I do not own Warriors, Erin Hunter does.
Chapter III
A little ways away from the forest, in the Understaters camp:
"--saw them yesterday night, in the rain," meowed the small, pale ginger Somali kit, her green eyes bright with excitement. "I didn't tell Flight or Song, though, you know, they were the ones with me, you know, trying to show me how to hunt, because they were too busy worrying about the lightning. But I wasn't worried about the lightning. I was watching the cats."
"You didn't tell your teachers?!" meowed the gold Abyssinian sitting next to her, her big gold eyes widening in horror. "But, that means we've lost them, and if they are Norwegian Forest Cats, like you said, then--"
"Peace, Hunter," meowed an older cat, who the kit had been telling the story to, across from her. His shorter grey pelt had lost most of its silver gleam, and his dark green eyes were weary and drooping. "It may have been just as well that Maple didn't call it to the attention of her companions. We have many cats already, and their future depends on no one finding out about the group. Already we have concerns about being discovered...and what would happen if we took two cats in who might not be trustworthy?"
The gold cat, Hunter, looked shocked.
"But isn't that the purpose of this group?!" she meowed, tensing. "To take purebred cats in, who want out of their showcat lives?"
The grey cat closed his eyes. "But we have the future of the other cats to think about, too," he replied. "We can't enlarge the group much more--the more cats know of this group, the more cats can reveal this group."
"I could reveal this group!" piped up the kit, Maple, cheerfully. The others didn't notice.
"You're not the leader, Oak," meowed Hunter to the grey cat, her eyes narrowing. "You can't make decisions like that for the group. We have no leader!"
"This group would not survive without my decisions!" meowed Oak. "I am the one thing keeping us from disaster!"
Hunter leapt to her feet.
"You're putting those two cats in danger!" she hissed.
"I am keeping the group from disaster!"
"You can't stop us from doing what we want!"
The two were now face to face, ears against their heads. A chill had come over the camp, the sun had gone behind a cloud. Shadows of fear slunk into every cat…every cat felt the fur on their necks prickle with nervousness. All waited apprehensively for what would happen next.
Oak stepped back.
The spell was broken, the sun emerging again from the clouds, the cats' neck fur lying back down. Hunter exhaled and realized she had been holding her breath, Maple swished her tail and realized she had been frozen. All over camp the cats breathed a unanimous sigh of relief, relief for what, they did not know.
"I will speak of this no more," Oak meowed curtly and turned, his tail lashing from side to side, to walk to his den. Hunter watched him go, her body relaxing.
"Well, if he won't go after those cats," she meowed, under her breath... "I suppose I'll have to go after them myself."
Moon and Sunlight:
"This is so awesome, I can't believe I didn't think of it before!" meowed Moon, his eyes aglow.
"I wish you'd never thought of it," grumbled Sunlight. "Rolling in dirt to disguise our purebred status and cover our fur in grime is not my idea of 'awesome'."
After a long argument, Moon had come up with the idea of rolling in dirt to cover their fur, so they could walk on human sidewalks without being caught and sold for the money a purebred would bring. As they now walked along the sunny street, they looked like mangy strays to any human--not about to be approached for fear of rabies.
"It is mine! I've always wanted to do this!" Moon replied instantly, forgetting he had only just gotten the idea from the dirt on his paw.
Sunlight smiled.
"Sure it is," he meowed patronizingly.
The disguise was working well, so far, none of the two had been given more than a glance from humans. Despite Sunlight's annoyance at having to be coated in dirt, it was simple and easy to roll in one of the muddy puddles from the rainstorm the night before. The few patches of their fur that showed through made them look even worse. Mothers told their children to stay away from the "filthy strays". All in all, a successful disguise.
Walking away from the forest, the two cats fell sufficiently cheerful in the golden, late afternoon sun that warmed the pavement under their feet. Their earlier worries forgotten, for now, they continued on...away from their lives, and though they did not know it...
Closer and closer to the Understaters.
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--Smokefeather