Chapter 13

Faithpaw lay with his head against the floor of the cave, his eyes open as he stared at the walls. Sylicora hadn't come back since she had tried to mate with him and he decided to lie down, in hopes of getting some sleep.

He stared sadly at the rock walls. He was thinking. Thinking of Moonfeather, of Sylicora and of Siftpaw. Moonfeather was pregnant. She had mated with Akando on the second day of knowing him. Why didn't she just hold off and not let him mate with her? He hadn't thought Moonfeather was interested in having a mate or kits. He hated Sylicora, but he was wondering why Akando had assigned her to be his 'helper'. She was obviously is heat, didn't Akando except him to have trouble not mating with her? It was almost like he wanted them to mate. At the thought, Faithpaw bared his teeth a little.

And Siftpaw. He closed his eyes painfully as he pictured her silver and grey pelt, the blue eyes. He let out a little whimper. Where was she? Where had she fallen? Why had she disappeared without a trace? He tightened his eyes. Where are you, Siftpaw? He thought painfully.

He opened his eyes and stood up. Silently he padded from the cave and down the hall. Faithpaw peered into Moonfeather's cavern. She slept on her side, eyes closed and breathing hard. Her belly was already getting large, even though she had only been pregnant for a moon.

Faithpaw continued down the hall. He was stopped at the end though, by two cats guarding the way into the big chamber.

"Where are you going?" One growled at him.

Faithpaw glared into his eyes. "Out," He snapped.

"Where's Sylicora?" The other asked, a she-cat with dark grey fur.

Faithpaw frowned. "Do I look like I know?"

"Did you mate with her?" The first asked.

The world spun for a moment. Faithpaw tried to gather his thoughts through the sudden rush of shock. He stared at the tom, unblinking, frowning, furious. So they knew she was in heat. "No." He growled finally.

"Then you have to go back to your cavern," The she-cat growled, "Go on. Go."

Faithpaw glared into her amber eyes. "You can't keep me in here."

"We can do whatever we want," The tom snarled, "And we follow our own rules. Go back to your cavern."

"Why am I here?" Faithpaw asked him as he backed up, back into the tunnel. "What do you want with me?" he yowled the last bit, then turned and rain back to his cave. He collapsed into a heap of brown and white fur, then stared at the wall. His mind was whirling, working furiously. Why did they ask if he had mated with Sylicora? Why did they keep him in the cave because he hadn't? And if he had, what would they do then? He tried to piece it all together. He had gotten Sylicora assigned as his 'helper' and she was a she-cat in heat. The other cats seemed to want him to mate with her. He thought about Moonfeather. Pregnant since the second day, with Akando...

Faithpaw shot to his feet. He bolted from the cave, racing down the hall until he reached the cave Moonfeather was in. He skidded into it and prodded Moonfeather hard in the ribs.

She woke with a start. "Huh?"
"Did you get assigned a 'helper' when you first got here?" Faithpaw asked her urgently.

She blinked, then nodded. "Yeah..."

"Who was it?"

"Akando."

Faithpaw stared into her eyes without seeing them, blinking shocked. "And you did mate on the second day?"

"Well, I arrived here really late at night, and we mated in the really early morning, before dawn. He stayed with me all night." A dreamy smile crossed her face. "He was really nice. That was such a fun night..."

Faithpaw's breath began to get faster. He stared unblinkingly at Moonfeather. "They want us. They want our mating powers." He turned and stumbled out of the den. His mind was whirling with shock. For some reason, the cats from The Ambush were having trouble mating with each other.

As he lay down again on his nest in his own cave, Sylicora padded in. She smiled hugely at him. Faithpaw stared hard at her, thinking, calculating...

"Oh, Faithpaw," She said, "You're still here. So little. So cute." She smiled, then padded up and sat down beside him. He jumped away, observing her as much as he could.

Suddenly, moving like lightening, She whirled around and forced herself under him. She started to move back and forth, but Faithpaw had already leapt up. He jumped foreword and ripped his claws through her pelt, then chucked her aside, leaving her in a heap.

"Never touch me again," he snarled, "Because if you do, I'll kill you, ok? I'll kill you!"

She didn't look at him, just stood up and left the den.

Faithpaw got to his feet and walked out of his cavern. He stopped, ears pricked, as a call sounded from the main cave. It sounded like a summoning call, so he padded down the tunnel. This time he wasn't stopped by guard cats. He walked into the big cavern with the water in the middle. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Moonfeather padding up. She sat down beside him with a murmured greeting.

Akando sat on the rock he had sat on when Faithpaw first arrived. He waited until silence fell, then he said, "Bring her up here."

Faithpaw watched as two cats escorted a pale brown and white tabby up to the rock. He sniffed the air, she smelled like a loner.

"What is your name?" Akando asked the tabby.

Her eyes were round with fear. "Bird," she rasped.

"Bird, we welcome you to The Ambush," Akando yowled. He looked into the crowd. "Dono, you will be her helper." He twitched his eyebrows, like he had with Sylicora, Faithpaw's helper. Dono, a dark grey tom, stood up and dipped his head.

Faithpaw watched, eyes narrowed, as the cats broke up. Bird, who was looking fearful, was being approached by Dono. He smiled and they walked down the hall together. Soon, their tails twitched and slowly wound together.

Heart pounding, Faithpaw sprinted down the dark tunnel, passing underneath shafts of pale white light. He found the entrance to the cave Bird had been led into, and he hid outside of it, sinking into shadow.

Dono was talking to her while they sat with their fur mingling. Faithpaw sniffed the air. Bird was in heat. His heart quickened.

Dono was moving behind Bird, and he began to lick her ears. She purred and titled her head back.

Suddenly, Dono leapt forward, on top of Bird. He started to thrust back and forth with his hips.

Faithpaw froze, watching them mate. Then slowly, he crept away from the entrance and raced to Moonfeather's cavern.

"Were you in heat when you first arrived?" He demanded.

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Faithpaw, why do you keep asking me all these questions? What is it you are trying to figure out? Why can't you just drop it, mate with Sylicora and be happy here?"

Faithpaw stared at her, slightly hurt. "Were you in heat?" He asked softer.

"Yes," she sighed, "Now what is it you want to know?"

"I think we're here as mating machines," he meowed.

Not a very good chapter, I know. :P Aw well. I felt sick as I wrote it.