The Odd One
Chapter 1
Two cats slunk through the surrounding forest of shrubs and trees. The first one, a calico she-cat suddenly stopped. The other one, a tabby tom stopped and turned to face her. "Well…C'mon Spottedpelt." He frowned and glanced back at the woods eagerly. The calico she-cat licked her paw and sat down. "Why should we keep going? We already have three mice and a robin." The tom impatiently answered, "Yes I know, but there's something that I smell out here…something strange." He took a big whiff of the air looking mystified. Spottedpelt rolled her eyes and sighed. "I think you're working yourself too hard and now it's catching up with you, Darkfur."
Without warning the tom hissed and jumped back, nearly toppling over Spottedpelt, who stood up nervously. She looked around and sniffed the air, there was a strange scent the hung in the air. "What is that?" she asked cautiously. A spark flashed through Darkfur's eyes. "Dogs! They were here…not too log ago either." Spottedpelt felt a chill shiver through her spine and shifted her weight uncomfortably. Why would dogs be in their forest? They had no use of it…
Darkfur's pelt lay flat on his back as he padded forward, towards a make-shift looking den with a overhanging branch. Spottedpelt consciously padded after him, still glancing around as if she expected a dog to pounce on her at any given moment. "They're gone…" Darkfur stated as he sniffed around the den. Spottedpelt felt relief flood through her as she relaxed and glanced around. There was something rustling in the underbrush. Her nose went to work and told her it wasn't much, but her curiosity urged her on. She poked her head through the brush. A tiny squealing creature lay in the waving grass. Spottedpelt shivered as she realized it was a dog-pup.
She heard and felt Darkfur's head poke out beside her own but still she jumped as his fur brushed past her's. Darkfur hissed and unsheathed his claws as he held up a paw to slash through the pup. Spottedpelt's feminine instincts made her jump over and stand in between Darkfur and the dog-pup. Darkfur narrowed his eyes. "What are you doing?" Spottedpelt sighed. "It's only a dog-pup…it can't hurt us…" Darkfur was completely unconvinced. "That means nothing to me! It'll grow up to be a vicious killer who is only half-witted!" Spottedpelt knew that it was highly logical that what Darkfur said would actually happen, but her instincts stopped her from letting him hurt the harmless dog-pup.
"We could teach it to be like us! Then when it found its family it could teach them not to hurt us!" Darkfur replied, "Its mother is probably on her way back at this very moment! We should just leave and get out of here!" Spottedpelt shook her head. "Not unless the pup comes too." Darkfur gave a disbelieving stare. "No one at camp will accept a dog-pup! You know that as well as I do!" Spottedpelt didn't give up. "I still want to try. I can't just leave it out here…" Darkfur gave up and turned without replying. Victoriously Spottedpelt picked up the dog-pup in between her teeth and bounded after Darkfur.
-/-/- Storm Clan Camp -/-/-
As the two cats entered camp curious looks were thrown their way. Some were wondering, some disapproving, some glared and turned away. By the time Icestar (which is my Warrior Name! XD) padded out of her den all the clan cats had gathered around Spottedpelt, Darkfur, and the dog-pup. Icestar looked at the pup not with hatred, but curiosity. "And where did you find this?" she questioned, moving her gaze from the pup to Darkfur. He replied, "Well, actually Spottedpelt found it in some underbrush…" One cat, a black tom named Lightray mewed, "Were there any other dogs around?" Darkfur shook his head, his amber eyes gleaming thankfully that there hadn't been. Icestar sniffed the pup and announced, "It's only a day old at most…I assume its mother came to the forest to give birth and that was all." Spottedpelt nodded in agreement as Darkfur and a few others sighed unconvinced. Violetpaw meowed, "Is it going to stay here in camp with us?" "It better not be! I'm won't stand for a dog-pup in Storm Clan!" Mistgaze grumbled. Icestar flicked her tail, waiting for the cats to silence. "I don't really like the idea of a dog-pup in our clan either, but I think if we leave it out in the wild it will attract bigger predators, maybe even the dogs would sniff it out. If its scent is here in camp they'll assume it has been eaten and forget all about it." A few marrows of agreement were heard. Icestar stood up. "Then it's settled…the dog-pup shall stay here in camp for now…Is there any Queens with milk to spare?" There was a long silence among all the cats. Frostflower stepped forward. "I only have one kit…I guess I can nurse the dog-pup…" Icestar tipped her head in a thankful manner. "Thank you Frostflower." The cats dispersed and moves off as Spottedpelt handed the pup over to Frostflower.