The Night [5]

Chapter 10: Cats from The Forest

"All of you, please stay here while I have a talk with our new guests - who should be here any minute," I announced to all the creatures who had gathered in the main area of the manor in front of the large staircase, looking to me for further instructions. All of them, from Charlie to Freddie to even DJ wore nice, dashing tuxedos with the exception of Sebastian, who wore a sweatshirt that was black and white with a tuxedo print on it. Ryuu slept in the hood, as he always did, in his red furred feline form. Piper wore a beautiful orange-hued dress while Amber and Kiwi, while in their feral feline forms, wore small bows in their fur. Scruffy, however, was not present, but nobody had thankfully questioned that. I, myself, knew where he was at the moment and would be interested in seeing what would happen later once he showed up. "Please take note that these guests have been felines their entire lives and several of them have mates and children back home. They have agreed to have human forms, but just make sure to let them know that they are welcome here. I had forgotten to mention earlier that one of these felines, a male known as Redfeather, will possibly be joining us at this manor permanently. It has not been decided yet though." They all nodded as I shifted into my feline form and slipped out the large front doors of the mansion, greeted by the chilling night air as I sat outside on the stone steps of the manor with my tail wrapping around my paws. My bicolored eyes gleamed in the darkness as I scanned around for any figures in the darkness or just anything that stood out to me currently. I was not expecting them to show up right away due to the fact being that none of them had been to this place before. They were more than happy to come through when I had proposed the idea to them about a week or so ago. A low sigh left my jaws now, watching as a thin cloud of breath appeared in front of me. As winter drew near, the nights here were becoming colder and colder, soon enough there would be snow everywhere and that would certainly be a sight to behold. On the other hand, I was a big fan of the cold and would most likely be in my office or by the fireplace when it was snowing outside. I don't think that it was very difficult for people to find out that I was rather sensitive when it came to chilling temperatures, especially when it was in the early morning hours. This wasn't that bad though, considering that it was just after dusk here and the moon was shining up above me in the sky, surrounded by lovely stars. It could be much, much worse when it came to weather.

In the midst of thinking about these things, I caught sight of several shining eyes of different colors peering through the darkness as dark silhouettes emerged from the dense forest that surrounded the manor. From the distance, I could not pick out and say which figure was which, so I was rather patient, sitting up and focusing away from any mindless thought process now that our guests were arriving. I was excited, more than happy that they had actually shown up and not changed their minds. After a few seconds had passed, I actually made the decision to stand up and go down the large stone steps to meet them halfway through the soft grasslands. My fluffy tail waved behind me as I padded through the open field with my whiskers twitching with a sense of content. There was some truth when it came to the matter that I did not spend nearly as enough time with these characters than the ones at the manor, but that did not mean I loved them all any less. I loved all my characters in an equal light - well, there were some exceptions when creatures like Morph or Robin came into the picture, but I did not wish to dwell on negative thoughts like that right now. This was a peaceful fun night for everyone and I would not have anything get out of hand, not if I could help it. Eventually, it came to the point where I halted and a group of cats stood before me, stopping as well for a moment. We stared at each other in silence before I dipped my head in respect. "Hello, my friends. I am very glad to see you here." I said with a small purr, "This will be a grand night to celebrate our family and it's diversity from the human world." I looked at the first three cats that I came to recognize. "Flintheart, Pinewhisker, Hawkfeather - I am glad to see that you three were able to come." I greeted the three tomcats, all varying in clans. Flintheart, a Thunderclan warrior, who was a tall, thin-framed Burmilla and one of my most popular warriors among the group. Pinewhisker, a Shadowclan warrior, who was a brown-striped slim Dragon Li Cat. Hawkfeather, a Windclan warrior, who was a dashing tan-furred Chausie. The three returned the simple gesture of dipping their heads to me. "It is a pleasure to be here, Rebecca," Pinewhisker said with a friendly smile upon his muzzle. He glanced at Flintheart and then Hawkfeather before looking to me with slight concern flickering within his lightened green-hued eyes. "I am sure that you are aware of the current status of the clans right now - Thunderclan and Windclan, especially." Once Pinewhisker had mentioned this, I had taken note of the other two males and not they avoided eye-contact with one another. They were supposed to be close friends, but right now, the Shadowclan tomcat seemed to be a barrier between them to make sure they did not fight.