Chapter 16 (F):
That window quickly became Firestar's escape from his Twoleg prison. Most of his days were lengthy and boring, passed by with long bouts of sleep in hopes that StarClan would reach him. He didn't spend much time awake as the days went on, but when he was awake he spent it almost entirely in the window of the den. He was faintly aware of his muscular form softening with time, but he knew that there wasn't much he could do against the change. So instead of worrying about it, he continued to peer out at the snow every day, watching the birds that hopped through the front yard and keeping his eye out for any passing by cats.
Lucy visited pretty frequently to trade some kittypet gossip, coming right up to his window without him needing to call her over anymore. Firestar wasn't too interested in the gossip, but he listened and entertained her stories. Initially, it had just been for the sake of having someone to talk to. But as their meetings continued, he found that he quite liked the chatty she-cat. One of the biggest challenges to him was how isolated he was in this den; there were no other cats to talk to here, but Lucy always had something to say.
In an attempt to break up the gossip about cats he didn't know, he would ask her the names of different Twoleg objects. Words like bed, bowl, or kitchen he already knew. But as she told him about chairs, tables, couches, scratching posts, and more, old memories came flowing back to him. It had been seasons since he had last thought of his mother or his littermates, with the exception of Princess, but Lucy listened quietly as he recited old memories back to her.
Flynn too passed by a couple of times, but Firestar had to yowl if he wanted to catch the tom's attention. Flynn usually ignored his calls, but once or twice he'd come over only to give him snide comments or rude remarks all the while. Firestar soon gave up on Flynn being any help. There were several other passing cats, kittypets and rogues alike, who passed by the window but they ignored his calls too.
With no one but Lucy paying him any attention, he quickly gave up on talking to any of the nameless passerbys altogether. But even despite that, the window was still his escape. He stared out the window for long periods of time, watching the world moving by outside and thinking anxiously about his Clanmates. He would give anything to know how his friends and family were doing. Surely they'd had left the forest by now?
Most of the time that he spent in the window was uninterrupted. But sometimes the Twoleg kits would come searching for attention, waving toys on a string or fake mice in front of his face and squealing his kittypet name. Sometimes the female adult Twoleg would look at him as though displeased, then shoo him from the room. But when he was left alone in the nest and he was frustrated with sleeping, watching through the window was all he could do, wondering and obsessing about whether his Clanmates were alright and how he might get back to them.
But more recently, a new worry had piled onto his thoughts. Lucy had suddenly stopped visiting. It wasn't too strange for her to not visit when it was raining, so Firestar didn't think much of it the first day that she hadn't come to talk. But as the next several days drew sunnier and the snow began to melt, Firestar couldn't help but feel a little worried about the kittypet. She hadn't mentioned anything in her life that would prevent her from seeing him. He thought that perhaps her Twolegs were just keeping her inside the den, but Lucy had assured him that she was able to come and go whenever she pleased.
Firestar was worrying about this exact thing when he heard a Twoleg enter the room behind him. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that the male Twoleg was calling to him with a dish in his hand. An enticing smell drifted across the room, making Firestar's mouth water. He abandoned the window at once, trotting across the room and into the kitchen where he would receive the food.
Firestar purred weakly as the male Twoleg scratched him behind his ear and placed a dish on the floor. Firestar sniffed at the food and then began to eat eagerly. Though he hated himself for it and the back of his mind echoed Flynn's scoffed words, he gave into the smell of the wet cat food. The male Twoleg had gotten into the habit of feeding him wet food after he returned home for the day. He had to admit that Lucy was right; this food was delicious. He preferred it far more than the dry pellets that they gave him otherwise.
Firestar lapped up the pink scraps and licked his jaws when he was finished. The food tasted similar to fish, and the smell often reminded him of RiverClan. He licked his paw and brought it over his ear with satisfaction.
He groomed himself for a moment but quickly realized that the male Twoleg was not returning to his seat on the couch like usual. Instead, the Twoleg was standing by the backdoor to the nest and watching Firestar expectantly. The Twoleg said something, then opened the door wide.
Firestar's heart began to pound. Was he being released? He stood up slowly and cautiously padded to the doorway, looking up at the male Twoleg to be sure that it wasn't a trap. He had never had the door opened for him before. Any time he had tried to leave in the past, it was met with stamping feet and shouted words. Had the Twoleg decided to trust him?
The Twoleg cooed at him and crouched down to pet Firestar along his spine. The male Twoleg had always been kinder to him than the others. Firestar allowed a weak, but genuine, purr. He stepped out of the nest and dropped onto the cold grass. Over the past couple of days the snow had disappeared, but the sky was still gray and the air was still cold.
The Twoleg came to stand beside him outside and Firestar trotted across the grass and leaped up onto the fence. His muscles, which had softened from his time in the nest, were weak and he scrambled up the last bit of fence to balance clumsily at the top. The thin wood felt rugged on his softened pads. He lifted one and gave it a quick lick, flicking his tail out to balance as he did so.
The Twoleg spoke from where he stood just outside of the nest, but it did not sound angry. Firestar's ears swiveled at the call, but he made no move to return. Instead, he returned his paw to the fence and padded along the row carefully and came to the front of the nest.
Since his first failed escape from the nest, he had taken great consideration in what his correct actions should have been. He had no idea where the end of the Twolegplace was, but he knew that the best thing for him to do first was to understand the neighborhood. And who would better know the neighborhood than Lucy? With a moment of decision, he decided that he wanted to find the she-cat's nest and make sure that she was okay.
He found the sidewalk and turned right, following the path that Lucy always took when she came to or left from their visits. He had no idea what the she-cat's nest looked like, but he doubted that it was far. A monster roared from up ahead, and Firestar stiffened on the sidewalk. The monster raced past, spraying a wave of water from beneath its paws, and Firestar hurried on swiftly.
He opened his mouth to taste their air. Lucy's scent was nowhere to be found. With a sense of determination, he continued onward. He paused on the sidewalk and looked over his shoulder. The scents were confusing him and a bird startled him by flying overhead. He felt very nervous out in the open, but he reassured himself that his Twoleg nest was still within sight and that he could go back at any time.
That is, until he heard the squeals of Twoleg kits. He whipped around to see three Twolegs riding small two-pawed monsters down the sidewalk. They were heading straight for him, and as the leading kit pointed at him with its fleshy paw and shouted, they picked up speed.
Firestar's eyes widened and he turned and swiftly bound into the nearest Twoleg's yard and leaped onto the fence. The kits hurried past, each of them peering at him curiously and chirping to one another, but none of them stopped as their monsters carried them along the path and out of sight.
Firestar smoothed his fluffed up fur and stared at where they disappeared. A voice behind him made him jump.
"Are you the new kittypet that Lucy told me of?"
He whirled around to see a cat staring up at him from the bottom of the fence. The cat leaped up to stand beside him, and Firestar was startled by his appearance. The tom had a well-groomed pale gray coat with light amber eyes and a white collar, but his ears were what had caught him by surprise. This cat's ears were almost flat to his head, and Firestar wondered how the kittypet could have even heard him leap onto the fence.
Firestar shook himself though. The kittypet's appearance did not matter. Quickly, he asked, "You know Lucy? I need to find her."
The tom nodded. "She lives in that house there," he lifted his nose and pointed to the nest across the Thunderpath. "I haven't seen her for some days though. She might be gone."
"What do you mean by gone?"
He shrugged, "I just haven't seen her around, that's all."
"Well where could she be?" Pressed Firestar.
The tom didn't look too concerned about Lucy's disappearance. "Maybe her Housefolk are just keeping her shut inside. Or maybe she was given away. Whatever the reason, I'm just glad that I don't have to listen to her talk my ear off all day!"
Firestar didn't like this cat much. Lucy could be quite chatty, he knew that more than anyone, but she was the reason that he'd stayed sane when he was locked away in his Twolegs' den. She was kind, helpful, and friendly. There was no reason, in his eyes, to be rude towards Lucy.
"What's your name?" Firestar asked him, unimpressed with the strange kittypet so far.
"August," He answered in a gruff tone that mirrored Firestar's. He licked his paw and gave Firestar a side look. "Listen, if you're so worried about her, then why don't find her yourself?"
"That's what I'm trying to do. Thank you for the help." Firestar leaped down from the fence and bounded across the Thunderpath before the tom could reply. He ran over to the windows and put his paws against the side of the nest, trying to peer through the clear material like Lucy had done when visiting him. He squinted into the dark den. It didn't look like anyone was home.
Dropping back onto all four paws, Firestar darted around the back now. He leaped up and over the wooden fence and landed in the backyard. It was a nice and spacious area with two trees and several plants that looked as though they'd flower in the middle of newleaf.
The Twoleg den had a large clear door leading into the yard. He padded up to it and looked inside again. The nest was dark here too and he had to squint through the glare from the sun. He saw that he was looking at a Twoleg's kitchen and that there was a full dish of food waiting for Lucy. Had it recently been filled, or was she not here to eat it? He wondered.
He opened his mouth to try and catch her scent but nothing came to him. If she had been outside in the past few days, the rain must have washed her scent away.
Not knowing what else to do, he tried to call her name. "Lucy! Lucy! Are you there?" Perhaps she was still inside, just asleep somewhere and he couldn't see her. "Lucy?"
"She's not home."
Firestar wheeled around to see a pale gray she-cat standing in the yard behind him. She had darker gray points, delicate paws, and saddened blue eyes.
"I don't know who you are," she said, voice hardened slightly. "But Lucy's not here. It's better if you stop looking."
"Where is she? Is she okay?" Demanded Firestar, alarmed now.
"She was taken by the rogues." The kittypet said. The bell on her pink collar jingled as she took a cautious step back. Something about her shifted and she looked at him as though afraid. "They showed up two nights ago. I saw it all happen from my window. You're… You're not one of them are you?"
"No, I'm not a rogue," He assured her. "Don't you see my collar? My name is Firestar. I'm sure Lucy has mentioned me."
She began hesitantly, "A collar means nothing. Rogues wear collars; BloodClan wears collars. But, I do recognize your name." She blinked at him with uncertainty. "Lucy said that you were new to the area but your Housefolk wouldn't let you out of the nest yet. Did you escape?"
Firestar shook his head. His concern for Lucy had doubled now, and he had to know where she had gone. He couldn't imagine what a gang of rogues would have wanted with the kittypet. "I was let out. I came straight here to talk to Lucy. But that doesn't matter. You said that these rogues hurt her?"
"Yes. They came looking for her. I'm not sure what she did to make them angry, but they cornered her against the den and attacked her. They clawed and bit and scratched her…"
Firestar felt a twinge of sympathy for the kittypet. It couldn't have been easy to watch your friend get hurt while you are shut inside and unable to help. "What is your name? Which nest is yours?"
"I'm Minty," She answered sadly, then turned to blink at the light blue den behind Lucy's. The dens were facing away from each other but shared a fence. "That one's mine."
"Oh, I've been told about you," Firestar said with realization. Lucy had mentioned this cat several times during their talks. He didn't know much about her, but they had clearly been friends for a very long time.
"I'm sure you have," Minty's voice was thick with grief now. She sniffled. "Lucy said that you're some forest cat, right? Maybe you could do something about these rogues. You could find Lucy and teach these cats a lesson."
Firestar was taken aback by her words. Teach them a lesson? There was no way that he'd be able to take on Twolegplace rogues, and possibly even BloodClan, by himself. He'd need warriors to do that, trained cats who were dedicated and loyal to him. Besides, he still had to get back to ThunderClan. He couldn't stay here for long.
"I don't think that I can do that," He said apologetically. "There's no way that I could stand up against them."
He regretted saying it, but he knew that it was true. He wanted to go after Lucy and make sure that she was okay, but there was just no way for him to do that. Even if he wanted to, he had no idea where he'd even find these rogues.
Minty seemed to understand his words, but it did little to prevent the disappointed look in her eyes. "I understand," she murmured and turned to leave. "Goodbye, Firestar." She trotted over to the fence and leaped over it before he could say anything.
Firestar was left alone in Lucy's yard. A chilling breeze swept through his fur and rattled the leafless trees. He glanced about himself, feeling lost now that he had no one to talk to. The sun was lowering and he knew that very soon it would become dark. The only reasonable choice he had now was to return to his Twoleg's nest.
He climbed back over Lucy's fence and hurried across the Thunderpath. He heard the yapping of a small dog as he bounded past the Twoleg dens and he ran faster back to his own. He darted into the backyard and saw that the door was still left open for him. He entered the den slowly and blinked at the now-familiar surroundings.
"I'm back!" He called.
There was a chirp of surprise from the male Twoleg and Firestar stood still as it came into the room. The Twoleg bared its teeth in its strangely happy way and kneeled down to pet him. With one hand, the Twoleg closed the door and with the other he scratched Firestar behind the ears.
He gave the Twoleg a trusting purr, then headed over to the food dish. It had been refilled while he was gone and Firestar crouched down to eat from it. His ear twitched as he heard the male Twoleg still talking to him. He couldn't understand what the creature was saying, but he was sure that it sounded pleased.
His mind was too preoccupied to wonder about the Twoleg's thoughts however. All he could think about was Lucy and what had happened to her. Guilt wormed in his stomach and couldn't help but wonder if he had made the right choice. It was true that he hadn't known Lucy for long and that he would be useless against fighting alone against a rogue group, but he still felt bad for leaving her with those cats. She was just a kittypet, unable to defend herself while he was a trained and experienced ThunderClan warrior.
Having lost his appetite, Firestar turned away from his dish. He padded over to the window sill, where he leaped onto the ledge and stared with regret in the direction of Lucy's nest. The loneliness was getting to him already and the guilt weighed in his stomach. He should have at least tried to go after her. But it was too late to try and find her today. With a big sigh, Firestar knew that he couldn't just sit around and do nothing. The next time that he was let out of the nest, he would go and find Lucy.
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