Owlflight's Kits (Book One)

Chapter Eleven

"It's so big!" Cloud gasped as the four cats roamed one of the old thunderpaths. There was a cat around every corner, carrying mice or kits, sharing tongues and sleeping. Owlflight had never seen so many cats in one place.

"Ya new here?" Asked an old cat as they walked by. Owlflight stopped, looked at him, and nodded. "Thought so, don't see many kits walkin' round here often." He stood up. "Can I help ya? Whats ya names?"

"I'm Owlflight, these are Cloud, Stone, and Robin." Owlflight said, "Who are you?"

"Names Tommy, or Tom." He said, "You come with me, wouldn't want any scraps gettin' ya."

"What are scraps?" Cloud asked as they followed him through the crowd of cats.

"Cats that don't got their own den. You got lots to learn kit.. They're very dangerous. There's only three round here, but they'll kill any cat they see out at night. Vicious folk they are.." Tom shook his head sadly. "Most of us live in groups of five or ten, livin' in old twoleg nests. Those that don't live out on the streets, they gotta fight to survive. They called scraps. The ones who got a place and group of their own is called loners, and then there's the leaders. Lots of loner wanna be leaders. See that giant twoleg nest over that way?" He pointed with his tail. "That's where them leaders live. Everybody obeys the leaders, even scraps. They rule the place... The ones right now called Leo, Fin, and Sunny. You probably won't see em much."

"Wow. I want to be leader!" Stone said.

"Shh!" Cloud shushed him.

"This here is my place. Live in a group of friends, with Marsh, Alex, Blue, and Luna. They'll be very nice.." He said, slipping into a dark twoleg nest.

"Who's this?" Asked a silver she-cat.

"This is Luna." Tom told the others. Then he explained who they were, while Owlflight and his kits settled down in a a far corner where it was dark.

"They better not be coming to live with us.." Luna growled.

"We aren't. Just stopping by.. Leaving tomorrow." Owlflight said.

"Alright then, let me treat our guests to some mice! C'mon, Marsh, let's go hunt." Luna disappeared with a brown cat into the shadows of the nest.

"I'm sleepy." Robin complained.

"Then sleep." Cloud replied.

"But I'm hungry!"

"Then eat!" Cloud laughed, curling up in a ball and resting her head on Stone, who was already dozing off.

The cats ended up going to bed fully fed and cozy, forgetting the dangers outside. Owlflight's dreams were full of memories of Firepelt, and he woke up feeling emptier than ever.

The cats set off the next morning, saying goodbye to the loners. They headed through loner island, hoping to come to the end and find an island that wasn't quite so crowded to be their home.

Instead, they ended up lost, doing a full circle, and eventually stood facing clan land again. "Fox dung.." Owlflight hissed. "We've gone in a circle! Now what?"

"What about over there?" Cloud flicked over towards a small island not far to the left. "It looks like a good place to stay, and it isn't too far from clan land, so we'd still be able to return and see the clan cats."

"Good thinking. We'll check it out!" Owlflight said. As he swam over and clambered onto the island, he noticed how strong the prey scent was. This would be a perfect place for hunting.

"Can we hunt?" Stone asked excitedly.
"You don't even know how, mouse-brain!" Cloud joked, but prodded Owlflight in the shoulder. "Teach us?"

Owlflight nodded. "Although I'm not sure this is the best place to try. The prey will probably just run right into your paws!"

*

After a quick patrol of the island, Owlflight concluded that him and his kits were the only cats on the island. There also didn't seem to be any foxes or badgers, or any other animal that would pose as a threat to the cats. It seemed too good to be true; even Shadeclaw couldn't threaten them here, if he didn't know where they were.

Owlflight was starting to feel a bit better, after Firepelt's death had left him feeling empty. As he fell asleep beneath the stars with a full belly, Robin sleeping peacefully at his side, he began to wonder if being a loner was better than being a warrior after all.