The next morning, the loud rumbling of a Twoleg monster pulled Minnow from her dreamless slumber. Excitedly, she blinked the sleep out of her eyes and hopped to her paws, bounding out of the cat flap and into the garden. Sure enough, there was a huge Twoleg car with a box on the back standing on the road outside her house. Other Twolegs unloaded more boxes from the back of the monster, and took them into the nest.
Minnow weaved through the flowers, rubbing her pelt against them as she did every morning, and hopped up onto her fence. Her blue eyes were wide with wonder as she watched the ant-like organisation from the monster to the nest and back again. Would there be a new cat moving in soon to join Monty and her friends? The silver tabby looked around for the ginger tom, but he was nowhere to be seen. His loss, she thought, sitting on the corner of the fence.
She didn't seem to see any new cats to play with in the garden, so she curiously paced around the border of the fence, watching the Twolegs work away. Off in the distance, she saw the forest beyond the garden, and padded around towards it to get a better look.
Beyond the first few trees, thick clumps of ferns and bushes sprouted wildly out of the ground, with moss clinging to every scrap of bark. The trees became uncomfortably closer the further in they went, with roots tangling with each other into a mangled carpet. The canopy blocked any light, plunging anything below into an uncomfortable darkness. But, beyond the trees, off into the distance, a wide lake stretched out, with beautiful moorlands and wide patches of wild flowers. Minnow looked out with wondrous eyes at the moorlands beyond the forest, and turned behind her to check that Monty wasn't watching. Slowly, and cautiously, she held a paw out to the open air, readying herself to jump.
A quick look wouldn't hurt, and she could run back any time she wanted…
Suddenly, a Twoleg yell rang through Minnow's ears, shrill and quick. At the same time, two sets of loud barking started pounding at the air. Minnow bounced off the fence and turned around, her heart in her throat.
A huge black dog with brown markings jumped at the fence, and with a creak, a snap, and a thud, the loose board fell, and Minnow's flight instinct kicked in.
Minnow didn't bother looking where she was going, she simply picked a direction and ran. The dogs snapped at her tail, white foamy drool scattering on the leaves. Her blue eyes were wild, not even registering that she was running directly into the forest. She hopped and bounded over the mangled roots and burst through thick fronds of ferns and ivy. Her lungs burned, head and heart pounding at top speed as she raced deeper into unfamiliar territory. A wail of fear managed to escape her as she felt the dog snap at her tail again, and she dove through a bracken bush, the thorns catching at her smooth fur as she heard the dogs barking and snapping. She took a second's pause to catch her breath, and continued to run, taking no chances.
She didn't stop until the barking had long faded behind her. Minnow slowed to a walk, panting, and finally raised her head to study her surroundings. Her dark, cold, completely unfamiliar surroundings.
"No- oh, no, no no no-" She whirled around, once, twice, three times, trying in vain to see any trace of Twolegplace, a fence, a wall, a nest - anything. "No- no! Hello?! Monty- is there anyone else out here?"
No, of course there wouldn't be - nobody in their right mind would come out here. Only the badgers and foxes… the badgers and foxes!
Minnow panicked. She made a cursory attempt to find her own pawprints, and at the first shadowy glimpse of what might have been one, she took off in that direction, even though every muscle in her body protested and her head was spinning with exhaustion.
She barely registered what she was running past, focusing on the prints on the ground that might have just been spots in her vision, and she definitely did not see the huge white figure in front of her by the time she had hit it.
Minnow barreled over her own paws, yowling in surprise. The cat that she smacked into let out a snarl and rose to his paws, dwarfing Minnow and practically blocking out any last vestiges of sunlight left under the trees. She screamed and backed up, her kit-fur fluffing out.
"An ambush!" a younger voice yowled as a smaller blue-gray tomcat bound in front of the white one. His heather-coloured eyes bore a hole in her pelt, and his huge front paws had unsheathed claws that dug into the dirt in excitement.
The she-cat's fear-scent filled the air as the white tomcat stepped forwards. Minnow shrank back as he did, seeing him more clearly. He was pure white, with thick fur that ringed his neck, and gray stripes that lined his rump and tail. An old scar ran down his side, long faded, and he, like the younger cat, had huge front paws. He opened his mouth to taste the air. Then, he stepped back, his fur flattening and his expression becoming calmer.
"A kittypet," he meowed to the shorter tomcat before looking back over to Minnow. "You're no threat to us, she-kit."
"Sh-She-kit?!" she squealed breathlessly, ears flattening. "Kittypet? Threat?" She was hearing only every other word over the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, frantic.
"Icesnap, are you sure?" the blue-gray cat meowed, squinting at Minnow. "She's not a SunClan warrior? Or a distraction? Or an ambush?!"
"Rapidpaw, calm your nerves. This is a good learning experience for you, let her scent into your nose, this is kittypet scent."
Rapidpaw leaned uncomfortably close and took a whiff, and then recoiled, lip curling. "Yuck!"
Minnow immediately smacked him in the face with the flat of her paw. "Well excuse you! You smell like gross old grass and dead stuff!"
Rapidpaw hissed and wound back to pounce, but Icesnap blocked him with his front paw. "Kittypet, you best come with us. The territory is a harsh place for young kits like you," the white tom meowed.
"Come with you?! Like heck I will!" Minnow yowled, backing up, her tail tucked between her legs. "Take me home right this instant!" Her heartbeat began picking up again. The corners of her vision started to get blurry.
Shaking his head, Rapidpaw ducked out from under Icesnap's striped tail. "No way! That could take us near a Thunderpath or near SunClan territory and - you are NOT getting us that easily. She's totally a spy, see?!"
"I don't know what a Thunderpath or a SunClan is," Minnow pleaded in exasperation, her voice getting further away, "so just let me go home and stop holding me up!"
Icesnap gave a disciplinary glare. "Rapidpaw," he hissed. "We have to take her home. You know the code. Say it back."
The blue tom dipped his head and mewed "no warrior can neglect a kit in pain or danger, even if the kit is from…"
"Another Clan." Icesnap finished, before turning back to Minnow, his face softening. "We have to take you back to camp until you're fit to go home."
Minnow didn't care for most of what they were saying, it was all a jumbled mess of nothing to her. Her ears flattened, she took a staggering step forward, muscles protesting. "I'm fine! Just… just take me home!"
Suddenly, the younger tom's heather eyes widened, and he yelped out "she's gonna collapse!" Swiftly, he shot forward and held her up, pressing their bodies together.
"I don't know what you-... you're…" she wheezed, her paws wobbling beneath her. Instinctually, she tried to back away, but her head felt like it was on a spring. She wasn't going to collapse! It was dark, but it was the forest! It was supposed to be really dark, right? She wasn't so sure anymore as the colours in her vision melted together into a big blob. Her limbs felt heavy and numb, and she didn't even notice that she couldn't stand anymore until it was too late. The last thing she felt before she blacked out was Rapidpaw's warm, hard-muscled shoulder brushing against her pelt, softening her fall to the compact forest floor. Then, there was nothingness.
Distantly, Minnow thought she could hear voices chattering amongst themselves. Her body was drained of energy and limp, but she could feel something soft beneath her. The air was filled with scents of flowers and nature, but it was far too much for her nose to handle. Overwhelmed already, she wanted to curl up and cry as she then scented two strange cat-scents.
The mumbling drew closer to her ears, and as she cracked an eye open, the world finally came back to her.
"Dovestar! She's awake!" A she-cat's voice called.
A large white blur filled her vision, pushing aside the greens and browns of the background. A ginger blob stood beside it, looming over Minnow.
"Kit, can you hear me?" the white blur meowed, leaning in closer. Now Minnow could see two blue smudges on what she could only assume were its eyes. Its voice was of a tom, his voice smooth and steady, with rarely any variation in pitch. "Can you tell me your name?"
Minnow managed a small mumble, whispering her name to the white tomcat as her vision returned to her.
"Minnow? Okay, Minnow. You're in MoonClan camp. My name is Dovestar. You fainted in the forest and were brought back by some of my warriors. Kestrelwing here," he gestured to the small ginger she-cat with a soft, round face, "is our medicine cat, she will help you recover. Just do as she says."
"Here, eat these," Kestrelwing offered suddenly, drawing the silver she-cat's attention from Dovestar. Wiggling in and pushing him to the side, she placed down a bundle of leaves. In the middle were two purple specks. Berries. "These are juniper berries. They will help you get your strength back," she meowed softly.
Curling her lip, Minnow shook her head slowly. If they were anything like the blackberries that Monty had licked, she would rather die than get that foul taste in her mouth. Kestrelwing raised an eyebrow, and then gently pushed them closer to Minnow. "Come on, kit. They're good for you."
Minnow wanted to yell at her. Something like 'like heck I'd eat any of your weird berries! Do you have ticks in your brain?!' but she felt too tired to even move.
"We'll try again later, okay? Try and rest, you need your strength." The ginger she-cat rolled the berries back into the leaf bundle, and padded away to the back of the den, out of sight.
Dovestar meowed "we know you do not trust us, Minnow, but we follow a strict code. We take care of the young and the old, and heal the sick. Once your strength has returned to you, we will escort you back to your home. Is that alright with you?"
Minnow huffed quietly, and murmured "I guess. But only if I go home as soon as I can walk."
"Then it will be so," Dovestar meowed. "However, you will not be allowed to leave this den. You did, although unintentionally, lead dogs into our territory. Kestrelwing and her apprentice will ensure you stay in this den at all times, and only leave to go to the dirtplace. I would recommend doing as Kestrelwing says if you want to heal up faster and get back to your Twolegs. Do you have any questions?"
There was a moment of silence, and then she meowed "...do you need to talk so much?"
The white tom snickered, and turned to leave the den, casting a final glance back at Minnow, his blue eyes warm and kind. "I suppose not."