Warriors: Moon Signs #4 (ABANDONED)

Chapter 2

Aspenbreeze and Coalstep had been offered a nest near Sandy and Jay's den. Coalstep was hesitant, and so was Jay (Sandy had been the one to ask), but Aspenbreeze agreed.

Now, the stars are faint and the half-moon is up near the top of the trees.

"Aspenbreeze, they attacked us! Why would you accept a nest from them?" Coalstep demanded when they lay down in the nests.

Aspenbreeze fidgeted with a twig that she found on the ground. "Because we need a nest. And I think they know where my sister is!" She looked up; her eye shone with excitement.

Coalstep opened his jaws, but nothing came out.

"I can't wait to see her again!" Aspenbreeze exclaimed. "Well, I didn't really know her, but, honestly- Do you think she'll like me?" Uncertainty made her excitement fade.

Coalstep blinked, and he gently rubbed her back in a compassionate gesture. "Hush. You're chattering like a starling. Besides, she's your sister," he assured her. "She'll like you. Now go to sleep."

Aspenbreeze's excitement lifted, but she lay her head on her paws and waited for sleep to come.

~~~

"Aspenbreeze- wake up!" Coalstep hissed in her ear.

Aspenbreeze woke up with a start, expecting to be sleeping on feathers and bracken. But she realized she had been sleeping on twigs and pieces of grass.

"Aspenbreeze-" Coalstep began, growling as he attempted to wake her up from luxury.

"I'm awake!" Aspenbreeze snapped. She yawned, stretched, and scratched her side. "Those nests were so itchy." She sighed in disgust.

Coalstep purred, his whiskers twitching. "It's late. And you can ask them about your sister." He noticed a thorn and bit it off, while Aspenbreeze was gasping.

"I forgot! We need to ask them right now!" She breathed. She quickly groomed her pelt, stood up, and waited for Coalstep.

He was cleaning his own pelt and getting rid of thorns. "I'll never sleep with them again!" He muttered, annoyed. "I've learned my lesson with loners. Hold on, I'm coming!"

Aspenbreeze's ear twitched impatiently. "I'm going to leave you if you don't hurry up."

"I said I'm coming!" Coalstep huffed as he bounding over by her side. His pelt brushed hers.

Aspenbreeze purred as they began walking, then sniffed. I can't. What about Goldenspots? Reluctantly, she moved away from his pelt and meowed instead, "I'll get there first!"

She pelted along the trees, wincing as her muscles started hurting again. Coalstep yowled with excitement and flashed by her, reaching their den first.

Aspenbreeze gasped for breath when she stood beside him.

"I thought you said you'll win?" Coalstep teased. "I'll get them." He went over some bramble stems and poked Sandy. She woke up with a start.

"Who is it?" She growled, her fur spiking and she was standing with her claws unsheathed.

"It's only me," Aspenbreeze heard Coalstep assure her.

"Oh," Sandy meowed, her fur lying down. "What do you want?"

Coalstep told her about Aspenbreeze's sister, how she looked like, and what they were here for. He also apologized for waking her up.

"Oh... She has black stripes, right? A brown tabby with dark stripes? She has green eyes?" Sandy suddenly gasped. "Olivia!" She meowed with excitement. "I know her! Follow me!"