Username: ThatDragonAdara
Cat Name: Dapplefeather
Gender: Male
Age: 19 moons
Clan: KithclanRank: Warrior
-----------------
Closest Friend: The dreary young warrior carefully slid his body through the undergrowth, his paws quickly becoming slick with early morning dew. His mouth had begun to hang open from thirst several hours ago, and the muscles in his legs were agonizingly painful, but he continued to wander forward. All he cared about at that moment was his old nursery.
It had been nearly ten months since the tomcat had last seen that beautiful old tree. It's rough copper-colored bark and soft pine needles had served as his home for many months when he was still young enough to be with his mother. It had always been safe and warm, even during the most violent storms that commonly rattled the forest there.
And now, in his bedraggled state, he stumbled forward on a quest to find it.
Seconds passed, then minutes, then hours. His eyes kept closing on their own and his head was spinning. The inevitability of exhaustion began to sink more and more into his mind as the sun climbed to it's peak in the sky. But after what seemed like an eternity, he saw it. The outline of a twisted pine tree, laying on the ground, dead.
His heart raced and his eyes widened as soon as he saw it. But because his instincts had seized control of his mind, he couldn't care less about the trees death; he only cared about the shelter that it could potentially provide. With a great deal of effort, he dragged himself over to its mess of upturned roots and squeezed into a small gap. Finally, his lungs released one more faint sigh as his mind drifted off to sleep.
The young tomcat awoke suddenly, and jolt of adrenaline rushed through his body. His eyes flew open and glanced upward, to where a big ginger tomcat was sitting. The ginger tom's fur was a bright peach color, and his golden eyes shone brilliantly against the dark forest. Before he had any time to react, the orange cat flicked their ears and meowed; "Who are you?"
"I- Um.. Uh" the small tom said, his fur compulsively standing on end. "What's your name?" The orange tom demanded again. "Wait, let me guess... Snailface? Hmm... Foxsnot? No wait, I've got it!"
"It's Dapplefeather" the small tom said.
"Oh." The orange cat replied. There was a long, awkward silence before he asked; "So why are you here, Dapplefeather?"
"Well..." Dapplefeather began to say. He knew that speaking to this strange cat may not be the best idea, but things were looking desperate. "I'm trying to find a place to sleep... and some water. You don't happen to know where a nearby stream is, do you?"
"Yea, there's one right by the camp. Follow me!" The orange tom said, as he stood up, spun around and began to march quickly into the forest. "Hey, wait!" Dapplefeather called after him, as he squeezed his way out of the gap in the roots. Just before he ran after orange cat however, he looked back at the fallen tree. Would it really be able to protect him now? Was the trip there even worth the short nap he had? With a bit of regret and sorrow, he dashed after the orange cat. "Please stop!" Dapplefeather shouted again. The excitement of the run was causing the pain in his muscles to quickly return, so he slowed his pace until he was barely jogging.
The orange cat slid to a stop and turned to watch the small tom's sad attempt at running. "Wow, you've really messed yourself up pretty bad, haven't you. How did you even end up like this?"
"My clan chased me away" Dapplefeather said, as he caught up with the ginger tom.
"So you've been walking for ages, right?"
"All of yesterday an most of today." Dapplefeather said. In fact, until that moment it hadn't even occurred to him just how much time he had spent traveling. Up until then all of it had really just been a big blur.
"Hmm... Wait here." the orange tom ordered, as he wandered over to a nearby tree. Using his claws, he tore off a large piece of moss, and placed it gently in his teeth.
"I'll be back in a moment" He mumbled through clenched teeth, as he sprinted off into the woods.
A few minutes later, he came back with the chunk of moss completely doused with water. He then gently passed it to Dapplefeather.
The taste of the water was unlike anything Dapplefeather had ever experienced before. He ecstatically drained the moss dry, and profusely thanked the orange cat.
"You know, I never actually caught your name" Dapplefeather said.
"I'm Peachstalker." the orange cat replied with a smile. "And as soon as you are feeling better, we are going to go find you a new home."
-----------------
