The Fall

Chapter 2

     It was the day the games started. Ferret was grooming the four of them, temporarily taking Willow under her wing.

     "Do ya four remember everything ya need to know?" Ferret said, worry evident in her features as paces in front of them.

     "Yeah Momma, we'll be okay. I'll keep everyone safe." The little black and white kitten said to her. Tom tried to sit up as tall as he could, being just a bit taller than the other three.

     "All kits old enough for the Apprentice Games gather here!" A voice yelled from atop a stack of bricks. Ferret led her kits and Willow to where the other Queens and their kits were gathering.

     Willow could feel the nervousness in their stomach, this was the moment they'd been waiting for since they were just a little baby kit!

     "This moon's games are very special, the Council will be picking five kits to train themselves! Even better, each on of them will be making a speech in the five districts. Speaking here in District 3 is Council Member Holly." The speaker finished and quickly jumped off the bricks to make room for Holly.

     Everyone in the crowd went perfectly silent, staring up at Holly. Willow had stars in their eyes as they watched the older molly steadily make her way to the top of the stack.

     "As you all know, each of us Council members will be training one of your kits, but only one. We will judge them ourselves, for only we know what we're looking for. I know that the past moon have been worse than ever with our famine, but I trust that you all have been strong enough to survive. We are CementClan! We will not give up that easily!" Holly let out a yowl, and everyone followed suit.

     Willow yowled as loud as they could, which wasn't very loud anyway. Holly climbed off the stack of bricks and then the Watchers came to take the kits for the games. Willow was led off with Daisy, Fred, and Tom to the Gathering Area.

     "What's your name kit?" One of the Watchers asked Willow.

     "Willow from District 3." They said nervously.

     "Heh, good luck out there." The Watcher said before hurrying away to their post.

     The Watchers started leading the large group of six moon old kits to the starting area, lining everyone up to start counting. Willow and Daisy had been separated from the other two.

     "Willow I'm nervous, where's Fred and Tom?" Daisy murmured to Willow.

     "I don't know Daisy, but we'll find 'em and we'll get through the games together. Do you have my tail?" Willow asked Daisy in a serious tone.

     "As long as you have mine until the fourth day." Daisy said back, quietening once the Head Watcher yowled for silence. The countdown started, and Willow and Daisy linked tails out of fear.

     "I'll keep you safe Daisy." Willow said under their breath.

     "Five"

     "Four"

     "Three"

     "Two"

     "One!"

     "GO!"

     Everyone ran as fast as they could into the city once the countdown ended. Willow could see other kits running in various directions, yet they kept their hold on Daisy's tail.

     "Daisy! Let's go over here," Willow said to Daisy who was trying to keep. She nodded and the two turned right, and then left, and then right again. They slowed to a stop in an old alleyway.

     "Here we are, the City.." Daisy murmured while trying to catch her breath.

     "We only, need to, hunt today, right? How hard, can that be." Willow said while panting. They unclasped their tail and started sniffing around.

     "We can't eat anything, or drink either. I hope we don't run into trouble, and maybe we'll find Tom and Fred!" Daisy tried to sound optimistic, but was wearily eyeing the surrounding areas.

     "I think I smell something, rat? Mouse? Bird? I can't tell, but let's get it." Willow said softly to Daisy who nodded. The two started slowly creeping their way towards the scent, and turns out it was a bird.

     Willow quickly adjusted their stance, remembering what their mother and Ferret taught them. Daisy did the same, and crept to the other side of it. Willow lept first, but didn't quite land there. The bird squawked and made to fly away, but Daisy jumped at it, grabbing one of the wings with her teeth and bearing down hard.

     A crunch of bone could be heard as Willow messily sliced at the neck with their claws, soon killing it.

     "We did it!" Daisy purred with excitement, spitting out feathers immediately afterwards.

     "Feathers are disgusting, ugh." The tortie made a face.

     "We're gonna need to find somewhere to stay the nights, so let's start looking." Willow said, looking up at the sky. It was still very early, and finding the bird was pure luck. Daisy let out a noise of understanding, and picked the bird up by the wing.

     Willow started looking around the nearby area, quickly finding nothing that would be a decent den. The snowy cat then started trekking down the alleyway, taking a right. So far no luck, everything was too wet or too exposed. The two cats knew that a den too exposed would be a perfect place to stage an attack or raid for food on later days.

     "I think we're gonna have to climb, follow me." Willow said nervously, eyeing a large building that was crumbling. Daisy nodded, and the two started to climb the building. They leaped onto a closed dumpster, and then scrabbled for a hold on an area where the bricks had fallen out. They jumped onto a windowsill that was close and sturdy, and climbed through the open window. The window was thankfully not broken like most of them are.

     The building was falling apart, but the room Daisy and Willow found was still sturdy, yet it had a large hole in the roof that covered a good portion of the room, along with a hole in the floor by the door. There was a tipped over couch that had enough room under it for Willow and Daisy to rest and store food and such. It was pretty cozy too.

     "This should do pretty good, at least until we can go home." Willow said quietly, observing the area. Daisy crawled under the couch and sat down the bird.

     "Let's head back out, there has to be something else out there..."