Chapter 5

Cloud crept forward like a breath of wind along the rejuvenating field, stalking an oblivious rabbit nibbling a new season dandelion. Twilight and Raven quietly watched her a little ways off.

The black she-cat watched as Cloud leapt forward in a blur and took the rabbit with silent grace. It never even had a chance to squeal, as it had been so intent on its tasty treat.

The white-furred she-cat dragged the rabbit up to them, letting it fall on the ground in front of them with a soft thump. "Here's lunch," she mewed cheerfully. "We can catch something for father after we've eaten."

Twilight's mouth watered as the scent of the freshly-killed prey filled her nose. She dug in eagerly beside Raven, brushing close to him as she ate. This was the first good sized piece of prey that they had had since leaf-bare.

Between the three of them, to Twilight's regret, they finished rather quickly. Licking her lips to keep the flavor, she leapt to the top of a small knoll, as Snow had told her earlier in the season, to scent for more prey and survey their position.

Behind them was the barn, it towered over the small clump of bushes that marked the start of the moorland. Off to her left she could see the Thunderpath in the distance, behind some trees and hedges. It was audible from here, but there was no harsh exhaust or oil smell that the human monsters excreted.

Stretching out in front of her was the moorland, where there was a gathering of small human nests in the distance near the large Thunder-path. Other than that, yellow stalks of grass were everywhere, with the occasional vervain flower, dandelion, and celandine dotting the landscape with specks of color.

Twilight did not remember ever seeing anything so beautiful as that scene. She breathed in the fresh air, with the slight perfume of the small flower mixed in every so often and murmured to herself, "This is where I want to be."

"Newleaf never ceases to amaze me, either," Raven's voice came from behind her. Twilight jumped slightly, then turned to face him.

The glossy black tom had a bashful look in his emerald eyes, and he swept his tail back and forth as he held up his right paw.

The black she-cat suppressed a giggle of delight and settled for a look of adoration when she saw what he held. It was a little blue chicory flower; one rarely was found that was this shade, normally they were white or lavender.

Coughing, Raven mewed shyly, "I, ahm, thought you'd like this. First of the season, ahm, I think. It matches your eyes."

The last sentence came out in a rush, and Twilight could sense the sudden flush of warmth under his fur. Reaching forward, she plucked the flower gently from his paw with her teeth and placed it twixt her toes on her right paw.

"It's beautiful. Thank you," she purred, nuzzling him under the chin. He in return purred, a deep soothing rumble that filled the silent air around them.

"If you're not too busy," a voice commented dryly as Cloud's white head popped up next to them. "I was scenting around, and there's an unfamiliar cat somewhere in this area, probably just over that ridge."

Instantly the reverie going on in Twilight's head vanished, and she and Raven jumped off the knoll to trot across to where the small slope, studded with small heather and gorse shrubbery, lay on the horizon line. It was far out of the range they normally hunted.

Padding swiftly over the soft moor grass, they soon reached the small ridge and with some difficulty got through the thick foliage.

Twilight saw that the gathering of human nests was much closer now, and it looked bigger, too. She could see little ones a fair distance away, playing behind a white fence that separated their nests from the moor.

The scent of the cat grew stronger, as did something near Twilight's heart. The black she-cat instantly recognized the magnetic pull, and further remembered this clearing was one of the places she'd passed when fleeing from BloodClan.

A small seed of anxiety and fear grew within her as she, Raven, and Cloud continued down the slope, though she didn't know why. Then she tasted the air again.

The cat-scent was vaguely familiar…

She froze in horror, not even noticing her companions turning to look at her. That cat, whoever it was, smelled of the city, of Twolegs and their monsters…and a taint of BloodClan scent!

Her memories ripped through her again, each as painful as she remembered when experiencing them. Again she heard Whip's order to destroy her den, her mother whispering that she loved her as she bled out her life, the look in Sky's eyes as she died to save her friend under the claws of her sister. Titan…. Titan…

"No! No, I don't want to go any farther!" she cried as Raven gentle nudged her. He stumbled backward, hurt and confusion evident in his eyes.

Cloud was not such intimidated. "Twilight, you're being silly," she meowed as patiently as she could. The black she-cat heard her but did not comply, her memories still tearing at her mind at the scent of Titan's cats.

"We'll be with you; it'll be all right," Cloud soothed as she nudged her toward the right direction. As reluctantly as was possible Twilight went with them, ready to leap back at a moment's notice if the cat was anyone out of her painful past.

A small den at the base of a tall rock came into view as the two siblings led Twilight through the clearing toward the scent. They reached it in little time.

Closer now, Twilight could smell the lingering scent of misery. Cats excreted their emotions when they were in great trauma. Also, it was obvious the cat – a she-cat they now could tell – was in some physical pain, too. Even warier, she stayed back from the den.

Cloud glanced at her, then called into the den. "If you can hear us, we mean you no harm. Do you need any help?"

There was no reply, but two seconds later there was some commotion in the den, and the she-cat limped out, raising her hazel eyes to meet theirs.

Twilight looked at her, and there was sudden internal conflict in her mind that lasted only a second. Disbelief and shock fogged her mind immediately.

Raising her dark ginger tail in recognition, the ginger she-cat's hazel eyes brightened as if the sun had illuminated them from the inside. She tried to speak, but a cough rasped out instead and she swayed on her paws.

Twilight gave voice to the name that had throbbed through her mind only a short while ago. One she used to know well.

"Russet?"