And, I'm back! Thanks for the review!
Keeralie Starflight- They will, I hope… *Grins evilly* I probably would've curled up too, or yell right back… Ha-ha XD.
Disclaimer-
Redfeather- Since I don't really appear in this chapter, I get to say the disclaimer. Flight of The Snowy Owl does NOT own Warriors.
Spiderheart- Hey! I don't appear either! Why did you get to say the disclaimer?
Redfeather- Because you yelled at me and you said it yesterday. So DEAL WITH IT!
Snowy- I HAVE HAD IT WITH YOU. GET ONTO THE CHAPTER.
Before Redfeather came….
Streakfur struggled against the twoleg's arms. As the twoleg's arms tightened, he stopped struggling. Soon, he was brought into the nest and dropped onto the ground. Then, the world went black.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Streakfur's eyes shot open. Where am I? He thought frantically. Then he remembered. Oh no… I think I'm going to be sick. He thought nauseously as he pulled himself to his paws. He swayed a bit, his stomach churning, before he stood still. He glanced around, studying his surroundings. He was in the high walls of a twoleg nest, and Spiderheart and Redfeather weren't there. What am I going to do?! He wailed inwardly. Redfeather and Spiderheart aren't here… So I'm on my own… He thought. He looked around. The least I could do is explore…
Streakfur hopped to his paws and walked around. The twolegs seemed to be gone, which was a good thing. He sighed in relief. The nest was empty and quiet, so he could explore the nest in secret, with absolutely no twolegs.
"Hey! Strange Cat!" A voice suddenly called from behind him. Streakfur spun around and found himself face-to-face with a Siamese she-cat. Streakfur's fur fluffed up to where it was twice his size and he hissed.
"Whoa, now, Strange Kitty," The she-cat meowed, backing up. "I don't mean no harm."
Streakfur forced his fur to lie flat and he cautiously took a step forward. "What's your name?"
The Siamese she-cat sat down. "My name is Cleo. And you are?"
Streakfur dipped his head. "I'm Streakfur. Pleased to meet you."
Cleo swatted Streakfur's ears. "No need to be polite, young'un." She meowed. "You're one of those wild, Clanny cats, aren't ya?" Streakfur nodded. Her eyes grew dreamy. "Must feel good to be free."
Streakfur snorted. "Free? I don't think so."
Cleo tipped her head. "How are you not free?" She asked. "You obviously don't have a collar."
"You may think that 'free' means not having a collar," Streakfur meowed. "But free is being out in the open with no worries, and knowing that nothing can hold you back. But free is not being in an enclosed, trapped place like this."
Silence.
"I take it you want to escape, don't you?" Cleo asked. Streakfur nodded.
"Come on then, Strange Kitty." Cleo meowed, hopping to her paws. "I have just the person who can help!"
~.~.~.~.~.~
"She's very picky with names, so we all just call her Spot." Cleo explained as they padded down a narrowed twoleg path.
"Do you even know where she is?" Streakfur asked as Cleo peeked, yet again, into another opening.
Cleo shuffled her paws. "Not exactly… She kinda goes where ever she pleases, whenever she pleases." Oh. Streakfur thought.
Cleo peeked into another opening. "Aha!" She exclaimed. "Come on, Streakyfur! She's in here!" It's Streakfur… He thought exasperatedly as he followed Cleo in. Streakfur looked around and saw a black and white spotted she-cat sitting on the ground, giving each of them stone-hard stares.
"What do you want, Cleo?" She growled.
Cleo dipped her head. "Spot, a friend of mine here wants to escape. Figured you could help him." She meowed. "Also, he's one of those wild cats! Ain't that wonderful? We haven't seen one in forever!"
Spot averted her gaze from Cleo to Streakfur. "So you're a Clan cat then, huh?"
"Yes, I am." Streakfur replied.
Spot suddenly jumped up and hissed at Streakfur. "I am not helping any Clan cats! Never!" She shrieked. "They are unforgivable! They can die for all I care!" Spot sun around and ran off, waves of anger rolling off her pelt. Streakfur stared in shock at where she had been. What just happened…? He thought.
"What's up with her?" Streakfur asked, turning to Cleo.
"Dunno." Cleo replied shrugging. "But I guess we're on our own, now." Cleo bounced on her paws. "That means I get to help you! Come on! Follow me, you lazy Clan cat!" Streakfur sighed and followed Cleo to wherever the crazy she-cat was going.
~.~.~.~.~.~
Streakfur stared at a set of metal bars.
"What's this?" Streakfur asked. If she's telling me that I have to squeeze through the little space between the bars, I won't be surprised. He thought, rolling his eyes.
"There's a tunnel behind it, so we're going to pull the metal off, and then you can slide down it and escape!" Cleo meowed. Wow, she's actually talking sense! Streakfur thought.
"Do twolegs use this?" Streakfur asked. He bent down to sniff the bars and the acrid scent of twolegs filled his nostrils.
"I think so. Sometimes, cool air comes out of the bars. I think the twolegs use it when they're hot." Cleo replied, beginning to pull at the metal with her claws. Twolegs are strange… And so are kittypets! Streakfur thought.
"Hey, Cleo," Streakfur suddenly asked.
"Yes?" Cleo meowed, looking up.
"How did you know about the Clan cats?"
Cleo sighed. "A long, long, long time ago, Spot used to leave the nest for long periods of time. I never knew what she was doing. When she came back, she would tell me about their heritage, the rules, and all about the four Clans." Cleo began to pull at the metal again. "Then one day, Spot came back and said that she hated the Clans. She said she wouldn't mind if they all died of starvation, or all got killed." Cleo stopped for a moment and lowered her head. "But I've never forgotten about them." Streakfur was processing what she had said. Four Clans? But aren't there only three? He thought, confused. There's LightningClan, FireClan, and RunningClan… Unless she's counting HurricaneClan, but that Clan has been missing for moons, and nobody knows what happened.
"Hey! Are you going to help me or not?" Cleo asked, nudging him. Streakfur nodded and began to pull at the metal. They worked in silence, slowly making dents in the metal. Suddenly, Streakfur heard the sound of twoleg paw steps hitting the ground. He froze in fear. Run! His brain screamed. Streakfur did as his brain told him and he ran and hid behind a twoleg object. The paw steps soon faded away.
"You can come out now, silly." Cleo meowed. "They may or may not be comin' back. Heck, I don't think they even came in!"
"Oh." Streakfur mumbled. His fur grew hot with embarrassment and he bent down to lick his chest fur to conceal it.
"Come on," Cleo sighed. "Let's go get something to eat." Streakfur followed Cleo to her food.
"You eat these." She meowed, pointing with her tail at a pile of brown pellets. Streakfur recoiled in disgust.
"Go on," Cleo urged. Streakfur wrinkled his nose and took a tentative bite. The pellets tasted like four season old rabbit droppings. He swallowed quickly and then tried to get the abhorrent taste off his tongue.
"Is that all you want?" Cleo asked. "You can have more."
"Um… I'll pass." Streakfur muttered. My tongue could use a good mouse now, after this terrible kittypet food. Cleo shrugged and began to eat. Streakfur pricked his ears. Oh, SafeClan… He pleaded. Please let me hear something that will help me escape… Please…
"STREAKFUR!" A cat was calling his name! Streakfur hopped to his paws and listened again. He felt Cleo's gaze on him, but he didn't care. He had heard something! "Streakfur!" The voice was diffidently Redfeather's. Streakfur ran to the metal bars.
At that moment, Streakfur heard the twoleg's steps again, and this time, it was for real. He knew he had to talk fast.
"I knew it!" He exclaimed as he ran up to Redfeather and Spiderheart. "But I can't talk now. The twolegs are coming." Streakfur began to run back to Cleo. As he ran, a happy thought danced into his mind:
There might be a chance to escape!
…..
Hope you enjoyed this chapter! Glad for a happy-ish ending, right? Anyway, I've got some news: You might not hear from me in a while for updates. I'm going to try to finish the manuscript version of this story, then updating won't take so long. Also, it's my summer goal! Well, happy early Memorial Day!
QOTD: Um… What do you think of Cleo? Do you like her or despise her? Please tell me!
Please review, flames and helpful reviews are appreciated.
Ta ta for now,
~ Snowy
