"Well that sounds like a good reason to head home. If they don't help you, why help them?" Mackenzie mewed. She licked one of her forepaws and drew it over her ear casually. "I don't know why you feel the need to go save them."
Cloudstep looked down. "You're right . . . but somehow it just feels wrong. Maybe they're careless mouse-hearts, but I'm not from there. I'm a SkyClan cat, and we still know the warrior code."
Mackenzie shrugged. "They have four Clans. That's more cats than you can count. They can help themselves instead of fighting."
She's got a point. But still, if it were that easy, maybe SkyClan cats wouldn't fight amoung each other for stupid things, like Appleclaw and Vixenprowl. She clawed at the ground, not knowing what to say. If SkyClan could survive on its own for so long, then why can't four Clans do that?
Mackenzie brushed past her. "We should get going if we're going to find any prey, Cloudstep. It's sunhigh now, and since it's been getting colder, this is the best time to hunt."
Cloudstep nodded. "You're right."
Mackenzie trotted ahead, and Cloudstep followed. They circled trees and skirted ferns. The Twolegplace seemed to cover every good scent, but Mackenzie knew where she was going. She skidded to a halt in front of a field. All the way across, Cloudstep could see a barn, and even further, a forest. The river led past there, and a thunderpath trailed a divider between the barn and the highstones. Highstones. I've never seen anything quite like them. I never thought I'd actually get this close to them. She glanced over at Mackenzie, who was sniffing around. She seems to know this place well. She must come here often.
Cloudstep could smell a marsh, and the tang of pines. The scent of the moor was carried along the breeze with it, too. And in the further distance, a faint fishy smell with a smell like oak and birch.
"Where are we?" she asked Mackenzie.
The small black cat lifted her head. "Don't you know? This is where you wanted to go. The Clans are still a good way away from here, but we're pretty close. Can't you smell all those cat scents carried from across the thunderpath?"
"I can barely smell anything over the thunderpath. It's really hard to," Cloudstep admitted.
"Maybe if you live in Twolegplace for most of your life it won't bother you as much!" Mackenzie purred. She stiffened a bit. "See that?" she asked, flicking her tail toward a white shape in a distance. "Rabbit."
Cloudstep crouched. "Maybe it'll think I'm another white rabbit if I prick my ears enough."
"Good, why don't you try that?" Mackenzie snorted. She gave Cloudstep a playful nudge before dropping close to the ground. She crept forward agonizingly slow, but Cloudstep kept calm. She knows what she's doing, she reminded herself.
After a painful pause, Mackenzie pounced. She pinned the white-furred creature to the ground and finished it off with a killing bite, then picked it up by the back of its neck and dragged it toward Cloudstep.
"Good catch," Cloudstep meowed softly.
"Thanks," Mackenzie mewed back. "We can take this back to my den. I wouldn't trust eating this close to the highstones. I've seen warriors come here to go to them. There's a sacred stone there, and they get upset if any cat interrupts their travel there. Sometimes they'll even attack."
Cloudstep shivered. "Okay, let's go to your den."
Mackenzie blinked affectionately at her before trotting ahead, her black tail disappearing into the undergrowth. Cloudstep followed unseasily, constantly glancing back over her shoulder. Please don't let those travelling cats be here now.
By the time they arrived at Mackenzie's den, the sun had lowered, and the sky had turned a pinkish red. Cloudstep wanted to sleep for ages. Mackenzie dropped the rabbit and turned to Cloudstep.
"You eat first, you look like you need it. Your sides are pretty sunken in," Mackenzie meowed quietly. She sat down and cleaned the base of her tail, waiting for Cloudstep.
Cloudstep felt odd about eating before. It reminded her too much of how old she was getting. I'm not an elder yet. She forced herself to calm down and took a bite of the rabbit. See? You're not about to die because you eat before another cat, are you?
After Cloudstep finished her share, making sure to leave at least half for the plump loner beside her, she sat down and washed her muzzle. She sniffed the air, checking for the scent of water on the breeze.
This is an easier life than being Clan deputy.