Born Wild

Chapter 4

Two days later...

Leaf bounced across the clearing and sat down next to his brother, who smiled at him. "How are you?" Birch asked. 

Leaf shrugged halfheartedly. "Good. I guess."

"You guess?" Birch cast him an amused look. "Come on, what is it?" 

Leaf sighed. "Fine. Not so good... I really feel... conflicted. Worried. I don't know whether taking Drizzle and his group in was the right call," he admitted. Birch barked out a laugh.

"It's not the group; I know you're okay with them. It's Drizzle herself, isn't it?" he meowed. 

Leaf cast him a small smile. "Is it really that obvious?"

Birch nodded and rolled his eyes. "Everyone knows about your rivalry with her," he said in a somewhat teasing voice.

"I- I don't understand what's wrong! I don't know why she hates me so much! All I try to do is be nice, but she just finds something annoying in the smallest of things, and then gets mad at me about it!" Leaf explained. 

Birch looked at him sternly. "The worried expression hasn't cleared, like it does when you've let out your problems — all of them — to somecat. Come on, what else is there? I'm your brother! You can tell me anything!"

Leaf hissed. "She's the thing that's making me concerned." He pointed towards a white she-cat with silver paws who was eating alone in a corner of the camp. 

Birch followed his gaze, and when she turned to face them, looked away. Out of the corner of his mouth, he meowed, "You're worried Snowflake won't fit in?"

Leaf shook his head. "Nope. It's just that... we don't know her that well."

"Well, you brought her in! And Drizzle — alongside more than four unfamiliar cats — too! What's the big deal?" Birch pointed out.

"I know... it's just..." Leaf couldn't finish his sentence, and Birch nodded understandingly.

"I get it," he said. "We don't know if we can accept her in as a full member of the group just yet. You're only concerned for the well-being of the group." Leaf gave his brother a grateful nod and stumbled to his paws.

"Thanks for understanding! I think I'll head out for a walk now, clear my mind, y'know?" he said. However, before he could leave, he heard a cat call him from behind.

"Leaf!"

Oh no. He groaned inwardly. Drizzle.

"Yes? What is it now?" he flashed. 

Drizzle growled. "Where exactly do you think you're going?"

"I'm going out for a walk," he mewed irritably. "Am I not allowed to leave camp anymore?"

Drizzle snorted with annoyance before turning around and heading towards her den. What's her problem? Leaf growled inwardly, before padding out of camp.

Leaf nodded satisfactorily to himself as he picked up the rabbit. While he had not intended to go hunting, he had encountered the prey on his walk and couldn't resist catching it. He looked around the moor, deciding to bring his fresh-kill back to camp.

Through the scent of the animal he was carrying, however, he could smell something else. A cat — he immediately realised. And one he knew too. He frowned as he recognised it and delicately dropped the rabbit behind a hawthorn bush, then crouched, in search of the cat. As he tracked the scent, Leaf could do nothing but worry.

As he finally reached the cat, Leaf slid behind the heather to observe them. The white form of them reached his sight, and Leaf sighed inwardly. He hoped he'd scented wrongly, but there was no doubt that this was his campmate. He watched the white cat as she gazed around, as if looking for something. Or someone, he realised. Her eyes shone with worry. It was clear now; she was searching for somecat.

Leaf narrowed his eyes suspiciously as the she-cat gave up her search and half-heartedly turned back to camp without spotting him. Who was she finding? One of her rogue friends? As Leaf dragged the rabbit out of the hawthorn bush and back to camp, he wondered once again: Did I make a mistake bringing her back to camp?

Written by Mothfrost and edited by Silverkit/wish