Warriors: Sounds of the Forest

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Riversong

"Are we out of fox territory yet?" I yawned as I followed the tabby Tom that had helped me fight the fox-kit. It had been three sunrises since then, last night had been the full moon, and yet he had not yet told me his name. 

It felt strange to be forced to trust a Tom who was not only a loner but also did not trust me enough to tell me his name.

"We should be out by moon-sight" he replied as he shot a quick glance at me.

I was begining to understand his way of speech, when he said 'mew', he meant 'kit' and 'sharp-fang' he meant 'a warriors age' he also used different names for seasons and times of dar or night, light 'moon-sight' meant 'moon-rise' and 'mid-sun' meant 'sun-high'.  

It had taken some getting used to but his voice was becoming something I was used to, even his strange accent seemed to be disappearing from my ear's notice.

"Stop." he hissed lowly as a bush twitched ahead of us.

I sniffed the air smelling only the scent of Kittypet. "It's not a fox, only a lots Kittypet." I said quietly.

Lifting his head the Tom also sniffed "Your right." he muttered quietly then louder he called to the other cat "Come out where we can see you." 

As he spoke a black and white Tom carefully picked his way out of the bushes, his bright green eyes clouded with slight fear, though it was well hidden by curiosity.

"I'm sorry" he replied with a curt nod, "i wasn't actually hiding, you see a bramble had caught my tail while I was hunting."

"huh." the tabby Tom grunted "You shouldn't be hunting here anyway housecat, this forest is filled with foxes."

The tuxedo Tom lifted his head with slight fear when the brown tabby had spoken of the foxes. "Oh my!" he gasped "And is that why you are both so roughed up! I was worried when I saw your scars, thought you might be some of those mountain cats!"

"Mountain cats?" I murmured thoughtfully.

"Yes!" the tuxedo said "The mountain cats are so fierce I've heard that they rip off your fur quicker than any cat could lift a claw!" then pausing the Tom looked thoughful. "But then again they life on the other side of town so this would defiantly be to far for them! You to needn't worry about them!"

"Actually, I was here looking for them." I replied to him.

"What?!" the tabby tom gasped "No cat can go in those mountains, the cats their are killers!"

"Yea!" the other Tom agreed "cats that go thee never come back!"

I could feel the hair on my back rising, Starclan had told me that these cats would welcome my arrival but what these cats said made it sound like I was walking towards my death.  

After a moment of silence I sighed. 

"I'm afraid I must go. I can't return home until I meet these mountain cats, so if I can't return after meeting them it would be better then not trying."

"Well.." the tuxedo Tom muttered "If you put it that way it does make sense." then after a few moments the Tom looked up and continued "I can take you though the town, but I am not going with you into those mountains."

Speaking up, the tabby Tom added "I'll help you as well, the town has many cats in it that don't like strangers in their land. I'm sure that if they see me with you they won't attack."

I nodded thankful to have the two toms with me, wether they were or weren't kittypets.

"I'm Oreo by the way." the tuxedo Tom said kindly as he dipped his head. 

Glanceing at the tabby Tom he asked "I'm sure that he hasn't yet told you his name."

Glareing at Oreo the tabby said "That is only because I only expected to get her through the forest!" then turning to me he continued "As cat with no permanent den it is better to not make friends with cats you will never see again, but seeing as we will be together for over a moon I may as well say. My name is Tobby."

I met his eyes and saw that he felt slightly more trusting now that he had given me his name. So turning to face them both I replied "I am Riversong of Thunderclan."

As we began walking Tobby turned and with a curious glint in his amber eyes he asked "Thunderclan?"  

And so as we walked through the slowly thinning forest I told him of the clans and my sister, explaining to him all that had happened to us.