Shining of the Four

Chapter 23

            Sunrise awoke to feel her owner's soft hands running through her fur. She purred, opening an eye to glance up at her owner.

            "Good morning," he said, grinning.

            Sunrise purred and rubbed against him before leaping down his bed and heading out into the front room. Her sisters were already eating, though she'd been avoiding them lately. She spent most of her time outside talking to Fawn.

            The she-cat could be a normal kit, it turned out. Many times, they would play. Once in awhile, Fawn would mention something about a StarClan cat. If Sunrise ever asked about clan cats, Fawn's eyes would widen, her pelt would shake, and she'd flee into her house. Sunrise had to keep her mouth shut most of the time.

            "Look. Someone's finally up," Polly muttered to Holly.

            "Should we eat her food?" Holly asked loudly.

            "Go ahead. I'm not hungry," Sunrise scowled, padding past them to sit near the fireplace. It hadn't snowed in a week, but it was still incredibly cold, and she supposed another storm would be on its way soon.

            After a few moments, Sunrise could hear her sisters footsteps scurry away. She waited until they were gone, and then she crept forward, finding her bowl still full. So the plan had continued to work.

            Sunrise immediately dived into her food bowl, gobbling it up within minutes. Afterwards, she padded outside, hoping to work off her full stomach. Her sisters had gained an incredible amount of weight over the past few moons, but as for Sunrise, she had remained slim, probably from all her racing around the backyard.

            "Fawn! Fawn!" she called, looking around her backyard.

            Within a few moments, the she-cat's head popped up from the fence.

            "Sunrise! I was waiting for you!" Fawn explained, leaping down from her fence into Sunrise's backyard.

            "Bit cold today, huh?" Sunrise observed, the cold weather nipping at her pelt.

            "Yeah, I guess so," Fawn agreed.

            "How's your day been?" Sunrise asked.

            The previous day, Fawn had been muttering about a she-cat from some clan, and when Sunrise had asked what cat, Fawn had run off.

            Sunrise always had some wild thought Fawn was angry with her and wouldn't speak to her again, but the next day, the she-cat would be outside, waiting for her.

            "It's been all right," Fawn sighed, pushing snow around with her tiny brown paws.

            "That's...good," Sunrise awkwardly replied.

            "We need to talk, Sunrise," Fawn blurted out.

            "About what?"

            "I've been talking to the cats in this neighborhood," Fawn explained.

            "What cats?" Sunrise pondered.

            "That tom, Cracker, but there are other ones too. I see others pass by on fences, and I've talked to a few."

            "And?"

            "And...one cat told me about a she-cat named Anna," Fawn began.

            "Who's Anna?" Sunrise questioned.