Legacy: Timeless (Book 2)

Chapter 12: First Step

Chapter 12: First Step

Scorch yawned, trying to wake up, but not being able to pull herself out of the drowse of sleep. Where am I going again? Oh yeah, to collect those herbs I left... where? Under a shrub root by the stream...

She shook her head, hoping to at least find which direction she should wander in. After falling asleep while Skypool cared for her wounds, she hadn't stopped feeling tired. Maybe I didn't sleep long enough last night. Thinking about it, she had fallen asleep at midnight and woken just after dawn. She hadn't actually slept that long.

She was thankful to Skypool, she wouldn't have expected a Clan cat she'd met only once to be so kind. And she was amazed at how much better she felt after her wounds had been taken care of. She'd been feeling torn and scratched, but she hadn't realized how much it'd been hurting.

Now I just have to wait for their answer. Scorch's heart fluttered nervously at the thought. This was something she wanted to do, as long as she was so close to the Clans. She wanted to participate in her heritage; she really didn't care that it would be with ThunderClan instead of ShadowClan. No way would she ask those black cats to do this.

She flicked her ears as she heard the gurgle of the stream. With another yawn that forced tears to her eyes, she stumbled in that direction, coming up upon the stream. She wasn't sure when she'd crossed it, but she was now on the opposite side that she needed to be on.

Okay, so it's too wide to jump across and too deep to wade. What now? Her mind was still asleep, so she couldn't think her way around the problem. Instead, she started walking along the stream, waiting for a solution to appear to her problem.

Ah-hah. Scorch yawned again as she spotted the solution she'd conveniently stumbled upon. A log lay across the stream, or river, whichever one preferred. It must have been stuck by some rock, but it would work well enough. Okay, senses, time to come back.

She tried once more to wake herself up, but to no avail as her eyes tried to slide closed. Reaching up, she stood on her back legs and placed her front paws on the slippery wood. Jumping up, she dug her claws into the soggy wood as it bounced under her movement.

She slid her paws forward over the wood, waving her tail in an effort to keep her balance on the slippery and rather thin log, or more exactly, rather thick stick. But she made it to the other side safely and wondered which way she should go, upstream or downstream?

She decided to head downstream, since she'd been fairly close to Clan territory when she'd found her herbs. And with things working out rather well, she found her herbs untouched in not too long. There, now to get back to the den and take a nap.

She grimaced as her belly rumbled, after I have some food. Heading back the way she'd come that morning, she felt the light patter of rain hitting her from beneath the pine trees. But the thick trees were at least good for keeping her mostly dry as she rain came down heavier.

She muffled her yawn, not wanting to drop the herbs she was carrying in her mouth. Her pelt was damp, but she still wasn't awake. A flash off lighting startled her and she flinched, before jumping and sprinting forward as thunder crashed around her.

Her heart jumped in her chest and she was shaking. Okay, okay, I'm awake now. Ears alert and eyes wide and wary, she continued home quickly, walking on her toes as she trotted forward. There's the den! Scorch bounced with relief.

"Gumaph," she groaned as she was snatched by her scruff and her paws were swung off the ground. She churned her paws through the air, huffing, trying to loosen the cat's grip on her scruff. But she wasn't scared; she recognized the cat's scent.