The Night [5]

Chapter 11: Two Worlds, One Family

A few respectful minutes of silence went through the group, including from myself, as the three males comforted their dear friend whose mate was gone forever. To be honest with everything, I was not expecting the black-furred tomcat to show up to the dance after seeing his mate pass away only a few days earlier, but I suppose it was good for him to be with his close friends instead of mourning Talonfang alone, which from personal experience of losing someone you love, was not a wise decision. I was glad that Sproutwhisker was smart enough to seek comfort this way and I knew that he was in good hands, or paws, for the rest of the night, even though I seemed a bit cross with the males only a few moments earlier. Eventually, I got up from my sitting position and turned away from the crowd of cats as I walked up the stone steps once again. On the night that I had been a sole witness to the death of Talonfang, I had broken down and cried for a long time because I knew how it would break Sproutwhisker, I knew how much it would truly hurt him inside, especially after he had lost his father, Ripple, to a terrible sickness almost an entire year ago. It had put me in a very depressed mood for about two full days until I decided to focus on more important matters at hand. Hopefully, the three males could give him the comfort that he truly deserved right now. I could not foresee the future for him, nor could I for his five kittens - they were not even my characters. "Is everyone all okay to go inside now and be introduced to the rest of the family?" I said as I reached the front doors of the mansion and glancing back at the small group. They all nodded and all began to step up the large steps as I had done as I pushed open the wooden doors with my paws. The warm light and comforting sight of everyone else awaited me from inside as I went into the main room and sat down once more, wrapping my tail around my paws as I looked back at the cats that stood in the doorframe, looking up and around the room with widened eyes, but not going inside yet, probably still a bit nervous about stepping into a place they had never before seen. I could see the creatures of the manor looking at me and them with a certain curiosity now in their eyes. Both of these groups of my characters had never interacted or even met before, so this would be an interesting experiment for me. "I want only a few or one of you to come inside at a time." I instructed to the felines, "So I can introduce you to the Feral Plains Manor family. You'll have your chances to meet them further once the event has officially started for tonight."

None of the cats moved from outside for about thirty seconds, being hesitant, of course, for the new experience, but after patiently waiting, I heard a sigh come from the group and a large brown-furred maine coon emerged from the group and into the manor, standing beside me as his eyes shifted around at the other creatures in the mansion. I simply smiled and shifted my paws slightly as I now introduced them. "Alright, everyone, this is Wolfclaw." I announced with a purr, "He's a Riverclan tomcat and he's fairly new to the group actually. He's only been with us for about a few months or so now and he's got a bit of a temper to him, so watch out." Wolfclaw raised an eyebrow at me with an unamused expression. "What? You want me to tell that you absolutely love kittens and rainbows?" I teased him and the large tomcat rolled his eyes at me, which made me chuckle. "You want a human form?" To this, he simply nodded as I proceeded to give him a human form. With all my characters, no matter if they are feral or not, I always have a human version of them in mind in case situations like this come into play, so without further ado, the male shifted in a large, muscularly built male who had a dark-brown head of hair and a bit of a beard hinting on his face. He wore a dark-brown tuxedo that suited him rather well for his personality. He was a silent-type that didn't really say much, so once he had adapted to the form, he dipped his head to me and proceeded to walk into the manor and joined the rest of the creatures. With him setting the introductions into motion, another cat stepped through the door. "Ah, Wildfire. I seem to see a bit of a pattern of Riverclan cats going to be introduced firstly tonight." I said with a slight chuckle. "It's an honor to be here, love, it's much different than the forest back home or any twoleg place I've seen." The Somali cat said as she looked up and around at the shimmering lights that hung on the walls and ceilings, "I can smell some delicious treats just waiting to be tasted." She was right, there was an assortment of food for everyone in the main ballroom where everything would be occurring. "Human form?" I asked. "Oh, yes, please. I'd love to know how those upwalkers feel, being so tall and such." I nodded to this as she shifted into a young female with long silky red-hued hair, her face dotted with freckles and wearing a red dress. She looked down at this with awe. "This is beautiful, Rebecca! Thank you so much." She purred and proceeded to follow after Wolfclaw into the main ballroom. I was glad that everyone seemed to be getting through this without any stressing.