smoke & mirrors (hiatus)

.: chapter sixteen :.

.: ♕ :.

OAKSTRIPE didn't really know the way to Star Rock. She was, to be honest, just following Dewleap. He'd said he'd been there before, so they were all following him.

Religion was a big thing in the kingdom, and so many of the cats worshipped Star Kingdom. However, Oakstripe had never really followed how exactly it even worked. But she supposed that Dewleap and Heronskip knew about it.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Heronskip mumbled as they walked through the forest. It was still night, so a dark light was cast over the kingdom. Oakstripe noticed that Heronskip had been strangely quiet.

"Yes. I come here once a week, usually," Dewleap meowed, flicking his tail. He turned his head back to look at them. His amber eyes were friendly.

"Oh, wow," Heronskip whispered, stepping over a log.

Oakstripe didn't like saying it, but Heronskip was so in love with Dewleap that it was impossible not to see.

They were still walking when Dewleap said, very softly: "Wait. Stop walking."

Heronskip froze in his step, and Oakstripe looked ahead at Dewleap. "What is it?" she asked between clenched teeth.

"I can't tell, but I can hear it."

Oakstripe listened. She didn't hear anything.

"It's a raccoon!" Dewleap hissed. "Get near me, RIGHT NOW."

Heronskip ran over immediately, but Oakstripe treaded more carefully. She didn't want to alert anything to her presence.

"When it comes out of that bush," Dewleap said, angling his ears at a bush a little distance away from them, "stay in the circle. Don't stray away. They're easier to take down like this."

Heronskip stood ultimately still. Neither he nor Oakstripe had had much battle training, and Oakstripe admired her best friend's courage. Then again, he didn't look too courageous right now. But Oakstripe ignored that.

The raccoon burst out of a bush in front of them. Heronskip let out a muffled cry, and stepped back. Oakstripe stood next to Dewleap, and as the raccoon drew closer, the gray tom lashed out at the animal's face. Oakstripe tried to help, and tugged at it's tail while it tried to get at Dewleap.

Oakstripe saw that Heronskip was watching in horror. She opened her mouth as far as she could, even though it reopened her wounds. Biting into the raccoon's tail, she hissed in anguish. Dewleap took this opportunity to hit it's face with unsheathed claws. The raccoon hissed and ran away, tearing up the forest floor as it ran.

"Be wary," Dewleap said. He didn't even look tired. Oakstripe was panting like a dog, and she hadn't even done as much work as him. "Sometimes they come back for round two."

Heronskip looked at them like they were heroes. Which, Oakstripe supposed, they kind of were. "Is the road clear?" he whispered.

Oakstripe didn't know. She looked to Dewleap. He sniffed the air and nodded. "I think so. Let's go."

And so the three of them headed off again. Oakstripe fell back a bit to whisper to Heronskip as Dewleap hunted for something to eat.

"Hey, are you okay?" she murmured, and sat down. He looked at her with a hollow look in his eyes, and his head shook slightly. No, his body language spelled out, clear as day.

"What happened?" she asked, wrapping her tail around him.

"Cranewhisker—" he started, but broke off as three cats entered their vision. Unfamiliar scents flooded Oakstripe's senses.

"Who are you?" Oakstripe meowed warily, standing up to face them.

"I'm Jedi!" said the cat on the left, a dark gray tabby. He gave a little bounce when he spoke.

"Shut up!" said the cat in the middle, another dark tabby. This cat was brown, however.

"Both of you," said the last cat, a slick calico, "be quiet. I'm Dreamweaver. The cats with me are Jasper and Jedi."

Oakstripe flicked her tail. "I'm Oakstripe. My friends are Heronskip," she nodded at the gray and white tom, "and Dewleap, who's off hunting."

"I'm right here," Dewleap's voice said. He appeared from behind a tree, and nudged a dead rabbit towards them. "Who are these cats?"

The calico, Dreamweaver, whisked her tail back and forth. "We're loners. We travel together." Oakstripe waited for her to say more, but she didn't.

Heronskip watched and said nothing.