Hi people! I AM SO SORRY for the long wait. I've almost forgotten. NOT to worry, I'm continuing
"Whoa."
"Great StarClan!"
"So you were almost caught?"
Jessica smiled as the many curious pairs of eyes looked at her, wide with amazement.
"Yeah I was, but I hid just in time, then I ran back." she gestured to the plastic bag beside her and pulled out a can of soup.
"Just one question." Cloudtail mewed. "Why this stuff? What's wrong with our fresh-kill?"
"Nothing's wrong, Cloudtail. But as long as I remain a twoleg, I can't live off your fresh-kill alone. I need to have twoleg food once in a while, or I could get seriously sick and die." she asnwered.
Cloudtail nodded, and padded off. Some other cats followed, while most of them stayed to ask question. Jessica answered them all, until her stomach growled loudly to remind her how hungry she was. Then the cats
went over to the fresh-kill pile to have their dinner.
"Oh, shoot." Jessica muttered. She didn't have a pot to make her food in. She crawled over to her little campfire area from last night, and looked around.
She got alittle creative. Jessica grabbed some rocks and piled them precisely over the pile of wood, then set the wood on fire. She placed a can of soup on the top rock. Within minutes, the can was hot. She opened the top with a sharp rock and drank the soup happily, it ran down her throat, thick and chunky. She finished within minutes and blew the fire out.
"You twolegs are strange." Dustpelt meowed softly behind her. Jessica turned to see him a foot behind her, sitting, eyeing the empty can in her hand.
"I could say the same about you." she replied with a sharp edge. She knew Dustpelt didn't trust her yet, and she could feel the tension in the air between them.
"Actually, I wanted to talk to you, Jessica." he mewed, and gritted his teeth.
"Go ahead." Jessica meowed back. She turned around to face him, but averted her eyes to the ground.
"No offence, but I don't like the idea of a twoleg in our Clan. But if you're the one that the prophecy talked about, I'll just have to accept that you are a part of ThunderClan."
Jessica's eyes shot back up and looked him in the eyes. Dustpelt's eyes were hard, cold and emotionless.
"That doesn't mean I trust you. To me, you're just a twoleg." Duspelt spoke quickly, his eyes like amber ice.
"oh...ok." Jessica muttered, and dropped her head. So close. I could've become a cat!
"I'm sorry, but that's just how it is." Dustpelt meowed, not a hint of regret in his voice. He turned and left.
A few hours passed by, and Jessica did what she could to help her new Clan. She helped Leafpool take herbs to the elders, she helped the apprentices with fixing the dens and hunted a bit. By the time it was twilight, she was dead bored. She sat by the elder's den and listened as they told old stories to the kits until the full moon was visible in the sky.
Brambleclaw approached her. "Jessica, Firestar wants you to come to the Gathering tonight. He wants to introduce you to the other Clans."
"Gathering?" Jessica repeated. She paused and raked her brain for a minute, then remembered what Squirrelflight told her about Gatherings. About how each Clan meet in a certain place every full moon to exchange
news. The only time when it is peace between them. "Oh okay. When do we leave?"
"Right now, c'mon." Brambleclaw flicked his tail and went to the gaurded entrance, and slicked through with ease. Jessica got up and took her usual way up the rock ledges.
A few minutes later, Jessica was in a line behind Firestar, Brambleclaw, Whitepaw, Leafpool, and Mousefur. They were walking on the beach of the lake, the moorlands of WindClan's territory on the other side of
them.
The moon lit up everything, and Jessica was able to see an island with tall pine trees.
"That is where Gatherings take place. A fallen tree if our way across. I'm sure it can hold you..." Firestar looked up at Jessica.
Jessica knew what he was thinking. "I'm light enough, and I have good balance." as long as she didn't have to take a night dip, she was fine.
Another few minutes and they reached the island, a long tree with many branches stuck up halfway in the water, not moving.
Brambleclaw sniffed. "I guess we're the last ones to arrive."
Jessica inhaled deeply through her nose. The only thing she could smell was the forest around her. She sighed, frustrated. Not even a whiff of a cat.
Firestar mrrowed in laughter. Then he leaped onto the tree gracefully, and began to cross. The other cats followed suit until they were on the other side, Jessica was still on the beach.
"C'mon Jessica. Just be careful!" Whitepaw called.
Jessica nodded, and carefully, she stepped onto the tree. It bobbed lightly under the weight. She prayed that it wouldn't roll over or totally sink. She took another step onto it, and the tree sunk just alittle, her feet
barely an inch away from the water. Jessica gulped and walked on, trying to keep her balance as the tree continued to roll and bob lightly. She slowly made her way to the middle, her Clan watching her warily.
"Thank StarClan's nothing happened so far." wrong time to say that. The tree rolled over, bringing Jessica along with it, She sideflopped into the cold water with a loud SPLASH!
Oh, nice! Jessica tought as she resurfaced, spitting a fountain of dark water from her mouth. She coughed and spluttered as she made her way toward the island. The cats waited, worry mixed with humor in their
eyes.
Don't-look-at-me-like-that!" Jessica gasped and pulled herself onto the island beach, cold, drenched, and shivering.
"Twolegs, clumsy as always!" Firestar purred.
"Thank you, Firestar, thank you." Jessica murmered. She squeezed the water from her shirt and shorts, hoping that she'll dry soon. The cats began to walk into the center of the island. It was nearly pitch black, but the full moon filtered through the tall pines to give off some silvery light. Jessica slowly followed her Clan, heart pounding nervously.
As they got closer, Jessica could hear the mews of other cats. Young apprentices to the elders' voices, cracked with age.
"Remember, Jessica may have our scent on her now, but she still smells like a twoleg. We'll enter first while Jessica stays behind so we can tell the other cats about her." Firestar instructed to his Clanmates, then nodded to Jessica. She nodded back.
Firestar and the others slowly entered the field ahead of htem, and the rest of the cats fell silent.
"There you are!" a she-cat cat called. "We thought one of you fell into the water! We heard that splash." her voice had a hint of amusement.
"Sorry we were late. Actually, one of us did fall into the water." Firestar replied. Even through the trees, Jessica could see the cats' eyes grow wide with confusion.
"But, none of you are wet, unless you have brought another with you." meowed a tom.
"We have. And you'll see her right now." at that moment, Firestar beckoned Jessica. She slowly and cautiously stepped forward, into the field filled with silvery light, next to her Clanmates.
Every cats' eyes turned to her and they flew wide with alarm. Their pelts fluffed out and they looked twice their size. Their eyes narrowed and their teeth bared into furious snarls.
"Firestar!" a huge white tom and jet black paws spat. "Do you realize that she is a TWOLEG?! Are you completely mouse-brained?!"
"Or has ThunderClan become so desperate for new warriors that they're letting twolegs in now?" some other cats jeered.
"No, ThunderClan is NOT weak!" Brambleclaw yowled, his own pelt rising.
Firestar swiped his tail along Brambleclaw's mouth to silence him.
"Jessica is no ordinary twoleg." he began. "She can speak cat, and she has spoken to our warrior ancestors in StarClan. She is considered a gift to ThunderClan, and a ThunderClan cat she is. She hunts and goes on patrols, just like any of us would do."
"She is still a twoleg!"
Many yowls of protest broke out, Jessica felt her lower lip tremble, but she bit it down and swallowed. Firestar looked up her and gave a tiny nod. And, just like she done back at camp, she stepped out and yowled.
"Firestar speaks the truth! I am a part of ThunderClan, and I'm clearly speaking to you now! I will be turned into a cat by StarClan themselves soon enough!"
The cats relaxed a bit, but there eyes were still wary. The ThunderClan cats began tp pick their way through the throng and began to converse with the other cats, to turn off their attention from Jessica. She signed and sat where she was, while Firestar caterwauled to silence the Clans from a low branch of a tree. 3 other cats were on it. The leaders of the other Clan, she guessed.
As the leaders began to tell what's new about their Clans, Jessica only half listening, staring silently at the moon.
