SparkClan Flickers

Prologue

Tulip opened his eyes. Ouch, he thought, as sand filtered into his eyes. Sand... I must be by on a beach! Tulip realised. But what beach? And where were his housefly? He tried to stand, but he didn't have the energy.

"Are you injured?" It was a cream tabby she-cat. She looked worried.

Am I? Tulip thought. I don't feel any pain anywhere.

"No," Tulip mewed. "I'm alright."

"I think I should check," a spotted light brown tom mewed. He turned Tulip over to check if there were any injuries on his back and checked every individual paw.

The spotted light brown tom nodded and shrugged. "He seems good to me." His silver eyes were friendly.

He seems nice. Tulip squinted. "Where are we?" he asked.

The light brown tom shrugged. "None of us really know." He gestured and nodded to the cream tabby she-cat. "Cone's been here the longest." He paused and turned back to face Tulip. "What's your name?" he asked, his strange silver eyes lighting up with curiosity.

"I'm called Tulip," mewed the dappled pale ginger tom. "What are you called?"

The striped cream she-cat spoke up first. "I'm Cone," she mewed. "Though I think Rush already introduced me," she added dryly.

Well, she doesn't seem that friendly though, he thought. Although she kind of seems to be the type that's nice on the inside.

"Well, you already know my name them!" mewed the light brown tom breezily. His tail flicked to a reddish brown tabby she-cat. "This is Rowan," he mewed.

"Forgive her, she's shy," mewed Cone, her voice edged with disdain. Maybe Cone actually ha something personal against the two other cats, thought Tulip.

"But what are you all doing here?" asked Tulip. He felt impatient, but he did not let it slip into his tone.

The blue-eyed cream tabby she-cat spoke up first. "I got lost here when I accidentally boarded a No-Fur boat as a loner. As cruel as No-Furs can be, I don't think these one wanted to kill me, so they dropped me off on the beach, here, before the time of the year where it starts to get cold." Tulip could tell that there was more to her story than that, but he didn't ask. What are No-Furs, anyway? thought Tulip. Maybe they'll answer me before having to ask. I don't want to sound stupid to cats I don't know well.

"My housefolk abandoned me here about a moon after Cone arrived." Rowan spoke meekly for the first time. Tulip was expecting her to say more, but she didn't.

"I got here in the same way as Rowan, a bit after her," Rush mewed. "My housefolk abandoned me." "No-Furs" probably means housefolk, Tulip realised. "Honestly," Rush mewed, "I'm glad I got away with them. They used to hit me a lot. That's why one of my neighbours told me a bit about the basics of healing-" Rush didn't finish his sentence properly, as if realising what he had said. He looked down at his paws.  

"But that wasn't enough to save the other cats who joined our group, was it," hissed Cone. Is that why Cone seems to be hostile to Rush?  thought Tulip as Rush looked at the ground guiltily and sadly.

Before Tulip could ask about it, Cone asked, "What about you? Where do you come from?"

"I was a house cat," Tulip mewed. "We were on this giant white bird that crashed and we were put into the sea. My housefolk were very kind."

"A giant white bird?" gasped Cone. "Do you think we could get on one to fly away?"

"I remember those giant white birds," Rowan interjected suddenly. "I went on them with my housefolk once." She shivered. "It was horrible. And you have to go to a special place and then you need to pass all these tests." Then she concentrated on the crack the ground, as if wishing she hadn't spoken.