Warriors: Deserve's Beginning (Short Story) (COMPLETE)

Chapter 4

"So where did you go?" Boost whispered. Deserve and his siblings were huddled together in their nest with Velvet and Dice curled up around them. Despite their father promising to tell them about his day in the morning, none of them could wait. They didn't leave the barn often. Rain pattered off of the wood of the barn, causing a foul scent. It was night outside.

Dice sighed softly and shifted in the hay, his eyes closed. "Can't it wait until tomorrow?" Beside him, Velvet parted her eyes slightly and gazed at the kits.

"Please!" Song begged, staring at him with wide blue eyes. She stepped onto his back and began gently tugging on his ear. "Dice! Dad!"

Deserve was just as curious as his siblings. But he didn't want to pester Dice. He knew how much work his father did. He needed the rest. He couldn't imagine how tired he was. Even more than he was after his game of hide and seek.

Boost climbed over Deserve and began jumping on Dice's back. "What if we go to sleep right after?" He suggested. "We will!"

"Yeah!" Song meowed hopefully. "We promise!"

Dice sighed and rolled onto his stomach, straightening. "Alright, alright," He purred. Boost and Song leaped away and sat in front of him, staring up at him excitedly. Velvet purred and rested her chin on Dice's paw.

Deserve sat with his littermates, eager to hear what his father had to say. But he felt a pang of sympathy when he saw the exhaustion in his yellow eyes. It must be hard, having four cats to take care of...

"I spent most of the morning hunting mice in the fields," Dice yawned as he spoke, then relaxed. "Then I caught a couple rabbits by the thunderpath."

Song's eyes widened. "The thunderpath? That sounds scary!"

"Isn't that near where the wild cats live?" Boost asked nervously. "The forest cats?"

Dice nodded. "Right across the thunderpath is the pine forest," He explained. "There's a group of forest cats that live there," He paused. "Shadow-something."

Deserve's fur prickled. Shadow... That sounds scary! He imagined the dark cats slinking through the forest like shadows, ready to strike with sharp teeth and claws. "Have you ever met a forest cat?" He asked curiously.

His father shook his black and white head. "No," He meowed. "But me and my brother knew someone who did. He was a kit dumped by the side of the road by twolegs. They left him for dead."

His heart ached as he imagined being in that kits place. How scared he must have been... I'm lucky I wasn't raised with twolegs. He'd never seen one, but his parents told them they were horrible creatures. A twoleg had abandoned their mother in the middle of winter. It was only luck that she'd found Dice. I hope I never run into one of those horrible things.

"What happened to him?" Song asked anxiously. "Did he live?"

"Yes," Dice assured her. "Me and my brother found him and let him stay in the barn until he was old enough to leave and fend for himself. His name was Sulfur, and he came to visit us sometimes. He told us about the forest cats who lived by the river. He met some of them."

Boost stared at him. "Did they attack him? Did he get in a fight?"

"Did he win?" Deserve added.

Dice shook his head. "No. They were friends of his." When the kits looked startled, he added, "I was surprised too. I don't know how Sulfur got along with those ruffians, but he did." He paused. "It didn't seem to last though."

Deserve stared at him. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know everything," Dice meowed. "But he came by around the time you three were born. You were too young to remember. He told us he was leaving the forest because there was too much bloodshed. He felt that he was in danger and urged us not to stray far from the barn. He told us there were evil cats here. I believe he meant the forest cats."