Last Update: Moon 0, 04/07/2024
Moon 0
Shiverstar freezes in her tracks as one of the nearby yew trees rustles. Riftnoise slinks up behind her silently, and the two share a glance as they wait. But nothing happens. They both breathe a sigh of relief.
"You didn't have to do this you know." The sudden squeaky voice makes the two cats jump, until they realise it's just one of their passengers. On each cat's back sits a kit, not yet young enough to leave the camp, but plenty young enough to get into mischief.
"He's right, you know, we can get home ourselves. We're going to be the best warriors in BasilClan, after all!"
"I know you are, dears, we just don't want any trouble with your parents." Shiverstar smiles at the young cat clinging to Riftnoise's back.
"We're almost there, thank StarClan we didn't run into a patrol on the way." Riftnoise moves ahead. "This looks familiar. You two can find your way back from here, yeah?"
"We could have found our way back before," the kit scowls. "Buuut, I guess we should be thanking you, or whatever."
Raccoonkit nods in agreement. "Yeah, we totally could have made it back, but our parents will be happy that we weren't out late. And maybe we were a tiny bit lost..." This earns her a wack from Weedkit. "Hey!"
A shadow suddenly creeps into the groups' vision, causing them all to jump. The adults turn around and unsheath their claws, ready to defend themselves.
"Relax, you two. Unless you're actually looking for a fight?" The calm voice accompanies a slight smirk from Flickerstar, the BasilClan leader. Shiverstar and Riftnoise relax their posture the slightest amount, but are clearly staying on their guard.
Shiverstar steps forward. "We don't mean any harm, Flickerstar. We found these two playing on our border, we just wanted to return them home." The two kits quickly jump down and bow slightly to their leader.
Flickerstar chuckles. "I figured as much, wouldn't be the first time. It will be the last though." The last part is accompanied by a glare directed towards the kits who bow even lower. "I appreciate you returning them home. You should leave though, if any other cats find you on our territory, I can't guarantee they'll be as friendly."
He receives hurried nods from the RoseClan cats as they start to turn away. "Thank you, Flickerstar, we're very grateful for your hospitality." They start to scurry away when he speaks again.
"Oh, and one more thing. I know you city cats aren't used to life in the wild yet but you must learn to pay attention to which way the wind is blowing. I could smell you from half way across the territory."
Shiverstar and Riftnoise share a sheepish look as they run away.
-Shiverstar and Riftnoise find two lost BasilClan kits on patrol. They return them to the BasilClan camp. RoseClan's relationship with BasilClan has improved.
-Mossysmoke had a dream she thinks came from StarClan, but Wrenfur was unable to interpret it for her. Wrenfur worries a about her lack of spiritual connection, but Mossysmoke consoles her and reminds her that she's still new to the position.
"We can't stay here forever. You know that, right?" Rift nudges the cat sitting next to him, but she is clearly lost in her own head.
"Shiver?" He tries again. After a moment, there is a sigh.
"I know, I know, but how do we tell that to the others? Our friends are relying on us, we can't just tell them that we have no plan, no backup, no way to guarentee their safety!"
Rift puts his head down. "We don't have a choice, Shiver. If we stay here, the machines will kill us. Wherever it is we go, it can't be worse."
"But you remember what happened to Mitzi, right? If we head farther into the humans' territory, they'll capture us as well! I will not have our group being split apart, we're all we have left."
The two sit in silence, watching as a digger pulls at a rickety old fence. Eventually, Rift speaks up again.
"Hey, do you remember that mangy old kook who passed through here a few weeks ago?"
"Don't be rude, Rift." Shiver says with a slight smile. Rift chuckles. "But yes, I do. What about him?"
"He said something odd to me, about another group of cats he ran into a while back. He called them 'Clans'." Shiver raises an eyebrow at this.
"Do I like where this is going?"
"Probably not, but if he was telling the truth, then maybe we can find a new home after all. He did say they weren't the friendliest bunch, but there's fresh food and water and shelter there. It might be the only chance we have."
More silence. The fence is gone now.
"Do you remember where they live?"