I have only seen slivers of the forest as I had never stepped foot outside of the camp, but now I wished that I was allowed outside sooner. There were hundreds of willow trees out here! I was able to see the trees even inside the camp, yet seeing them up close for the first time made them look many times more beautiful. The branches were strong and thick but the leaves that clung to it were slender and drooping.
Brown-white and I made our way past the graceful trees, my eyes constantly flicking around and my nose twitching to get used to the knew scents. The smell of cat was very obvious in the camp, and here there was only traces of it. It was like taking the very first breath.
The trees had started to thin out, and a breeze had picked up. I couldn't help but wrinkling my nose. What was that stench? Though it too was the smell of cat, it also was muskier and earthier, like rabbit. Brown-white must've seen my discomfort since he only gave an amused smile and walked on. My eyes narrowed, annoyed that he didn't do anything else, but followed after him.
It was quite far from camp, and although the older cat slowed his pace, I found it hard to keep up. Never had I ever walked this much or this far before, but I'm not afraid; I'm with Brown-white. I couldn't help but get wary as the silhouettes of several cats came into view, however. One was crouched by a creek I had not noticed before, and two were padding up to us.
The pair of cats dipped their heads at greeting toward us, and at the corner of my eyes, I could see Brown-white doing the same. I couldn't help but notice the small smirk on the younger cat's face. The she-cat next to him was taller than him, but he was in no means smaller than me. I automatically decided that I didn't like him, and only gave the slightest nod of my own head. They smelled like the musk from earlier.
The bulky ginger cat who was crouched down by the glimmering stream seemed to snap out of his trance; he shook out his pelt somewhat awkwardly and faced us, giving a curt little nod not unlike the one I gave earlier. He did not break a grin, and I decided that I didn't like him, either.
Meanwhile, the she-cat was friendly and mouthed to the others with me watching. After all of the moons that I have been alive, I still did not understand mouthing. Why did everyone else understand it? There was something different. Why didn't mother try to teach me? She did try. Your sisters know how to mouth. But Mother gives me more attention than the others.
The dumb, younger cat keeps on looking at me funny.
Brown-white showed me how to bend down toward the gently-running water and touch the surface of the stream with the nose. The others had already done so and had fallen into a sleep, which alarmed me somewhat. But Brown-white had nodded encouragingly and urged me to do so. So I did... The icy chill of the water was shocking even though it was just a little dab of my nose, but what stunned me more was that the ginger tom did not have a front leg.
