Thank you for all of the reviews! There were eight of them for the last chapter, which is a new record for this story and just made my day to see. This chapter is a bit of a shorter one since it focused on Firestar, but I hope that you enjoy it. It's about now that Firestar's plot will start to pick up. I'm looking forward to hearing your thoughts on Firestar's experience in the Twolegplace. I have a plan in mind for him and I'm doing my best to execute it well. I think the hardest part is just balancing the two POV's in this story so that one doesn't overpower the other.
Chapter 11 (F):
Firestar wasn't sure how long he had been perched on the window's ledge for, but now the sky had begun to grow dark. The sun had disappeared over the rooftops of the neighboring Twoleg nests and the first stars were appearing above. The house was still quiet, as it normally was around this time, but Firestar was not alone. He squinted down at Lucy, who was chattering to him from the other side of the window. His mind had wandered from what she had been saying, but it didn't seem that the kittypet had noticed. He forced himself to try and listen again.
"... I mean, I personally don't see the problem. With all the rogues around here, I can't blame her for wanting to be inside all day! These cats are scary. They go around attacking anyone they see! Oh, but Minty doesn't care. She's annoyed that Autumn won't leave her Housefolk's nest anymore and-"
"Wait, did you say rogues? Have you talked to these cats yourself?" Firestar cut in to ask and Lucy looked at him with a startled expression.
This was routine by now. Nearly every day, Firestar would sit beside the window after his Twolegs the nest, and then sometime around sunhigh Lucy would come and visit him. For their first two or three meetings, Firestar had to call her over to talk and she had been hesitant then. But within just a few short conversations, the kittypet had warmed up to him and now she was voluntarily coming over to talk. And StarClan, did she talk!
His conversations with Lucy came with two distinct, fighting emotions: boredom and amusement. The kittypet was young and she liked to ramble. There were some visits with her where he hardly got a word in and was instead forced to listen to Lucy talk about her own Twolegs and her kittypet friends. She'd go on chatting as long as you'd let her. But even though her conversations weren't quite what he was interested in hearing about, he felt that her conversations were better than no conversations at all. Besides, he reminded himself several times, with her ranting about life in the Twolegplace it would give him a better idea of what he'll do when he does finally escape.
"Have I spoken to them? They're rogues!" Lucy gasped as if Firestar told her to jump into the middle of a busy Thunderpath. "Why would ever I do that? They threaten me and all the other- what did you call them? Kittypets?"
Firestar nodded encouragingly, and she continued with wide and startled eyes. "They threaten all of us kittypets. Autumn even said that one lunged at her! Besides, like I've told you the other day, I'm not usually out this often. You just seemed like you needed somebody to talk to and I, well…" She looked around as though she just realized how long she had been standing in the front yard, speaking with Firestar. She glanced upwards at the darkening sky. There were dark gray clouds amassing that threatened to bring snow again.
"I should probably be going," she mumbled, looking anxiously in the direction of her Twoleg's nest. "My Housefolk will be wondering where I am if I don't get back soon. And I hate to make them upset. Besides, they'll give me extra wet food tonight since they forgot to yesterday. I'm sure of it… Have you ever tried wet food? Does your Housefolk give it to you?"
"No," Firestar answered simply, though his whiskers twitched in faint amusement now.
"Oh, well you should stop by my Housefolk's place sometime then. You'd like it, I'm sure." Lucy's eyes lit up at the idea. "Not too many cats come and visit where I live, but my Housefolk love visitors. They won't chase you away like other Housefolk might." She looked back in the direction of her nest again and stood up. "I should really be going." She hesitated there in the yard, and Firestar knew from experience that she wouldn't leave unless he did first.
"Thanks for talking, Lucy," Firestar said and turned to drop down from the window sill. He called to her, "Enjoy your wet food!"
"Oh, uh." He could picture the startled look on her face. "Yeah, you too. I mean…" He paused on the carpet to hear her awkward response. "Bye, Firestar."
Firestar turned and padded away now. The nest was dark and empty at the moment, but he knew that his Twolegs would be home soon. He padded into the next room, where the food was prepared, and found his food and water dishes on the ground. He bent down and took a couple of bites of the bland food. Afterward, he lapped up some of the stagnant water and winced. No matter how long he stayed here, he didn't think he'd ever get used to what they fed him.
Waiting for the sound of the monster to arrive, announcing the return of his Twolegs, he walked back into the front room to leap onto one of the large soft-rock structures. He settled himself in the middle of one and he took the time to groom his pelt. That was another thing he didn't like about the Twolegplace, he mused. The Twolegs would always get their stench on his pelt. Especially the younger kits, who loved to poke or pet him. They often had dirty or even sticky paws.
The roar of the monster finally came, and Firestar could hear the loud slams as it released the Twolges. He paused from his cleaning and turned to watch. With a sharp click and a sweep of movement, the door flew open and the female Twoleg entered with her two kits. She held many things in her arms, the kits trailing behind her unhelpfully. The male Twoleg would be home later, arriving in a monster of his own.
The younger kit dropped her things and ran at Firestar with a squeal of excitement. She knelt before him and began to pet him with two paws at once. Firestar narrowed his eyes against the onslaught and leaned away in disgust. He had just washed himself, trying to get their stench of his pelt, but there it was on him yet again.
"Welcome home." He meowed for her and faked a shaky purr as the kit cooed and got up to collect her things again. The mother pointed and ordered something.
Firestar let out the breath he had been holding. As much as he disliked pretending to be a kittypet, he'd come to the conclusion that gaining the creatures' trust was the only way to be let outside. The Twolegs each padded away now, with the female Twoleg going into the kitchen to prepare food, and the two kits running to their separate rooms.
He stared after them, then turned and settled himself on the soft-rocks again. He spent most nights here now, on the soft-rocks with the male Twoleg beside him. As much as he hated saying it, he preferred the male Twoleg over the other three even though he was the one who had taken him from ThunderClan. The kits were pushy and loud, and the female yowled at him a lot or shooed him from rooms. But the male Twoleg often petted him just right and was fine with just sitting side by side.
As he sat there though, he realized that the female Twoleg was not cooking food as she normally did when she got home. Curiously, he got up and padded into the kitchen to see her carrying a shiny black bag filled with rubbish. He had seen her take these out before and knew that the exit to the den would soon be wide open.
His paws itched at the thought of escape and his heart quickened. Without much thought, he crouched down low to approach the door from behind her. If he was quiet enough, she wouldn't hear him coming and he could slip out. As the door opened and she stepped outside, he lunged forward. He could hear the Twoleg gasp as he leaped over her hind paws and soared through the den entrance. His collar jingled loudly as he ran.
His paws skidded in the snow and a chill went up his spine, but he didn't pause in his race towards the far wooden fence. The Twoleg howled and stomped her foot, but Firestar didn't pay her any attention as he leaped at the wooden fence and scrambled down the other side, disappearing from sight.
He paused only to catch his breath, but quickly realized the smell of dog was thick in the air. With a jolt of alarm, he heard the barking of dogs inside the den and he leaped back up onto the fence. He let himself rest there for a moment as his mind caught up to the situation that he now found himself in.
He had no idea where to start. He felt both extremely excited and terribly lost. All he had known was that he wanted to escape. But now as he stood atop the fence, he thought back to Lucy who said that she had never even seen a forest. Where would he start?
He looked around at his surroundings before deciding to climb the tree in his Twoleg's backyard. It reached higher than their den, so he'd be able to get an even better view of the Twolegplace. He padded along the fence line until he was able to leap into the frozen tree.
His claws pulled painfully as he clung to the cold bark, but he forced himself to climb upwards into the branches. He climbed further up until he could see clearly over the den's roof. He hauled himself onto a thin branch that swayed under his weight. Without leaves blocking his view, he could easily see the neighboring houses.
However, he could not see the forest. For as far as he could see in every direction, there was still only a maze of Twoleg dens and monster paths. He stared at it all in disbelief, suddenly feeling very small. He realized then that what he was doing was a mistake. It was mouse-brained of him to think that he could brave the Twolegplace alone during leaf-bare. His paws were already frozen as he clung to the tree, and there was next to no chance of finding a reliable source of prey in the Twolegplace. He would have no shelter, hardly any food, and have no idea where to begin.
And, Firestar remembered with a sigh, Lilian had mentioned talking with a BloodClan rogue. If BloodClan was still around, he did not want to run into one of their cats. If one of them recognized him or his Clan name, then he'd be in big trouble. It was more than likely that someone would want to avenge their leader's death and he had been the one to kill Scourge. Briefly, he considered taking on a fake name to avoid suspicion. But he really didn't want to go back to being called Rusty.
Perhaps it was best to return to the nest, he concluded with disappointment. He could question Lucy more and wait for the snow to melt at the least. He could ask her to bring a cat who was more aware or experienced with traveling, and he wouldn't have to starve or freeze in an effort to find them by himself...
With defeat, he allowed himself to slowly climb back down from the tree and return to his still yowling Twoleg, who stood in the den entrance glaring at him. He paused a few tail-lengths from the den and she glared at him expectantly. He knew that if he stepped inside, he would probably be kept in for much longer than he already had been. He had escaped without them allowing him to, and they would certainly be angry because of it. He only hoped that they wouldn't confine him to the small, windowless room again.
But with a heaved sigh, Firestar climbed back through the entrance and into the warm den. The Twoleg shut the door firmly behind them both and he flinched at the noise. Half-heartedly, he padded back through the den and leaped onto the soft-rocks to resume his wait for the male Twoleg's return home.
"Hello again, Firestar! It feels like ages since we last talked."
Firestar sighed and pulled his tail up around him. She was right, it had been several days since he had spoken to Lucy now. A hard, relentless rain had come and washed away the snow. During the second day of rain, the Thunderpath outside their den had flooded into a river and now puddles lay scattered around the yard still. During the rain, Lucy did not visit. He was sure that she had shut herself away, safe and dry, in her Twoleg's nest.
"I would have come. But with all the rain, it was just horrible outside!" Lucy meowed, confirming his suspicions. She put her paws against the house and stretched to peer over the ledge at Firestar. Her eyes were alight with excitement again and she revealed, "Oh, but I have good news. I invited another cat to come and meet you!"
"Is it the tom you mentioned before?" Firestar asked, his ears pricking. He hadn't even had the chance to ask her to find someone yet. "The one who knows how to get out of the Twolegplace?"
"No," Lucy shook her head. "But this tom talks with the rouges an awful lot. He talks with all the cats around here, really. I thought that you might want to meet him."
Firestar nodded in agreement, and Lucy looked sideways. "Oh, there he is! I told him to come near sunhigh today." She backed up to stand on the lawn, and Firestar pressed against the thin netting to see the cat padding towards them. He was a lean but fit black-and-white tom.
"Hello, Lucy." He greeted the she-cat with a flick of his tail. His green eyes moved to look at Firestar, and his gaze scanned his ginger fur. "This is the tom you wanted me to speak to?"
"Yes," Lucy nodded quickly. "This is Firestar. He is not from around here. He is from what he calls a ThunderClan, which lives in a forest."
There was a flash of something in the tom's eyes, but it had gone so fast that Firestar wondered if he had imagined it. The tom looked over Firestar's pelt with a sense of judgment.
"Have you heard of them?" Firestar asked, attempting to keep the hopefulness out of his voice.
"I have not." The tom inclined his head in a slight greeting, "But my name is Flynn. I am what you might call a stray."
"Lucy said that you speak to a lot of the cats around here." Firestar prompted through the glass.
The tom shrugged and looked at Lucy again. He wasn't very expressive in the way he talked or composed himself. There was almost a bored tone to his voice. "I suppose so. There are some uprising rouges nearby, but I helped them scare off a dog from their kits so they don't mind me around. There's some pretty friendly she-cats too, if you know what I mean."
Before Firestar could comment, Flynn moved on. "You're from a forest, you say?" Firestar nodded and the tom hummed. "I have never seen a forest before, but there are traveling cats within the Twolegplace that have."
"Like that old tabby I told you about." Lucy piped up cheerfully.
"Old tabby?" Flynn looked bewildered. "Oh," his expression cleared. "You mean Purdy. That flea-brained tom has no idea what he's meowing about. Besides, he's not been around for moons. He probably died on the side of a Thunderpath somewhere, if you ask me."
Lucy whined in disagreement but Firestar straightened up at this. Purdy? Was that the old tom that Brambleclaw had told him about meeting during their journey? He wanted to ask, but Lucy and Flynn were continuing and Firestar saw no reason to pursue if the elder was no longer in the area.
"There are other cats though," Lucy was pointing out.
"Yes, like Jasmine or Rocket." Flynn sighed as he spoke, seeming to increasingly grow bored of the conversation as he stood there. "Oh, and I bet Juniper has seen a forest at some point. He's always disappearing on long adventures, which scares his Twolegs."
"I think he finds it funny." Lucy huffed at the mention of Juniper's actions. "I'm surprised his Housefolk don't get a new cat!"
Flynn scoffed now, "You think those old fretful Twolegs would ever throw him out? You've seen how happy they get whenever he returns home."
Firestar just sat there as they spoke, feeling lost in the conversation. "Well if you can't help, is there someone who can?" He cut in as Lucy was about to go on another one of her long-winded discussions.
"Uh," Flynn looked at him vaguely. "I suppose I could try to find Rocket. Like I said though, these cats tend to travel around. They can be hard to find sometimes. And I don't plan on being here long myself."
"That's fine," Firestar told him, a spark of annoyance flaring within him. "I just need to know how to get out of the Twolegplace when I escape this nest."
Flynn looked faintly amused now. His eyes looked Firestar up and down. "You look pretty cozy in there to me, Firestar. With your collar and everything. Look, you've even got yourself a nice bell don't you? It's got to be much nicer in there than freezing your paws off in the snow. I suppose you've even taken to wet food and catnip too haven't you, forest cat?"
Firestar's ears flattened and he bit back a growl. Who did this cat think he is?
"Fine." Flynn stood up and shook the snow from his pelt. "I will try to find someone for you to talk to. But until then, I am not going to waste any more time standing here. I've got some business to get back to."
Thank you all for reading. Don't forget to leave your thoughts in the reviews!
