Bright Forest

Chapter 3

The song of the birds woke Rusty up, as he twitched his ears and gazed at the entrance above him: the sun was rising, and a weak morning light was shining on the nursery's dusty wall. He stretched his paws in the moss bed. "I never woke up this early when I was with the humans..." he thought, glancing over the entrance. Rusty sat in the nest, the wind entering the nursery and shaking his fur made him curl up again.

He could feel the presence of someone else in camp talking with someone.

-Hey Gemwing, would you like to join the dawn patrol?

-Of course!

-Good, and take Rainingbud and Branchpaw with you: be sure to come back until sunhigh!

Rusty recognized the voices of Poolspring and another tom. He peered over the nursery entrance, seeing a gray cat followed by a black she-cat and a brown growling tom padding to the camp entrance.

Suddenly, a crashing sound filled the silent clearing.

-Treefeather?

-Spottedpaw! Err, what are you doing here?

-I was going to bring some soaked moss to Kestrelstar... You know, because of the drought...?

-Don't worry, I'll bring it to her.

-Very well?

-Why don't you go check on that new apprentice?

-Ok...? The kittypet, right...?

Trotting pawsteps reached the nursery and a spotted she-cat peered over.

-Oh, you're awake...- she mumbled.

-Y... Yes... - he stammered.

-Don't be afraid! I was just checking in on you: we have a strong absence of water these days, so if you need something you can talk to me, to Marigold or Treefeather!- she mewed. -Or, to anyone really... but mainly to us!

-Oh, then... may I have some water?- he murmured.

-Sure!- She purred, padding to the stone den.

"Kittypets must be house cats..." he wondered. "Perhaps they have other ways to say certain things... like cat food! That's kinda cool actually!"

She came back with a bundle of wet moss dripping from her mouth.

-Here!- she said, her voice drowning with moss. She put it gently on the ground.

-It may not be as clean and abundant then with the twolegs...- she said. -but the only source of water we have is currently the pool in the medicine den...

Rusty took it and squeezed the water inside his mouth, then licked his lips and mewed:-I think it's better than with the humans: the water tasted gross... It's better to drink moss-like water than trash-like one!

-Oh! I never thought hum... err, twolegs would drink such things!- she said. -But I'm glad you're here. I'm Spottedpaw, by the way! The medicine cat apprentice!

-I'm Rusty!- he mewed, shyly.

Spottedpaw padded off to the shadows beneath the two stones, and Rusty was left alone.

He saw a brown she-cat bouncing from Kestrelstar's den, running nervously to the medicine cat's den.

"I wonder what she's up to..." he thought.

The morning passed when the sun was finally hanging over the sky, and Rusty bounced out of the hole. He was sitting in there for a lot.

He stretched his legs: Spottedpaw was padding up to him.