Flame

Chapter Four

Dovewing stretched lazily on the soft stretch of grass where she had slept. Unhurriedly, she sauntered over to the stream and lapped at the cool water. Her mind still foggy from her late-night hunt with Flame, she caught the scent of a mouse. She focused all her senses and pinpointed where it was. It won’t even see me coming, she thought smugly. Prowling expertly with all her senses trained on the mouse, she was not aware of a pair of green eyes watching her from the undergrowth. A pair of black paws slid from under the hanging moss of a weeping willow, followed closely by two more. A white-tipped tail emerged, along with a black head and broad shoulders. Crouching, it came closer. Dovewing, still oblivious to the oncoming cat, crept up and gathered herself to pounce. The black cat leaped, and, landing squarely on the ash-colored shoulders yelled, “SAVED YOUR LIFE!” Dovewing jumped a good three feet in the air. She turned, hissing, on her attacker, the madness of losing her prey smoldering in her eyes. “Flame!” her eyes recognized the familiar white tail almost at once, “Why did you do that?” a mischievous glint entered Flame’s eye, “Oh, well, you would’ve heard me any other time,” Dovewing’s eyes clouded, “Why are you here? Didn’t you say it was dangerous to come in the middle of the day?” Flame’s glossy shoulders drooped and he lowered his eyes. She noticed claw marks on his belly and back. “Flame, have you been fighting?” still no answer “Flame, I am not kidding, what happened?” He padded quietly up to the stream and lay down, his gaze in the stream. “Well, yesterday I became a prey-hunter, and-” “That’s great!” Dovewing exclaimed, “-and I got into a fight with a cave-guard named Night…”

Scrambling and yowling, a mass of fur was hurling through the cave, scattering feathers, moss and bracken everywhere. Their screeches drew a puzzled crowd to gather around the cats. Cats of all ages were gathering to watch; kits, elders, prey-hunters, To-Bes, cave-guards, and slowly, very slowly, Stoneteller quietly padded from his den. The cats stepped back respectfully, the queens nudging their kits behind them, as Stoneteller padded soundlessly up to the fighting cats. They were beginning to weary and got slower and slower, till at last, they saw Stoneteller’s menacing eyes glaring at them from under their bushy, grey brows. “And what is the meaning of this upstart of To-Bes?” The cats held their silence, the culprits’ heads drooping. “Will no one answer?” still, no one even looked at him. Looking very displeased and disturbed, Stoneteller pounced up to his customary seat of an overhanging rock shelf. “I call you together today for a most unsavory thing. You two,” here he gestured towards Night and Flame, “come forward.” The padded penitently over. “ I am deeply disappointed in both of you. I regret to sa---” at this moment, a scrawny, undersized cat, about the age of a To-Be scrambled out of the same den Stoneteller had, The Cave of Pointed Stones. Shambling clumsily up the shelf, he whispered something into Stoneteller’s ear. His eyes grew big and unbelieving, bushy brows raised to their highest, he leaned closer almost knocking over his undersized apprentice-Stoneteller in his keenness to hear. A few minuets later, Stoneteller’s apprentice stopped whispering and all was silent as Stoneteller looked at Flame disbelievingly. After a short fumble for words, Stoneteller said, “Flame That Burns at Night, Flame, someone has put up an accusation that you have been going into the forbidden forest, is it true?” All eyes turned, stunned, as they waited for an answer. All but one, Night. Instead of looking shocked, he looked smug. The truth came as a violent burst of cold wind in Flame’s face. Night must have been there that time we caught a tinge of cat scent and a rustle of leaves! it was an awful recognition. He thought back to all the quiet and content nights and hunts he had shared with Dovewing.  His father’s scent drifted towards him, What? “You know in your heart what is right,” and just like that, his sweet scent grew faint, and altogether whisked away. Flame knew what he had to do. "Stoneteller, I have visited the wood, and with it, freedom. I--” “That is quite enough, Flame, it is well known, it is forbidden to visit that place, and so, as you have confirmed it yourself, you shall be punished.” These words he spoke in a formal voice, “Flame That Burns at Night, you are not welcome here any longer, and are condemmened to exile. Wherever your wanderings take you, let it be far from here."  This annocement caused a small murmer to course through the crowd. "You all may say your good-byes now."The Tribe stood in shocked silence. The first to rise was Sun, her pelt trembled with the effort, even though she was not an old cat. Comeing to his side, she thrust  her nose into the soft, black comfort of Flame’s pelt. “Why?” she drew a shaky breath, “Why have you brought this on yourself?” her tone of pain almost made him regret his decision, but a remainder of his father’s scent brought him back to his decision. “Sun, why do you not trust me? Did you not hear what I said to Stoneteller? Mother, I know in my heart it is right.” Sun pulled her head quietly from his fur and said, “I know.” she backed away, silently, “Goodbye, my son.” and she was gone. Hawk, his mentor, and many other cats came to his side and awkwardly said goodbye. Even Stoneteller paid his dues. The hardest part was still to come, as he backed out of the cave, he saw every cat he had ever known or played with. Grass, Spot, Tawny, Hawk, and many others. All these he turned his back on forever.