep during the whole day. And hunt and be active at night".
"But...what do we do while scouting again?". My day is going to be miserable. ALL day and ALL night? Its amazing I slept until 2in the afternoon.
"We are patrolling the place for Hunters or werewolves. Some are doing the same, and some are watching out for the young werecats. The Hunters sometimes go after them too".
"Fun". Fun? Did i really just say fun? I amaze myself sometimes. "I guess ill stay here. But i AM getting a bath. Do you know where the cleanest stream is?", I ask, feeling stupid. Only homeless people bathe in streams. Then again, everyone here is homeless. But not me. I wont leave my mom.
"I was going to suggest a bath anyways. Did you run through mud yesterday?", he asks.
"Maybe...sorry, I wasn't paying attention to anything but staying alive. I have SO many scratches, scrapes, and bruises".
"Well they wont be there anymore. Have you not noticed that we heal really fast. Its not even normal for cats. Gwendor had a theory that something else is in our blood. He just didn't know what exactly".
I shrug my shoulders, feeling of no use to these people. I had brought their beloved leader to his death. I'm not saying anything but if I were them, id break my face. It makes me wonder if they would do the same. They defiantly aren't peace loving, I'll assure you.
"This way is a pretty clear 'n clean stream", Liam guides me to a really deep and wide stream. Fish swimming in the crystal clear water, smooth, gray pebbles resting at the bottom, the soothing burble of flowing water. The whole scene made me want to go wash my filth in a not-so-perfect stream. I crouch down and lap up some water with my tongue, finding that its cold. House cats make it seem so easy, but I keep dripping water down my chin and flicking some on my cheeks. I sneeze when some water crawls in my nose. That's H2O for ya. Always trying to make a clean get-a-way to the beautiful resort call your nostrils. I put a forepaw in the water slowly. Then my next paw. I shiver. The water is freezing. I start backing out of the water, about to beg to go to my house when Liam pushes me in.
I splash into the water, headfirst, slipping on the slick rocks. I try to swim but its hard, I worry i might drown. Did Liam think of THAT when he shoved me in, huh? That i could possibly not know how to swim in kitty cat form? "Liam! How do you swim?", I ask.
"Quit panicking. Just spread your paws out and dog paddle. Our fingers and toes are webbed".
I do as he says and...and it works. Why must he know everything? Oh wait! I just know nothing. Makes perrrfect sense. The irony of it all. I jump out of the water and shake my fur. "Your not done yet. Still some mud on your legs and on your face", Liam says. He tackles me into the water and I accidentally kick him in the gut.
"Oww ",he moans.
"Sorry!" I apologize. He tries to dunk me under water but I swim away, splashing water. He gets out of the stream and jumps in right next to me, making a huge wave. "Do you feel like we're in 'Lion King' right now too? Cause Im afraid that all of a sudden we are going to be ambushed by hyenas", I joke. "Yeah. I don't see any cameras though", he says falsely sad. "Do you see that? Liam is actually smiling", I hear someone say behind us. Liam must hear them too because he turns around and sees two girls around our age. I remember their names: Kelly and Raven.
"Hey gals", Liam says casually.
"Hi Liam. Hi Star. What ya up to?", Kelly asks.
"Swimming. Where you two following us?" he asks them. Before they can answer he whispers to me," We got some stalkers", loud enough for the two to hear.
"No! We're just going on a walk. Going to catch a rabbit or squirrel. Might get a deer if we're feeling generous", Raven says.
"Cool. I was just joking", Liam says.
"Sure you were. Bye-bye now", they say in sync.
"Bye", we say. "Why did Raven say 'look he is actually smiling'?", I ask.
"Let's just say I haven't always been the happiest camper. My parents died in a car crash not too long ago. Now it's just me. Child Care wanted to take me in but I made an excuse that i had a friend to stay with. Which, now that i think about it, is partially true". A sudden burst of guilt blooms inside me. Last night i had talked about my mother in front of him. It makes me wonder what he was thinking at the time.
We finish washing our fur. Liam is trying to teach me how to clean my pelt without taking a bath. "You can clean yourself like any other cat. I didn't suggest it before cause mud doesn't taste good. You wouldn't want to do it. But now that your clean, it wont be gross. I usually just clean my fur right when I wake up from sleep or when im bored. You might feel differently", he explains.
"This is boreinggg ",I whine. Liam himself looks about fed up with me. "Well if you listened and stopped playing with your stupid, fluffy tail, you wouldn't be bored!", he outburst. "Whoa. Did I make you angry?", I ask. I know he seems like he is angry at me, but thinking back to when I first saw him this morning, I remember he seemed tired and worn out. "No. No it isn't you. Sorry. I just got no sleep today", he says.
"Aw. What's wrong? Why'd you get no sleep last night?" I rub my face and sides from his shoulder to his hip, and around again. Just like a cat when they want to be pet more. Only difference is that I want to know more.
"What are you doing?" he asks with a smile in his voice.
"I don't know. You were angry so I felt sorry for you. And this sort of flashed in my mind when i didn't know how to make a werecat happy. You all are very strange".
"You mean we. We all are very strange ",Liam corrects.
"Yes, that's what I meant". I let myself fall to the ground and lay there, too comfortable to move. "We have to go in a while", he says, lying on a huge, flat stone next to me. "Ugh. I don't want to go", I complain. I must be very annoying today.
"You have to. Or else the we would no longer support you. The Pride would drive you out. You have to do your share of work around here".
"Gee, thanks for the encouraging word". I stand up and start walking the way Kelly and Raven went. "What are you doing?", Liam asks. "I wana learn to hunt. It sounds awesome", I say. "Okay, have fun. Watch out for Hunters", he calls behind me.
I start jogging -can a snow leopard jog?- and I soon they come into view. Kelly is in her serval form, and Raven is in her ocelot form. Raven is crouching on the ground, in a crawl. Im about to call out to them but I see a young, small moose grazing on some grass a few dozen feet in front of Raven. She is stalking it!, I think excitedly. Kelly is sitting nearby with a rabbit and a squirrel at her feet. No one here ever seems to stay in human form for long. Even I am getting used to being a big cat all the time. I slowly and quietly walk over to Kelly; she sees me and smiles welcomly. I look at the ground next to her, asking if I can sit. She nods her head. I settle on the ground and watch Raven as she advances on the moose. She creeps up a couple more feet an then pounces on it. She is quite small, but with a fast and expert bite to the neck artery, the moose goes down.
"That was awesome!", I complement Raven as she drags the moose over.
"Thank you. I have had a lot of time to practice", she says. I cock my head to the side, questioningly.
"She's been one since she was a seven years old", Kelly explains.
"Ahh ",I understand. Then that means it will take forever for me to learn to hunt properly.
"Actually, im really glad your here. We weren't planning on hunting big game but when I saw this moose, well I couldn't just let it get away. We would of brought more people with us because, if you haven't noticed, we are both really small cats", Raven says.
"I bet I could carry this", I say, and pick up the moose. Yep, I can carry it. It still is heavy though.
I drop it and ask ,"Take it to where?"
"To the cave. Its not far from here. Half a mile. Don't worry. We'll help you carry it", Kelly says.
"Okay", I say, and start dragging the moose to the cave with Raven and Kelly.
When we get there, we set the moose a little ways in front of the cave. Zoë and Zack both rush over and ask for some meat. Others come out of the trees and cave and ask for some too. "Of course, of course. Everyone can have some. That's why we brought it", Raven tells them all. I ignore the meat, not yet committed enough to eat raw animals.
I notice that there aren't that many werecats here. They must be out on their scouting things. I look around for Liam. He's not here. "Where's Liam", I ask the lynx, Bryan. He has blood all over his muzzle.
"Uh, I think he went looking for you a while ago", Bryan offers. "Thank you", I say, and start walking back the way i came. "Wait. Star, where are you going?", asks Raven, trotting up beside me. "To find Liam", I say. "Want some help?", she asks. "Wouldn't hurt". She nods her head, practically running to keep up with my long stride. I slow down for her. Gosh, she is so much smaller than me.
"Are you guys about to go scouting?", she asks.
"Yeah. Im sort of excited".
"You should be. All us girls want to be his scouting partner".
"Why?", I ask, making Raven's eyes widen.
"Are you kidding? Have you SEEN him? He's gorgeous! Your so lucky", Raven says with envy.
"I haven't really noticed it. He is usually shifted in his leopard form".
"Shifted or not, he is so hot. We have met alot of other werecats that aren't in our Pride. They are either from a different Pride, or loners. But so far, and im saying this from experience, Liam is the hottest leopard you will ever meet", she promises.
"Uh-huh. Well he is just a friend. I don't even know if he conceders me as a friend or just a 'partner'. I hope a friend".
"You'd be lucky. He doesn't seem to really like any of us but the twins. I mean he talks to us, but he doesn't talk about anything personal or such".
"Oh. Well he doesn't really tell me much either. Just that his parents died in a car crash, his last name is Casher, and that he had an older brother that left him when their parents died", I say, trying to make her happier.
"See? I didn't know any of that", she grumbles.
"Im sorry. Do you want me to tell him that-",I was cut off by a loud roar.
"Run! There's Hunters! Warn the others!", Liam yells, running towards us. Raven starts sprinting back to the cave panic and look around for a high tree to climb. I run over to the highest i see and start hurling myself up the branches. I start hearing dogs and people talking. I quickly climb the last few remaining limbs that will hold my weight, and sit as still as I can. The Hunters start running by.
There's got to be at least 25 of them. I even see the boy from yesterday. He goes to my school! They all pass me and I let out a sigh of relief. When they get out of sight, I jump out the tree and start going to the cave in an arc, steering clear of the Hunters.