Spirit's Journey

Chapter 56- Spirit: Chills in the Air and I Don't Mean Weather

I lowered my head against the chilling, swirling wind that blew my fur and shivered. Out here it felt like the cold was hitting my bones. Why did Cold-'Paws have to be so hard in the mountains?

Further back, Hannah and Fallan trudged about a tail-length apart but still closer together than they were from me and Midnight. From what I could see, they weren't even trying to scent for prey.

But me, being a different cat, raised my head for the seventh time and parted my jaws to drink in any prey scent.

Hannah and Fallen began whispering from behind, so I lowered my head and swiveled my ears back without them seeing. There was no reason for me to feel guilty eaves-dropping. The Sky-cat knew I had a right as long as they were talking about me.

"-shouldn't even have to do this. Spirit has been picking Midnight over us for a long time, and-"

I flattened my ears sub-consciously and began padding faster with my back to them.

Of course they had been talking about me.

Their words made burning anger boil in my chest, but it also brought with it a sharp twinge of twisting pain. Were what the cats saying true?

I couldn't bring myself to believe it, and wouldn't believe it.

There was no way I had done that to them. Digging my claws in the dirt, I lashed my tail and turned around. There was no way I was going to take this anymore!

"Just because I made time for Midnight doesn't mean I shoved both of you out of my lives!" I yowled angrily, my words echoing through the light snow flurries.

"You chose to leave yourself," I growled, my voice like menace as I sunk my claws into the icy ground.

Silence was all that awaited my words, to much of my disappointment. If either one of the cheetahs had dated speak out against something so true, they might've had a clawed muzzle!

I turned on my heels and lashed my tail again, this time close to their faces. Of course I wouldn't actually claw either of the cheetahs- but they were trying very hard to push me to that point.

Hannah and Fallan moved closer to each other, and my younger sister said one more thing in Hannah's ear before turning away with her ears flattened.

There was no need for me to turn around again- I already knew the expressions on their face. Hannah's; rage. And Fallan's; remorse.

"What was that about?" Midnight said quietly as if she didn't already know. I shot once glance at the black kitten below my shoulder and shrugged then padded on angrily.

As we kept traveling there was only a stale scent of cat and something that looked like a burnt patch of ground with rocks around it. Me, Hannah, Fallan and Midnight stopped to peer down at it, our paws clogged with snow.

Around the burnt patch was a round metal tin thing, that smelled faintly of a weird type of food. Fallan bent forward to look inside but there was nothing edible.

As I leaned forward to smell for any clues of prey, the smell of smoke and ashes filled my nose.

In one second, I was plunged back into the day we had been found by the wolves for the second time in our lives. That morning upon waking, we had been dragged outside and separated so that the wolves could await the rest of Ash's pack.

Throughout the night I'd planned our escape and everything went smoothly until lightening struck the sky and brought the forest ablaze.

Our whole pride, made up of only Midnight, Diamond, Hannah and Fallan and then very recently Storm, had suffered afterwards from the encounter but escaped the wolves.