A/N: I had planned on posting this yesterday because I wanted to keep updates to every Saturday, but it slipped my mind, so here it is now! Again, this was really minimally edited and any mistakes are all mine.
The first thing that Rusty noticed about the forest was how incredibly immense it was. He had gazed out upon the forest plenty of times, but he had never realized the enormity of it. Even from his position just outside the fence he had not been able to understand how expansive the cover of trees, the tangle of grass and undergrowth, the scattered bushes that prickled with thorns and unruly branches, truly was.
He was so enraptured by the grandness of it that he hardly noticed Smudge squirming underneath the fence behind him, muttering words that seemed intangible and unimportant when compared to what Rusty was currently witnessing. The forest in its entirety seemed to spread out before him, revealing a new secret with every step forward. The territory before him was covered in shadows and surrounded by an air of mystery, but Rusty had never felt more aware and alert in his lifetime.
Finally, with a sharp prod in the side, Smudge managed to draw Rusty's attention.
"What was that for?" Rusty hissed in annoyance, whipping around to glare at Smudge. The spotted tom had shrunk low to the ground, looking infinitely more uncertain than he had when they had approached the forest.
"You looked like you were in a trance," Smudge explained, straightening his back slightly. "You could have wandered off and ended up who knows where, and then you'd never have a chance of catching something."
"Oh." Rusty mewed, his temper quickly dissipating. "Well, you didn't have to be so harsh about it," he muttered, turning back to face the line of trees that became increasingly more dense and tightly woven the further he looked.
"Whatever," Smudge mewed dismissively, flicking his tail across Rusty's side. He padded forward until he was just slightly ahead and then paused, turning his head this way and that.
"What are you doing?" Rusty questioned, thinking that Smudge looked a bit like a very confused owl.
"Shh," Smudge insisted. "I'm figuring out where we should hunt."
This only served to further Rusty's confusion. "Why would you do that? We have the entire forest to explore. I'm sure we'll find something."
"Duh!" Smudge scoffed. "But if we go too far we won't have enough time to go hunting and get back before the sun comes up." He hesitated, considering something. "Plus we could end up getting lost, and you don't really have the skills to sustain us, do you?"
Annoyance flared up almost as soon as it had vanished. Smudge was being an absolute furball. "It's not like you're any good at hunting either!" He mewed crossly, marching forward with his nose stuck in the air. He moved forward at a steady pace, determined to put some distance between himself and Smudge. He didn't need his friend's criticism.
"Rusty!" Smudge huffed, clearly sounding frustrated. Rusty ignored him, continuing onward. He would catch something with or without Smudge's help. He was beginning to search for any signs of nearby prey, all the while getting as far away as he could from Smudge. He didn't bother to check if he was pursuing him, instead choosing to focus on the task that he had set out into the forest to accomplish - finally catching something.
As Rusty delved deeper into the woods, he became more and more entangled in the assortment of plants that seemed to cover every single visible surface. There were patches of green covering every tree he passed, and his paws became tangled in undergrowth with each pawstep. Still he persisted, determination driving him forward.
Eventually he reached a break in the plant growth. A small clearing surrounded by trees laid a few pawsteps in front of him. Rusty couldn't help but find relief in the fairly clear area - he had begun to worry about becoming so tangled up in the plants that he wouldn't be able to find his way out of the forest, much less hunt.
Although he spotted no traces of mice or birds or any other creatures, Rusty figured that the clearing was as good of a place as any to practice his stalking. Maybe being in the middle of the forest would help him hone his skills.
Crouching low to the ground, Rusty focused in on a small pebble that was a short distance away, pretending as if it were a mouse. He crept forward, slowly placing one paw in front of the other, and then -
Oof!
All of Rusty's breath was knocked out of him as a solid, heavy object collided with his side, bowling him over into the grass and dirt of the forest floor. He could distantly hear Smudge calling for him, but was too dazed to make any sense of the words. The rustling of grass was the only sound he was sure of as he attempted to haul himself upward.
He had just barely managed to stand when another blow hit him, this time a sharp strike across the face. The prick of claws made him aware that his attacker was another cat, which sent a jolt of panic rushing through him. Princess had been right after all - if only he had listened to her!
Desperately lashing out in a pathetic attempt at defending himself, Rusty landed a sloppy hit on the unknown attacker. Despite the clumsiness of his attack, the fact that he had been successful urged the ginger tabby onward. He blinked a few times to clear his vision, and eventually discovered that his opponent was a gray cat not much larger than him, with long fur and bright yellow eyes that glowed in the dimness of the forest.
There was a flash of teeth as the cat lunged at him. Rusty narrowly avoided the long haired cat's charge, allowing himself to fall backward in order to escape. He fell to the ground with a thump, dizzy and stunned. His head was reeling, but he knew he could not allow himself a break. Forcing himself to his paws, Rusty located the gray cat once more and rushed toward them, sending both sprawling across the forest floor. The slightly larger cat fell back -
"Graypaw!" A shriek rang out through the forest, echoing in Rusty's ears and making him cringe away from his competitor. He sought out the source of the shriek - surely there had to be another cat around - when he spotted a lanky black cat with a patch of white on their chest hurrying toward him and the still dazed gray cat.
Another attacker? Rusty was beginning to panic at the prospect of fighting two cats - he had barely been able to defend himself against the first - and then Smudge's spotted pelt appeared amongst the plants. Relief flooded Rusty, but when Smudge did not approach him and instead followed closely behind the unknown black cat, panic began to bubble up once more. Why had his friend not instantly made a beeline for him when he was clearly in trouble? Rusty turned away from Smudge to glance over at the other unfamiliar cat.
Their eyes were broad and full of fear. They shook visibly as they approached, muttering quick streams of words under their breath. "Oh, great StarClan, what have you gotten yourself into, Graypaw? Lionheart is going to be so upset when he -"
Suddenly the cat fell silent, turning to look at Rusty as if he had just realized he was there. Rusty was almost certain he heard the little cat squeak.
This is your chance. You have to take control.
"Who are you?" Rusty demanded, taking a step toward the anxious black cat. "Who are both of you?"
"Rusty, wait." He turned to see that Smudge had inched closer to him. "He's not dangerous -"
Rusty scowled. "Not dangerous? This one here was ready to rip my throat out!" He gestured at the gray cat with his paw.
The smaller black cat winced at this. "Oh, Graypaw…" he murmured under his breath.
Smudge cast a suspicious glance at the gray cat - was that who the black one was referring to as Graypaw? - and then looked back to Rusty. He looked as if he was preparing to speak just as the gray cat finally spoke up.
"Who are we?" They muttered, groaning as they hauled themself to their paws. "Who are you? You're the one who's trespassing!"
"Graypaw, please," the black cat urged, rushing forward to create a barrier between Rusty and Graypaw. "They're just kittypets, they didn't know."
Rusty's face furrowed in confusion. He looked over at Smudge, mouthing, "Kittypets?"
Smudge did not reply, simply nodding toward the black cat. Rusty flicked his tail in annoyance, forcing his fur to lie flat.
Finally Graypaw turned their attention away from Rusty and toward Smudge. "There are two of you?" They mewed in dismay. "I only saw -"
"Smudge -" The black cat paused to nod at the black and white tom. "He was with me. I caught him wandering around, and he looked like he needed help…and then we saw you and -" He paused once more, now looking to Rusty. "Um."
"Rusty," he said reluctantly, still suspicious of the two forest cats.
"We saw you fighting Rusty and - well, Smudge told me that he had a friend but said they'd been separated and I told him that I'd try to help him find…" He trailed off, gaze flitting between the three other cats. He looked absolutely hopeless.
Smudge instantly jumped in. "So Ravenpaw here told me that he'd help me find you, Rusty - I was worried that if I didn't go after you, you'd never find your way out of here - and then he said that he'd also lost track of a friend, so I worked on tracking you and he worked on tracking...Graypaw?" He looked to the small cat - Ravenpaw - for confirmation. He nodded, urging Smudge onward. "And then...well, then I guess we found you. Ravenpaw told me to stay back, but once the two of you had stopped fighting, I figured it was safe to come out." He looked at Rusty and Graypaw with wide eyes, although he did not look fearful like Ravenpaw did. "It seemed like you two were going to kill each other!"
Graypaw visibly brightened at this. "Really?" They mewed a little too enthusiastically.
"Really," Ravenpaw pitched in. "Graypaw, you could have seriously -"
Ignoring Ravenpaw, Graypaw laughed, their thick, bushy tail waving joyfully. "Ha! I am becoming a better warrior!"
Ravenpaw rolled his eyes at his friends outburst. "We only just started our training, Graypaw. You're not even close to being a warrior."
Every word that came out of Ravenpaw and Graypaw's mouths only contributed to Rusty's confusion. What on earth are these two talking about?
"Well maybe I just need to test out my battle skills again!" Graypaw quipped. Now turning toward Rusty, Graypaw mewed, "Come on, kittypet. You up for another battle?" They sounded teasing despite their challenging words.
Ravenpaw let out a defeated sigh, shaking his head in resignation. Rusty was sure that he heard him mutter, "Please ignore him," under his breath.
"What's a kittypet?" Rusty mewed, not enjoying the new nickname that Graypaw had provided him with.
A grin spread across the gray cat's face. "Do you really not know?" He chuckled, all signs of aggression gone. "You put up a decent fight for a tame kitty, but you don't seem too clever!"
Flattening his ears against his head, Rusty hissed, "Are you going to tell me or not?"
"Great StarClan!" He exclaimed, shaking his head disapprovingly. "There's no reason to be so rude. I won't pick a fight with you again, I promise. Though I guess I can't say the same for my clanmates..." Graypaw gazed at Ravenpaw. "You don't think Sandpaw or Dustpaw followed us, do you?"
Ravenpaw shifted uncomfortably. "No. At least I hope…" He shook his head. "No, definitely not. They were sound asleep."
Rusty listened attentively to their conversation, his frustration growing when he was still unable to piece anything together.
Remembering that Rusty had asked him a question, Graypaw whipped back around toward the ginger cat. "Anyway," he meowed, hesitating. "...Uh, what was it that you wanted to know?" His head tilted to the side as he spoke.
"What's a kittypet?" Rusty repeated, this time a bit more forcefully.
"Oh, right!" Graypaw nodded. "Well, a kittypet is what you are! You live in a den with twolegs, right?"
"He means housefolk," Smudge clarified.
"Housefolk, then." Graypaw said. "They're the ones who put that horrible thing -" He stopped to indicate Rusty's bright blue collar with a wave of his tail. "- around your neck."
"So...a kittypet is a housecat?" He directed this question at Smudge, who seemed to be a lot more knowledgeable about the strange words the forest cats used.
"Mhm," Smudge nodded. He glanced over at Graypaw, then at Ravenpaw. "These two...they're from the forest."
"Just like the cats in Princess' story."
"Except they aren't dangerous."
Rusty mewed, "Yeah, right," at the same time as Graypaw yelped, "Hey!" in an indignant tone.
"They aren't as dangerous," Smudge amended, looking anxiously at Graypaw, whose fur had started to bristle.
Rusty took a moment to allow the flood of new information to sink in fully. Despite the ragged appearance of Graypaw, the way he was clearly wild and unruly, and the unusual way in which Ravenpaw's bones were visible beneath his silky black pelt, Rusty was having a difficult time comprehending the situation - he was actually speaking to real live forest cats.
"So…" he examined Graypaw and Ravenpaw, subconsciously comparing the pair of them to himself and Smudge. "You...you really live here? In the forest?"
"Yep!" Graypaw responded instantly. "This is our home - we live here, sleep here, fight here, hunt here…" He laughed a bit. "I don't know how any cat can bear to live anywhere else."
"But isn't it hard living here on your own?" Rusty inquired. Despite his initial disdain for the gray cat who had attacked him, he couldn't help but feel impressed. It took courage to take a single pawstep into the forest, much less to actually inhabit it.
"Oh, we don't live alone!" Graypaw shook his head. "That would be hard."
"Graypaw?" Ravenpaw piped up, trying to grab the attention of the chatty gray cat. "We should...we should probably be going -"
"We actually live together with our clanmates. There are a lot of us...well, there are less of us now than we've had before, but still a lot. We all work together like one big team."
"Graypaw, we really need to go…"
Graypaw huffed, finally turning to look at Ravenpaw. "Okay, Ravenpaw!" When the black cat winced backward, Graypaw's face softened considerably. "Sorry," he muttered, this time speaking much more quietly. Turning back to Rusty and Smudge, Graypaw mewed, "Well, I guess we've gotta go. Our clan will go wild if they find us missing - they'll send out a search patrol and everything!"
"Wait," Rusty mewed, stepping forward to block Graypaw's path before he could dart away. "Do you think that we could meet here again?"
Graypaw's eyes widened. "Of course we can't!" He hissed, making Rusty's ears flatten against his head. "Look, kittypet, if you show up here again and one of my clanmates catches you...well, they won't be as forgiving as Ravenpaw and I."
"Forgiving?" Rusty echoed, hoping for more of an explanation - but Graypaw had already skirted around him, Ravenpaw hurrying after his much larger companion. Rusty stared after them in wonder, watching as they vanished into the undergrowth of the forest.
"So." Smudge's voice drew his attention, although his mind was still buzzing with thoughts of the two forest cats. "Um, we should probably...go. I don't think Graypaw was kidding when he said..." the black and white tom trailed off for a moment. "And I'm pretty tired, anyway - aren't you tired?"
"Yeah," Rusty replied, nodding. His voice sounded distant and far away. "Yeah, we should go."
Smudge looked relieved, as if he had expected an argument, some form of protest. "Come on then," he mewed. "If we hurry we can get back before Princess wakes up."
He pictured his sister for a moment, the way her eyes would light up with worry and fear if she woke to find them gone. She'd dash off somewhere in a panic, and would surely end up getting herself in trouble. The thought spurred him onward, breaking the hold that the forest seemed to have over him. He nodded once more, following behind Smudge as they padded in the direction of the fence, away from the spot in which he had encountered Graypaw and Ravenpaw, the spot in which he had gotten his first taste of the world of tangled tree branches and cats with ragged fur and bright eyes.