The Shooting Star That Fell [UNFINISHED]

adventure

The last rays of a crimson setting sun filtered through the splintered wooden boards, casting long shadows on the barn wall and haylofts, scattering its light across the cracked floor in dancing dappled shadows. Even though nightfall was setting in quickly, the heat of day could still be felt crackling in the air. It was easily the hottest and driest day in this season's summer.

Falcon found the heat crawling uncomfortably through his thin brown pelt, drenching him in sweat and panting like one of those tiny white dogs the humans liked to own. He tossed and turned in his little nest of moss and hay until he got to his paws and decided to rid his perch of all the nesting material trapping in the heat. Lying on the barren, splintery wood was not much of an improvement, but at least his pelt no longer felt as if it was on fire.

He peered over the edge of his perch, down at the Commons where the rest of Hawk slept, and watched as the last of the adult cats slipped through the barn door and out into the night. There must have been another one of those meetings going on. Falcon's amber eyes wandered to the lumps of fur curled up along the walls of the Commons. He recognized a few queens and elders. All the kittens were asleep, or supposed to be anyhow. Falcon knew his mother would not be happy to return from the meeting and see him still awake, but Falcon hardly considered himself a kitten anymore. He was three and a half months old, for crying out loud. He could almost hunt his own prey.

Falcon's stomach growled loudly at the thought of prey. He felt like he hadn't eaten for ages. His mind wandered to the rats scuttling along in the barn loft, and began devising a plan to catch them, even though he'd never had a hunting lesson in his life.

Then his mother's stern words interrupted his fantasy, loud and clear like the shrill crickets chirping away in the golden fields just outside the barn. "Don't ever accept or eat prey from any cat unless I say it's ok," Light would always lecture him. "You never know what sorts of poisons humans are setting for the rats around here."

"Yes, Mother," Falcon muttered under his breath, sinking back into his nest, willing sleep to come, and failing miserably. It was too hot, and dry. His tongue felt parched. He could hear the quiet chatter of cats beneath him, amplified a million times in the near-empty space. He was hungry, and he was thirsty. He didn't think he could hold out until the next morning, when he and his mother went to drink the morning dew clinging from the field grasses.

Falcon wished it would rain. He'd only ever seen the rain once, and that was when he was a very young kitten. The sight of water falling from the sky enthralled him to no end.

Rain would make it easier to sleep, Falcon thought, resting his chin on his paws.

He lay there for a heartbeat, his mind blank. There was just simply nothing to do. He couldn't wait until he was of-age, and he could finally become a Learner and do things. He was most excited to learn to hunt, even though the tomcats of Hawk never did much hunting.

A slow creak of the barn door and soft padding of paws announced the arrival of another cat. Even in the gloom, Falcon immediately recognized the shadowy figure of a lithe, tawny-golden queen standing at the entrance. She lifted her head, her vivid amber eyes searching the rafters, flickering until they landed on Falcon.

"Mo—" Falcon began, but was cut off by an urgent hiss from below him.

His mother motioned with her tail. "Come here," she whispered, her meow just loud enough for Falcon to get the message. He slithered out of his nest and scrambled down the rotting, half-broken ladder propped up against his perch and stumbled to a halt in front of Light, trying to smother his giggles of amusement.

"Shhh." Something flashed in Light's eyes that silenced him immediately. Rarely did his mother ever look so alarmed. Granted, Light was never a cheerful cat like Moss and Night's mother, Raven—she usually held a stern expression on her face and rarely talked. She only did so when it was completely necessary, like giving him that constant slew of reminders, mostly consisting of not drinking the dirty water, not eating the poisoned rats, not leaving the barn during daylight, not leaving the barn during night, not asking so many questions...

Actually, when Falcon thought about it, Light talked quite a lot.

"Falcon, are you listening?"

Falcon blinked rapidly. "No," he said truthfully.

Light looked at him for a moment, and sighed. "Are you listening now?" she questioned, flicking her tail back and forth.

Falcon nodded earnestly. "Yes."

A queer look came over his mother's face, a strange mélange of affection and sorrow. It disappeared in a heartbeat and was replaced by her usual sternness. "Listen carefully." Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "I'm going to go out after this."

"Are you going back to the meeting?" Falcon asked curiously.

"Don't interrupt me." Light took in a short breath and continued, "Falcon, how would you like to go on an adventure?" Her meow adopted a soft, motherly tone, almost cooing at him. It was something he'd never heard before.

Falcon tilted his head curiously. "An adventure?" he repeated, feeling his whiskers quiver. "I... I'd like that very much!" He felt a spark of excitement ripple through his pelt. An adventure! That would be something to do. It would be much more interesting than sleeping in this weather.

"Alright." Light curled her white-tipped tail around her paws. "There are very specific instructions you have to follow on this adventure, ok?"

Falcon nodded.

"When I tell you to, go to the loft and stay there with Raven. If for some reason I do not come back when the moon is highest in the sky, you will leave the barn."

Falcon tried to suppress his instinctive urge to ask his mother why he was to do all this, but Light went on, "Make sure you're not seen, and stay absolutely silent. If you stand right in front of the barn door, you will see a silver human object along the horizon. That's the fence that divides Hawk territory and mountain cat territory. Go to it, and you will find three cats waiting there. Stay with them, and listen to every word they say to you. And you must not tell anyone of this adventure. It'll be our little secret." A light flared in her eyes. "Do you understand? Repeat the instructions back to me, quietly."

"Ok," Falcon mewed. He blinked and repeated what he had just heard with lightning speed, "Go to the loft and stay with Raven, if for some reason you don't come back when the moon is highest in the sky, I'll leave the barn and go to the dividing fence. I'll find three cats there and I have to listen to them. Can't tell anyone anything about this. Got it."

Light's whiskers twitched in amusement. "Very impressive," she purred softly. "And one more thing." She paused as a wash of soft silver moonlight filtered through the cracks in the roof, turning her own tawny pelt into a shocking white glow. "You must remember that I love you very much." She opened her mouth, and closed it again, as if finding the right words to say. Light gave a tiny sigh. "Your father would be proud of you," she murmured, gazing at Falcon with dewy eyes.

Falcon felt a familiar flicker of pride burst in his chest. He straightened himself up and tried to look tough and important.

Light's gaze rested on him for a heartbeat longer. Then she tore herself away and mewed briskly, "Go to the loft."

Falcon hopped to his paws as fast as he could and scrambled away. He climbed the half-rotten wooden ladder up to the barn loft as fast as his tiny paws could carry him, trying to avoid splinters along the way. He hauled himself onto the wooden platforms and shook the sawdust out of his fluffy brown fur.