Redstripe RiverClan- Hey, you know you can just skip over my story if you don't wanna read it, right?
Cactopus- Yeah, sorry. Barley still exists, but I suck at writing the allegiances.
Orange flames lapped at the cold air, throwing sparks toward the night sky like stars. The firelight flickered back and forth, illuminating the ragged grass and silhouetting the cats on the outskirts, trying to steer clear of it.
"This place isn't safe," one of them whispered.
A gray-and-white tom, turned to their companion. "We won't stay long." The flames flicked over his face.
The others huddled together, trembling. The leader, a black-and-white tom with a very long tail, was the only one who'd ever been this far from the moor.
"Tallstar?" A gray she-cat was glancing around uneasily. "Why did we come here?"
The tom turned to her. "I once knew a cat who lived around here, Ashfoot. If we find him, he will give us shelter."
Another she-cat, this one tortoiseshell, whimpered, her belly heavily swollen. "It's not safe here! We should leave."
"It's safer than the moor," called a black tom with a twisted paw, limping forward. He met Tallstar's amber eyes. "ShadowClan will be waiting for us there to finish the job."
Anxious murmurs rose from the others, remembering the terrible battle that had driven them from their home.
"What if Brokenstar and his warriors are hunting us?" wailed a white apprentice.
"But we have nothing to eat here," Ashfoot went on.
"We're all hungry," Tallstar meowed. "But we're safer here than we were at home. Even ShadowClan won't follow us here." He turned to the lame tom. "Deadfoot, take Onewhisker and see if you can hunt anything. I'm sure there must be rats around here."
"Rats?" Ashfoot gasped as Deadfoot led away a small brown tabby tom. "We can't eat rats! They bring…diseases!"
"It's all we have," said her tortoiseshell sister. "Would you rather starve?"
Ashfoot knew she shouldn't complain anymore so she sat down. "Sorry, Morningflower."
"We need a better place to rest," Morningflower went on, knowing her sister had lost her kits and was still grieving.
Deadfoot and Onewhisker returned quickly.
"No rats, Tallstar," Deadfoot mewed. "But we've found a tunnel to shelter in."
"Take us there," Tallstar ordered, gathering his Clan with a gesture.
Cautiously, they followed Deadfoot across the wasteland. He led them toward a Thunderpath, the fire casting their shadows over it.
"Here," Deadfoot meowed, stopping by a dark hole. It stank and rumbled as monsters passed over it.
"We can't shelter in a tunnel," Ashfoot complained, forgetting not to.
"It'll have to do."
Ashfoot narrowed her eyes, but followed as her Clan filed into the tunnel. Just as she stepped inside, the sky began to drop a drizzle of rain.
The forest was dark, lit dimly by nothing but the stars and the pale sliver that was the moon through a gap in the trees. Thunder narrowed his eyes, gazing up at it. The night breeze ruffled his orange fur and made him sigh in satisfaction.
Suddenly, he felt a tongue on his ears.
Thunder turned to see his mother, Storm, grooming his ears. Thunder drew in her sweet scent. He vaguely remembered his mother in life, as she had died when he and his sisters were hardly three moons. But he knew this cat was his mother by the stories his uncle was always telling. His father barely talked about her when he asked.
Storm paused, gazing down at her son. She wrapped her tail around him and pulled him close.
Thunder didn't pull away.
He only felt close to his mother when he was dreaming.
Seeing Storm again reminded Thunder of the she-cat who'd taken care of him ever since she died, Hawk Swoop. Hawk Swoop had always been kind to them. She was always tender and soft, and never complained even if having five kits pushing her out of her nest every night was hard. But she could never give him the true feeling of love that came from his deceased mother.
"I know you will make things right," she suddenly whispered and before he could reply she disappeared and he woke up to Lightning Tail's weight crushing him.
What…? Was all he could think.