Where the Wind Takes Us

WTWTU {PROLOGUE} [1]

 "Tumbleweed, stay low," a voice hissed from the shadows.

Tumbleweed threw himself to the ground, shivering as he felt the cold wet snow press against his thick fur. He had been chosen among seven other cats for a midnight patrol. TimberClan had recently been having problems with rogues roaming in their territory, and now a days it wasn't abnormal for sun-high patrols to find stale scents of rogues from the previous night. The night patrols instructions were simple: stay hidden, find the trespassers, and bring them in for questioning. It was as easy as catching a dozing mouse, but tonight felt different. For one, he was feeling more jittery than normal, and-.

"This is pointless," a low hiss interrupted Tumbleweed's thoughts, echoing his own worries.

Tumbleweed recognized Poisonoaks's irritated mew. The sleek black tom was almost impossible to see in the cloudy, starless night, but though he hid himself well among the bracken his dark fur clashed horribly in the snowy forest. Tumbleweed wasn't much better either, with his sandy colored fur covered in dark brown splotches and his bright purple and pink mismatched eyes. He could be seen clearly in the snow even on the darkest of nights.

"How am I supposed to scent anything?" Poisonoak continued. "My nose feels like it's about to freeze off!"

"Shut up and stop complaining," someone growled from the shadows.

Elkfoot, the clan deputy, second in command to the leader, Littlestar, Tumbleweed realized. Although he could see him since the deputy was so well hidden among the bushes Tumbleweed knew the second in command was trying hard to concentrate.

Suddenly, Tumbleweed heard the soft noise of paws crunching in the snow. A chilling gust of wind pressed his fur against his flank as his ears pricked up. He rose slowly, careful not to make any noise, and peered through a small patch of grass on a rise where he hid. Tensing his muscles to spring, he realized he could hear the blood rushing through his ears as his adrenaline spiked. His felt warm fur brush against his side as Poisonoak crept beside him, scoping the forest for the intruder, ready to leap into battle with is Clan mate. After a while of waiting and listening, Tumbleweed grew anxious. What if the trespasser didn't get close enough where the patrol lying in wait could leap on him without risking a chase, and perhaps an escape?

Then, in almost an instant, the cat finally came into view. Weaving through the trees was a large muscular cat, his gray fur like mist among the shadows. A million doubts went through Tumbleweed's head at once. What if the rouge got away, what if the Clan couldn't take them, what would Littlestar say to their failure, and worst of all, what if he lost a Clan mate?

As if he had read Tumbleweed's thoughts, Poisonoak gave Tumbleweed a reassuring lick on the ear. If anyone would know how Tumbleweed felt, it was Poisonoak. They had grown up together as kits then apprentices. Though they weren't from the same litter Tumbleweed thought of him as an older brother.

Then, all at once Poisonoak twitched his tail in a signal of attack and leaped out of the brush, his claws unsheathed with Tumbleweed right beside him. Poisonoak jumped high in the air aiming for their opponents back while Tumbleweed went for their face, but someone else had different plans, for a powerful body slammed into Tumbleweed's side, knocking the breath out of him and sending him flying through the air to land painfully on the hard snowy ground.

Tumbleweed didn't hesitate for a moment and staggered to his paws. He looked around for a moment, scanning his surroundings unable to see everything as his mind went vertigo he squinted and looked harder. It looked as if Poisonoak suffered the same difficulty, but instead of him being on his paws, ready for the next attack, he was being pinned down by a small but strong cat. Poisonoak yowled and tried to spin around, for he was pinned on his stomach, but the cat looked down at him and calmly held him in place. Before Tumbleweed could dash to his friends aid he felt a weight slam him into the snow.

"оставайся на месте, stay still" a voice whispered in his ear.

The cats that pinned him was a tom, Tumbleweed noted as he tried pushing himself up, and he was awfully strong. There was something else though, he spoke Raider but without the accent, he sounded like a Clan cat but spoke a different language.

"Отстань от меня, get off me!" Tumbleweed shrieked in the same dialect. Panic flooded through him and he was almost unable to move from fear. 

The tom reacted by placing his freezing paw firmly on Tumbleweeds muzzle, the grips on his pads keeping his paw in place. "We won't hurt you," the tom promised, his voice steady as if nothing could bother him. "We just want the same cat you do. Just let us handle it. Trust me, even all seven of you couldn't take him."