Chapter 9: Blossom Dust
"Be quiet!" A tiny voice broke through Blossom Dust's hazy sleep. "You'll wake her up."
"But I want to her up," another little voice insisted. A small paw poked her shoulder with surprising strength.
Blossom Dust opened her to the cheery light of early morning. She raised her head, squinting until her eyes adjusted to the brightness. Swallow and Chestnut, the two farm kits, crouched in front of her. They avoided her inquisitive gaze; instead they looked sheepishly at their paws.
"What are you two doing?" Blossom Dust asked. She cocked her head and frowned at them, curious rather than angry.
Swallow scuffed her paws on the hay-covered ground. "We're bored, so we were hoping that you would tell us a story."
"I tried to stop her from waking you up," Chestnut piped up. "Our parents told us not to bother our guests. But some she-kits don't listen."
Swallow lashed her short gray tail. "Hey, you got in trouble with Harvest yesterday for playing too close to the edge of the loft."
"But Slate caught you tossing stones out of the window at the chickens the day before that," Chestnut countered.
"Hey!" Blossom Dust interrupted.
Both kits froze and quieted immediately, turning their attention back to her.
Blossom Dust softened at the kits' uncertain expressions. Her face broke into an amused smile. They're so much like Tall Pine and Spotted Owl when they were that age.
"Sure, I can tell you a story," she offered. "What do you want to hear about?"
"Yay!" Swallow bounced up and down.
"We want to hear about your journey," Chestnut replied, business-like now. "Slate said that you came from really far away."
"Okay." Blossom Dust thought for a moment.
The two kits flopped down where they were, quiet for once as they gazed expectantly up at her.
"Far away, beyond the farm and the forest and the hills, lies a hidden valley deep in the mountains," Blossom Dust began, a serene smile on her face as her mind drifted back to her homeland. "Seasons upon seasons ago, some cats left a large group and journeyed for moons until they found this valley. Four groups; Clans unlike any other groups have lived there ever since. They hunt and patrol and care for their Clanmates, protect the kits and the elders and live by a sacred code upheld by the great council. When these cats die, they are not truly gone. They walk in the starry heavens above, and watch over their living descendants."
"Wow," Swallow and Chestnut breathed in unison. Their eyes were wide with awe.
Blossom Dust grinned down at them, but her face sobered as she began the next part of the tale. "The Clans lived in peace for many moons until strangers from the outside world appeared one day. The Clans accepted these rogues, but they were deceitful and tricked the Clans. There was a great battle between the groups. The Clans were victorious and forced the strangers out of their homeland, but the rogues left with a serious threat of more conflict to come. The council decided to send a patrol to seek out the rogues—"
"Blossom Dust!" Rabbit Nose called as he trotted up to his trainee. "What are you doing?"
The small she-cat started and turned to her instructor. "Oh, I'm telling these two a story since they asked."
"Yeah," Swallow added, "she's telling us about the Clans!"
Rabbit Nose frowned. He spoke in a hushed but firm tone. "Blossom Dust, we shouldn't share our secrets with cats we don't know."
"Oh." Blossom Dust blinked. Why not? They're just kits who asked for a story. "I'm sorry," she said aloud.
"It's okay," Rabbit Nose replied. He jerked his head to where the rest of the Clan cats were gathering. "Come on. We're about to leave."
"Goodbye, you two." Blossom Dust looked back at the kits. "I'm sorry I don't have time to finish my story." She hurried after Rabbit Nose to join the other patrol members.
Rabbit Nose led Blossom Dust to the middle of the crowd, where the other Clan of the Morning Sun cats were. Yellow Sky and Melting River stood in the center, deep in conversation with their host, Slate.
"I have heard of a lake near here," Slate was saying. "I've never been there, and I would never go there. You all should steer clear." His large paws trembled a little, and his pelt was spiky. "There are horrible dangers there…horrible."
"Well, we do need to go there," Yellow Sky replied. "Can you tell us the way?"
"Are you sure?" Slate looked at Yellow Sky as if she were crazy.
"Yes," Melting River said firmly, offering no more room for argument. "Can you give us directions or not?"
"Sure, yes, I can," Slate said, ruffled. "You will want to follow the edge of the cornfield. Then you should continue across the open fields until you reach another thunderpath…"
Slate went on the explain the directions in detail. Once the patrol leaders were certain of them, they thanked Slate and prepared to leave.
Blossom Dust looked behind her as the patrol set off. She saw Slate and Harvest standing in the entrance to the barn, their kits between them. They gazed after the patrol with somber expressions, almost as if they thought the Clan cats were walking to their deaths.
Blossom Dust shook herself. No, that's silly. It can't be what they're thinking.
. . .
Just as Slate had promised, the patrol trekked through several farm fields and then open meadows until they came to another thunderpath. This one was much quieter than the other one, so they were able to cross without incident. Around sunhigh, twolegs structures began popping up here and there. Soon they could see the next landmark Slate had told them about, the twolegplace.
Blossom Dust's pelt prickled as the patrol stepped from the safety of the grass field into danger on the edge of a stone thunderpath. The cats padded along in uneasy silence. They shrunk back as a monster roared past, the breeze buffeting their fur. Everywhere around them now solid twoleg structures loomed, cluttering the sides of the thunderpath. There was little space; everything was congested; even the air was thick with a jumble of overpowering scents, the most predominant was the putrid stench of monster fumes.
The patrol had reached the twolegplace.
"Everyone, stick close," Yellow Sky ordered. "This place is crowded, confusing, and filled with many unknown threats. It may be the most dangerous thing we've encountered yet."
The Clan cats didn't need to be told to stick together. They pressed together in a tiny knot as they attempted to navigate the maze-like twolegplace. They slunk past throngs of twolegs of all shapes, sizes, and colors, a few of whom walked barking dogs on long, bright vines. The patrol carefully ducked out of the way whenever the grating rumble of a monster signaled one was passing. They followed winding thunderpaths around clusters of structures like a huge bees' nest, passed over a bare field of grass where twoleg kits shrieked and played with some odd twoleg toy, and they ducked down a side thunderpath lined with a few trees and patches of grass.
"Oh, no," Melting River said. He halted as they emerged on the other side of the thunderpath, a large stretch of hard earth in front of them with monsters sitting in orderly rows. "We've passed this before. I think we're lost."
"Oh, great," Small Foot, at the back of the patrol, sighed. "This is just what we need."
"What should we do?" Sun Splash, the patrol leader for the Clan of the Flowing Waters turned to the other cats.
"We could retrace our path," Duck Flight suggested.
"But does anyone know where we came from?" Owl Eye scoffed. "This cursed place is confusing."
"We could ask for directions?" Vole Leap of the Clan of the Dark Caves offered. "There has to be other cats around here. Maybe kittypets?"
"Are you sure?" Quick Clouds frowned. "I'm sure not all cats will be like the farm cats. They could be hostile."
"It's worth a shot," Yellow Sky said. "I think I smelled a kittypet near one of the twoleg structures back there."
She led the way back along the wooded thunderpath, and across the grass to one of the structures. The wooden structure was large and colored a startling white. A short fence behind it closed in a square patch of earth.
Blossom Dust raised her muzzle to sniff the air. The most prevalent of all the scents was the scent of a new cat. The cat's smell was strange; nothing like the comforting scents of the Clans; and carried traces of twolegs. Peering through a space in the fence, she spotted a plump brown and white tom snoozing in a pool of sunlight. A bright red vine encircled his neck, but it didn't appear to bother him.
"See, there's a cat," Vole Leap said in a hushed voice, angling her ears toward the tom.
"A kittypet," Owl Eye snorted.
"We can still ask him for directions," Melting River said. Sun Splash, Yellow Sky, and him leaped up onto the top of the fence. Owl Eye grumbled, but he joined them.
Melting River cleared his throat. "Excuse me."
The kittypet tom didn't stir.
"Hey!" Yellow Sky called. "You there!"
At that, the brown and white tabby tom jerked awake. He sprang to his paws, his hazel eyes widening as he saw the four cats sitting on top of the fence, and even more until they practically filled his face once he saw the crowd of cats behind it. He stared at them for a moment, then turned and fled like a startled mouse into a hole in the side of the twoleg structure.
"Well that was rude," Shadow Step commented. "I hope not all cats here are like that."
Melting River wrinkled his forehead. "Do you think he was afraid of us?"
Sun Splash nodded. "Probably." She tilted her head sympathetically.
"Let's try to find another cat," Yellow Sky said. She and the other leaders leaped down from their roost and led the way back to the thunderpath. They searched another structure, only to find a pair of twolegs playing behind it with their kit. The next place they looked was empty, but the fourth held two cats, a ginger tom and a light cream tabby she-cat. Unfortunately, they responded the same way the first tom had; sprinting inside at first sight of the Clan cats. So did the next ebony-black she-cat. And the old gray tom after that.
"These twolegplace cats sure are skittish," Tall Pine remarked. He stood next to Blossom Dust as they watched the old gray tom's tail vanish inside. "Not at all like Slate and Harvest."
"I wonder what it is that makes them so scared of us?" Blossom Dust cocked her head. "I would be curious if I were them."
"Nevermind that." Yellow Sky turned briskly to the patrol. "We need to keep moving. It's getting late." Her eyes flickered to the sky where the sun hung not far above the horizon.
The other cats murmured in agreement, and they returned to the thunderpath. Blossom Dust could feel frustration and discouragement hanging over the patrol like a thundercloud as they set off it a random direction.
I hope we can find our way out of here soon, Blossom Dust thought. I don't want to stay stuck in this dreadful place, especially once night falls. Her pelt prickled as Yellow Sky led them down a side path shrouded in shadows cast by the tall structures in the fading light.
She started as she bumped into Rabbit Nose, who, for some reason had stopped in front of her. The hair on the back of his brown and white neck rose as he stared into the seemingly empty shadows. The other cats stopped as well and pressed close to one another.
"What's going—" Blossom Dust started to ask, but Rabbit Nose's tail slapped over her mouth, silencing her. Tall Pine stepped close to her, his bristling pelt brushing her. His muzzle was raise, collecting the scents. As Rabbit Nose withdrew his tail with an apologetic glance, Blossom Dust sniffed as well. She detected the fear scent of the cats around her, but there was something else entirely. A new cat-scent reached her nose. She didn't know why, but she knew it meant danger.
"What do we have here?" A voice drawled. The shape of a tall, muscular she-cat materialized out of the shadows. Three more cats stepped to flank her.
"Stay back," Sun Splash murmured to the patrol. Blossom Dust pressed back into the other cats as the group condensing into a tight clump.
Owl Eye glared at cats with his one yellow eye. "Who are you?"
The she-cat, who appeared to be the leader, stepped into a beam of sunlight that made her dark gray pelt shine like dying embers fighting to stay lit. "I am Sleet. and you are trespassing on our streets." She flicked her tail at something behind the patrol. Five more cats appeared from the shadows, hemming in the Clan cats on both sides. They were trapped. These cats were unfriendly and hungry for a fight. And they'd just accused the Clan cats of trespassing.
Yellow Sky's ears flattened, but she was calm, ready to negotiate. "We are passing through the twolegplace, and we did not know that this was your territory. Let us go, and we promise to leave a right away."
"Did you all hear that?" Sleet said to her fellow 'street' cats. "They're travelers, and they had no idea that this was our turf." She spat on the ground. "A likely story."
"It is true," Melting River said, eyeing Sleet and her comrades warily. "We are travelers. We're sorry for trespassing, but we didn't know that this was your territory."
"Maybe it is true then." Sleet's smile was sickening. "No one who lives in this town, kittypet or street cat, would be dumb enough to wander into our territory."
"We don't want any trouble," Yellow Sky said. "Please let us pass."
"But we have twice your numbers and four times your fighting skills," Owl Eye growled. "We've fought the Bands. We could take you easily."
Sleet's certain smile faltered a little. For an instant, her eyes widened. "I wouldn't be so confident if I were you. And since you have trespassed and been rude, I think fighting it is." Her lips formed the order to attack, but a new voice cut in before the word left her mouth.
"I wouldn't be so hasty if I were you, Sleet." A powerful voice rang out from above.
Sleet's eyes narrowed as she scanned the structures above them. "Who is that?"
"You know me, but you don't know them." The voice replied. There was a flurry of motion as a shape dashed along a ledge in one of the structures and leaped gracefully down onto the stone earth below. The lithe tom shook out his black and white pelt as he faced Sleet. "However," he added, "I do know them. And you would be foolish to challenge these cats."
Sleet's lips pulled back in a snarl. "Oh, it's you, traitor."
The tom glanced behind a the Clan cats. "On three, let's rush them. Follow me if you want to get out of here safely."
"What? Who are you?" Owl Eye looked both outraged and confused.
What should we do? Can we trust him? Blossom Dust thought. The other Clan cats murmured to one another, echoing her thoughts.
"One," the black and white tom breathed.
Sleet growled, her ears pinned back. With a flick of her tail, she drew her cats closer.
"Two." The tom sunk into a crouch.
Blossom Dust glanced anxiously at her Clanmates who still deliberated.
"Three!" The tom cried. He sprang forward toward Sleet and her comrades. The patrol made a collective last minute decision to trust this strange cat. They dashed forward toward the frozen street cats. They forced Sleet and the others aside, overwhelming them like a surging wave. They ran along the remainder of the thunderpath, then quickly changed direction as the tom directed them down another one.
Their mysterious rescuer let them slow down once they were a good distance away, but he still urged them to keep a quick pace as he led them confidently through the twolegplace. The patrol leaders followed closely behind the tom, debating quietly amongst themselves, but they still followed him as no one else had the faintest idea of where they were. The other Clan cats were preoccupied with arguing about the street cats, or worrying over their situation, or shooting suspicious looks at their guide, but Blossom Dust found herself staring at the black and white tom. Something about him felt strange, almost familiar.
Blossom Dust glanced at her siblings and nudged Tall Pine who trotted next to her. "Tall Pine, Spotted Owl, do you notice anything strange about that tom?"
Her siblings exchanged glances and peered at the tom.
"No. I don't." Spotted Owl frowned.
Tall Pine gave her an inquisitive look. "What do you mean, Blossom Dust?"
"What do I mean?" Blossom Dust repeated. "How have you two not noticed? Spotted Owl—he looks exactly like you!"
Surrrrprise! I did another point of view! (Weeellll, not a new character, but a new perspective.) I have to say, it was refreshing to write from Blossom Dust's perspective. She has such a positive and open-hearted way of looking at the world. It is very different, but complementary to Tall Pine's deep thinking, questioning, and worrying, and Spotted Owl's grumbling and sassiness. I hope I portrayed her perspective well in this chapter. She won't be one of the main POVs, but we will see her in the spotlight once or twice more in this book, and maybe more in the next!
Double surprise! I left a cliffhanger! Let me know in the reviews who you think the identity of this mysterious cat is. I've given you a few hints. It may be more obvious than I think it is though.
Reviews:
The Unnamed Guest - It's fine. I understand. School is...crazy. No, he's not, because he said he's never been to the lake before. Good guess, though! The farm cats welcome many travelers, so they've heard many stories.
Thank you for reading and please review!
- A Warrior At Heart