The calmness soothed her bones. The sound of her footsteps on the soil, the smell of the grass covered earth, and the breath of the insects fluttering along the dawn sky. She had been running all night it seemed. Exhaustion filled her from head to toe. The ache swallowed her whole till she lied breathless on the forests floor. A little rest shan't hurt. After all, it was safe now, but soon she would have to hunt once again as she could feel it on the wind. The seasons were changing, and to fast for her to keep up. In the clan it was much easier as a group of cats hunting together brought better rewards then her solace. She began to wonder if it was a good idea to run away. Her antics had gotten herself into so much trouble it was so hard to say it would be a good Idea to turn back now.
The thoughts swirled inside Night's mind. A tall beautiful golden tom rising over her with deep resentment. A shadow of a smaller black classic tabby scowling behind him. Much worse then these to, however, was a black old wise cat who's grey showed many moons of age around there eyes would be disgusted with her. Night had seen this face so many times. Her father was a arch now, and couldn't keep up with the rest of the clan. She had abandoned him to be taken care of by someone else. She was after all his only family left and she just... left. She had to. All the trouble that made everyone so upset. All the felines would constantly be pushing the molly around for her pranks and silly games. She wasn't meant to be a warrior, a fighter, a healer. None of those things fit her, but now she had to be all of them at once to stay alive.
Eventually the tiredness settled over the worry, and darkness consumed her vision. Would Night have nightmares of this stress she put on. Perhaps, but there was no avoiding sleep after a long run like that. Even if her stomach was empty, the cat would have been taken over by the dream world soon enough.
A sharp yip caught the molly's attention, pulling her out of the deepness of sleep. It yanked her out in fear really. The sound was familiar to that of the coyote that had chased her. No, that couldn't be right. The yip happened again, this time closer. A small black feline seemed to be on a fallen tree just in front of her. Blue eyes pierced her soul as she stood up stiffly. The apposing cat seemed angry and at edge of growling.
"How dare you steal our food." This tortie spoke rather loudly and firmly. It was ground shaking almost. Night was avoiding looking this cat in the eyes, and afraid for her life. Hoping that the feline didn't want a fight with her.
A thought crossed her mind however, did this cat refer to the moth she had eaten? She couldn't possibly think this place belonged to her. Night wanted to insist it was her territory now, but it wasn't a thing for her to settle. She tried bravely to stand up to the other one. straightening up her pose, and puffing out her chest. She wasn't that large, and being young didn't help her physique, but backing down wasn't going to help her now. "What I kill," she coughed, embarrassed, "is mine."
The other one spat furiously. It seemed as if her eyes were alight with fire, but no, it was only Night's imagination. "What you stole was not killed by your kind!" Your kind seemed an odd choice of words, and confused Night a little. "Give it back NOW!" the other feline launched forward. Not attacking, but getting up in Night's face with bared teeth.
"I..." Her ears pinned back in fear. She didn't know what to do. She hadn't stolen any food, though she thought about it due to her extreme circumstances. The moth she had killed was hardly anything to fight about, but anything else she was being accused of had nothing to do with her. Her throat had closed up and she could barely breath. All she had left in her was pure submission.
The tortoiseshell stopped for a brief moment, looking her opponent up and down in realization of what she had done. She knew she had gone to far, and this poor child had nothing left in her. The cat couldn't possibly back down now though, the food that had been stolen was her responsibility to return to her clan. If this lone cat didn't have it, who did? Pacing around Night, this newcomer began to think. Then howling appeared in the long long distance. Pearing up, she seemingly 'howled' in response.
Shock filled Nights eyes. She had never heard a cat sound like that before. Was she really speaking... wolf? coyote? There were coyotes not long ago but really? Would a cat know their language? This one seemed to. "What was that?" Night decided to prompt her. She seemed rather focused on the distance however.
It was a good time to focus on this attacker She had. Dark, with speckles of gold. Patches really, the largest around her left eye caught her attention the most for some reason. With it, the feline was long, slender, and short furred. "What you staring at?" It seemed this caught her attention. The two mollies sat in silence before Night spoke up.
"I'm Night. I am an apparition."
"A what?" She seemed to scoff. "Whatever that means. I suppose it's only fair that since you shared your name I'll give you mine. They call me Stone." The girl looked back to the distance. "So you aren't responsible."
"No, I killed a moth, but that's about it."
Stone seemed to laugh at this. "A moth? How quaint." She pawed Lightly.
~ ♠ ~
In a knoll a rally of three small coyotes seemed to be hackling a small creature at the center. dark gray in nature, and hauling a large sack of goods in its maw. It was at the center of the hole, and unable to really break free of the bullies. The predators were laughing and hopping around in glee. The grass was thin in this space, and not many trees inside of the confrontation, but many surrounded them in a wide circle. If the trapped feline could break for the shrubbery they would be free, but they would have to use the bag as bait to do so.
The three howled in unison. Almost as if they were saying something to one another. The blue cat grimmaced at this. Did it mean they were lunch? Clenching his eyes tight he prayed to star clan for his terrible antics that got him into this mess. Honestly it was all his companions idea in the first place. 'Lets go see what they are up to.' They were such a fool to go along with it. 'What could possibly go wrong?' Darn that spoon. If They ever saw that goofy face again Storm was gonna rip that tongue out of his smug face. Yet. Here they were. Stuck between teeth and a bag of meat.
They weren't being eaten. In fact, the sound, and smell of the beasts was fainter. Opening their eyes, Storm saw the coyotes had backed away a little. "leave the bag and get out of here." a scruff voice came from one of them. Wait, the coyote spoke his language! this was new. They gave it some thought for a moment before dropping the prey to the ground. The bag was theirs, but they weren't gonna argue with life given back to them.
Storm bolted to the bushes. panic sliding from their face as the foliage enveloped them. Thank the stars. The morning light felt good on their face. What a great relief it was to be free from the wrath of such monsters. They seemingly messed with him for so long as if he were a mouse. How rude could they possibly- It was strange they let them go. He stopped to look back seeing the three argue over the parcel through the brush. They had better kept going.
SLAM. A ball of white fur filled their face, and as they looked up a big goofy face greeted theirs. "YOUR ALIVE!" The blue cat seemed cheerful and loving. "I knew you'd figure out something." His eyes closed and tipped his head solemnly. "So where's the goods?"
Writers have my permission to do whatever they want with my cats however they want. Have fun[# 1,438 words]
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