I wake up at sunrise the next morning, more from hunger than anything else. It'll take too long to walk back to the city, but if I go into the forest, there's a really big chance that I'll get killed. Then my stomach growls.
"Okay, forest it is."
I enter the forest, walking very slowly and as quietly as I can. That is, until I see a mouse. (I couldn't help what happened next; it was instinct okay?!?!)
I drop into a low crouch, and start pulling myself, pawstep by pawstep, towards the mouse. When I get close, I freeze for a second, then pounce. And....I miss. Suddenly I hear a deep growl behind me. "What are you doing here?"
I whirl around quickly and see a huge cat behind me. His back, head, tail and chest are a smokey grey, while his belly and paws are black. His eyes glow a menacing yellow.
"I was, I-" My voice trails into a squeak, and I stand there shivering. "I'm sorry."
He glares at me unblinkingly. "You don't belong here."
"Oh, leave her alone. She's just a kit."
My ears swivel towards the new voice, but I don't take my eyes off the first cat. I listen as they argue with each other.
"She shouldn't be here." says the first cat.
"Well, the warrior code doesn't allow you to hurt kits." the second responds. She's a brown tabby with white paws and blue eyes.
"What's the warrior code?" I ask. They both turn towards me and I cringe.
"Nothing you would know." the tom snarls.
"Oh, be quiet, Darkpelt." the she-cat he voice changes back to the gentle tone she was using earlier. "The warrior code is a set of rules that we have to follow. For example, the warrior code forbids harming kits, no matter where they're from." she adds with a slight glare towards Darkpelt. Then she directs her attention back to me. "What's your name?"
I hesitate. I've never actually had a permanent name. "I don't know."
"Well, what did your mother call you?"
"I don't know. I can't remember my mother." Sadly, that's the truth. My earliest memory is getting yelled at for not going in the sandbox.
"Well, you can always stay with us."
"What?! No she can't!" Darkpelt sound utterly apalled by this idea.
She (I don't know her name yet) turns to him and their voices drop so low, I can only hear parts of what they're saying.
"...Obviously has nowhere else to go.."
"That kittypet is too soft to live here."
That much I understood. "I'm not a kittypet." They both whirl to face me; Darkpelt's eyes burn into me, but I meet his gaze evenly. "I'm not a kittypet." I repeat.
"But I thought you lived with twolegs." the she-cat says.
I shake my head, and she gives me a pitying look. "Then you can come with us." She stares Darkpelt down before he can say anything. "I'm Leafdrift, by the way."
She gives me a look, a look that nobody's given me in my entire life.
It was sympathy