It happened again. The dream.
I was padding through the forest, opening my mouth every few seconds to catch the scents. A bird in the tree above me, the smell of wet ferns, a mouse...
A mouse!
I got into a crouch, careful not to make my bell ring. I stalked up and lept. Missed. I then chased it for a few fox lengths before giving up. As I padded back the way I came I heard a distracting noise. It came from no specific direction. It seemed to come from everywhere! As I looked around to find it I caught a glance of a pair of yellow eyes. Bam! something slammed into me and then!
I woke up..."
"So what was it?" Smudge asked. "I don't know Smudge, I woke up before I saw." Rusty yawned, "Maybe it was one of those wild cats..." Smudge whispered as he crouched and lept upon his friend. "Hey, Smudge!" Rusty and Smudge wrestled for a few moments before Smudge pinned him. "The ones that eat kittens and sharpen their claws on old bones!" Smudge howled to the sky.
"Get off!" Smudge jumped off and Rusty sat up, fixing his messed up fur. A flock of birds flew overhead, landing in the forest a few fox lengths away. "Do you think I can?" "Can what Rusty?" "Get a bird of course" Rusty jumped up on the fence, Smudge next to him. "Rusty, what about the wild cats..." Smudge worriedly whispered.
"If you're so worried about me then come with. I'm sure they won't attack me with such an amazing cat around!" "Really?" Rusty pushed Smudge off the fence and jumped down himself. "Are you coming or what?" Rusty said to the upside-down Smudge. "I'm ok, I'll just be here..." Rusty rolled his eyes and padded up to the forest's edge, casting a glance behind him at Smudge before padding into the forest.
He padded through the forest, just like in his dream! He paused, opening his mouth to catch a scent. Bird in the tree. "Just like my dream," Rusty whispered looking up at the robin. He padded through some wet ferns and saw the mouse just two tail lengths away. It was turned away from him. He crouched and took a few steps, careful not to make his bell ring.
He lept and missed. He gave chase before the mouse ran into its hole. He turned to go back home before he paused, ears pricked for that noise before he realized that it wasn't part of his dream. It was just his two-legs putting food into his bowl. "How could I forget that." Rusty shook his head as he started walking again, purposely brushing up against the ferns again.
Crack!
Rusty's head snapped around. Ears up and swiveling for more noises. Eyes glancing around and his nose wiggled trying to find a scent besides the forests. There, the scent was faint, but there. He padded not directly toward it but aiming for a few pawsteps away. As he got to a few paw-steps away from it he lept sideway's on the cat scent. He crashed into a ball of white and black fur and they rolled down a small hill, Rusty ending up pinning the other cat.
"Smudge! 'What happened to I'm staying here'?" "I got curious and followed you..." Rusty let Smudge up and took a step back. "Intruders!" They heard a voice call, and a grey blur knocked Rusty off his paws. Rusty got pinned by the grey kitten and Smudge knocked the tom off of him. "What's the big idea? We're just looking."
"You better leave before I make you leave!" The grey kitten puffed out his chest and hissed at them. "If you're the scariest thing in the forest then we're not worried." Rusty sat down and Smudge did as well. "Oh, I'm far from the scarest." The grey kitten sat across from them. "I'm not even an apprentice yet." "Apprentice?" Smudge asked. "Yeah, and after you're an apprentice you get to become a warrior! I'm Greykit by the way!" Greykit stood and stretched. "What are your names?" "I'm Rusty and this is Smudge."
"You're kittypets aren't you?" Greykit sat back down "Kittypets?" Smudge echoed. "Cats that live with two-legs," Greykit explained. "Two-legs?" "House-folk," Rusty explained. "Yeah, House-folk," Greykit said. He froze. "You better go back home now, my clan-mates are coming for me." "Why? Can't we meet them too?" Smudge asked. "Some of them aren't as friendly as me."
"No, and you're lucky they didn't find you first." A voice behind them said. "Lionheart, Bluestar, Redtail," Greykit dipped his head, ears flicked back. Rusty and Smudge turned to see a golden tabby tom, a pale blue-gray she-cat, and a dark ginger tortoiseshell tom. "Greykit, what are you doing?" Lionheart asked. "I wanted to have a look around and I found these kitty-pets, Rusty and Smudge." Rusty dipped his head in greeting, Smudge just looked terrified. "We, we were just going, weren't we Rusty?" Smudge stammered.
"I guess, I wanted to explore some more. Maybe meet more cats, but I guess we could go. Nice meeting you." Rusty stood and started to follow. "Wait, we were watching you. It was impressive how you found your friend so fast. And if you had tried a little harder you might have caught that mouse." Rusty turned, his bell jingling. "Really?" "Bluestar, what are you saying?" Redtail asked. "We need more warriors Redtail, How would you like to join Thunderclan." "Me?" "And Smudge,"
"Calm down, please," Lionheart said to Smudge. "Your fear scent will attract every predator here." "Both of them? Bluestar, It's one thing to take in one kitty-pet but two?" "What's wrong with them?" Greykit asked. "They weren't clan born." A new voice said. "Tigerclaw," Bluestar dipped her head in greeting to a dark brown tabby. "Bluestar, why are you even considering taking them in. They're soft. They don't even have,"
"Tigerclaw, from their smell they haven't been to the cutter yet." Bluestar interrupted. She turned back to them. "Would you like to join Thunderclan? You don't have to decide now. Lionheart will come tomorrow to get your decision." Rusty and Smudge exchanged a glance. "Thank you, we'll be here tomorrow to tell you." Rusty and Smudge turned and raced back to their houses.
Tigerstar snarled. "Why did you invite them. We have enough mouths to feed already." "We need the warriors, what with the recent Riverclan attacks on Sunningrocks," Redtail explained. "I think they were nice," Greykit said as he followed behind Lionheart. "Greykit, you can't tell anyone what just happened. Bluestar should be the one to let the clan know." Lionheart said. Greykit nodded. "Ok,"
Tigerclaw's tail lashed as he paced. Darkstripe and Longtail were sitting a few steps away, Longtail's tail flicking in time with Tigerclaw's. "Will you stop that," Tigerclaw snapped at Longtail. "Sorry, Tigerclaw." "So two kittypets are joining the clan?" Darkstripe asked. "Yes, they might be here tomorrow." Tigerclaw started pacing again. "So, why do you care? They're just kittypets." Darkstripe yawned. "They'll ruin my plan of making Thunderclan the best and the greatest." He snarled.
"How?" Tigerclaw stopped pacing and turned to Darkstripe. "Only pureblood warriors can be in my Thunderclan." "But it's not your," Darkstripe shot Longtail a look and Longtail trailed off. "That makes sense. Do you want us to," Darkstripe glanced around to see if anyone was listening. "Take care of them?" "No, I doubt they would even show up again. Just scared kittypet kits."
"Tigerclaw, take a patrol over to Sunningrocks," Redtail called. "Take who you want." Tigerclaw paused before flicking his tail for Darkstripe and Longtail to follow. They left the camp, Tigerclaw in the lead, heading for Sunningrocks.