Zari's feeble attempts to fight back were short lived. Fortunetely though, she didn't end up needing to fight. A light grey blur seemed to appear from nowhere and kept the vicious felines at bay. It moved too quickly for a shape to be perceived as it tossed aside the animals like ragdolls. It snapped the neck of one stray in front of Zari and threw one behind her towards the metal, where it received a deep cut to the somach as it tumbled to the ground.
The surviving cats fled and panicked screeches were the last she heard of them. Even Pharaoh didn't stay to question what had just happened. Finally the blur was still, revealing that it looked like a cat. A light grey cat with sapphire colored eyes, to be more specific.
"You must be Zari," the she-cat said, "I'm Natra."
"W-why are you here?" Zari questioned as she got to her feet.
"I'm supposed to help you reach the portal. Although," Natra glanced at the sky. It was dusk. She continued, "being an insomnia dragoness, I would prefer we travel at night."
"Did Cavvile send you?"
Before Natra had the chance to respond, a high pitched voice could be heard asking, "is it safe?"
A black and white furred kit slowly padded into the clearing as Nightpaw began to wake. The sound of many more pawsteps grew louder until the queens and other kits came along. A grey cat was telling Coalkit he should've been more careful not to get separated from the group. When the rest of the Clan arrived, Nightpaw explained that they were attacked but said he had no recollection of the actual battle.
Oneclaw, Lizardtail, and Emberfur had been hiding as well. They called Whiteroad crazy for fighting the strays. She had multiple injuries, thankfully, none severe. All that was left was for Zari to tell them how the battle of the metalplace was won. She'd started to tell them the truth, but was quickly interrupted by Natra.
"Humans. We heard Humans. We knew that they wouldn't come all the way out here, but the other cats didn't. They ran away, so panicked that some received fatal injuries from trying to climb up the debris."
The Clan cats were suspicious but no one objected to the light grey cat coming with them. When they were ready to leave, they did. Despite the many scratches making her appearance even more horrible, Zari was happy. She was going home! She wanted to run full speed in the direction of the star. With Natra to protect her, she didn't need these cats anymore!
So why was she still walking at this pace? Why was she so hesitant to just leave them behind?
–
"Darkwood?"
"What is it, Shadefeather?"
The black cat's fur was bristled, as it almost always was. She nervously replied, "it's Earthpelt. I... think that..."
"Yes, what is it?" Darkwood stopped walking and looked into Shadefeather's yellow eyes.
"Can I speak to you alone?" she asked upon seeing the worried and curious eyes of her Clanmates. The Clan leader nodded and they went to the back of the group. They stayed far enough away so that it would be difficult for others to listen in on the conversation.
"Is she alright?"
The timid cat sadly replied, "I don't think so... everyone's been so busy, and-"
"Shadefeather," Darkwood interrupted, "just tell me. Earthpelt isn't going to finish this journey with us, is she?"
"... no. I don't believe so. There is a slight infection in her eye, as well as a few other scratches. We don't have anything to heal it."
The tabby cat sighed and wondered how he was going to inform the others. Bellpaw especially would be devastated. He looked down at his paws for a moment and then asked, "did I ever tell you the story of how I lost my claws?"
"No.."
"Well... I was about ten moons old at the time. I lived with my Humans in their small den out in the country. They raised a few different types of plant. Some of them were red and grew on tall stems. Some were orange and came right from the ground. They had these things called pigs that found it amusing to roll in mud. Every so often, one or more of the pigs would disappear from the pen. I never thought much of it.
Beyond the den, the garden, an' the pigs, there were wide open plains. And beyond that, a forest. But I never found it important enough to explore. I was content. My Humans were my closest and only companions. Then, one day we moved. To this city. I didn't know that my Humans had changed. All I knew was that they were excited. Our new den was in a huge tower and was filled with new things. Not long after they put something with an odd scent in the den, did I decide to change that. I used my claws to mark it as being part of my home, and to make sure it had my scent.
They were furious. Even though they never tried to stop me from scratching the old things. Those Humans..."
"They had your claws removed after they got something fancier to sit on?"
"Yes.. It's been a while since I've told anyone the story," Darkwood wasn't sure why he'd felt like telling it. His feet were always sore. This night, it just happened to remind him of what happened all that time ago.
"Darkwood? There's something else I wanted to tell you... I can see the star, too."
