Chapter 2: Kittypet

By the time Foxy Lady made it to Sealpaw's supposed camp, the injuries on her paws had reopened and she left crimson paw-prints in the dirt. Sealpaw seemed concerned and sympathetic, but the rest of the cats who escorted her didn't seem to care very much, though she couldn't see what the tortoiseshell, who walked behind her, thought of it.

The camp was nothing like her housefolks' den like she had sort of been expecting. At first glance, Foxy Lady didn't see much of a difference between what they had just walked through and what stood before them now. On closer inspection, she noted some shallow caves and dirt mounds beneath the low-hanging trees scattered around the area. Cats were everywhere, sprawled across smooth black stones and reddish-brown dirt. Some were grooming, others talking with one another softly in the shade of the gangly trees.

Slowly, one by one, the cats seemed to notice Foxy Lady's presence in Risingsun's group. Most had either looks of curiosity or distain, quickly picking up on her unfamiliar scent. Low meows and growls rumbled in their throats, hackles rose, eyes narrowed, and a few even stalked closer to her.

Foxy Lady was able to hold her ground until a loud, authoritative yowl broke loose and a sturdy gray tom leapt out from nowhere, his stump of a tail raised stiffly and his head held high. She lowered herself so her belly was against the dirt, wanting the ground that stained the tom's white paws a reddish color as he sped towards them. Risingsun didn't look alarmed and kept her stance.

"Tinystar." Risingsun greeted with a respectful nod, stepping away so Foxy Lady was in his full view.

"Who is this?" The tom, Tinystar, asked sharply, looking harshly at poor Foxy Lady.

"A kittypet. Sealpaw found her while she was out by herself." Risingsun hissed, glaring at Sealpaw, who bowed her head in shame in response.

Tinystar lashed his tail stump in frustration, his attention leaving Foxy Lady for Sealpaw, his eyes glowing furiously. "Sealpaw! How many times must you be told? You do not leave camp unattended! The same goes for Stripedtail, the elders, kits, and other apprentices. As a medicine cat apprentice, you are too valuable and vulnerable to risk being ambushed by MistClan. You cannot leave camp unattended and you certainly cannot bring strangers to camp, the heart of our territory, at a time like this!"

"I'm sorry, Tinystar, I'm just not used to things being like this yet." Sealpaw murmured apologetically, staring at her paws in an attempt to avoid her leader's fury.

"Your punishment will be decided later, for now, Kittypet, who are you and what are your intentions in ReefClan territory?" Tinystar asked.

Foxy Lady drew in a deep breath, coaxing herself to respond to Tinystar's questions. "I-I'm Foxy Lady, I didn't know anyone lived here, I swear! I'm just trying to run away from my housefolk."

She froze when Tinystar leaned towards her and sniffed at her fur. When he pulled away, his gaze was less angry and more thoughtful, as though considering her words. "You don't smell of MistClan and you don't appear to be very muscular… Alright, I believe you're telling the truth. Is there a reason you have left your twolegs?"

"Twolegs?" Foxy Lady echoed, her whiskers twitching in confusion.

Tinystar growled in irritation, "Yes, twolegs, your 'housefolk'. Why are you leaving them?"

Foxy Lady's pelt flushed with humiliation. "Oh! Sorry, I had to leave. They took me to the cutter and let him hurt me, I can't go back. I can't forgive them for this."

Tinystar's jaws parted slightly, scenting the air before responding. "They've made you barren, haven't they? Twolegs have done that to some of our own as well. They set up traps for us and take us away for a few days. When cats who are taken return, their scents change and they are never able to have kits." He glanced down towards her stomach. "Is there a wound? She-cats who are taken away always return with a wound along their bellies."

Foxy Lady nodded numbly. She hadn't known what to make of the stomach-wound until then and know that she knew, devastation filled her. Though she lived with her housefolk, away from other cats, she figured eventually she would have kits like her mother had. If Tinystar was right, this made things even worse. Any thought of returning to her housefolk vanished with his words. She would learn to be like these cats, to take care of herself and survive outside in the thick, searing heat.

"They hurt my paws, too." Foxy Lady told him, lifting an injured paw for emphasis.

Tinystar's sympathy seemed to wane with this statement, his eyes narrowing in suspicion. "That isn't the work of twolegs, kittypet, you just ran across the lava fields incorrectly."

Foxy Lady's eyes widened as she realized her error in explanation and shook her head roughly, "No, no not those wounds! I just got those today, I meant they're gone. They let the cutter take my claws away, look, if I flex my paw nothing happens." She attempted to unsheathe her claws on her raised paw, wanting to yowl with grief when nothing happened. She knew nothing would happen when she flexed her paw, but she still felt anguish when her claws didn't appear.

Tinystar fell silent for a moment, his green eyes fixated on Foxy Lady's paw before he looked up at her again. "I'm sorry for your loss, kittypet, I will offer Stripedtail's services for your paws and feed and shelter you until you've healed, but my generosity will end there. You will have to leave, times are tough for ReefClan, we cannot care for you for long and a cat with no claws or the ability to bear kits has no place here."

Despite the fact that Tinystar had no interest in keeping her around, Foxy Lady was grateful to have a place to rest and something to eat. She sighed in relief and purred, gratefulness shining in her eyes. "Thank you, I will do my best to stay out of the way during my stay." She promised firmly.

Tinystar dipped his head in acknowledgement then hollered, "Stripedtail!"

Sealpaw stiffened beside Foxy Lady, her ears flattening in nervousness as her dark-furred mentor appeared from beneath a low-lying tree, dirt and one of the thorn-branches that littered the path to camp clinging to his flank. Amber eyes flashed as they took in Foxy Lady's presence, his banded tail swishing behind him until he reached Tinystar's side. Stripedtail didn't ever look at Tinystar, his gaze fixated on Foxy Lady, but still spoke to him. "Who is this?"

"A temporary visitor." Tinystar simplified, "She will be staying with us until her paws heal, I need you to take a look at her injuries and I needed to remind you to better discipline your apprentice."

Stripedtail finally looked away from Foxy Lady, narrowing his intense eyes at Sealpaw, whose tail twitched anxiously. "May I ask why I need to better discipline Sealpaw?"

Tinystar growled lowly, "Sealpaw found and guided the kittypet to camp and left camp unattended. Can I trust that you will deal with this and ensure it won't happen again, Stripedtail?"

The dark gray tom sighed, "Yes, I thought Sealpaw was mature enough to follow your orders without prompting from me, but apparently I overestimated her."

Sealpaw bowed her head in shame, "I'm sorry, Stripedtail, I thought I was doing the right thing in bringing her here. I'm not used to inter-clan conflict, it won't happen again."

Stripedtail hissed at his apprentice, "It better not!" He looked back at Foxy Lady. "Come here, kittypet, I will examine your paws in my den. Sealpaw will prepare you a nest." As soon as he spoke, Sealpaw darted towards where Stripedtail came from, seemingly eager to get away from Tinystar and Stripedtail's scrutiny.

Foxy Lady hardly had time to react before Stripedtail followed after Sealpaw, leaving her standing stupidly in the company of Tinystar and Risingsun's patrol. Tinystar looked at her expectantly, looking impatient for the black-furred she-cat to leave his presence. She didn't disappoint, padding after Stripedtail hesitantly, lowering herself so she was slinking across the dirt with the burning gazes of many strange cats on her pelt. Foxy Lady hadn't noticed them when she spoke with Tinystar, but without his intense gaze and accusing voice to focus on, all she could notice was the hostile looks the strangers gave her.

Had she not been hurt, tired, and hungry, those looks would have made her run for her life and never looked back. That in mind, Foxy Lady kept her head low and didn't make eye contact with any of the strangers in the dirt, following the faint paw-prints left by Stripedtail.

When she had the courage to look up from the dirt, Foxy Lady was met by Stripedtail's impatient gaze. His tail flicked and he spoke, "Your paws are injured, kittypet, right? Please sit down so I can better examine you."

Foxy Lady hurriedly nodded, her fur prickling nervously as she followed the tom's instructions. She raised a paw and watched as Stripedtail sniffed at it before turning and rifling through piles of plants. The plants rested in shallow scoops in the dirt, each sorted meticulously in a way that caught Foxy Lady's attention. It almost reminded her of the way her housefolk would store their things. Stripedtail lifted a fat, long green plant with a clear, gel-like substance on its exposed inside and then selected a big, broad dead leaf with sticky-looking goop piled on top of it, setting them down in front of her.

Stripedtail didn't tell her anything about the items he selected and bowed his head to gather the fat green plant in his jaws and began to chew it up. Foxy Lady's face screwed up in disgust, she couldn't imagine chewing on a plant like that! It looked awful, so awful the black she-cat had to look away from him.

She wrapped her tail tightly around herself in comfort and made herself look around where Stripedtail brought her. Foxy Lady supposed it could be considered a 'den', little walls of the horrid jagged black stones were used to frame the area beneath the low-laying tree and provide an illusion of privacy for Stripedtail and anyone else inside, and three piles of flattened, dead, long grasses were built up, two on one side of the den, and one on the opposite. She wondered if most cats had dens like this one.

"Kittypet, your paw." Stripedtail prompted, watching her with irritation.

Foxy Lady flattened her ears and muttered a soft apology, lifting her paw again, exposing the mutilated flesh to him. He picked up a dead leaf, a much smaller one than the big one with the sticky goop on it, which was smothered in a chunky, sticky-looking poultice resting on its surface. The undesirable mixture was slowly sliding across the leaf, making Foxy Lady's lip curl in disgust. Stripedtail didn't comment on Foxy Lady's animated distaste for his practice and pressed the unsightly substance against her paw pads.

She hissed in pain, jerking her paw away from Stripedtail, who hissed back at her. "Stop that!" Stripedtail snapped, "You can't be squirming around."

Foxy Lady closed her eyes and followed his orders. When Stripedtail told her to lift a paw or lower one, she did so and forced herself to keep still when every stinging poultice was applied to them. After the fourth glob was applied, Foxy Lady opened her eyes to see Stripedtail standing in front of her, a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"You're good to go, Kittypet. Sealpaw should be back soon with the nesting materials soon. Try not to move around much until then, though. I don't want to use more herbs on you than I have to." Stripedtail told her, his banded tail swishing leisurely behind him.

Foxy Lady nodded compliantly. Stripedtail, satisfied with her response, spoke again. "I'll be back shorty, Kittypet, Coralpaw has been gone for too long." He lashed his tail in irritation, "I swear, no cat listens to me anymore."

Foxy Lady didn't move until she was certain Stripedtail had gone. She let out a sigh of relief and sagged her shoulders, hoping Sealpaw would return before Stripedtail did. Sealpaw was a kinder, less threatening presence that Foxy Lady was beginning to miss. Besides, she was the only cat around here that didn't call her 'Kittypet'.

The black she-cat slowly turned her body so she was facing the exit of the den and watched. Cats still peered at the den, muttering and growling to each other about Foxy Lady's sudden presence in their camp, but what interested her was how Tinystar and the tortoiseshell were still at the entrance of camp. They were in conversation, but Foxy Lady was too far away to properly hear anything over the chatter of the other cats.

She watched the two curiously. The tortoiseshell was still completely relaxed yet powerful looking all at once and Tinystar looked tense, his bobbed tail fidgeting behind him stiffly. Foxy Lady wondered what they were talking about and if it had anything to do with her.

Foxy Lady didn't have time to further examine the two for long, as Sealpaw's light gray and white pelt came into view. She had a bundle of dead grasses tucked under her white throat against her chest as she padded quickly towards Foxy Lady.

Sealpaw glanced around the den and sighed in relief, dropping her bundle of dead grasses at her paws. "Thank StarClan Stripedtail's not here," she looked Foxy Lady's way, "I promise they're not usually like this. Tinystar and Stripedtail can be a little high-strung at times, but they're hardly this hostile towards outsiders like you. I bet at least Tinystar will come around and offer you a place here in a few days, MistClan just has everyone on edge."

"Who is MistClan?" Foxy Lady asked, grateful for the young cat's renewed presence in the den.

Sealpaw's eyes darkened, "They are the cats of the highlands. Lately they've been very antagonistic and there was even a nighttime attack on camp! None of us knows what's gotten into them, Stagstar, their leader, has been in charge for quite some time and he's never acted like this before. We haven't been attacked by any cats in so long… it's just difficult for us all to understand. Our warriors actually have to use their fighting skills now, it's crazy!

"So, claws or no claws, I don't think Tinystar will want to turn down another cat who could defend ReefClan territory. I'm certain there's a way for a clawless cat like you to fight and hunt, it's just going to take some creativity." Sealpaw told Foxy Lady, her voice lifting and becoming more optimistic as she spoke.

Foxy Lady shifted uncomfortably at her words. This was a whole new world that she never intended to become a part of. Clans, fighting, hunting, she didn't get it. Foxy Lady didn't want to get it, but Sealpaw seemed to think she did. She didn't dare tell Sealpaw otherwise though. These cats, though part of something Foxy Lady had no desire to join herself, were helping her out for at least the night and she had no intention of risking this help. They already called her Kittypet over her real name, she would not push things by refuting Sealpaw's hopes.

Sealpaw, to Foxy Lady's relief, did not notice her discomfort and began constructing a nest for her. In hopes to get away from talking about joining these cats, Foxy Lady asked, "Who else sleeps here?"

The light gray she-cat purred, thrilled at the apparent interest in ReefClan. "This is the medicine cat den, so Stripedtail and I sleep here every night on that side of the den," She gestured with a tail flick at the two nests on one side of the den, "And on the other side, patients sleep. Right now, Coralpaw is also sleeping in here, but she doesn't usually. She was hurt badly in the night ambush MistClan launched a little bit ago, a wave came and forced her into the ocean and she got knocked around quite a bit. She's about ready to move back to the apprentice den, just a few more days for her here."

Foxy Lady nodded lightly and watched with mild interest as Sealpaw continued to shape the dead grass into a nest, nosing and prodding it into place. "I hope Stripedtail isn't too mad at me," She muttered as she patted an errant clump of grass down, "He's so hard to read sometimes, I can't tell if he's really angry at me or not."

Foxy Lady stayed silent, unsure of what to say. She didn't know Sealpaw or Stripedtail very well and wasn't sure of what she was supposed to say. Sealpaw was acting as though she and Foxy Lady had been lifelong friends when they'd known each other for less than a day!

Was this how all cats acted?

She hadn't noticed that Sealpaw was still talking until she heard her name. "-so what do you think, Foxy Lady?" Foxy Lady's ear-tips flushed in embarrassment when she realized Sealpaw had paused in making the nest and was looking questioningly at her.

"Um… I don't know? I'm sure everything will work out though." Foxy Lady stammered, unsure of how to respond to something she didn't hear.

Sealpaw sighed and gave a curt nod. "Yes, I suppose you're right. You know, there's nothing in the rules about Stripedtail not being allowed to have two apprentices… maybe once Tinystar decides to let you join you could train with me!" She said animatedly, "Then your lack of claws and kit-bearing abilities wouldn't matter! You've also got this soothing kind of presence, Foxy Lady, you made me feel better about the whole sneaking out of camp and bringing a stranger to camp thing and that's one of the most important parts of being a medicine cat! If you can't make your patients feel calm and like it'll all be okay it's hard to have this position. That's Stripedtail's biggest complaint, he's not at all sympathetic, well he is, he just doesn't show it. Like at all."

Foxy Lady blinked and said stupidly, "Oh."

Sealpaw held her tail up in excitement, purring loudly. "Yes, that could work great! Tell you what, if Tinystar doesn't come around soon, just start showing an interest in the herbs in here and ask questions about them when Stripedtail's around. If you need help remembering the things he tells you about them, I can help out. Also, describing weird dreams to him would help as well! If you do that sort of thing, Stripedtail might ask Tinystar to let you join to be his second apprentice."

What was she talking about? Dreams? Foxy Lady barely recalled dreaming ever and the ones she remembered were pretty average with most revolving around her daily routine back in the city. Sometimes, they'd lead to her leaving her nest and wandering around the concrete city on her own, but those were a rarity. Would Stripedtail really want to hear about those few and far between dreams about her life with her housefolk?

"I don't really have weird dreams though." Foxy Lady responded, watching Sealpaw with a puzzled expression.

Sealpaw shook her head lightly, "Don't worry about that, we can talk more about this tomorrow. Maybe tonight your dreams will get a little weirder?"

Foxy Lady sighed, happy that Sealpaw seemed to be ready to drop the topic. She looked at the nest Sealpaw put together. A few rebellious strands of grass stuck up, but it didn't look too bad; it had to be better than sleeping in the dirt and giant thorns like she had earlier. She moved closer to it and patted it tentatively with her paw, which was still slathered in goop, feeling that it was light-weight and hardly cushiony like what she was used to.

Sealpaw watched Foxy Lady with hope in her eyes, "Do you like it? I put it together pretty quickly, so it might not be perfect."

"It's… nice." Foxy Lady said hesitantly, stepping all the way into it and sitting down. She was pleasantly surprised to see that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. There was some cushion, it was dirt-free, and there wasn't a single thorn in it! It could still be improved, but for the upcoming night, Foxy Lady deemed it to be acceptable.

Sealpaw beamed at Foxy Lady, and likely would've responded with something regarding her joining ReefClan, had it not been for Stripedtail's return. The cross dark-furred tom returned, hardly pleased, with a peach-colored tabby she-cat trailing unhappily behind him. Sealpaw twitched her ears in greeting, to which Stripedtail responded, "Sealpaw, we need to talk. Coralpaw, get some rest. If you are to return to training in the upcoming days, you need to rest, alright? This is the kittypet, she will be staying with us for a while." He nodded towards Foxy Lady, who fought a look of mild irritation from surfacing; she wished Stripedtail would stop calling her kittypet and just ask for her name.

The peach-colored cat, Coralpaw, narrowed her eyes and looked at Foxy Lady with scrutiny. "A kittypet?" She looked to Stripedtail for confirmation.

Stripedtail didn't respond and gestured for Sealpaw to follow him. Sealpaw nervously looked to Foxy Lady before trailing after her mentor for a most unwelcomed talk. With them gone, the new cat, Coralpaw, peeled her lips back at Foxy Lady in hostility. "Who are you and what do you think you're doing here?" She demanded.

"My name's Foxy Lady, I'm here because my paws are hurt and because Sealpaw invited me." She told Coralpaw awkwardly, unsure of how to answer the angry young cat.

Coralpaw hissed, examining the closeness of their nests. She stalked over to the preexisting nest, which Foxy Lady assumed was hers, and pawed it further away from the nest Sealpaw had just constructed. Coralpaw glared harshly at Foxy Lady and stiffly laid down in her nest, which was about a tail-length away from Foxy Lady's. Foxy Lady hoped that Coralpaw would turn in her nest so she would be facing her back, but she didn't, her vibrant green eyes burning holes in Foxy Lady's black pelt.

So far, Sealpaw seemed to be the only cat in ReefClan happy about having a kittypet around.