The Barn Cat

Chapter Twenty one

Leafstride padded next to Kiki, his thoughts drowning him as he looked ahead at Mistfoot, who was leading the barn cats with Night and Courage. The two black toms were on either side of her, and Leafstride couldn't help but feel how he wished to be one of the toms instead of being in the group of cats. Last night was strange, and it felt like it didn't happen. He was only half sure that Mistfoot had feelings for him, she had been treating him like she hated him since they met. He was genuinely shocked when she admitted to not only liking him, but loving him like she used to for Splashclaw. He was more shocked to the fact that he returned the same feelings to the blue-gray she-cat. He only saw her as a friend, but the night she touched noses with him a spark was sent through his body, a spark that never happened between him and Flame. It makes him start to wonder if he ever really loved Flame, or if she was just a distraction of the real love he felt towards Mistfoot that was deep down inside of him. The thought of it made him feel guilty, as he still blamed himself for her death. He glanced over at Kiki, but she was talking with Heather, who was on the other side of her.

Leafstride glanced up at the sky, the sun was nearly overhead, burning down on the cats' pelts. "Leafstride." Leafstride jumped to the meow and spun to his left, facing Ivypaw. The apprentice is a moon overdue for his warrior name, and was as tall as Leafstride now. "Hi, Ivypaw," Leafstride mewed. "Is it okay if I walk with you?" Ivypaw asked. "No. I don't like the smell of old prey, and I don't want to walk next to it for a while" Leafstride teased. Ivypaw shouldered him back, "I think you're smelling yourself there, Leafstride." Leafstride gave out a mrrow of laughter, "I smell like roses." Ivypaw rolled his eyes, "roses that a fox made dirt on." The two toms laughed, then padded along side together. Leafstride wouldn't help but watch as the young tom started copying his pawsteps. Leafstride always watched as Ivypaw copied everything Leafstride did, and Leafstride enjoyed it. It was like having a kit that wanted to be just like you, something Leafstride has always wanted. Ivypaw giving him a taste of what it would be like to be a father only made Leafstride want it more, and Leafstride sent a glance back up in Mistfoot's direction. He knew who he wanted to be the mother of his kits as well.

"What do you think the clans are gonna say when we bring them home?" Ivypaw asked, breaking Leafstride from his longing thoughts. Leafstride thought for a moment, "I think they will disapprove at first, but will warm up to them." Ivypaw nodded, thinking about Leafstride's answer, "eventually." Leafstride let a small mew of agreeance, then focused on the path ahead. "I'm nervous for them," Ivypaw added. "This wasn't there fault." "That's why I think the clans will warm up to the idea of having them around for a bit. They'll have to learn that these cats are what we need to defeat that evil. Without them the Whisperers will destroy our clans just like they did the barn cats." "I'm nervous for me too," Ivypaw mewed quietly. "Why?" Leafstride asked, turning his gaze to look at the black tom. "What if Springstar punishes me and doesn't allow me to have my warrior name." Leafstride put his tail on the young tom's back, "I'm sure he'll understand." "I hope so," Ivypaw sighed. Leafstride felt pity for the tom. He didn't have to worry about anything like that when he gets back to his clan, his brother was a medicine cat and knew that Leafstride was sent a mission from Starclan.

The air was growing thicker in Leafstride's lungs as the two toms started padding in silence again. He was looking around at all the trees, the dirt and rocks that were scattered everywhere. He felt the need to look around, checking to see if the cats were being watched. An eerie feeling had crept inside of him, making his fur twitch and his paws tingle. He trotted up to Mistfoot, "I think someone is following us." Mistfoot gave him a puzzled look, "what?" "I have a feeling someone is either watching us or following us." Leafstride whispered, making sure Courage and Night couldn't listen to them. The two black toms were looking at the two cats with curious eyes. "Did you hear something?" Mistfoot asked. "Well, no," Leafstride admitted, "but I have a feeling." "We can't go based off our feelings, Leafstride. We have to know," Mistfoot whispered. "But we." "I basically have a clan to lead," she cut him off, "I have to go based off of knowledge. I'm sorry Leafstride." Leafstride dipped his head to her, his feelings were hurt but he understood. He paced slowly until he was padding side by side with Ivypaw again. "What was that about?" Ivypaw asked. "Just asking if things felt off," sighed, "guess not." "What do you mean?" Ivypaw pressed. "I feel like we're being watched," Leafstride murmured, making sure no one else could hear the two toms.

"What makes you feel like that?" Ivypaw whispered, glancing around in every direction. Leafstride shrugged, "I guess I'm just nervous to go home." Ivypaw gave the tom a sympathetic look, "aren't we all." Leafstride nodded, looking around at all the barn cats. I'm glad I'm not them, they must be stressing really bad. He watched the bright, white she-cat summon her kits over, knocking Twist over with her black paw in a playful manner. Birch and Moon must be very stressed, since they were the only two queens watching over seven kits together. The two she-cats did have their mates to help them, but Blaze and Ash had both been very busy trying to help everyone with everything. He felt bad for the both of them still, since traveling this far with kits couldn't be easy at all. Overall though, he felt the worst for the tiny light-brown tabby tom kit, Twig, since he didn't even have any parents. The poor kit only has his older sister, Heather, to watch over him. Leafstride doesn't know what happened to their parents, but he was glad that Twig was treated as if he was born within this tribe of cats.

"Hey, Leafstride." Ivypaw's shoulder nearly made Leafstride fall over onto Kiki, who was still chatting with Heather. He flashed his gaze to Ivypaw, who apologized with a flick of his tail. "What?" Leafstride asked. "I think you were right about being watched," Ivypaw whispered, then pointed to the bushes to the side of the traveling cats. Leafstride stared as hard as he could into the bushes, until he caught a glimpse of red-ish fur and yellow eyes. Once the two cats made eye-contact, the cat in the bushes disappeared. "I know who that is," Leafstride told Ivypaw. Before the apprentice could respond, Leafstride started charging after the cat, pushing his way through the barn cats. He could feel their gazes burning through his pelt as he charged away. "Leafstride!" He heard Mistfoot call out his name, but he wasn't going to let this cat get away. He barged through the bushes and saw the cat charge away through the trees. Before Leafstride could even think, he's paws were pounding against the ground, sending him flying through the trees after the cat. "I saw you!" Leafstride called once he could get a clear view of the cat. "We've met before, Talon!" The tom stopped dead in his tracks, and turned to face Leafstride. The large scar running across the red tom's face made Leafstride shiver as he caught up to him. "Oh! You're the clan cat!" Talon panted, "remind me of your name?" "Leafstride." Leafstride made sure to keep his mew firm, not quit hostile yet.

"Why were you spying on us?" Leafstride asked. "I was curious on what was going on," Talon admitted, "I haven't seen that many cats since I ran into the Claw cats." "Claw cats?" Talon gave Leafstride a hard glare, "there's tons of them! I ran into one of them, a large tom with eyes that felt like they ripping me apart already! They live in a group, a group much larger than whatever cats these are. Is this your clan?" Leafstride shook his head, "go on with your story." "Well, the tom brought me to their leader, the biggest cat I've ever seen. His claws were the size of my ear, and his teeth the size of a dog's. His face is half orange-tabby, the other half is black. He has a green and a blue eye, both thirsty for death. He wanted power, he wanted everything. He told me I would either have to join them in their awful doings or I would die." Talon flicked his tail, "I didn't want either, so I fought my way out and ran for my life. That's how I got my scars." "What did they call themselves?" Leafstride pressed. Talon shrugged, "dunno. I just know that they are not friendly." The Whisperers. Leafstride shook his head, then stared Talon in the eyes again. "Those cats drove this large group of cats out of their home," Leafstride mewed. Talon's eyes grew wide, "I knew they could hurt but I didn't know they could do this much." Leafstride nodded, "we're going to fight back once we have enough time to get them healed up." "With the clans?" "Yes, we can't defeat them ourselves. There's too many of them," Leafstride watched Talon shudder with his last words.

"I would love to help," Talon offered. Leafstride stared the tom down, "and how do we know we could trust you? You could be a spy for them, for what we know you're good at that." Talon narrowed his eyes, "I would never work for them. They took my brother from me." Leafstride perked his ears. "He joined them," Talon mewed sadly. "I'll bring you to Mistfoot and Courage, they'll decide what to do with you." "No, not the evil she-cat," Talon groaned. "Don't act like a kit," Leafstride meowed, flicking his tail over Talon's face. Talon started padding along side Courage, "but she hates me." "She hated these cats too, but now look at her. She's leading them for Starclan's sake!" Talon gaze him a confused stare, making Courage feel a hinge of embarrassment. "That's what we call our ancestors," Courage answered simply, trying to make himself not sound like a fool. "Oh, uh, okay," Talon answered. The two toms stayed silent for a bit, and once they finally got in view of all the cats again, Talon stopped. "What's the matter?" Courage asked. Talon shook his head, "I don't trust large groups of cats anymore." Courage placed his tail on the red tom's shoulders. He felt empathy for the tom, it must not be easy to see a lot of cats again after you were nearly killed. "It's okay, I'll make sure they don't hurt you." Talon gave him a little nod, and Courage led him back to the cats. Everything would be okay.