That would be cool, Cinnamonpool, but I already started making this one when you replied. I didn't think the tabby paws should have had claws on them, but I just wanted it to be more mysterious… Mwehehe!
The rest of the body slid out, and Dandy heaved a sigh of relief as a familiar sooty face and ringed tail appeared. It was Raccoon. Her eyes were glazed and a wee bit confused. She twitched her tail and meowed, "Dandelion."
"Y-yes?" Dandy stammered.
"Fox."
Dandy looked at her, wondering what she was muttering about. Dandy waited for her to go on.
Raccoon meowed, "Fox is dead."
Dandy felt her eyes widen and her head drop. Fox was a good father. Or not… Then, she asked, "Why are you here? What about Storm and Fox jr.?"
Raccoon shook her head, "Dead. All dead."
Then, she collapsed onto the ground and lowered her head. Blood oozed from long scratches on her shoulder and flank. They dripped onto the dust. Dandy heaved herself up and nudged Raccoon, "Come on, let's go rest. You look worn out."
Fogkit crept up behind her and meowed, "Shall I hunt?"
Exhaustion making her short, she scratched Fogkit's silver face and spat, "Yes. We're starving here!"
Fogkit scampered away. Then, Dandy turned to Raccoon. She was still drooping and her flank was coated with blood and dust. Dandy started grooming her and Raccoon flicked her tail absent mindedly to acknowledge her, but made no move to help.
Dandy's tongue tasted horribly of blood and mud, and she spat it out. Raccoon's pelt was shiny and glossy once again, except for the blood still trickling in a small stream down her side, and her eyes were shining. Then, she meowed to Raccoon, "Where shall we go?"
Raccoon replied, "Where do you think we should go?"
Dandy ran her tongue along her flank to hide her discomfort of revealing her true destination, "Um, to the clans?"
Raccoon snorted and grunted, "Where do you think that is?"
Dandy gave her chest a couple of self-conscious licks and was relieved to see Fogkit(Fog) dashing towards them. She set down a mouse in front of Raccoon, and a vole in front of Dandy. Fog started to retreat slowly back from Dandy, and Dandy let her. She looked nervously from cat to cat and looked ashamed as her belly growled hungrily.
Fog's cheek turned a light shade of red and mewed quietly, "Sorry."
Dandy and Raccoon let out a mroow of laughter, and Raccoon, shooting a glance at Dandy chuckled, "You may get yourself prey."
Fog quickly retreated into the forest. Dandy and Raccoon still had amusement shimmering in their eyes as they exchanged a look of interest.
Fog POV
I returned with a chaffinch. It was plump and fat and I could barely stop from swallowing it whole. Only at camp, I started to dig into it. Then, I remembered how Dandy would punish me for catching prey for myself…
I shrieked in pain as sharp claws dug into my flank and my tail was about to pull of. Dandy had sunk her teeth into my tail and wrenched it half off. Then, she slashed my nose open and poked a claw through my ear. Agony ran up my foreleg as she sat down on it, and I feared it was broken. Dandy was ruthless, just like her father. She put her paw on my throat and squeezed, making me struggle for air…
Soon the chaffinch was bones. I burped and blushed again. Dandy and Raccoon paid no mind. I buried the remains and padded to Raccoon mewing softly, "Where are we going to go?"
She looked sharply at me and I winced, waiting for paws to strike. None did. Raccoon just growled, "Somewhere far from here."
Dandy stood up and stretched, and padded over to Raccoon, and curled up by her. Raccoon circled around a few times and started to a deep slumber. I looked at both cats, not knowing what to do.
I walked to another tree, and started to make a nest there.
"No."
I glanced up and I saw a pair of glowing eyes. They blinked, and lowered again. Dandy meowed, "You can sleep here."
With my night vision eyes, I saw the flick of her tail at a place besides her. Shivering, I crept up slowly to her and curled up besides her and Raccoon, and I felt the heat radiating off both she-cat's fur. I enjoyed this moment just a bit more, and I felt a claw poke into my shoulder.
I blinked open my eyes and saw Dandy, still asleep, with her claws extended into my shoulder gently. Slowly, I eased away, and wondered what Dandy could be dreaming about…
Dandy POV
A whirl of terror passed through me. Worry clenched at my spine, and shivers spiraled through my body. Why? I didn't know. I felt like something was missing. It was dark, and cold, although before I fell asleep, I was warm from tail tip to nose. The cold spread like a melting ice cube, the temperature seeping through my fur…
I blinked, and suddenly that pang of worry that shot through me faded away, along with the cold. Trees appeared around me. No, not appeared. It seemed like they were there before, but I just hadn't noticed. There were wildflowers, too. The surrounding seemed oddly peaceful, contrasting black and white to my terror earlier. It was black night in my dream, and 3 cold stars shone in the sky.
They were coming closer and closer… Then they merged and the white light formed into the shape of a… badger? No, there were sharp talons and a hooked beak. An eagle swooped from the sky and lunged at me, a screech echoing in my ears and ricocheting off the trees, disturbing the peace.
I felt its talon hook my shoulder and shake me roughly. I closed my eyes and heard …
"Dandelion!"
Wha…?
"Come on!"
Wait, an eagle can't talk.
"Dandelion!!"
It was Raccoon!
"Wake up!"
Suddenly, I felt a ray of sunshine seep through my eyelids. Like a breath on a cold window, my dream faded away. I opened my eyes and saw Raccoon's face peering at mine. Her eyes were like an owl's, I realized, they never blink.
I shoved her away feebly, but enough to make her sure that I was awake. I looked at my shoulder, and saw it bleeding again, with a burr clinging to the raw flesh. Angry, I took it in my teeth and tore it away from my skin, causing a new gush of blood to seep exceedingly from the wound and threw the bloody burr at Raccoon. It landed squarely on her nose and she shook it off.
It flew onto Fogkit's haunch and she flicked her tail and it bounced onto me again. I hissed in frustration. Fogkit looked horrified. She bent her head and murmured, "Sorry."
I flicked the burr away and made sure it landed onto the ground. I lapped at my wound carefully and lifted my head after it stopped bleeding. CCRREEEEE!!
My fur stood on its end. It was the same screech of the eagle in my dream. I looked up, and a giant eagle swooped towards the opposite of the rising sun. My fur tingled, and I blinked. The eagle dipped below the horizon of trees, and disappeared. Just above the trees, a single cloud wisped by.
It was like a dandelion fluff, edged softly by a bird's down. Two blazing eyes blinked in them, and I heard a voice echoing in my head, "Lily… Home…"
Raccoon flicked my ears gentle and looked the way I was looking. She didn't see my illusions. I shook my head and mewed, "I know where to go know."
Raccoon and Fogkit looked surprised. Raccoon inquired skeptically, "How?"
"Just follow me, please."
Fogkit nodded and Raccoon heaved a sigh, "I just want to find a place to settle down."
I padded towards the cloud. I heard a purr of relief in my head and I blinked gratefully at the cloud and my crew. Now, I was ready for anything.
Drumroll… So how do you like it? I know my last few were rushed, so this one was extra long! Hope yall like it!