The forest was a never-ending maze of trees. It didn't help much that fog had made things a lot worse.
Rain soaked Birch's white and black fur, his whiskers quivered feeling the strong breeze. His fur was soaked right down to the bone.
I'm going to get sick again if I can't find a place to dry my fur for the night.
If only he was still living with his mother, Birch knew he wouldn't have to worry. But his mother was gone now and he had every right to be worried about his well-being.
He was always travelling alone, unsure if he would meet someone friendly or someone who was hostile.
The forest soon opened up to reveal a small moor in front of a wide beach. It was peaceful, until it wasn't.
His ears perked up when he heard the rustling coming from some bushes a few tail lengths away. A young white cat came busting out the thicket, followed by two older, hostile cats.
Not long after, a dark grey and white tom came hurtling after them. He was young, but had a worried expression on his face. Birch watched as the two older cats easily cornered the young white tom between two rocks. He had no way to escape.
"Thought you could out run us, clan freak? Don't you want to play with us anymore?" the leading cat, a dark grey tabby tom with a scar across his face asked, "Too afraid to fight back?"
The young white cat hissed, but stopped in confusion when the other young tom stood in front him, protecting him from the two older toms.
"Dad, stop this. Please don't do this. It's was my fault for not catching it sooner, please don't kill him," the young tom pleaded.
The older tom looked at the young tom coldly. "He stole from you Storm, he must pay the price. You out of everyone should know that".
The other cat, another dark grey tom pushed Storm aside with a swipe of his paw. The force sent him to ground hard enough that his face was dripping with thick, wet mud.
"I've had enough of this, we need to punish him!"
The older tom nodded. "Spire is right, Storm. He needs to be punished," he meowed and looked towards the young white tom.
Spire unsheltered his claws.
"I'm sure a scar or two will teach you a good enough lesson for stealing my son's prey," he growled, and rised his paw above the young tom's head.
The young white tom was frozen in fear. He looked terrified.
"Wait, stop!" Storm yowled.
Without thinking, Birch launched himself and attacked Spire.
Everything was chaos. Birch struggled to hang onto the tom's wet fur. All he could think about was saving the young tom.
The older tom tried to aid Spire, but Birch wouldn't even allow him to get close.
Birch managed to put a few slashs into Spire's back before he leapt off him before the dark grey tom tried to squash him with his weight of his body. Spire quickly got up and retaliated by slashing at Birch's flank.
Birch winced in pain but managed to leapt away from Spire's paw range.
Spire swiveled around to face Birch, but immediately took a slash to the face, blinding one of the tom's eyes.
Spire cursed under his breath as the older cat came to his aid, preventing Birch from hurting him anymore. His claws were unsheathed.
"Let's go," he rasped, glaring angrily at Birch before he turned to help Spire with balancing.
The other young cat, the one they had named Storm, watched them for a moment. He looked unsure if he wanted to follow. Birch wondered if he was even happy with the life he had with them.
"Storm!" the older tom yowled, making his ears flatten. He looked apologetically at the young tom before racing after the two older cats.
When they were gone, Birch sheltered his claws and cautiously walked up to the young tom that was left more confused then scared of him.
"You saved me…why?"
Birch stood for moment in silence. "I was always taught it was the right thing to do, my mother always said to look out for cats weaker then you. I've always took that to heart," he finally meowed.
He smiled before turning away from the young tom. "Take care of yourself, kid," he meowed before walking again.
"Hey, wait!" the white tom said, chasing after him.
Birch hadn't gone a few tail lengths away before he was abruptly pinned to ground by grey tabby tom who had shot out of the bushes.
"Don't move or I'll cut you're throat, you filthy rouge!" the tom growled, his claws dug into his chest.
"Ripplefur!" the white tom yowled, making the tom lose his grip on Birch.
He turned to see the young cat race over to him.
"Cloudpaw, thank Starclan you're alright".
"Don't hurt him dad, he's a good one. He saved me from those rouges that are always harming us".
Immediately Rippletail released his grip and allowed Birch to get up from the ground.
"I must apologize for my actions, we clan cats are known to be very territorial. My son has been missing since this morning and I feared the worst had happened to him. I must thank you for saving him".
"It was nothing, I would've of done the same thing even if he were my own kit".
Birch politely dipped his head. "I better be off".
Birch was about to move towards the forest again before he winced in pain, nearly falling over.
Luckily, Rippletail was right by his side to catch him before he could.
"You're hurt, you'll need someone to heal your wounds. Please let me take you to our medicine cat, she'll be able to help you," he meowed.
Birch hesitated, but then nodded. "Alright".
Cloudpaw looked relived. "Alright, I'll lead the way".
Without any hesitation, Birch followed the young apprentice through the misty moors.