Waiting Outside the Lines

Where She Goes to a Gathering Again

"My heart might be bruised, but it will recover and become capable of seeing beauty of life once more. It's happened before, it will happen again, I'm sure. When someone leaves, it's because someone else is about to arrive and I will find love again."
-Anonymous

Flashback

I slept cozily in a pile of the loners that were Snowball's cats: the cats I joined and lived with for two moons now. I didn't know what to expect when I left the forest all those moons ago. The fact that I found these friendly cats that didn't even need to know your name to be nice to you was so much more than I expected.

Snowball was a fluffy white she-cat, one of the most kindest cats I met and was a lover of peace. Out of all the cats I interacted with here, I interacted with her the most. And I held onto a small hope that we could become mates someday. Only a small hope mind you. I didn't want another Redblossom situation on my paws. I cringed at the thought of those bitter memories and pushed them aside.

I let my eyes slight open to see Snowball sleeping beside me and I took in the peaceful cat's image and purred. At that moment, I was allowing myself to be happy.

What a terrible mistake that was.

The peaceful image of Snowball sleeping was violently ripped away from me when a group of rogues ran in here trapping us; one of them immediately leaping onto Snowball. I jumped and knocked the rogue off of Snowball with full force and growled. I wasn't going to lose my home, I couldn't lose my home.

But my desire to stay happy wasn't enough at the time.

Before my unsheathed claw could land on the rogue, the rogue turned around and sent a strong back kick with both legs that sent me flying till I hit the other side of the den. I felt fear as I tried to get up but my paws barely moved.

"SNOWBALL!"

With that scream I heard left every last bit of hope that I had inside me. I didn't have to turn around to face the attack to know that our kind leader was dead. And with my luck, every member of our group would be dead too.

My heart was beating at a wild pace as the screams of my new friends stopped several times till there were no more screams. All that was left was the cold dead silence for several long moments

Because I couldn't catch a break, a rogue grabbed my scruff and dragged me to the clearing outside of the den. I growled and the rogue that grabbed me leaped back.

"Crap! Cora, she's still alive!" The rogue hissed. I saw in the corner of my eye the cat that would eventually become my worst nightmare: a tall bright orange she-cat with a white spot on her forehead.

She looked at me and I silently hoped that she would let me go or at the very least end my suffering. Instead I saw a glint in her eyes and I feared what was going to happen next.

"You're pretty." She finally said in an intimidating voice. "Take her back to the den and don't kill her just yet."

My heart dropped as two rogues dragged me away back to the den where I would wait until the leader of these vicious rogues would make a decision.

Several sunrises later I was still recovering from the horrific attack, with the rogues giving me barely enough food and treatment to survive. But they made sure that I stayed weak from the attack so I wouldn't recover enough to gain the strength to try and escape.