With Krait by his side, Tigerstripe continued padding through the forest, no longer racing on his paws but still walking at a fast pace, his only goal in mind to find the whereabouts of Snakepelt and Jetfur.
At first he believed Krait could not keep up, but the she-cat had proven herself and obviously had high stamina, for she was able to follow Tigerstripe's pace well. He realized in the brief moments he'd known her that he liked her very much.
Krait was an older she-cat; he suspected she'd be a senior warrior if she were in a clan. But she had a charming personality, was nearly as stubborn as him, and strode bravely as if nothing could ever bother her. He wondered if there was a cat in the forest who did not like her.
For the first few hours they traveled, she'd been very helpful too, offering to find prey, helping him decide which direction to go in, and so forth. She didn't nag him like Snakepelt did or didn't have the same sweet composure as Rain, but she was company, and that was that.
As they turned a corner, disappearing deeper into the tall trees, Tigerstripe picked up an odd scent, and not a moment later, he heard a twig crack. He froze suddenly, but Krait continued walking. Noticing Tigerstripe had stopped, she spun around.
"What's wrong, scaredy cat? Let's keep going," she urged him.
Tigerstripe nodded, at first believing that he would run into the hunters, but he supposed it had just been a squirrel or some other forest animal. Perhaps it would even be his dinner.
As soon as Tigerstripe began to calm down though, a booming voice echoed from nearby.
"And where do you think you're going?!" came a raspy, odd voice.
A fox suddenly leapt out of the bushes, and while Tigerstripe had prayed it was Rain, he knew immediately by the fox's large size and horrifying glare that this was not a kind fox. This was a fox that knew the structure of the food chain, not some little fox kit.
Krait skidded to a halt beside Tigerstripe, and Tigerstripe watched as the fox shot a glare at Krait, his gaze fully focused on her.
Trying to be brave, Tigerstripe slowly took a step forward and puffed out his broad chest, speaking in the deepest voice possible.
"T-To find Jetfur!" he announced, stammering only slightly.
Krait shot him a look, noticing his fear, and rolled her eyes, he gaze turning back toward the fox. How come she acted so calm?
"Not until I rip the guts out of Krait for what she did!" the fox sneered, shoving his muzzle into Krait's face. Krait let out a tiny hiss and swatted him away with her paw.
"What did Krait ever do to you?" Tigerstripe demanded.
He had no knowledge of Krait's past, but she didn't seem to him like a violent, cruel she-cat. He assumed whatever fight that the cat and fox had gotten into in the past was certainly the fox's fault.
"Heh, heh," Krait laughed nervously. She turned to Tigerstripe and shrunk down slightly, a weak smile on her face. "About that..."
Tigerstripe felt anger rippling through his veins. What if this she-cat was more trouble than he expected? After all, she'd just lured a fox. What other creatures had she made enemies of?
"Krait, do you have something you wish to share?" Tigerstripe asked in a quiet voice, trying to submerge his anger.
"RAHH!" the fox shouted, snapping at Krait. The she-cat quickly leapt aside, dodging his attack.
Tigerstripe rolled his eyes, deciding that Krait could deal with this on her own. After all, the fox seemed to have taken no interest in him. Instead, he stepped back a few steps from them and began wandering close by in the other direction.
"SNAKEPELT! JETFUR!" he called out, hoping to hear some sort of response. He glanced back slightly, seeing Krait and the fox were still engaged in a miniature battle.
He turned around, about to tell Krait to knock it off, when Krait caught Tigerstripe's eye and glanced back at the fox.
"Wowza. Look at the time. I've got to-"
The fox nearly bit her flank, ignoring her statement. Krait let out a yelp, shouting, "RUN!" and took off past Tigerstripe. The fox glanced at Tigerstripe slightly, and then Tigerstripe smiled weakly and took off after the she-cat, the fox following behind.
Fortunately, the fox didn't have the same speed that Krait and Tigerstripe possessed, and soon, they were quickly outrunning him. Tigerstripe's heart pounded as he struggled to keep up with Krait, and he panted heavily, out of breath.
"I'm not sure if I told you yet, but I don't have a very smooth relationship with foxes!" Krait shouted at him as they continued to sprint through the woods.
"You don't say?" Tigerstripe replied, continuing to run as fast as his paws could carry him.
After a while, when Tigerstripe felt as if his legs were going to collapse from under him, Krait halted by a log, her chest heaving up and down as she caught her breath.
"I think we lost him," she huffed.
Tigerstripe nodded, too exhausted to speak. He paused for a moment, then heard a sound from the log. He turned, watching as a large badger lumbered out of the log.
"RUN!" Tigerstripe shouted, beginning to take off again, this time from the badger that Krait had brought them to.
"OH YEAH! BADGERS AREN'T FOND OF ME EITHER!" Krait shouted as they ran again, though this time their pace was slower, and the badger followed behind, growling loudly.
"I get it! You don't have any smooth relationships!" he hissed angrily, tired of running from wild animals.
What's next? he thought. A wild dog?
Seeing the badger was close behind, Tigerstripe watched as Krait spun around and slashed at the badger's nose. Tigerstripe glanced back, watching blood drip down the badger's nose. It roared in rage, and Krait picked up her pace again.
"Maybe that wasn't the best idea," she said. The badger suddenly swung one of his large paws and knocked Krait off her paws. She squealed, tumbled, and quickly heaved herself back up to her feet, running more quickly.
Tigerstripe ran after her, but he was becoming more and more tired, and the badger was coming more and more closer with each passing second.
"WE HAVE TO STOP IT!" Krait shouted.
"We can't! It's too dangerous!" Tigerstripe argued.
"Well, then we have to hide or something! It's gaining on us!" Krait shouted, turning around to see the badger was nearly within a fox's length of them.
Tigerstripe groaned, knowing it was no use to run anymore. They were going to have to face the badger head-on. He stopped and launched at the beast, clawing at its nose.
The badger reared up off the ground a little and roared. Krait followed Tigerstripe's lead and snuck up behind the badger, throwing herself at it. She bit down harshly on its flank.
Tigerstripe, meanwhile, clawed at the badger's striped pelt until a massive paw pushed him off and sent him spiraling toward the earth. The badger then pinned Krait down, and
Tigerstripe watched as it put its sharp teeth in front of her face.
"Uh...maybe we can work this out?" Krait suggested, laughing nervously.
The badger growled and raised its sharp claws, ready to kill the she-cat, when another badger roar echoed in the distance. There was a short pause, though to Tigerstripe, it felt like an eternity, and the badger slowly released Krait and backed away, remaining frozen.
"Are you okay?" Tigerstripe asked Krait, rushing to her side.
"Fine, fine," Krait assured him, standing back up on her paws. "That almost ended nastily, huh?"
Before Tigerstripe could answer, another rustle came from the bushes, and Tigerstripe groaned, expecting it to be the other badger they had heard, coming to kill them, but he was instead surprised to find a cat.
The cat was all white with splashes of brown and black. His face looked triangular, and his eyes were a bright green. He approached the badger willingly, the two animals locking their gaze on each other. A she-cat joined the tom a moment later. She looked the same as him, with some more splashes of color. Tigerstripe noticed that her eyes, in contrast, were two different colors—blue and green. The smaller she-cat also came up to the badger. The badger echoed a small grunt in response, but the she-cat didn't flinch. She instead sat in front of the badger and stared at it.
Then, Tigerstripe watched as the she-cat whispered something in the badger's ear. The badger stared at her for a moment, and Tigerstripe feared the badger would injured her with his massive paws, but instead, he merely grunted and walked away from the cats, leaving the she-cat to smile as he disappeared from their sight.
"Uh, thanks?" Tigerstripe spoke in response, still in shock from what he had just witnessed.
"Now how in the world did you do that?" Krait asked curiously.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the she-cat mewed. "The badger looked like it was about to rip you to shreds, so I had to do something."
The tom, meanwhile, padded over to the she-cat and faced Tigerstripe and Krait, smiling at both of them.
"This is Harly," he said, introducing the she-cat. "My name is Riley. I apologize for that odd spectacle. She can't control herself for helping strangers."
Before Tigerstripe could thank them profusely, he blurted out, "Have you seen a jet black she-cat and her friend around here?"
Harly glanced at Riley, but the tom shook his head.
"No, sorry. All we have seen today was the badger incident and some hunters. It was weird because I swore those hunters were going to a cat clan. I've seen them hunt foxes and badgers, but never cats."
"Odd," Tigerstripe muttered, his heart sinking. "Well, thank you for your help, but we better be off now."
"Wait! Were you looking for anyone else?" Harly wondered. "This may sound weird, and you probably won't believe me, but there was this fox actually talking cat to us. Her grammar was way off, and she had a strong accent, but it was quite intruiging to listen to her. She said she was looking for some cat called-" Harly paused, then sighed. "Oh, great. I forgot. She really wanetd me to look for that cat!"
Krait stopped and chuckled and slightly. "Well, I for sure haven't heard of that fox. I only know one fox whose cat speech is fluent, and he for sure doesn't like me."
"Rain?" Tigerstripe asked, relieved to hear the fox was alive. He shook his head, then sighed. No, he needed to find Jetfur.
"It doesn't look like it's going to rain," Harly said, looking up at the sky.
"Harly, I think he means Rain is the fox's name," Riley replied.
"Oh, well so that means you know her," Harly spoke. "Are you two good friends?"
"Uh, you could say that," Tigerstripe muttered, guilt filling up his insides.
"So, then why don't you go find her if you're good friends?" Krait suggested.
Tigerstripe growled slightly. "Well, that's not the point," he muttered, beginning to walk away from the two odd cats.
"Okay, suit yourself," Riley said. "That fox 'Rain' sounded like she was in a great amount of trouble though." He glanced over at Harly, continuing to speak. "What were those two-legs jabbering about, Harly?"
The she-cat flicked her tail and shrugged. "I haven't really learned the sounds of a two-leg, Riley."
"What are you meowing about?" Krait asked, coming to a halt. "Cats can't understand two-legs. That's impossible."
Harly looked a little taken aback by Krait's statement. "It's nearly impossible, not completely impossible."
Tigerstripe stared weirdly. "Well, I'm going to keep walking now."
Krait nodded and followed behind him. "Me too!" she called. "Peace out, no-tail weirdos!"
Harly was apparently offended and shouted as they walked away, "HEY, WE HAVE TAILS! JUST SHORTER!" Tigerstripe glanced back watching as she spun away and disappeared, Riley following behind her.
"Wow, that was a weird encounter. What did I say again?" Krait asked.
"Stuff about no-tailed weirdos," Tigerstripe replied, trying to ignore the fact that Rain was in great danger. I have to find Jetfur, he reminded himself. I can't think about Rain.
"Well, let's keep on looking," Krait suggested.
Tigerstripe nodded, and together, they padded off, Tigerstripe still deep in guilt about his fox friend.
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