Yippee! I'm still alive, everyone! XD Yes, it is true, the reason I have not updated in FOR EVAH is not because I died, but in fact because I have a horrible creative mind and can't think of any plotlines for any new chapters. HOWEVER! I am VERY excited to inform you that Le Grande Finale is coming, only two chapters away! Two, including this one. So after you read this one, only one more till the finale is here! Yay! =D So, now just enjoy what my horribly uncreative mind has finally come up with. XD
A Raven's Peppered Wing
"Come on, come on!" Pepper was nearly too out of breath to yell the words over her shoulder at her companion, who was racing with her like his life depended on it. The little brown tabby laughed. Even trying his hardest, Ravenpaw was always a good two tail-lengths behind her.
"You can do better than that!" She teased.
"Hey! You're the one who got a head start!"
Pepper screeched to a halt and spun around to face him. "I did not!"
Ravenpaw stopped right in front of her, almost knocking her over. She didn't flinch.
"Did too!"
"Oh, are you really going to start that 'did not, did too' game? It's for kits."
"You act like one!"
Pepper crouched. "Oh, you're in for it now!" she hissed playfully, and leaped at him. Ravenpaw dodged to the side and pinned her down in the dusty grass just in front of the barn. Pepper hadn't realized she'd made it this far.
"I'm in for it?" Ravenpaw fake-snarled. His breath brushed her fur and Pepper found herself looking upward. Ravenpaw's fur was on end, bristling happily, and his yellow eyes shone bright with amusement. She tried not to stare. "You're in for it!" He paused, and his grin got smaller until it was only a small smile.
"Pepper, you're staring at me."
Pepper drew in a sharp breath, dragging herself from the depths of his eyes and back into reality. "Oh, right, sorry, uh… I was just…" She didn't have an excuse, and she fell silent.
Ravenpaw loosened his grip on her. "It's okay." He meowed quietly. Pepper looked at him and saw he was staring too. His golden eyes moved to her ear, and he leaned over and gently licked it. Pepper was almost startled by the gentleness of the gesture. Ravenpaw looked at her again.
"Just a bit of hay." He muttered, looking a little nervous. His smile was gone, and he looked like he was waiting for a response to something he had done.
Pepper smiled warmly at him, and to her delight, he smiled back.
"Thanks." She whispered. The moment stuck in time, and for a little while, Pepper forgot about everything she had ever worried over.
"Ahem."
Both cats looked up to see Barley standing right in the entrance and immediately jumped away from each other like their touch suddenly stung. Pepper licked her ruffled chest fur, trying to cover her embarrassment, and out of the corner of her eyes, she saw Ravenpaw shuffling his paws and biting his lip.
"Barley…" Ravenpaw's voice had a note of accusing in it, like how a kit would yell at its sibling after being pushed down.
"What, upset that I've been ruining your moments?"
Pepper glanced up sharply, partially because he had guessed exactly correct. "Hey, just because—"
Barley purred with amusement. "I'm kidding," he meowed as he trotted between them, flicking them both on the shoulder with his tail. Pepper relaxed at his words, but felt strangely disappointed. "Lighten up, both of you." He turned to face them before heading into the trees. "I'm going to meet Lilac to go hunting. Be back later." Pepper suppressed a knowing purr. Lilac, the pretty, lanky gray she-cat who had just joined their little group of misfits, had been spending more and more time with Barley by the day. In either of them had noticed each other's feelings, then they weren't showing it. Otherwise, they were idiots.
She called a goodbye to Barley as he jogged to the woodland and stared after him, her mind wandering to nothing in particular.
"What are you thinking of?" Ravenpaw's voice. She turned and saw that he had padded closer. His tone was only curious.
Pepper sighed. "I don't know. Anything. Barley and Lilac."
"Isn't it great?"
"What?"
"Barley and Lilac together."
"Well…" Pepper mewed hesitantly. "They're not really together…"
"Well, no, but that can't be far behind." Ravenpaw's voice was determinedly optimistic, and Pepper almost wanted to wail out loud at the way he was somehow always happy. But she only smiled and murmured a quiet agreement. Ravenpaw was smiling too.
"Hey, you two!" Pepper looked up from her paws at the tall gray figure coming from the trees.
"Lilac!" Pepper grinned, trotting forward to greet her friend. "I thought you and Barley were going hunting together."
Lilac sighed, ruffling the fluffy pale gray fur at her chest. "I was, but I starting scouting around for some good places, and nothing's out yet! Barley's coming back in a little bit, but we're going to wait until noon, when all the animals are out of their dens." She licked Pepper's ear. "But anyways," she went on and Pepper braced herself for a long talk. Lilac had a thing for talking for hours on end and never getting tired of it. "I was wondering if you wanted to come explore with me."
Explore? "Explore?" she echoed her mind. "I don't know…" Pepper gulped. "I'm not really one for exploring…"
"Come on, please?" Lilac's lavender eyes begged and pleaded with her, making her want to give in. "It'll be fun!"
Pepper sighed. "Okay, I'll go."
Ravenpaw came up behind her, his pelt brushing. "Do you want me to come too?" he asked, looking at her. Pepper turned her head just in time to see Ravenpaw's eyes lock with hers. She smiled, ready to say "Okay," but Lilac beat her to it.
"That's okay, Ravenpaw," Lilac mewed. "We probably won't be back for a little bit, so Barley should need some help hunting today. Why don't you go and find him?"
Ravenpaw looked a little taken aback, like he was sure that he would have been allowed to go. Pepper started to protest, but Lilac cut her off again.
"Don't worry," she assured the black tom. "We'll be fine. Besides, I need my time with Pepper, too."
Ravenpaw immediately looked embarrassed, and muttered a sheepish "All right" before scuttling off to the woods. Pepper stared regretfully after him until he vanished into the trees, then looking at Lilac accusingly.
"Why'd you have to do that?" she muttered unhappily.
Lilac laughed, untouched. "Well, it's true. You spend all your time with him. I mean," she added mischievously. "I know why…"
Pepper pushed her playfully. "Okay, I'm sorry. Now let's go so we can get back before sunset."
They followed the path that led all through the woods. Pepper remembered the last time she had been on it had been with Ravenpaw, limping along with and injured leg, just after escaping her Twoleg and getting caught in the bear trap. Speak of the devil. She looked to her left and there laid the trap, still broken. She let out a small, confused "Hm." She would have thought that a Twoleg would have came and picked it up by now. Pausing for a moment, Pepper looked back at her leg. It was completely healed now, and her pelt was shiny and well-groomed. For a heartbeat, Pepper wondered how she would have reacted back then if she had been told that she'd escape, find a beautiful new home, make two new friends, and… 'feel more' for one. I wouldn't have believed it. After a sharp call from Lilac, they started to head away from the small spot with the bear trap, staying well away from it even if it was broken.
Pepper ducked her head, ready to go back into the undergrowth, when her paw fell down farther then expected. She looked down and saw that she had stepped in a large print in some muddy, mossy ground. Pulling her paw out and shaking the mud off of it crossly, she looked closer at it and froze. The print was of a Twoleg foot. Her Twoleg. Pepper bent down and sniffed at it. Yes, it was her old human. She could tell by the smell of rotting wood, and the scent of the disgusting bile that he always used to drink out of brown, sharp things that he once broke over her back. It had taken days to get all of the sharp things out. Pepper shuddered, pushing the thought away and turning her attention back to the print. How had it gotten here? Why would the Twoleg come so far from his nest? Icy cold understanding suddenly rose up through her paws. Was he looking for her? Was he coming to get her, even after all this time?
"Pepper!" The small tabby jumped at the sound of her name. Lilac was pushing her way back through the undergrowth from where she had padded ahead. Her gray head popped out, and Pepper quickly moved her front paws so they were blocking the print.
"Did you find something?" the she-cat asked her, eager at the chance to explore something.
Pepper shook her head. "Nope. Nothing."
Lilac shrugged and turned back around. Pepper removed her paws and saw the tiny print of her paws inside the giant, menacing crater. Without thinking, she shoved dirt on it, covering it up, and wishing that her own worries and fears could she covered up and forgotten so easily.
*gasp* DUN DUN DUNNNN! The evil Twoleg is a'comin to get her! =O OMG OMG OMG! So anyways, review and blah blah blah, because I have the next chappie all written up for ya! =D I'll have to finish up the finale before publishing it though, so it may be just a little bit. REVEWI! lol KTHANXBYE XD
