Chapter Two

Catastrophe

Bear was right. The rats didn't bother us again. I would never admit it out loud, but I was glad the older cat was with us. As we walked through the monster graveyard (as Bear called it), he told us stories about how he and our father had been close friends when they were kits. In return, Wren and I told him stories about our adventures. Of course, we hadn't had many, but Bear seemed to be fascinated. By the time our monster shell came into view, I had decided that I liked the tom... and I could tell that Wren adored him.

"- and Shatter screeched so loudly you'd think that he'd seen a live monster!"

Bear purred and cast me an amazed glance, "That afraid of a spider?"

"It surprised me," I muttered. Of course Wren would tell that story. Suddenly, Bear stopped walking. I paused as well, and it took Wren a moment to realize that we had both stopped.

She glanced back at us and tipped her head in question, "What?"

"Shh," Bear murmured. "Come here."

Something in his meow convinced Wren to return to his side. I even edged closer.

Bear was scenting the air. I imitated him, but I couldn't smell anything that would worry him. As I was trying to find the scent that he had found, Bear gently but firmly pushed Wren behind a pile of black monster feet. "Stay here," he hissed at her. "Shatter, get over here." I abandoned my sniffing to walk over to them. Bear nudged me beside my sister. "Stay here," he meowed again. Before I could ask what was going on, he had padded away towards our monster shell.

"What's going on, Shatter?" Wren mewed quietly.

I shrugged. "I'm going to go find out. Stay here."

Wren stepped in front of me. "No, Shatter. Bear said we have to stay here."

"Don't you want to know what's going on?" I asked. "I'll protect you, Wren."

That got to her. "I don't need your protection," she meowed. "In fact, I'm going first." She dropped into a crouch and crept around the pile of monster feet. I sighed and followed her.

(***)

"Who are you?"

"M'name's Bear."

"Bear? Well, Bear, do you know who I am?"

"You specifically, no. But I know your scent."

"Good, you should."

"What quarrel did your leader have with Shard and Willow?"

"Willow? Is that the pretty Queen's name? Our leader had no quarrel with her. But Shard... we came to settle a debt, I will say no more."

"Settle a debt? By killing him?"

"Him and his pretty mate... though I'd have liked to take her to my den first..."

I heard Bear hiss. Beside me, Wren trembled. I was frozen with shock, and grief. Dead? Our parents were dead? But only that day, our mother had been sleeping peacefully, our father had been out hunting. Everything had been so- Suddenly, I felt Wren move beside me.

"No, Wren-" I tried to stop her from running, and in the process made us roll into the pile of pieces of monster shells we had been hiding behind. The delicate tower fell over with a loud banging sound that echoed around the monster graveyard.

A large black cat appeared in front of us. "Well well, who would have thought that there'd be kits?"

I got up and tried to place myself protectively in front of Wren, but she was just as determined to stand beside me. I thought, for sure, that the huge cat would kill us like he had our parents, but just as he reached out his paw, Bear's brown body came in between us.

"You will not hurt these kits," he hissed.

"I will kill them, I'm on orders to destroy Shard's family, and that includes his kits."

"They aren't Shard's kits," Bear hissed. "They are mine."

"Oh really?' the black cat meowed sarcastically. "Tell me, Bear, why do your kits look so much like Shard? His fur is quite unique, and you... well, you're simply brown."

"My kits take after their mother," Bear lied. "She was Shard's sister."

"Shard doesn't have a sister," Another huge cat, a bluish gray tom, joined the black one.

"No, not anymore," Bear agreed. "She died. Many moons ago."

The two big toms exchanged a glance. "Very well," the black one meowed. "You and... your kits... can leave. But we will speak to our leader, and if we find that Shard had no sister, we will hunt you and these two kits down."

Bear turned to us. "Come, Silver, Feather... let's go." Wren pressed herself against his side and followed him away, but I paused for a moment and stared at the two toms. "Silver," Bear meowed loudly. "Come." I turned away from the toms and ran after Bear and my sister.

(***)

"Who were those cats? Why did they... why would they hurt our parents? What did our father do?"

"I don't know, Shatter. I don't know what Shard did," Bear meowed. His blue eyes were watching me pace back and forth. Beside him Wren crouched, picking miserably at a mouse Bear had caught for her. She was almost hidden by his long fur.

"Who were those cats?" I repeated. "Bear, please... you said you knew their scent."

Bear sighed. "There's a cat... we call him Terror. He likes to think that he controls the monster graveyard, and the land around it. He's a terrible, violent cat... but usually he doesn't bother with cats like us. Whatever your father did to make him angry... I don't know. But he sent those two cats to get revenge. I'm sorry... Shatter, that I can't tell you more."

I stared at the ground for a moment. "Bear... thank you for saving us. And making up that story about how our father's sister was your mate and that's why we look like we do... thank you. That was amazing, to think of that so quickly."

"Shard's sister was my mate, Shatter," Bear meowed. "Moons before you were born. Moons before your father met your mother. She got sick, though. And I lost her..."

"Oh..." I meowed quietly. "But, Bear... are those cats going to come after us?"

"Terror will know that Shard had a sister... and there will be no way to prove that you two aren't her kits."

Wren spoke up quietly, "Bear, can we live with you? Will you protect us?"

Bear nodded, "I wouldn't let you leave me, not after that. You've never met other cats, have you?" I shook my head. "Good. We'll tell cats that you are mine. And... now that I've given you names in front of those toms, we should probably stick to them. Sorry about that, I was worried about using your true names."

"We don't mind..." I meowed. "I don't mind anything, Bear... as long as Wr-Feather is safe."

Wren glanced up at me. "You've go to be safe too, Shatter."

"Silver," I corrected gently.