"What do you think you're doing?" hissed a deep gravely voice that roused Snakeshade from his sleep. At first he was confused by the scent of dirt all around him instead of the cool scent of stone and his nest.
"Drag him out of there!" came the voice again, quickly followed by claws digging into his hind quarters and he was pulled out into daylight. Blinking hard, trying to let his eyes adjust to the morning sun that had already risen over the moorland.
The sight of four WindClan cats glaring down at him, casting shadows over his body, was what he saw first. Darkscar, a dark grey tom with a scar that ran over one, blind eye was the cat who was talk amongst the cats of ThunderClan that he was one of the most ruthless cats of WindClan. Beside him stood his apprentice, Firepaw, a ginger she-cat who was dwarfed beside him, and the other two cats on the patrol were Bloomheart, a grey tabby she-cat and Whitegorse, a white tom.
"Well?" demanded Darkscar, striking Snakeshade in the face with a paw. "What is a ThunderClan cat doing on WindClan territory?"
"I... Well..." Snakeshade stammered, trying to find the words. Last night's events came rushing back to him, and he struggled with how much to say. He needed help, that was certain, but it was unlikely another Clan was going to give it.
"Should we take him to Juniperstar?" Whitegorse meowed, looking at his Clanmates.
"No need," Darkscar hissed, "We'll just chase him off our land, Juniperstar needn't be bothered by a mangy ThunderClanner."
"Wait! I need-" Snakeshade tried to speak but the dark tom threw himself at him with a yowl, digging claws into his shoulders. With a furious hiss of his own, he pushed him off with his hind legs, and bolted, streaking across the moor towards the twoleg structure in the distance. The barn that rested on WindClan territory was neutral land, so he would be safe there. He had also heard that there were friendly farm cats who didn't mind visitors that lived there.
As he ran he could hear the screeches and cries of the WindClan cats who had given chase. He knew that once he reached the farm and left their territory they wouldn't follow him, but he had to get there first.
By the time the barn came near, the sun had already risen fully over the horizon and a cold wind was blowing, buffeting Snakeshade's fur and making it difficult to keep his paws straight. When he darted under a wooden fence just beside the red twoleg structure he dared to stop and look back toward WindClan's territory. The patrol had stopped a ways off, but the four of them were staring in his direction, obviously making sure that he had indeed left their territory. Continuing to watch, he could see them turn and leave, disappearing over a rise.
With a moment of calm, Snakeshade took a deep breath and exhaled, now realizing how hard his heart was pounding and that his legs were shaking. It felt as if he hadn't even gotten any sleep last night, that he was still just as exhausted as he had been before. His breath came out in gasps and it took him a few moments before he got his breathing under control.
"You don't look so good, you okay?" came a small voice from somewhere above him.
Looking up, he was momentarily blinded by the rising sun. The shape of a cat, then cast a shadow over him from on top of the wooden fence, staring down at him. It was a small, silver she-cat with glossy fur and she carried with her the scent of straw and dirt. She must be a farm cat! he thought.
"Y-Yeah... I'm fine," Snakeshade muttered, getting to his paws and shaking out his pelt.
The she-cat stared for a moment longer at him, then looked towards the moor. "You sure? Those wild cats didn't seem to like you very much. They chased you a long way."
"You saw that?" he asked, feeling embarrassed.
"With that racket you all were making? It was hard not to notice," she mrrowed with laughter as she sprang down from the fence and landed lightly beside him. Her light blue eyes stared into his and he blinked, taken away by their color.
"Sorry..." he muttered.
"It's okay," she mewed, "You smell kind of like them, but different, are you one of those wild cats too?"
The look on her face told him she wasn't exactly scared of him, but intrigued and curious.
"Yeah, though I am from a different Clan than those cats..." his voice trailed off as the words came out. Was he even a part of ThunderClan anymore? It felt wrong to say otherwise, but even more so to say he was.
The farm cat was perceptive and picked up on his tone, tilting her head to side and giving a flick of her tail. "It's okay, you don't have to talk about anything you don't want to. Are you hungry?"
It was like his stomach heard her question, because at that moment his stomach convulsed in a growl so loud he was sure StarClan could hear it. He didn't realize he hadn't eaten since early the following day.
"Starving," he meowed gratefully.
She gestured with her head for him to follow her and led the way into the barn, her tail raised high. "I'm Dixie by the way," she meowed.
"Snakeshade," he responded. Non-Clan names always sounded so weird to him, but then again he assumed that it was the same for those cats outside of the Clans.
Dixie led him towards the barn, in the area just beyond, he could make out the large shapes of the horses that the elders had told stories about. He had only seen them from a distance before, specks in the distance under the light of the full moon when he was headed to gatherings in the past. Now they were just standing there, their heads bent as their large teeth munched on the grass below their huge hooved feet. Their wispy tails flicked back and forth without a thought.
"Don't worry," Dixie purred as she caught his eye, "They're harmless so long as you don't go wandering around their pasture."
"Right," Snakeshade meowed with a nervous twitch of his whiskers. He was just going to avoid that at all costs.
The silver she-cat slipped through a small hole in the wall of the barn, half hidden beyond some cut tree trunks and other twoleg things. Snakeshade followed him and once inside, he was immediately greeted with the scent of hay, mice, and other cats.
"Dock! Clint! Baxter! We have a visiter!" Dixie called as she walked out into the middle of the dirt floor, where light from the holes in the walls of the barn cast light onto it. It almost reminded Snakeshade of being under the trees in ThunderClan's territory, though warmer in the leaf-fall chill.
Summoned by the call, three other cats came from the shadows to meet their friend. One was a grey tom that held a striking resemblance to Dixie, who Snakeshade guessed was her brother by the similarity in the shape of their heads. The other two were toms as well, a brown tabby that had white stretching from his chin all the way to his paws. The last was a black and white tom, whose eyes were a cloudy grey. He was mostly blind.
"Everyone," Dixie purred as they gathered around, she gestured with her tail, "This is Snakeshade, he's one of those wild cats that have chased us off the moor."
The brown and white tabby scoffed and glared in his direction, "You going to chase us off your 'territory' too?" he questioned as he looked Snakeshade up and down.
"N-No I ... I don't live on the moors," Snakeshade mewed sheepishly, drawing his ears back and taking a step back. Here in unfamiliar territory and all alone he couldn't speak with the courage and certainty that he would back in the forest.
"If you aren't one of the moor cats, then who are you?" asked the black and white tom.
"This is Snakeshade!" mewed Dixie, speaking up before Snakeshade could find words of his own, "He says he lives with another Clan of cats that live in the forest on the other side of the river. The moor cats chased him here to the farm and he's all alone so I invited him here for something to eat." When she finished speaking she glanced over at him, twitching her whiskers at him.
"Snakeshade, this is my brother Dock," she gestured to the grey tom, "Clint," she moved to the tabby and white tom, "and that's Baxter," she finished on the black and white tom.
"Dixie..." mewed Dock quietly as he took a step forward. "You can't just invite every random stray into our home..." he glanced at Snakeshade nervously, eyeing him up and down. "What if he's dangerous?"
The other toms around them mumbled their agreements and nodded their heads. Dixie looked at her denmates with irritation burning in her eyes and her tail tip twitched.
"Look, I know I've done some reckless things in the past, but I can tell he doesn't mean us any harm!" she hissed.
"I don't mean you any harm," Snakeshade responded, coming to stand by Dixie's side. He nodded to her with thanks before looking at the other farm cats.
"I know you have no right to trust my words," he began, "You've only just met me, and the other cats like me probably haven't been very kind to you in the past -"
Clint scoffed again, rolling his eyes.
"-but I promise you that I mean what I say. My Clan doesn't even know I'm here..."
That seemed to ease the toms' nervousness. He expected they probably were anticipating some kind of ambush on their home. His Clanmates were lying in wait while he distracted them. Though a plan like that was only for the fox-hearted.
Something Viperthorn would do...
As soon as the thought was in his head he pushed it away. Now was not the time to think about things like that. With a shake of his head he forced his attention back on the audience before him. The three toms were muttering to themselves quietly. Their posture displayed no tension as they flicked glances his way. Dixie still stood beside him, looking pleased.
"Alright," meowed Dock as the three broke off their discussion, "You may stay Snakeshade."
Relief warmed his belly and he perked up his tail happily, "Thank you! I promise I won't be a bother. "
The sound of the brown tabby tom's scoff was becoming increasingly familiar to Snakeshade's ears. "You won't be, because we're only letting you stay one night."
"One night?" mewed Dixie with disappointment, "Clint that's not-"
"It's no longer up for discussion," the larger tom growled.
Dixie flinched and flattened her ears, looking like a scolded kit. "Okay," she replied meekly.
After that Dixie showed Snakeshade the best places to catch mice around the barn while the other three went about their own business. Dock climbed to the top of one of the piles of hay bales that were stacked around, while Baxter just lay in the sun in the middle of the space. Clint was nowhere to be seen.
Snakeshade caught three mice that he and Dixie shared between them. When they finished he sat back and looked around. The inside of the barn was spacious and well lit by the rays of sunshine filtering in from the small holes in the wood as well as the twoleg made ones. The bales of hay that were stacked around created large pockets of gloom where it would be perfect for seclusion or for prey to hide it. Even though it was leaf-fall and prey was beginning to go hide in their burrows in the forest, here the mice could be heard all around. Scurrying and squeaking in the darkness.
"This must be such a nice place to live," Snakeshade mused with a sigh. The farm cats' lives seemed too easy compared to his, especially after last night. "I wish I could stay longer."
"You know I could try talking to Clint," Dixie offered, shifting to come lay by Snakeshade's side. "If you don't want to return to your Clan I mean."
I can't go back. Snakeshade thought.
Then he thought for a moment. Did he want to go back? There was a longing urge to return to the forest, like all last night had been a dream brought on by fever or something. However, he knew that he couldn't. Viperthorn had convinced his whole Clan he was a murderer. They would strip his pelt in a heartbeat if he tried to set paw on ThunderClan land. Then where do I go?
"Thanks, Dixie," he purred, warmed by the she-cats' kindness. It was a welcome relief from the hostility from his former Clanmates. "However, I can't stay. There's something I still need to take care of."
I hope so.
A disappointed look crossed the silver she-cat's face, but it disappeared almost as fast as it appeared. "I understand."
The rest of the day went on in much the same way. The two of them talked, swapping stories of their lives. Snakeshade made sure not to give too much detail into his predicament. He didn't want to bother the farm cats with Clan business anyway. Dixie however told him all about how she grew up on the farm with Dock and their mother. At first it had only been the three of them, but Clint and Baxter showed up together one day as travelers and their mother welcomed them into her home with an open heart. She had recently passed away from an illness and, understandably, there was a sadness in the way she talked about it.
When night fell, the other cats settled on their own to sleep. They all found their own secluded spots, but Dixie remained at his side. Being pressed up against her fought off the chilly night air. The sound of mice echoed quietly around them and helped lull him to sleep. In the moments before he succumbed to it, his thoughts traveled back to the ThunderClan camp. This small break from the chaos he left behind was refreshing. He felt like he could really stay here... with Dixie, though it was almost too good to last if he did. In the morning he would leave and that would be that.