Warrior cats: Misted trials

Chapter 4: Maple

Maple sniffed the air for any signs of food. The city he lived in was big, and all the prey he could find most of the time was a young rat, or a mouse, who stupidly wandered into the city.

But there was nothing today. He even checked close to the dump! But there wasn't any living prey around. He came across some roadkill on his way home, but who likes eating stuff that's been run over by countless cars anyway?

"Hi Maple!" Maple looked up on his neighbor's fence just as he came close to his own house.

"Hi." He nodded to the brown tabby tom who was sitting there, grooming his silky fur into place.

"Out searching for live animals to eat?" He teased.

Maple sighed, hopping onto the fence to sit beside his friend. "You know that I prefer meat over kibble."

"Yea, but still. I mean, remember those baby chickadees that were flying around yesterday? They were so cute! I can't believe you would've eaten one." He rolled his blue eyes in laughter.

Maple flicked his ears, orange pelt flashing in the sunlight. "I wouldn't have eaten one. They were just babies! I'd wait till they're grown up, then I'd eat them."

"Y'know, you're really strange." He shook his head in confusion. Then his housefolk called from inside. "I've got to go enjoy a bowl of kibble now. See you later!" He jumped down and dashed to the cat flap.

Maple padded along the fence for a few heartbeats, thinking if he should just go inside and wait, or if he should keep looking for prey. Eventually, his sister- Dawn- called him in.

He sat in the kitchen as he watched his family eat their kibble. "Don't you want some?" His brother, Frosty, asked.

"I'm not really hungry right now." He admitted. There was a smokey smell in the air, making him not hungry.

"Okay." Frosty purred in amusement. "Were you hunting? Again?"

"Yes." Maple nodded slowly. "But I didn't catch anything."

"Then how're you not hungry?"

But before he could answer, a loud alarm rang through the house. Maple stepped back, ears ringing. It was loud.

"Run!" Sunrise yowled.

"Fire!" Dawn screeched. "There's a fire!"

Maple ran blindly towards the door. But part of the roof fell in front of them, blocking their path.

He spun around. "Use the back door!" Dawn called from the back.

Great day for out housefolk to be out. He snarled silently as he ran. The smoke filled his lungs as he jumped outside.

Maple snuggled close to Golden. Her torte fur was covered in debris, and she smelled like smoke, but so did he, and all the others in his family.

"Will we be okay?" Golden asked fearfully.

"I don't know." Maple admitted. All of them had gotten out, but Golden had been so scared that she ran all the way to the forest. Maple had run after her, but by the time he'd found her, it was dark. So now they were trying to sleep in an old cave in a small cliff. It was cold, but it was better than nothing. Tomorrow he would have to lead them both back home- or what was left of it.