Chapter 3
It was morning and Rusty had managed to get enough sleep. He had the mouse dream again, but this time, it was more vivid and clear. Rusty was free from his collar, he was underneath the moon, stalking the mouse, but was aware he was being watched. Twelve glowing eyes shined through the shadows. Rusty woke up, blinking and almost blinded by the sunlight from the windows, and his fur was warm. Rusty's food bowl had been flipped over and his water bowl had been rinsed and refilled with "clean" water. He usually drinks the puddles outside, but when they dried up, he could drink from the water bowl. Rusty left the kitchen and entered the garden; it was warm and smelled like early blossoms.
"Hi, Rusty!" a voice meowed.
Rusty looked up and saw Smudge sitting on top of the fence. He licked his paw.
"You should've been awake an hour ago, the baby sparrows were out stretching their wings." Smudge meowed.
"Did you catch any?" Rusty asked.
"Nah, couldn't be bothered, I already ate enough at home. Anyway, why weren't you out earlier? Yesterday, you were complaining about Henry sleeping his time away, and today, you're not much better yourself." Smudge asked confused.
"I was in the woods last night, remember?" Rusty reminded him.
"Oh yes, I forgot! How was it? Did you catch anything, or did anything catch you?" Smudge asked remembering.
"I met some wild cats." Rusty meowed.
"What?! Did you get into a fight?" Smudge meowed shocked.
"Sort of." Rusty meowed unsure.
"Were you hurt, what happened?" Smudge asked.
"There were three of them. Bigger and stronger than any of us." Rusty began.
"And you fought all three of them?" Smudge asked excited.
"No, just the youngest one; the other two came later." Rusty continued.
"How come they didn't rip you to pieces?" Smudge asked.
"They just warned me to leave their territory, but then…" Rusty meowed.
"Then what?" Smudge asked.
What was Rusty going to tell him? Tell him that he has powers and that the forest cats had powers too? No, no that was too risky, and besides, if Rusty did tell Smudge about this, they would probably be killed or worse.
"They asked me to join their clan." Rusty finished.
"What?" Smudge meowed in disbelief.
"They did!" Rusty insisted.
"Why would they do that?" Smudge asked confused.
"I don't know, I think they need extra paws in their clan." Rusty lied.
"Heh, sounds a bit odd to me. I wouldn't trust them if I were you." Smudge said doubtful.
"But I do trust them and I've made up my mind, I'm going to join them." Rusty meowed.
"What! Don't go Rusty, I might never see you again." Smudge pleaded.
"Don't worry, my housefolk will get another cat. You'll get along with him, you get along with everyone." Rusty assured.
"But it won't be the same!" Smudge cried.
"That's the point. If I stay here, they'll take me to the cutter; I won't be the same either." Rusty pointed out.
"The cutter? Do you mean the vet?" Smudge asked.
"Yes, I don't want to be altered like Henry." Rusty answered.
"But, Henry's alright. I mean, he's a bit lazier now, but he's not unhappy. We could still have fun." Smudge meowed.
"I'm sorry, Smudge. I'll miss you, but I have to go." Rusty signed.
He jumped over the fence and was about to head into the forest.
"Fair enough. I see I can't stop you, but at least lets spend one more morning together." Smudge signed.
Rusty looked at the sky. It was sunrise and Lionheart wouldn't be here until sunhigh; Rusty would have plenty of time to say goodbye to his friends. When it was sunhigh, he spent the morning with Smudge and the other kittypets until Rusty said his final goodbyes, jumped over the fence, and walked into the woods. He had made up his mind and he wasn't going back. Rusty realized that he couldn't stay in the twolegplace, even if he wanted to. He had powers and they weren't safe around any cat if he couldn't control them. The forest was where Rusty belonged. He sniffed the air; Bluestar and Greypaw's were faint, but Lionheart's were strong.
"Did you tell anyone?" a deep voice asked.
"No…no I didn't." Rusty meowed.
"Good. Can you tell if I am alone?" the voice asked.
"Bluestar and Greypaw aren't with you…but someone else is." Rusty meowed.
"That's right." The voice purred.
Lionheart exited the bushes with a white tom with yellow eyes.
"This is Whitestorm, one of Thunderclan's senior warriors. We're here to take you to our camp." Lionheart introduced.
"Hello, young one. I've heard a lot about you. Aunt Bluestar tells me you have powers." Whitestorm meowed.
"Oh, you're Bluestar's nephew?" Rusty asked surprised.
"Indeed." Whitestorm purred.
"Alright you two. Come, we can speak more once we are in the camp." Lionheart meowed.
He and Whitestorm both sped off with Rusty right behind them. There were no breaks, they barely slowed down, and Rusty struggled to keep up. They ran through the entire forest; seeing everything there was. There were tree stumps, pine trees, bushes, tall grass, flowers, and Rusty could hear the chirping birds and other amazing forest sounds. Finally, Lionheart and Whitestorm both stopped a few feet from the camp entrance with Rusty being barely behind. He panted, then looked at the two warriors.
"We're very close to our camp now." Lionheart warned.
Rusty nodded. When he looked ahead, he saw silhouettes of cats moving and one he thought was jumping really high. Rusty sniffed the air; he could smell a lot of cats, both toms and she-cats, but the scent would be cut off with a sweet cherry-like smell periodically. Rusty had smelled it before in the twoleg place, but he never thought it would be in the forest. This made it difficult for Rusty to know how many cats there were.
"Use your nose, you must be able to scent it." Whitestorm urged.
"I'm trying. I can smell cats, but I also smell a sweet cherry-like scent in the air." Rusty explained.
Lionheart and Whitestorm sniffed the air, both cats realized what Rusty was smelling, then chuckled with embarrassment.
"That must be Cherrybreeze. Her power is that sweet smell she carries. It can be useful to attract prey, but it can cause problems for warriors trying to hunt, attracting predators, attracting enemies, or kits learning new things if she's not careful." Lionheart explained.
"Sorry, young one. I forget that Cherrybreeze's scent can cause problems, especially to newcomers like you." Whitestorm apologized.
Rusty nodded. Lionheart turned around.
"She must be showing the kits how her smell works and what it smells like." he suggested.
Whitestorm nodded and all three cats entered the gorse tunnel. The grass Rusty was feeling had changed to a dirt path and the tunnel around him looked like thorns were sticking out. This was definitely the entrance of the camp and as they entered the camp, Rusty's eyes were wide in disbelief.
