CH 3- A few days later
It was a bright and sunny day. Phoenix stretched, her golden and orange fur beautiful in the light.
Ivy stretched too, her silverfish gray fur warming up.
Their mother, Fern, who had black fur and green eyes, came out of their little den.
"Good morning, Phoenix and Ivy." Fern yawned.
"Good morning," Ivy and Phoenix replied back. "So, can we hunt?" Ivy asked.
Fern nodded. "Let's get something to eat."
The two siblings had been taught early. Their hunting skills weren't as good yet, but it was proficient enough to catch some prey once in a while. Sometimes, the prey escaped from Ivy and Phoenix, and they would have to move on to catch different prey.
The three walked into the forest closeby.
"Don't go too far." Fern warned them as she sniffed around for prey.
"Alright," Ivy nodded, and the three went to find prey. Phoenix went to the right.
Scouting around, Phoenix found a fresh trail. It wasn't stale, which meant that the prey wasn't far. Phoenix followed the trail until it came up a tree.
A squirrel was up above on a thin branch. It must have made that trail.
If only that branch could fall or something… Phoenix thought, staring up.
As if on cue, the branch snapped, and the squirrel fell to the ground along with the branch.
Hitting the ground, the squirrel was dazed for a short time. That was the time Phoenix needed. She darted forward and bit the squirrel's neck, snapping its spine. Falling limp, she carried her plump prey back. It would be enough for today.
How did that happen? That branch didn't look so weak. And when I wanted that branch to break, it broke. Was that me or something else?
She shrugged it off and waited in the spot where her sister and mother had split off.
Soon enough, her mother came back with a robin, while her sister came back with a vole.
"What a big squirrel!" Ivy's eyes lit up. "I love squirrel! I can't wait!"
Fern nodded. "That was an excellent catch."
After sharing the squirrel for breakfast, the three, with full stomachs, walked back to their den. It was close by some Two Leg houses, well hidden and out of view.
But when they got there, there were monsters there!
Big things with four wheels were parked there, and Two Legs were waiting in front of their den.
Ivy ran forward.
"Ivy- wait!" Fern yowled as Ivy hissed at the Two Legs. They wore strange things, and were next to the truck.
"What happened?" Phoenix wondered.
"Two-Legs… They must have found our home!" Fern panicked. Fern ran after Ivy, and Phoenix, not knowing what to do, followed as well.
It must have been exactly what the Two-Legs wanted. They smiled, and threw a net over all three of them.
Ivy screeched, clawing the net. It wouldn't rip.
"WHAT IS THIS THING!" Fern growled loudly. Phoenix was panicking too, trying to claw and bite the net, but it was too strong to bite through.
The Two-Legs advanced, and with gloved hands, they took the netting and lifted it so the three cats were trapped in it. The two creatures talked to each other for a minute, which none of the cats understood, then one Two-Leg knotted the net and opened one of the monsters. Ivy and Phoenix were in fear as they were thrown into the truck. The doors closed and locked. The only way to see was through a small window on the back of the monster.
"Where are they taking us?" Phoenix worried. Vibrations in the monster told her that the monster was starting off.
"Somewhere bad…" Fern gritted her teeth. There was enough light to see in the monster. Phoenix adjusted her eyes.
In the monster, the three all struggled in the netting, but it wouldn't get undone. In exhaustion, the three all rested for a while, feeling the rumbles and bumps of the monster as it rode on the Thunderpath.
A short nap gave all three the energy to fight the rope again. Clawing and biting, all three worked hard, but there was no avail.
It wasn't any use, and all three were tired and in frustration.
If only this net were off of us… Phoenix glared at what was trapping her. It felt uncomfortable to be in this netting!
As if on cue again, the knot was undone on the netting, and the net fell down. All three were untangled from it.
"Wow! We're free! This feels much better," Ivy sighed in relief.
"But we're in the monster," Phoenix muttered, not sure of what she had done.
The three pushed the netting aside and sat in the truck, holding on tight. The occasional bump on the Thunderpath shifted them around.
"I'm worried…" Phoenix looked at her mother.
"Don't worry… I'm sure we can escape as soon as we escape." Fern nuzzled her and Ivy, and they both felt relaxed.
Turning around, Phoenix saw some fastened metal boxes in the back.
"What are those for-"
They were sent flying forward as some strong force collided with the monster they were in. The sensation of spinning around made Phoenix nauseous as she yowled for help. The monster flipped upside down, sending all of the cats falling to the roof of the monster. A loud sound scared all of them.
The boxes were unfastened from the force, and they were sent tumbling around.
"YEOOOOWWWW!" Fern screeched in agony as some boxes fell on her.
"FERN!" Phoenix yowled as she saw her mother get buried under the heavy boxes.
The monster stopped moving, swaying a bit before it came still. Fern was trapped under the boxes. Phoenix and Ivy were miraculously safe. They rushed towards their mother.
"Mother? MOTHER? Can you hear us?" Ivy shrieked, pawing at the boxes.
A muffled groan came from under the boxes. "Ivy, Phoenix, I'm helpless… Don't try to save me. Get away from here before the Two Legs come to get you!"
"But-" Phoenix went closer.
"Just GO!" Fern yowled in pain, and Phoenix jumped back. They would have to go without their mother.
Ivy glanced back. "Mother?"
There was nothing. Listening closely, there was no sign of breathing or moving either.
"Does that mean-?" Ivy swallowed.
"I think so," Phoenix looked away, realizing the truth. "We have to go. Fern said we have to escape! Come on. Worry about this later."
Ivy nodded, and rammed the door, running against it. Phoenix did the same. The door wouldn't budge.
"This is hopeless!"
The door was opened some minutes later after the two cats rammed the door several times. Two-Legs, in different outfits, wearing blue, had opened the door. Behind them, monsters in flashing blue and red lights were on the side of the Thunderpath.
"RUN!" Phoenix yowled as the Two-Legs were about to act. Ivy and Phoenix scrambled out of the flipped monster. Glancing back, they saw glass bits and metal everywhere. Another monster was also flipped too, practically ruined. Looking forward once again, they saw the police just glance at them.
"Why are they not chasing after us?" Ivy asked as she darted alongside Phoenix.
"I've no idea. But be careful, more monsters!" Phoenix answered in one breath as she spotted the wide Thunderpath. Some monsters seemed to slow down, witnessing the crash and the Two-Legs.
"Ready?" Phoenix asked Ivy. "Go!" They crossed when there wasn't any monsters at the moment. They darted as fast as they could across the hot black rock. Reaching the other side, they sighed in relief and went to the forest on the other side.
"Our mother…" Ivy choked, remembering.
"I know…" Phoenix hung her head down, grief filling her. They both walked along, not realizing they passed scent marks along the way.
Rustlings could be heard from the bushes ahead.
"Did you hear something?" Some voice said from far away.
"Where do we go?" Ivy looked at the direction of the noise.
"I don't know. Maybe we should stay and know where we're going." Phoenix suggested. "If there're bad and try to hurt us, then run. Let's stay here."
Ivy nodded and the two sat down, waiting for the source of the noise to come.
It was a few seconds when they did come. There were some cats. One of them was gray with brown tips. Another was brown and had red tinged fur at the ears. A third one was white with blue tinged ears.
"Who are you?" The gray cat with brown ear, paw, and tail tips growled menacingly.
"Uh-w-I'm Phoenix, and this is my sister, Ivy. We were trapped in a monster when it crashed, and so, w-we escaped." Phoenix stuttered.
"You two look young. Where's your mother?" the brown cat asked.
"Uh- our mother, s-she died in that crash," Ivy's voice held grief when she mentioned their dead mother.
The three other cats glanced at each other.
"In that case, come with us. There is a large Thunderpath out there, so you must have come from there." The first said. "Come on." The cat and the others walked to the edge of the forest, where they saw the crash. The monsters with the flashing lights were still there, and the crash was being cleaned up. Pieces of the monster still lay all over the Thunderpath.
"That was the crash?" The third cat, a female, asked.
The two siblings looked away in sadness. "Y-yes." Phoenix nodded.
"Nightstar, our leader, will decide what to do with you two," the first said, still analyzing the crash from far away. "We heard the crash. It was pretty loud!"
The party of five walked back to another place. The cats didn't seem to be hostile, so the two sisters followed, but still were weary.
Arriving at a tunnel, the three cats crawled through, and Ivy and Phoenix walked through too.
Looking around, there were many cats. Seeing two new cats, they all stared curiously.
"Who are they?" A young with brown and tan fur, about a month older than them, asked.
"This is Ivy and Phoenix," the gray cat pointed to each of them respectively with his tail. "They lost their mother in a crash on the Thunderpath. Where's Nightstar?"
"Right here," a black cat with green eyes blinked. "These are Ivy and Phoenix, right, Sharpclaw?"
Sharpclaw nodded. "Yes."
"Where have you two come from?"
Phoenix spoke up. "Somewhere probably not close to here. A monster trapped us while it traveled from some way along the Thunderpath until it crashed."
Nightstar's eyes widened for a moment, seemingly realizing something. Then, he resumed his normal look.
"Well, you are free to stay with us. You are welcome here."
Ivy and Phoenix exchanged glances.
"Alright," Phoenix nodded, after Ivy agreed.
Nightstar looked at them. "You look like you'd both be six months old. For you two, you would start training. Tomorrow, I'll get you both mentors for that."
The two looked confused but nodded. "Alright."
"You can go get some food if you like. And also, at night, rest in that den over there. It's for apprentices," Nightstar pointed with his tail.
He then walked off. All of the others walked off too, except for the other brown and tan cat.
"I'm tired, so I'll get some rest," Ivy yawned. Phoenix nodded, watching Ivy walk off. Phoenix was hungry, so she grabbed a mouse. She didn't want to take too much, even though Nightstar, that cat, had strangely welcomed them both immediately. Spotting some rocks, she climbed up on those and sat at the top.
Another cat had followed her.
"My name is Kestrelpaw. And you are Phoenix?" the tan and brown cat asked curiously, settling beside her.
"Yes, I am Phoenix," she nodded.
"It must have been sad… That crash, your mother died?"
"Yes, and I'd rather not talk about it," Phoenix looked away.
Kestrelpaw glanced at her in sympathy. "I've experienced the same as well," he murmured.
"How?" Phoenix looked back.
"A month ago, my mother died from a fox attack," Kestrelpaw explained, looking a bit upset. "She had a rabbit, and she bumped into a fox. My mother, Hawkflight, was killed."
"Oh," Phoenix replied. "I'm sorry."
"That's alright. But I know my mother is with SpiritClan. She watches over me." Kestrelpaw smiled a bit.
"What's SpiritClan?" Phoenix cocked her head.
Kestrelpaw explained. "It's a place for the spirits of dead cats from the four clans, MoonClan, the one we are in now, SunClan, StarClan, and CloudClan. The spirits watch over us and sometimes guide the clans."
Phoenix nodded, understanding, continuing to eat her mouse.
Kestrelpaw looked down below, thinking silently.
The sky had turned darker, and Phoenix grew sleepy.
She stood up. "I'm going to sleep." She picked up her eaten mouse and jumped down swiftly from the rock. Kestrelpaw followed. It was late, and all the cats would be going to sleep about now.
Phoenix dumped her mouse away, and entered the den. Her sister was there, sleeping in a tight ball. Two others were in there. The shadows were too dark to clearly define them. Settling down, she curled around Phoenix.
Kestrelpaw entered the den and curled up on the far side of the den, soon breathing steadily as he fell into a deep sleep.
Phoenix stayed away for a little while too, thinking about her mother and SpiritClan, before her eyes drooped. Closing her eyes, she fell into a deep sleep.