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Post by Maplestone360 on Oct 29, 2016 14:33:27 GMT -5
Prologue
Autumn was curled up in the nursery, sleeping peacefully in a soft nest. Quiet purrs escaped her, and her tortoiseshell fur was groomed smooth. Her fluffy tail was curled around two tiny bundles, one white and one brown-and-white, which were both snuggled deep into her belly fur.
The queen lifted her head as she heard the entrance of the nursery rustle, and a ginger tom stepped in. "How's my favorite she-cat doing?" he asked, a wide smile spread across his muzzle.
"I'm fine, Flame," Autumn replied. "You should really be asking how the kits are doing." The torti drew her slightly scarred tail away from her belly, revealing the tiny kits.
Flame stepped closer to Autumn and peered at the kits, love shining in his icy gaze.
One of them, the pure white one, seemed to notice her father's presence and lifted her head slightly, sniffing the air. She blinked open two tiny blue eyes and let out a high pitched mewl.
"Alright, little one, back to sleep," Autumn mewed softly, gently nudging the kit with her nose until she settled down again.
"I think we should name them now; their eyes have opened," Flame suggested.
Nodding, Autumn looked down to the kits. "How about... Molasses," she pointed to the brown-and-white she-kit.
"And Snow," Flame finished, gazing at the pure white kit.
"Perfect," Autumn smiled. "Now, aren't you needed out there?" she motioned to outside the nursery, in the camp's center. "Patrols are essential more often at this time of year."
"Ah, I suppose. But will you be alright?" Flame asked.
"I'll be fine," Autumn replied. "Besides, I can always ask Lily for help if I need it," she added, flicking her tail to where Lily was sleeping, a single black kit by her side as well. The silver-and-white tabby had come to the nursery much before Autumn, and her kit was nearly a moon old.
"Alright," Flame gave in. "See you later then." And with that, the ginger leader gave his mate one last lick on the ear before padding out of the bramble den.
Eyelids drooping drearily, Autumn laid her head back in her nest, humming softly as she drifted back to her peaceful slumber.
Chapter 1
Snow blinked against the morning sun that had awoken her, breathing in the autumn chill. She climbed out of her nest, stretching each of her hind legs as far as they would go, and padded out of the apprentices’ den.
She passed the fresh-kill pile, a look of longing in her gaze, for she was very hungry. But, she had to hunt first to feed the Colony, those were the rules. So she continued the stretch to the camp’s entrance.
Before the young Hunter could step out, she heard a voice behind her.
“Good morning, Snow,” her father, Flame, meowed.
“Good morning, Daddy,” Snow mewed, turning around to face the Leader. He was padding towards her, a dreary smile on his face indicating he’d just woken up as well.
“Where are you off to?”
“Oh, I’m just going hunting with Holly, Fish and Oak,” she replied.
Flame nodded, then asked, “Are you bringing Molasses with you?”
Snow’s gaze wavered to where the brown-and-white she-cat was still asleep back in the apprentices’ den. What, my sister? No! she thought to herself. Really, she hadn’t told her sister what she was doing, but she figured she wouldn’t mind... right? Before remaining uncertain for a few moments, she replied, “I didn’t want to wake her up.”
“Alright then,” Flame mewed, although not looking entirely convinced. “See you,” he purred, touching his nose to Snow’s before padding away.
After Flame disappeared into his den, the white she-cat skipped away, pushing through the entrance of the camp. When she emerged, she could see Holly and the others standing a few tree-lengths away, waiting for her. As she reached the littermates, she could see that they weren’t they only ones there. Raven was there too.
Oh, fox-dung! Snow complained in her mind. He’s the cat I want to see the least! The two often didn’t get along, always “butting heads” as Autumn said. But what would a cat expect from polar opposites? She imagined that the black tom wasn’t happy to see her either.
“Why is she here?!” Raven grumbled, confirming her thoughts.
Holly and Fish exchanged a glance as if they forgot to tell Raven that she would be tagging along. “Ah, sorry Raven,” Oak sighed. “If you don’t want to come anymore that’s fine.”
“No, I’m coming!” Raven protested, and began to stalk away to the front of the group, sticking his tongue out at Snow as he passed.
Immature furball, Snow mumbled inwardly.
. . .
The hunt was rather successful; the two Hunter apprentices Holly and Snow had caught two pieces of prey each, and were planning to head back soon. But as they were passing by the Meadow, Oak’s keen sight picked out a plump rabbit that was chewing on a clover, and instantly he leaped towards it.
“Oak!” Holly yelled after him. “You’re not a Hunter!”
“But I’m a Runner!” he replied, not stopping. “I can get it."
The tom was right. He was faster than the rabbit, a skill learned from months of training, and he soon had pinned it down, triumph sparkling in his yellow eyes.
“Uh.. now what?” the tabby asked, clearly looking a bit lost.
“Daft apprentice!” Holly grumbled, padded over, and swiftly ended the rabbit with a killing bite.
As the cats were settled, Fish looked up from the tasty looking rabbit and gasped. “Would you look at that,” he mewed, his gaze fixed past the large train tracks that bordered the Meadow. “The Forbidden Area.”
It was called ‘Forbidden’ for a reason. The land past the Meadow wasn’t inside the territory, and was still and lifeless, except for the occasional rat that was foolish enough to build a nest there. The ground was cracked and there was hardly any grass, probably from what humans have done to it. Cats that traveled over there hardly ever came back.
A sly grin spread across Fish’s muzzle. “Dare you to cross the tracks.” He nudged Oak.
“What? N-no way!” the tabby sputtered, his eyes wide with fear.
“Scaredy cat, too afraid to go!” Fish taunted.
“Fish, stop,” Holly hissed.
“I’m not afraid!” Raven spoke up, defiance in his mew.
“Raven!” Snow disapproved.
“Shut up.” And with that, Raven pushed his way to the front and started padding towards the train tracks.
Snow’s gaping jaw slammed shut, and she started to follow Raven, her tail twitching in annoyance.
“This is gonna be good,” Fish whispered, padding closer to the scene. He obviously didn’t think Raven would actually do it.
But he did.
Raven crossed the tracks without hesitation, stepping onto the cracked soil and letting out a shiver of delight.
Now Snow was getting scared. Raven wasn’t exactly her friend, but she still followed him into The Forbidden Area.
The land was absolutely terrifying, for her at least. She couldn’t believe Raven was enjoying it. Perhaps from a feel of adventure? Snow realized she was trailing behind, and sped up to reach him, painfully aware that they were walking farther and farther from safety. “Raven, this has gone too far, we have to go back,” she growled.
But Raven, of course, wasn’t listening. “Oh boy, a stoat’s burrow!” he mewed excitedly as he saw the hole dug deep beside a sickly tree stump. He quickly began to examine it, sticking his nose in the dirt.
“Raven..” Snow sighed, becoming impatient. A stoat’s burrow was no big deal, but Raven was treating it like one. It was probably abandoned anyway! Preparing to shove him away like an overgrown kit, Snow stomped forward, fur bristling. But before she could get the chance, something caught her gaze. Something not good.
Squinting to get a better look, Snow gasped in alarm. It was a large white truck, which seemed to be crawling along a dirt road not too far away. A truck out here?! Impossible! Snow thought, flattening her ears, while Raven was completely oblivious. The truck slowly came to a stop when whoever was in it spotted the two cats. By now Snow was starting to panic. “Raven!” she yelled, pulling his scruff with her teeth. “Let’s go!”
“WHAT?” Raven hissed, pulling his head out of the hole. “Oh.”
Two humans had stepped out of the truck, and were holding strange contraptions in their hands. Looking pretty menacing, they began creeping up on the cats, corning them.
Nononono! Snow cried inwardly, cowering down where she was.
Raven, however, had a different plan. Without waiting for Snow, he darted towards the closest opening between the humans, trying to escape. Unfortunately, he was unsuccessful. The human closest to him raised their arm, and surprisingly, the round thing in its hand extended, and captured Raven by the neck, tightening around him.
“No!” Snow screeched, darting towards the captured Raven, but suddenly a sort of net landed on her, trapping her inside. She struggled for her life as the human who trapped her bent down to pick her up, and began walking back towards the truck. She unsheathed her claws, scratching and biting, but the thick clothing the human wore had no effect from her efforts.
Through the red haze of fear, Snow could see the human holding Raven place him in a mesh box, and he was still. Attempting her last struggle, Snow let out a shrill cry, but the human holding her fed something small and round down her wide open mouth and into her throat. Helpless but to swallow, Snow felt herself growing too dreary to struggle anymore as the human removed the net, and placed her in another one of those mesh boxes. As the wide doors of the tuck closed, leaving the two inside, Snow felt her vision slowly fade into darkness.
. . .
Holly, Fish and Oak watched from their side of the train tracks as the truck slowly crawled away, too shocked and shaken to move. “What have we done?” Holly breathed, genuinely afraid of what would happen to the young apprentices now. Chapter 2
"Nnnnnzzzzhhh..." Snow moaned, struggling to open her eyes. Her muscles ached, and she was strewn in an awkward position inside the mesh box. Pushing herself up into a sitting stance, the white apprentice squinted her eyes against the darkness. She seemed to be inside the truck's large rear, and dozens of other mesh boxes were scattered around, most of them empty. Others contained only a few cats, all of them she didn't recognize.
But as the truck went over a bump, jostling empty boxes, Snow caught sight of Raven who was just awoken by the bump. "Raven!" Snow called, and the black tom whipped his head over to meet her gaze.
"Snow?" he mewed, looking a bit startled himself. "Where are we?!" he hissed.
"I don't know!" Snow replied, uncertainty sharp in her mew.
"Well, wherever we are, I don't like it. We have to get out!" And with that, Raven began gnawing at the mesh of the box where the door was latched shut. He wasn't making much progress, however.
Oh...! Snow thought, anger boiling up in her stomach. They were never getting out at this rate! After watching Raven fail at the bars a few more times she couldn't take it any longer.
"Help! Is anyone there? Help us please!"
Raven hissed in annoyance and looked up to glare at her. "You wailing like a kit isn't going to get us anywhere!"
The two apprentices jumped as they saw movement in the shadows. Squinting to get a better look, Snow realized that it was another cat. As the cat stepped out of the shadows of their cage she could get a better look. The she-cat looked fairly old, unhealed wounds could be seen through some of her unkempt brownish red fur. Her weak amber eyes gave them a look over.
"The tom's right," she rasped, gazing at Raven. "I suggest you save your energy. You'll need it."
"And you are..?" Raven asked, giving the she-cat a suspicious look.
"I'm known as Grace," she answered. "You can pretty much assume why," she added, sweeping her scarred tail to indicate her wounds, showing she was probably pretty lucky to survive whatever had happened to her. "Although, I was once called Acorn, I believe."
"Acorn?" Snow asked, confused. "That's a Colony cat name..."
"Oh! So you've heard of 'em?" Grace chuckled.
"Heh... we're one of them, actually," Snow mewed nervously. "I'm Snow, and this is Raven." She flicked her tail in the direction of the tom. "So... why was that your name?"
"Oh, I was a Colony cat once, back then before Flame's reign when the times were dark and traitors and murders lurked in our midst... but that's another story."
"But why did you leave?" Snow asked, engaged, while Raven wasn't paying much attention.
"Leave? Hah! I was exiled, all because of some wounds that seemed to be too bad to be treated! But I survived, ol' fleabags!" Grace mewed triumphantly, apparently addressing cats that were long dead.
"Yeah, yeah, but the important thing is if you know a way to GET US OUT OF HERE!" Raven yowled, his patience run out.
"Ah, you could say it's a way, but it's not one of the best," Grace sighed.
"Just tell us," Snow and Raven said in unison.
"If you say so." Grace shrugged, and began to tell the apprentices how to get out. "First of all, you'll need to know why you're here. Maybe then you'll change your mind."
"Change our minds?! Are you insa—" Raven yowled, only to be silenced by a flick of Snow's tail. "Go on," she mewed.
"Well, rumor has it that this group of humans are getting together and using trucks like these to capture all you neighborhood cats," Grace continued, and was met by horrified glances from the two apprentices. "They think there's too many of you, and they don't want any more wild cats stealing their garbage and digging up their gardens and whatnot. So, they're not gonna stop until they've found you all and taken you to where we're heading right now."
"Which is where?" Snow asked, her voice shaky.
"Not exactly sure, but I do think they want to hand you off to other humans who'll take care of you."
"WHAT?" Raven shrieked, and began clawing frantically at the mesh bars. "I don't want to be a pet!"
"Take it easy," Grace mewed. "That's what they're planning alright, but I'm not sure that's the whole reason. Now, wouldn't you rather be safe and cozy with some nice housefolk then have to deal with whatever those nasty humans are planning?"
"No! I'd go down with my Colony, if that's what it takes!" Raven replied, a little too harshly.
"Well then. I guess when we reach where we need to go, the humans'll take you out of these cages and into some building they'll keep you in. So of course you'll have to fight your way out of their grasp, but it's worth a shot," Grace advised.
Cages! That's what these things are… Snow realized. She looked up at Grace, suddenly confused. "But what about you?"
"Eh, they'll probably put me out of my misery soon enough," the old she-cat replied, almost unconcerned. "It looked like that's what they had in mind when they snatched me up from my side of the road."
"You don't have to die!" Snow mewed, dismayed. "You could come back with us, live peacefully with our elders..."
"It's alright, I'm past my prime anyway. Besides, I wouldn't be able to follow you all the way back to your home, that's miles away."
She's right… Snow thought. It is miles away… the fact had come to hit her that they had been in the truck almost all day, and the sun was setting now, based on the light coming through the small hole near the front of the truck. They must've come very far away from home.
Suddenly, the truck began to slow down a considerable amount. "We're here," Grace mewed. Her eyes had a strange wistfulness in their amber depths.
Snow and Raven tensed as the truck slowly came to a complete stop. Raven unsheathed his claws. Snow flattened her ears. The three cats heard a truck door open and shut, and eerie footsteps came closer... and closer to the back end.
Grace looked up to the truck's roof, an almost vacant gleam in her eyes, before she whispered, "It's time."
Chapter 3
Snow almost jumped as the large back doors on the truck opened, revealing the two humans that had snatched her and Raven earlier, as well as two new ones. She gulped. They would be no match for four fully grown humans.
In the light of the setting sun the young apprentice could get a quick glimpse of where she was: near a medium-sized, white colored building that seemed fairly menacing to her, standing on the edge of a forest of tall, dark trees. But she couldn’t look much longer, for one of the new humans was reaching for Raven’s cage. As he unlatched the door, took Raven out of it, and began making soft cooing noises at him, Raven hissed with rage and clawed at the human’s face. Yowling in agony, the human dropped Raven, and the black tom sprinted away from the truck.
“Raven!” Snow yowled. She couldn’t believe the young tom had forgotten her. But now she realized why he’d done it. The other new human was reaching for her cage, and picking up on what Raven had done, she willingly let the human take her out. The human obviously thought Snow had given up, and loosened her grasp considerably. But Snow took this as her chance, and wriggled out of the human’s arms and sprinted away from her, towards Raven.
“Raven!” Snow called, panting heavily. “I’m coming!” She pushed herself further when she saw that the tom had stopped by the edge of the forest and was waiting for her. In a few heartbeats she reached him, and almost barreled into him from her momentum.
Raven swirled his head around and flattened his ears, and Snow turned as well to see what was going on. She gasped when she saw that the humans had followed them and were gaining on them quickly.
“Go!” Raven ordered her, his tone sharp. “I’ll hold them off.”
Snow gasped. “You can’t do that! They’ll get you!”
“Just go!” Raven hissed, pushed Snow hard from behind, and took off towards the closest human.
Snow had no choice. She had to save herself: it wouldn’t help if she got captured and Raven had to save her. Besides, he would probably be fine, right? He was a Fighter, after all. Snow made up her mind and tore away, into the unfamiliar forest, and didn’t look back to see if a human was following her. She could hear Raven’s screeches as well as the humans’ yowls, but she kept on running as fast as her legs would take her. As soon as the sounds drifted out of her hearing, she collapsed, her chest heaving.
Snow sat in the shadows of the tree nearest her, awaiting Raven’s return. After waiting a few more moments, she tensed as she heard the undergrowth ahead rustling. She unsheathed her claws, ready to protect herself from anything coming, when suddenly Raven burst from the lush ferns.
“Go, run!” he yowled as he passed her, and Snow leapt up from her spot and followed him. The two didn’t stop until they knew that they’d put enough tree-lengths between them and the humans. Then they collapsed in exhaustion, straining to catch a breath.
“D-do you think we lost them?” Snow asked in between breaths. Raven hesitated and looked behind them before answering. “Yeah…”
As Snow’s breathing had steadied, finally, she looked up at the dark trees towering above them, their leaves letting in little light of the sun. “Where are we?” she asked aloud.
“I don’t know,” Raven replied. “But wherever it is, it’s far away from home.”
Snow whimpered, the groping darkness seeming to suck out every last drop of hope in her. “What do we do?”
Raven pondered what she’d said for a bit, and Snow could see his face twisting up in thought. “First, we’ll have to get out of this forest,” he mewed. “Then.. we should get somewhere up high to see where we are. Hopefully we’ll be able to see the Mountain.”
“Okay…” Snow agreed.
Without a word, the two apprentices set off in the way they came, still careful not to let the humans see them. After a little while, they reached the edge of the forest, to see that the humans seemed to have forgotten about them and were unloading the rest of the captured animals. Only then did Snow remember that they’d forgotten to help Grace out.
“Oh no...” she breathed. “What about Grace?”
Raven turned to face Snow. “She told us to leave her. Besides, it’s too late anyway.” He then turned away, and padded silently away beside the tall trees, and Snow had no choice but to follow him, sighing in regret. Whatever was happening back there, she knew that it wasn’t good.
An hour of walking was all that it took for Snow’s pads to start to ache. I’ve never walked for this much at a time when I was at home… she thought to herself, her eyes welling up with sadness. As Snow looked up, she saw that the tall trees were beginning to thin out and were beginning to be replaced by shorter oak trees. The flat ground was also beginning to become bumpier.
Raven turned around as the last of the tall trees were fox-lengths away. “I can’t see anything with all these hills,” he mewed to her, “we should climb one of the shorter trees and go from there.”
Snow nodded. “Sounds good.” The two padded up to the tallest oak tree that could be climbed, and began their decent up the trunk. Already worn out, Snow was having a hard time pulling herself up. She began to breathe hard, and tried to resist the urge to give up…
“Need a paw?”
Snow looked up in surprise to see that Raven was reaching a paw down to help her. She smiled and lifted a paw to him. Together, they reached the higher branches of the tree, and as Snow looked out to the horizon, she gasped. Sure enough, she could the Mountain, standing majestically against the moonlit sky, marking the place of their home.
“There it is...” she mewed. Raven nodded from his place beside her.
“We’ll start heading that way at dawn. For now, get some sleep.”
Snow sighed, but nodded. Not willing to climb back down the tree until she’d had some rest, she curled up next to the tree’s trunk. Raven followed her lead and made himself comfortable in the branches.
Snow yawned widely, and her eyes began to droop. But before drifting into sleep, she whispered, “Hey, Raven?”
“Yeah?” Raven replied, his voice half a yawn.
“You were really brave back there.” Snow’s blue eyes glistened with warmth in the darkness.
“Th-thanks,” Raven mewed, surprise in his voice.
“Night,” Snow breathed, a soft smile on her face as she tucked her muzzle into her fluffy tail.
“Goodnight,” Raven replied, his gray-green eyes drooping shut.
Chapter 4
Snow’s attitude towards Raven had brightened up considerably the next morning. She had awoken to see that Raven was already up, staring out through the branches at the Mountain.
“Like I said last night, we should head in that direction,” he mewed, having seen that Snow was awake. “Since the sun rose behind the Mountain, that suggests that home is behind it, because the sun rises in front of the Mountain where we live—”
“Raven.”
“What?”
Snow was staring at Raven with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “Stop being so logical,” she mewed, her voice carrying traces of amusement. She rose from her spot by the oak tree’s center and started climbing down the trunk. “We should get going, right?”
“Yeah—right,” Raven agreed, following her.
As the two were again standing on solid ground, Snow looked around her at the open field ahead, her blue eyes tracing the faint line of trees at the edge of the vast clearing.
“We should get something to eat to hold us off, at least until noon,” Raven stated from his spot beside her.
“Oh please, you’re a Fighter, not a Hunter,” Snow mewed, grinning.
“Yeah? I can still take care of myself!” Raven retorted defiantly, turning away from Snow and plunging into the long grass ahead.
Snow snorted. That tom… she mumbled inwardly before following. As soon as she was inside the grass, a fresh scent hit the roof of her mouth. Rabbit, she thought, licking her lips. She crept through the plants, following the scent trail, until she reached a tiny hole in the earth. Considering the burrow’s size, it was probably the home of a young rabbit, Snow realized. But after close inspection Snow found that the hole was empty, but still warm.
She looked around. Sure enough, there was a small rabbit sitting not too far away from the burrow, completely unaware of Snow’s presence. Smirking, Snow crept up on the rabbit, but nearly just after she’d made her kill, a loud yowl nearly made her jump.
“What?!” Snow yowled over her prey, running towards where she heard the sound.
Snow dropped her rabbit, dumbfounded. Raven had managed to find a lizard, but hadn’t succeeded in catching it. Instead, the reptile was latched and hanging off of Raven’s pink nose, and the tom was yowling in pain.
Snow darted over to the scene and pried the lizard’s toothless jaws off of Raven’s nose with difficulty, letting it fall to the ground, and it scurried away.
“FOR HEAVEN’S SAKE WOULD YOU SHUT IT?!” Snow yowled over Raven’s cries. “THE POOR CREATURE DOESN’T EVEN HAVE TEETH!”
Panting, Raven’s cries subsided, and a look of confusion settled upon his face. “It bit me!” he gasped.
“Well what did you expect? For it to surrender and willingly become your breakfast?” Snow couldn’t keep the amusement out of her voice.
Raven’s look of disbelief changed to a sheepish grin. “I dunno…”
Snow laughed and picked up her rabbit from where she’d dropped it, bringing it back to Raven. “Here, have some of this,” she mewed.
. . .
When they finished eating the rabbit, Snow and Raven set out across the clearing towards the forest on the other side. They trudged through the tall grass in silence, only stopping to scent the air for possible smells of prey or danger. Snow’s gaze wandered around her, watching the occasional dragonflies and ladybugs that zipped past.
After a few minutes of walking, Snow decided to start a conversation. “So… what’ll we do when we get back home?” she asked, curious for Raven’s answer.
“Well, first off, we’ll have to apologize to our parents if we’re going to even hope that we’ll get to finish our apprenticeships,” Raven replied, “then explain why we went into the Forbidden Area in the first place—”
“You mean why you went into the Forbidden Area in the first place,” Snow interrupted, her brows raised.
Raven narrowed his eyes. “Whatever,” he grunted.
Snow smiled, triumph shining in her eyes as she turned back to the forest ahead.
As they finally reached the forest, Snow could see that it was even darker there than in the forest they had run into when escaping the humans. The leaves above them were clustered and woven so thickly together that she couldn’t see a trace of the sky, let alone any light. The undergrowth ahead of them was shadowy and unwelcoming, possibly hiding all sorts of dangers inside them.
“We have to keep going,” Raven whispered from beside Snow, seemingly unafraid of the forest’s darkness.
Couldn’t we just go around it...? Snow wondered, looking to her left, then her right, to see if the forest ended in either ways. It didn’t; it stretched as far as her eyes could see. The only way was to go through it.
“Okay,” Snow agreed, swallowing her fear, and following Raven into the shadows of the forest.
The two cats spent what felt like days crawling through the ferns, dodging murky puddles, and padding through the trees of the forest.
After a while, Snow’s stomach started growling in hunger, but she hardly noticed it over the apprehension of the shadowy forest. She kept finding herself hoping that after the next step or the next crawl she would find the end of the forest in front of her, or at least some form of life other than the sickly plants around her, but those comforts never came. She knew deep down that the forest didn’t last forever, that her home couldn’t be too far away, but the longer she walked in the shadows the more her hope dwindled.
Raven’s silent presence beside her didn’t help Snow’s fears: his pitch-black pelt blended in perfectly with the forest to the point where she wondered if he was still there, while hers stood out like white light in the dark.
Will this ever end…? she couldn’t help but wonder.
Suddenly, after crawling through yet another clump of sickly ferns, Raven stopped and meowed, “Look!”
Snow looked up, hoping to see the end of the forest, but instead she saw a small pool of water standing in front of them, shining bright silver in the moonlight that fell from a small hole in the treetops.
“I wonder if there are any fish in there,” Snow whispered, glancing at the crystal clear water of the pool. Sure enough, she spotted a few small, gray fish swimming near its shallow bottom.
Her growling stomach reminded Snow of how hungry she was, and, almost on instinct, she crept to the pool, waited a few moments, then struck out her paw, bringing it out with one of the fish on her claws.
Snow didn’t have time to notice as Raven followed her movements in trying to catch a fish, but when he struck out, he slipped and fell into the pool instead, scaring the fish away into hiding inside the pool’s dark crevices.
“Raven!” Snow scolded, glaring at the now hidden fish. “You know you’re not a Hunter, and now look what you’ve done!”
Raven had climbed out of the water as quick as he’d fallen in, shivering at its icy temperature. “Well, sorry,” Raven growled, shaking icy droplets from his pelt. “Next time we get into a fight I’ll say the same to you and leave you to fend for yourself!”
Snow swished her tail angrily and glared at Raven. “Fine! But I won’t fail so horribly that neither of us can make it out alive!” She dropped to her haunches with a huff and began to devour her fish hungrily. She ripped a rather small portion off it and flung it at Raven, hissing, “Here. Be grateful.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Raven reluctantly pick the small piece of fish from the ground and swallow it in a single bite, turning away from her. She felt too angry with him to care how much he got to eat at that moment, and she finished her fish without looking up again.
. . .
After Snow had finished eating, she and Raven had gotten up and moved on through the forest without another word. The next few minutes went past rather quickly: Snow’s anger kept her occupied and distracted from the darkness. Deep down, where her mind wasn’t swimming with angry thoughts and threats, she was a bit surprised how her thoughts about Raven could change so quickly and easily.
Before she knew it, she had emerged from the last of the ferns and dark trees to a road cutting through the forest. On the other side, the trees were more spaced apart, and the forest looked much more welcoming. The only problem was that there were cars and trucks speeding across the road: not safe at all.
Before she had any time to plan whether or not to run across, Raven had darted onto the road, and was dashing across. Angrier than ever at the tom’s recklessness, Snow followed, just barely missing a car that was zipping by.
“What were you thinking?!” Snow yowled as soon as she’d caught her breath. “How many times do I have to tell you—”
“DON’T!” Raven bellowed, standing over Snow with his fur fluffed up in anger. “STOP TRYING TO BE MY MOM!” And with that, he stalked away and into the forest, presumably to find a place to sleep.
Snow flattened her ears in shock over Raven’s outburst. She wanted to protest, to yowl and scream and call Raven a maniac but she was too exhausted to do anything other than follow him into the trees and collapse in a nest and fall asleep. Chapter 5
Snow reluctantly opened her eyes, blinking groggily against the light of morning. She took in her surroundings, glancing around at the lush forest she laid in. The trees’ orange, red, and yellow leaves looked thin as if they had already started falling to the forest floor for winter.
She didn’t want to get up. This forest reminded her of her home too much. She wished she could just close her eyes, forget about everything, and stay in this tempting forest forever. But a sickening thought sat in her stomach like a bad piece of prey telling her that she had to leave.
Snow looked beside her to see an empty nest with Raven’s stale scent lingering on it; he had probably gone to hunt.
Snow gave a grumble of frustration, wondering if the black tom would ever listen to her, and she rose from her nest and padded after Raven’s scent trail. She found him sitting a little ways into the forest, munching contentedly on a mouse that looked as if he’d caught sloppily.
“Well?” Raven mewed, his mouth full. “Are you going to catch yourself something, or just sit there and starve?”
Snow resisted the urge to hiss at Raven’s remark, even though she knew he was right. She turned tail and began searching for prey, her jaws parted slightly. Surprisingly for the season, it didn’t take her longer than a few heartbeats to track down a shrew, which she caught easily. There must not be any other cats here hunting all this prey, she inferred, padding back to Raven to eat.
After they finished their meal in silence, they resumed their journey back home. Travelling through this forest made the time pass by much faster than it had in the shadowy trees, and before Snow knew it, the sound of rushing water came to her ears, reminding her that she hadn’t drunken anything since the night before.
Snow began walking faster in excitement, eager to get to the water, but stopped short when she saw a flicker of movement in the trees above. She could’ve sworn she saw a cat, but upon closer inspection, all she saw were colorful leaves.
“What?” Raven asked when he noticed that Snow had stopped.
“Nothing... I... must’ve seen a squirrel,” Snow replied, shaking her head as if she could force her confusion out.
Soon they broke out of the trees to see a river flowing through a narrow gorge. The gorge wasn’t too deep, but too deep for them to get a drink of the water. There was a fallen tree forming a bridge across the gorge, so they could at least cross and continue into the forest. But the tree looked old and rotten, and Snow wasn’t sure if it would hold their weight.
"Raven, I don't think that's very safe," Snow mewed before the pitch-black tom could step onto the fallen tree. The river foamed and rushed by ominously below the trunk.
"It's totally safe," Raven protested, not a twinge of doubt in his mew. "See? Perfectly strong!" He padded right into the middle of the trunk. "That's all there is to i-" Raven's mew broke off suddenly as the tree began to split under his weight, and Snow saw fear in the tom's gray-green eyes.
"Raven!" she shouted just as the tree gave way, plunging Raven into the icy river. Her white fur fluffed up in terror, Snow dashed to the edge of the gorge to see that Raven was struggling to keep his head above the water, but not being very successful. He wouldn't last very long down there, and neither would Snow, for that matter. She wouldn't be able to get him out herself, but maybe someone local to the area could. Remembering the strange movement she saw in the forest, Snow turned tail and ran back toward the trees. "Hold on Raven, I'm getting help!" she mewed before disappearing into the ferns.
Her blue gaze darting around wildly, Snow yowled for help, hoping someone would hear her. "Help! Help! Is anyone there?" She whipped her head upward as she, again, heard movement in the treetops. "Hello?"
Snow stared closely at the tree above her, and finally picked out a silvery white shape lying on one of the branches. It was a she-cat, her sleek blue-pointed fur smooth as if she wasn't the least bit alarmed, and her blue eyes staring back at Snow. "What?" the she-cat mewed, her unfamiliar accent sharp with annoyance.
"Please, could you help me?" Snow pleaded. "My friend's stuck in the river!”
The cat sighed. "Show me the way." She jumped down from the branch gracefully and followed Snow as she sprinted back to where she'd last seen Raven.
"There he is!" she pointed as she saw a dark blob halfway down the river.
The strange she-cat didn't hesitate to jump into the frigid waters, and she paddled strongly towards Raven. Snow stood watching, her fur fluffed up in anxiety that she couldn't help more, for it wasn't her fault no one taught her how to swim properly. She pricked her ears as she saw Raven's head slowly sink under the water, but heartbeats later the she-cat reached him and pulled him towards the shore, which was now sloping down from a gorge to a smooth way out.
Snow sprinted to where the she-cat and Raven were now on the shore, drenched. The she-cat was panting with the effort, but Raven wasn't breathing at all. Snow let out a cry of alarm, looked up to the strange new cat. "Is he... Please don't let him be..."
"He isn’t dead," the she-cat huffed, almost angrily as if she didn't even want to be there in the first place.
Seemingly right on cue, Raven lurched and coughed up a few mouthfuls of water. He looked up, half-dazed, at the she-cat standing near him. "Who... Who are you?" he breathed, gazing astoundedly at the figure above him.
"I'm Aurora," the she-cat sniffed uninterestedly.
Chapter 6
Snow hadn't had the time to get a good look at Aurora's face beforehand, from the shock of Raven's ordeal, but now as she did, she absentmindedly flattened her ears. She's really pretty.. almost too pretty, she thought, noticing the she-cat's thin pointed features that made her look appealing.
That would explain why Raven looked dazed at the sight of her. "I-I'm Raven..." he sputtered. Snow rolled her eyes. "And she's Snow..."
"I see," Aurora mewed. She gave the two a quick look over. "Typical. You know how many cats I save from that river each month?" She sighed. "I guess I'll have to get a new log to make a bridge with, and a sturdy one," she mumbled. The silvery she-cat began to walk away now that Raven was alright, just drenched.
"Wait!" Raven called out to her. "Could we go with you...? We're a bit lost...”
Whipping her head around, Aurora raised her brows. She grumbled. "I suppose..." She gave the two a look as if she only considered them annoying lost kits. She flicked her tail, ordering them to follow.
Raven bounced up from his spot like a kit and came happily, while Snow a bit more reluctantly, glaring at Aurora with suspicion.
As they followed Aurora beside the river to wherever her home was, Snow assumed, Snow couldn’t help but realize what she’d said about Raven in her moment of terror for his safety. I called him my friend… she pondered. Is he really my friend? She wanted to believe that he was, despite the fact that they seemed unable to get along. It was funny how being in situations like these made a cat grow to care about another.
They padded along in silence for a while, which Snow was grateful for: she could sift through her thoughts without interruption.
After even more walking, Snow began to wonder where exactly they were heading. All she could see were trees to her right, trees to her left, and the river in front of her, twisting and turning through the forest. Just how far did Aurora wander from her home each day? Was it really that bad?
“We’re nearly there,” Aurora mewed with a sigh, to Snow’s relief. Raven didn’t seem to care how far they had to walk before stopping: he couldn’t peel his eyes off of Aurora.
What on earth is up with that tom? Snow wondered incredulously, surprised by Raven’s extreme change of character. She really didn’t see anything too interesting about Aurora, but maybe that was because she was a she-cat. In fact, the silver cat seemed to have a permanent disgusted look to her face: her muzzle was scrunched up as if she could smell a foul piece of rotten prey. Snow didn’t find that too attractive.
We must be extremely annoying, she concluded, not bothering to wonder anymore. Raven could act how he pleased. She certainly wasn’t about to become jealous of Aurora, that was for sure.
“Here we are,” Aurora meowed without looking back as the trees stopped in front of them and the river widened out into a large lake. Snow’s eyes widened in surprise. Aurora’s home was very nice: there were lush, multicolored trees surrounding the large expanse of water, the lake itself perfectly reflecting the cloudless sky above. It rippled calmly in a cool autumn breeze that promised winter. If Snow didn’t have a home she needed to return to, she might’ve wanted to stay here. Her maw hung slightly ajar, marveling at the beautiful scenery.
“Are you going to stand there and stare, or come?” Aurora grunted, jerking Snow out of her trance. Raven was standing beside her, equally matching her glare of frustration. They’re actually quite alike, Snow thought wryly, returning the cats’ glowers as she passed.
Aurora led them a little farther along the lake where she had her den tucked inside a small clearing in the trees. The clearing wouldn’t be large enough to hold more than three cats, Snow realized, and having it full wouldn’t be comfortable. She and Raven wouldn’t be able to stay long.
At least she thought so. Raven had entered the clearing, eagerly commenting to Aurora on how nice her home was, and how pleased he and Snow would be to stay with her for a while. Her mind swimming with rude thoughts, Snow situated herself in the shadows of the clearing, away from Aurora, to wash.
Well he’s not taking my thoughts into account at all, Snow grumbled inwardly, resisting the temptation to scowl at the tom from her spot under the trees. Why does it feel like we’ve switched places? she wondered. Before then, Raven had always been so negative and grumpy about their situation, while she’d been the optimistic one.
This doesn’t feel right, Snow thought as Raven offered to catch them something before they settled in for the night, to her frustration. This doesn’t feel right at all.
. . .
After Raven had shared a mouse with a reluctant looking Aurora, and Snow had refused a bite, the white she-cat laid awake while she heard two sets of slow breathing in a nearby bramble bush. Raven hadn’t asked if she wanted to sleep with them, so she had curled up outside the bush without a sound. She didn’t exactly know why she’d chosen to sleep out in the cold, which she was now regretting; only that she didn’t want to be near Aurora. She supposed she was being kit-like in her sour attitude, but she didn’t care. There was no Autumn or Flame to scold her here.
Despite feeling a bit of freedom from being away from her family, she missed them too. A dull ache seemed to have settled in her stomach since she’d lain down, and she’d identified it as longing.
With a pang, Snow remembered her days in the nursery with her sister and mother, how she used to tumble and roll around with Molasses without a care in the world, and how her mother and father had given her so much love in her childhood. That childhood seemed nearly over now. She assumed that back at home, Holly, Fish, and Oak had probably graduated long before then, and that Molasses would too very soon.
Thinking these thoughts made her feel especially lonely: she hadn’t realized how much she loved her family until now.
She wondered if Raven loved his family this much too, and if he was lying awake thinking of them. He probably wasn’t. She knew that not long after his birth, his father had lost interest in him, and that his mother had tried to take care of him, alone, but it had been hard for her. Some cats in the Colony had said that she’d been much too young for kitting.
The thought of Raven’s unfortunate family life only made Snow even more grateful for hers. She couldn’t believe she’d ever taken her family for granted. If she hadn’t, and she had let Molasses come hunting with her that day that seemed so long ago, than maybe her sister would be lying beside her right now.
A great sadness rose up in Snow and overwhelmed her completely, filling her eyes with tears that trickled down her cheek fur helplessly.
Knowing that there was no one awake or around to hear her, Snow let a, somewhat foolish, mournful wail slip off her tongue, “I miss you, Mother!”
Not making any effort to stop the tears that rolled down her face, Snow curled into a tight ball on the cold, hard forest floor and let her sorrow pull her into sleep. Chapter 7
Snow awoke to a sharp cold in the air tugging at her muscles and making them stiff. She bit back a groan as her stomach growled in hunger, and she pulled herself onto her haunches. The wind had a promise of snow on the way.
I guess my fluffy pelt isn’t enough to keep out the cold, Snow realized. Back at the Colony, she never had to worry about the harsh weather. She could just snuggle into her mother’s fur and it would be gone.
Snow swallowed the lump in her throat and padded towards the den Aurora and Raven had slept in. Both of the nests inside were empty. How long have I slept? Snow wondered, sniffing the ground for scents. She picked out both Aurora’s and Raven’s scents trailing along the frosty ground. They were fresh.
They must’ve gone hunting, Snow assumed, and set out to follow the trails.
Snow didn’t want to be involved in whatever Raven and Aurora were doing, but she kept walking. She didn’t trust Aurora. The she-cat could turn on them at any moment, and she was much stronger and well-kempt than them. A fight wouldn’t last long.
Before long, Snow had reached the stream the cats had crossed the day before. She ducked behind a clump of ferns at watched with narrowed eyes. Raven was crouched at its edge, staring into the water, a laugh etched into his features. He was purring something, Snow couldn’t tell what, and she was glad she couldn’t. Aurora was sitting a few tail-lengths away from Raven, watching. Snow guessed she was teaching him how to hunt.
Traitor, Snow growled silently, glaring at Raven. She’d told him countless times that he was a Fighter, not a Hunter. He must be determined to break Colony rules.
It wasn’t that Snow was loyal to the rules with all her heart and wanted them to be followed with no exceptions, she was just… jealous. Snow didn’t like to admit it, but it was true. She didn’t like that Raven could fight and hunt and even run too... he could do all of it. She was only good at hunting. Not fighting, not running, just hunting. And hunting wasn’t special; every cat could do it.
Raven even had a she-cat to flirt with now, for heaven’s sake. And in the deepest, most secret places in Snow’s heart, she wished it was her standing there, fixing Raven’s position by the river’s edge and watching as he flipped a fish out of the water. But it wasn’t her. It was Aurora, a she-cat with the darkest stare and the cruelest laugh as Raven’s fish slipped out of his paws… Snow knew that Raven hadn’t heard her tone; that he’d just assumed he’d made an honest mistake.
At that silent, vulnerable moment, Snow felt bad for him. If she’d had a mentor like that, she would feel absolutely horrible about her mistake. Aurora wasn’t a cat fit to be a mother. She would treat her kits like prey and twist their minds into doing her will. And Raven was falling for her tricks.
Snow couldn’t take it anymore. She stepped out of the ferns and padded towards Aurora and Raven, a snarl lifting her lips. “What are you doing?” she asked, glaring at Aurora, her gaze cold.
“I’m just teaching your kit friend how to catch his own food,” Aurora replied, meeting Snow’s gaze coolly. “It seems that where you came from, no one taught him how to take care of himself. He must’ve been starving out here.”
“That’s right!” Raven snarled, acting as if he’d hated his home all along.
So that’s it, Snow thought grimly. She’s going to make him turn on me and our home. But she couldn’t! Snow just couldn’t return to the Colony without Raven, what would his mother say? Besides, I probably would even make it home without him. I wouldn’t survive.
Snow furrowed her brow, ready to spit out a comeback. “And do you think you’re going to teach him like that? All you’re going to make him do is drown himself in the river!”
Raven reeled back, looking offended. Apparently, he’d thought Aurora had been a perfect teacher.
“Yeah, that’s right!” Snow added, her glare flicking to Raven. “She’s not going to teach you anything like a true Colony cat could!”
Aurora growled, her fur bristling. “Now, now, dear, don’t go too far. Your ‘Colony’ is probably full of cats like him: the only thing they know how to do is wave a claw at a couple of trespassing squirrels. I’m surprised you’re not all dead already.”
Snow hissed, her blue gaze lit up with fury. “At least we’re not all sneaky, manipulative badgers like you!” Before Aurora or Raven could reply, Snow turned tail and ran back into the trees. The last thing she heard before climbing a tree near Aurora’s clearing to escape the two cats was the sound of mocking laughter drifting through the forest.
. . .
Snow didn’t leave the tree for the rest of the day. She’d watched as Aurora and Raven had padded back into the clearing, laughing, their jaws full of fish, without noticing Snow in the tree. She had wondered if Aurora or Raven had even cared where she’ gone, and had sat in her place pondering this question and many others until the sun had disappeared from the sky.
Now, Snow still sat, her muscles aching more than ever and her stomach roaring from not eating at all for a day and a half. She decided to crawl down the tree’s trunk and get something to eat before sleeping the night out.
She could hear soft snores coming from Aurora’s den as she passed the clearing, and headed the other direction. After many moments of searching, Snow managed to chase a mouse out of its burrow and make her kill. The mouse was scrawny from the coming of winter’s lack of food, so it took no longer than a couple of heartbeats for Snow to gulp it down and dispose of the bones.
Snow then climbed back up into the tree and curled up by the trunk, fluffing up her fur although she knew it wouldn’t do her any good. The wind was even colder than before, and now she was almost positive that it would snow while she slept. If I sleep, Snow thought.
Sure enough, as Snow lay there, she found that she couldn’t even close her eyes. And as the moon rose high in the sky, thick clouds gathered, and soon there was snow falling from the heavens. Chapter 8
Snow didn’t know how much longer she stayed in the tree. All she knew was that she was getting more hungry, tired, and homesick by the minute and that soon she wouldn’t be able to stand it anymore. But her weariness, her need to be away from Aurora kept her in the tree for another day, and until the sky was splashed with the pale gray of coming dawn, she didn’t move. Not even for prey.
But now, as, surely, both Aurora and Raven would still be asleep, down Snow climbed. The feel of the earth beneath her paws again sent relief rippling through her spine. But it wasn’t over yet.
In the past few days of hiding in a tree, Snow’d had plenty of time to rule out whether or not she was going to try to make it home without Raven. The chances seemed very slim. She did know the way back now; Raven had pretty much explained his entire strategy of going through the Mountain to get back home, for he’d guessed that the humans certainly wouldn’t have gone around or it’d have taken them much longer to reach their destination. But Raven’s fighting skills and excellent sense of direction couldn’t be taken for granted. And Snow still hadn’t forgotten about the tom’s mother.
And, even if Raven’d had absolutely no importance, and both of his parents had been glad to see him go, Snow still didn’t think she would’ve been able to leave him. She didn’t know why, but maybe she hadn’t lied to Aurora back when she’d saved his life; maybe he really was her friend.
The thought stirred inside of Snow while she hunted for herself and gobbled down her kill hungrily. Yes, she would go back for Raven, her friend. And somehow convince him that he couldn’t leave his Colony, no matter how much he thinks they hate him. And now was her only chance.
. . .
After Snow had finished her prey, she’d padded towards the river, where she knew Raven and Aurora would pass by. Now, she was hidden under a bush as she waited for the cats to make their appearance.
Snow didn’t have to wait for long; she’d dragged herself into the leaves just as the sun peeked out from under the horizon. She could hear pawsteps coming towards her, so she made an effort to quiet her breathing as much as she could. Now was her time.
First, it was a set of blue paws passing her bush, then black. Just before Raven’s paws disappeared from her sight, she half-whispered, half-hissed, “Psst!”
The black paws stopped.
“Psst!” she repeated, louder. “In here!”
In a few heartbeats, Snow saw Raven’s head peek into her hiding place, his eyes wide with shock and irritation. Before he could say anything, Aurora’s voice rang through the air.
“Raven! Keep up!” she growled.
“You go ahead, I’ll catch up!” Raven replied, his gaze flicking back to Snow. “What are you doing here?!” he hissed under his breath.
"Raven I—" Snow began.
"No. Go home," Raven interrupted. His green-gray gaze hardened in anger when she didn’t give in to his order. "Isn't that what you wanted?" he hissed.
"Isn't that what you wanted?" Snow asked. He’d seemed so eager to get home before they’d met Aurora... and Snow didn’t see how he could change his mind that quickly on his own.
"What about Aurora?" Raven asked, as if it changed everything.
"Aurora's a monster, Raven!" Snow insisted. Raven didn’t look convinced. Running out of time, Snow resorted to other ways to convince him. "What about Holly, Fish, and Oak?" she asked, bringing their friends up.
Raven didn’t answer. His hard glare told Snow that he didn’t care about them as much as other cats think.
"What about Dragonfly?" Snow asked instead.
Raven’s eyes flared with such and anger and hatred that Snow almost backed away. Raven clearly wouldn’t go back to the Colony for his father, nor would he even spare his life if it came to it.
Beginning to grow desperate, Snow mentioned Raven’s mother. Possibly the only cat Raven cared about, other than Aurora. “What about Lily?"
The single name cleared all negativity from Raven’s eyes. Snow was right, he did care about her, very much. Raven must not have thought about his mother since he’d been here, but now that she was mentioned, his eyes had a certain fear and longing to them that Snow liked. It told her that Raven didn’t have a cold hunk of rock where his heart should be. It told her that he wanted his mother back.
“And what about me? We all want you back, Raven. Come back," Snow pleaded. But the doubt that flashed across Raven’s features told that he didn’t think they wanted him back. And Snow knew they did. "Don't you agree?" she asked softly.
Raven couldn’t reply. Aurora was calling him again, and this time she sounded furious. Raven would be lucky to return now without a claw to his ear.
"Think about it. Please!" Snow begged before Raven turned, conflicted, to run back to Aurora. And before he was out of earshot, Snow added one more quiet, helpless plea, "They're waiting for you!"
. . .
What Snow had seen in Raven’s eyes earlier had confirmed it. She knew that he had to come back. He wouldn’t be able to leave her for Aurora with her words in his head. She hadn’t realized until now how much she needed him with her. Why? She couldn’t place it. Emotions were hard enough to understand as it was.
So why do I feel this way? Snow wondered. Why can I not accept the path where Raven doesn’t come home with me? Why must he?
Questions continued to spiral though Snow’s mind as she remained in her bush. She hadn’t left in the hopes that Raven would come back, happily ready to go home with her. But she’d been waiting for a day. Now, panic was overwhelming her hopes, and she had to dig her claws into the snowy ground to keep herself from springing up in pursuit of the tom.
Calm down, calm down, Snow told herself, taking deep breaths. She would go and find Raven now, but carefully, calmly. Not in chaos.
Snow carefully climbed back out of the bush, her stomach growling in protest yet again. Hunger hadn’t been Snow’s friend lately.
She picked her way through the forest and back to Aurora’s clearing, attempting to flatten her pelt to hide her nerves. What if he disagrees? she couldn’t help but wonder with another jolt of fear. No, he can’t.
The sight of the leafless, snow-covered trees ending in front of her made her nervous again. But she forced herself on. And with a smooth pelt, an emotionless gaze, and a calm demeanor, Snow pushed her way into the clearing, ready to do whatever it took to convince Raven to come home with her, and to fend off whatever counter-attacks Aurora had in store. Chapter 9
“Snow?”
As Snow’s eyes adjusted to the light, she saw that Raven was standing a few tail lengths away from her, watching. He looked surprised, but not like when she’d shown up under the bush. He must’ve been expecting her to try again.
Aurora had just padded out of her den when she saw the white she-cat, and now a soft growl was drifting out of her throat. “Why are you here?” she asked, her voice tense, with anger probably. This was her home Snow was barging into.
“I’ve come to take my friend back home,” Snow replied boldly, ignoring Raven’s surprise at her use of the word.
Aurora was laughing. Snow couldn’t tell until the she-cat’s quiet snickering grew to a roar. “You mean back to his prison?” she mewed, looking greatly amused. “What are you, the kitten police?”
Snow scrunched up her muzzle in disgust. What’s a police anyway? It must’ve been some joke Aurora just made up. Snow decided to ignore it.
“Well? Are you going to go with her, Raven? You better, or else you’ll get in bwig twouble!” Aurora added, her voice dripping with a sweet kitten tone.
Raven looked very annoyed. And upon closer look, Snow realized, he seemed to be hiding his full extent of anger.
But the two short words that came out of Raven’s mouth next stopped Aurora’s laughs right in their tracks. “I’m sorry.”
He’s talking to her! Snow saw, and she tried to come up with a reason why he would say this. Is he staying?
“I really enjoyed the time we spent together, but I have to go.” Raven wasn’t looking Aurora in the eye, but instead, at his paws. “I don’t belong here.”
Aurora sniffed, as if she had expected this all along. “Well, don’t say I didn’t warn you. There’ll be no creative escape next time.” Then she turned tail and walked away.
Raven looked shocked at Aurora’s lack of goodbye. Or forgiveness. But instead of calling Aurora back, like how Snow would’ve done, he walked away as well. In the opposite direction.
With one last look at Aurora’s clearing, Snow turned and followed Raven across the snowy ground.
. . .
Snow and Raven didn’t speak a word to each other as they padded through the forest. Raven wanted to get back on track—they couldn’t see the Mountain through the thick, snow covered trees—so Snow had to agree. She knew that Raven knew better than her how to get home. So she followed him without a sound or question.
But Snow had trouble keeping quiet for very long. There were hundreds of questions swimming through her mind, demanding to be voiced, and it difficult to remain silent. What happened while I was gone? her mind asked. What lies did Aurora tell him? Why did she give in so easily?
To distract herself, Snow made a game of counting all the birds that flew by. But after counting two sparrows, three blackbirds, a crow, and a blue jay, Snow became tired of it. Her mind free of distraction, the questions made their way in again. What did he see in her? Did she treat him badly?
Snow flicked her tail in frustration. Why does it matter? she asked herself angrily. Aurora’s gone. But the question only made Snow uneasy, as if something was wrong. Would Raven change his mind? Leave her to find her way home herself?
Snow wanted to trust Raven, to be his friend fully, but she couldn’t make herself just yet. Aurora had to be on Raven’s mind. Even his face betrayed it. He’s wondering if he made the right decision.
Suddenly, Raven stopped, jerking Snow out of her thoughts. She peered around him to see what the problem was, and she saw that the forest ended in front of them. There was a small stretch of bare land, covered in snow, before it ended beside a road. She could see the Mountain on the horizon again. And, surprisingly, it was much closer than before. They could get to it and through it by the end of the day.
“Well, nicely done,” Snow mewed.
“Thanks,” Raven replied gruffly and padded towards the road.
Snow looked both ways as she reached the road, but there were no signs of cars. Only the muddy tracks of their big tires, as well as disheveled lumps of snow scattered about.
Raven resumed their trek as he padded away alongside the road, and Snow followed. There wasn’t much more to see; the road continued on a straight path, and all the way through the Mountain.
Knowing they wouldn’t have a better chance for the rest of the day to hunt, Snow requested they catch something to eat right then, and Raven obliged. After picking off two of the birds Snow saw earlier, they headed on their way without further disruption. Maybe they could get home after all.
. . .
Finally, they had reached the Mountain. Snow looked up to see that it towered hundreds upon hundreds of tail lengths in the air, and it seemed that across, it was that wide as well. Smaller mountains branched off it on both of its sides, forming a wall. It was a magnificent sight.
Fortunately, they didn’t have to worry about scaling them. Like Raven had predicted, there was a round tunnel cutting through the rock, leaving a clear passage for both them and for humans. Thank goodness, Snow praised quietly.
As Snow padded through the Mountain, her mind remained preoccupied by the shadows and the thought of thousands of pounds over her head that could fall any moment, so her questions kept quiet. But as they emerged on the other side, the sun long gone, and the winter night chill gripping her fur, the questions came back to taunt her. She couldn’t take it anymore. She would have to talk to Raven soon.
“We need to find a place to spend the night,” Raven mewed, and from the exhaustion in his voice Snow knew he was right.
After not much searching, they found a few trees by the road to make nests by, and they settled in for the night. But before Raven could close his eyes, Snow spoke up from beside him. “Raven?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I ask you something?”
Raven looked like he didn’t want to be spoken to, but he mewed, “Okay.”
“How did you decide to leave Aurora so easily?” Snow asked.
“I didn’t,” Raven replied, “but I guess I knew where I belonged.”
Snow felt warm inside at this answer, but she had another question. “And... one more thing. What did you see in her?” She knew it was a big risk asking this, but she had to know.
“I don’t know.”
Raven sounded like he was being truthful, and that he really didn’t know, so Snow decided to drop the subject. Instead of asking more questions, she let her eyelids droop shut, and she fell into a deep sleep, where she dreamed of Molasses and her parents. Chapter 10
“We should reach home by sunset,” Raven mewed.
Snow and Raven had risen early the morning after they’d left Aurora, and now had full bellies and were about to complete the last stretch to their home.
Snow didn’t know how she felt about that. She knew she should be excited to see her family and friends again, but she couldn’t help but wonder if they would even want her back. Don’t be silly, of course they want me, Snow told herself. I’m falling for Aurora’s tricks!
They headed down the road again, and Snow’s heart began to beat faster, not because of the walking, but of anticipation. Do they all think I’m dead?
There wasn’t much to see on this side of the Mountain. Just some trees... and more trees... and more trees. It gets better back at home, Snow assured herself. She should be happy there even are trees. If there was no rock tunnel then they would be atop the Mountain right then, and there would be none. Thinking optimistically like that made Snow feel a little better.
After what Snow felt was an hour or two of walking through trees, the landscape began to change gradually. Soon, Snow saw the road branch off into other directions, the empty space begin to fill with a few pawfulls of houses at a time, and more cars speeding across the hard, black pavement. It was slowly looking more like her home.
But, Snow realized, because of the now rapidly increasing number of roads, it would be impossible to get home without crossing a few. No biggie… Snow thought, absentmindedly biting her tongue. But it would be a biggie. For just as the number of roads were increasing, so were the cars, and it seemed impossible to get through where Snow was standing. How will we make it? she wondered numbly.
The time to cross one came far quicker than Snow would’ve liked. Soon, she and Raven were standing on a road’s edge, staring at the seemingly endless flow of vehicles bolting by.
“Well... here we go,” Raven mewed as a gap in the cars showed itself. It seemed much too small to Snow. But before she could protest, the gap was near, and Raven yowled above the noise of the cars, “Go!”
Snow ran across the road as fast as her legs would take her, careful not to step on the small pebbles and debris that littered its hot, rumbling surface. But the end of the gap was closing in faster than Snow could run. Desperate, she turned and saw that Raven was behind her, and a strong jolt of fear swept through her. Thinking he might be run over, Snow leapt behind him and pushed him the last few feet off the road with all her might. She felt her paw pads ripping under the pressure.
The two tumbled into the grass, panting from the effort. As Snow regained her balance, Raven suddenly turned on her, her eyes wide in fear and anger. “What’d you do that for?”
“I guess I was afraid to lose you again,” Snow replied, and she saw Raven’s gaze soften.
“C’mon,” Raven mewed, getting up. “Are you hurt?”
“Just a few scraped paws,” Snow replied, sighing.
“Can you make it okay?” Raven didn’t look like he wanted to stop.
“Yeah,” Snow mewed. Her paws stung a little as she put her weight on them, but the cool grass soothed the pain. She would make it.
After that, they did their best to avoid crossing any more roads. As they walked further, Snow couldn’t help but realize that the land seemed to be getting more familiar. We must be close, she thought.
Sure enough, as the day grew later, Snow kept seeing things she could’ve sworn she’d seen before, followed by very familiar landmarks. There’s the cliff Mother and Daddy used to take me to! she thought, glancing up at the sharp sandy rocks jutting out many tail lengths above her head. And there’s the place that we went to hunt turkeys!
Snow couldn’t keep her excitement in. “We’re almost home!” she told Raven excitedly, although he probably already knew. She found her pace growing faster with each step, and soon she was flying through her forest in a desperation to get home with Raven struggling to keep up.
After a few twists and turns, and even more places she recognized, Snow felt the ground beneath her sloping upward, signaling that they were mere tail lengths from camp. In a few quick heartbeats, the bushes surrounding her home came into view. She dashed around them and to the entrance, but as it came into view, she stopped.
“What are you waiting for?” Raven asked behind her.
Snow hesitated for a moment before answering. “I’m scared.”
“Scared of what?” Raven asked, having caught up to her now.
“That they won’t want me back.”
Raven had an incredulous look in his eyes as he turned to Snow. “They certainly will want you back. That’s what you told me back by the lake.”
Raven was right. They would want her back. So Snow took a deep breath, flattened her fur, and pushed her way into camp.
The scene she saw next both astonished her and didn’t surprise her at all. The camp didn’t seem to have changed very much besides the cats having aged. But there was an air to it that Snow didn’t recognize. As if a certain loss of two healthy cats at once a while ago had affected them. But the cat who looked affected the most was her mother. There she sat outside her den, looking gloomily at her paws. The look of a mother who’d lost her daughter.
Well, now she’s going to get her back, Snow thought proudly.
As if right on cue, her mother looked up from her paws, and her eyes met Snow’s.
“Snow?” she mewed, looking like she couldn’t believe her eyes.
“Mother!” Snow mewed happily, bounding down the slope towards her mother like a kit.
“Snow!” Her mother dashed forward and barreled into her, making a sound like a mix between sobbing and laughing. “I thought I'd lost you!”
Snow couldn’t speak; her throat was occupied purring so loudly she thought everyone in the forest would be able to hear.
Her reunion had certainly attracted attention from the cats in the camp. Snow could hear them murmuring in shock and delight about her return, only to be barreled into again by her sister.
“Snow!” Molasses mewed. “Why’d you go off without me?”
Snow couldn’t help but laugh. “I couldn’t drag my sister into the danger.”
The noise had driven the leader out of his den, and now he was glancing around, startled. “What’s all the fuss abou—” he mewed, only to break off at the sight of his daughter. “Snow!” And then Snow had her whole family gathered around her to welcome her back.
In the Colony’s excitement, Snow’s father quieted them down and suggested they celebrate the return of their lost cats. The cats had agreed excitedly and had gone on to catch extra prey for that night’s meal. Snow’s heart leapt at the chance of eating with all of her family beside her again.
But as they ate, Snow felt a little tugging inside her that told her something was wrong. Someone was missing. It wasn’t anyone from her family. It wasn’t Fish or Oak. It wasn’t Holly, who had greeted her with great joy and relief, and had also announced that she’d graduated and had, to Snow’s great surprise, agreed to become Lark’s mate. That came out of nowhere, she thought. Although, really, it hadn’t. Snow had been gone for a long time. Anything could’ve happened.
But then she saw him, sitting there next to his mother, eating quietly. Raven.
Snow felt an emptiness she couldn’t explain as everyone finished their prey. When she had journeyed, it had been just her and Raven. No one in the way. But now that they were back home, that friendship seemed to have stopped. Snow couldn’t help but wonder if it would go back to the way it was before, with them hating each other. I don’t want to hate him, Snow thought. I care too much.
That was it, then. Maybe, if Snow could talk to Raven, ask him if their friendship could go on, things would be alright. Maybe... perhaps... they could be a little bit more, in the future. That’s what I have to do, Snow thought. I at least have to try.
So, after everyone had licked up the last scraps of prey, and had started heading towards their dens with happy spirits, Snow rose from her spot on the ground. She headed towards Raven, slowly, ready to speak her mind.
One paw forward... then another... then another... This is so much harder than it was to talk to Aurora. But, after what seemed like months, Snow reached him. He looked up at her, his gray-green eyes questioning, and she let her maw open to spill out the words.
“Raven?”
“Yes?” he asked.
“Can I talk to you?” Snow mewed, feeling strong and ready. Here goes nothing.
Epilogue
Raven had said yes. All that time ago, when Snow and Raven had returned from their journey, Raven had agreed to be Snow’s friend. Snow had been so relieved that she didn't have to give him up. Now, they were padding through the forest; Snow keeping watch for prey, and Raven supposedly protecting her, although in reality he was doing some of the hunting himself. Snow sort of found it amusing that after all this time he still had his defiant attitude. “Will you ever stop hunting for me?” she asked him as he snatched a lizard from the grass. “Mother’s starting to think I have this crazy ability to catch extra prey.”
“Ahh, it’ll be fine,” Raven protested with a smirk. “No cat turns down extra food anyway, right?’
“I guess,” Snow mumbled, defeated. Raven’s always going to have some way to beat me, Snow realized with a surge of affection for the pitch-black tom.
Snow saw Raven’s eyes light up when he spotted a bird in the trees.
“Just give it a rest, will you?’ Snow laughed. “Try and protect me like you’re supposed to… at least for now.”
“Fine,” Raven grumbled, and then, without warning, pounced on a leaf as if it had floated over to attack Snow.
Snow rolled her eyes.
“What?” Raven asked, looking back just in time to see Snow’s expression. “I can’t help it. Being bored. I’m always reminded what it was like to be away from the Colony, being free and able to explore all I wish. But of course I had to come back… for Mom.”
Snow hadn’t known this before then. She too was having a hard time forgetting their journey that seemed to have happened lifetimes ago. But now, all she felt was pity. Pity for Raven, who’s wild heart couldn’t be contained behind bramble walls. Pity for their mothers who had believed they were dead. Pity for her sister, who had been left out.
Snow padded toward Raven, sitting down beside him. She leaned her head on his shoulder. “I can’t forget either. But really… I don’t want to.”
Raven looked down at Snow, his gaze full of understanding. “Me neither.”
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Thanks. It is good to see it.
