Searching For Hope

Chapter 15 - New Plan

"Fisher! It's time to get up, Ember's out hunting with Tooth but they said to make sure you're up before they get back."

Fisher opened his eyes to Swift, sitting patiently in front of him. "Huh?"

Swift repeated himself, letting out an amused purr. "I guess they were right, you must be tired!"

Fisher grunted, which he knew could be taken as either agreement or disagreement. He climbed out of his homemade nest, which consisted of clumps of grass and leaves, and stretched.

They had finally made it out of the monster and twoleg filled area, and now they were surrounded by trees. It felt much nicer under the leaves, being shaded from the sun and protected from the wind. It reminded him of when he was at his own home.

"So, when do you think they'll be back?" Fisher asked Swift, as he began washing himself. "It shouldn't take long to hunt around here, look at it! There must be a ton of prey just waiting for us."

"Except it's not waiting for you."

Fisher looked up in shock due to the unfamiliar voice. In front of him stood a large black tom, a scar going down chest. Beside the black tom was a smaller brown she-cat tabby.

Swift trembled in fear, and slowly made his way next to Fisher, crouching and attempting to hide under his legs.

"I, uh, I'm sorry," Fisher stuttered, unsure what to say. "Are you guys staying around here? We were just passing through. We don't want any trouble."

"I guess we already caused it." Ember's familiar voice caused Fisher to turn, which caused him to let out a small meow of surprise. Ember was flanked by Tooth, who carried a mouse, but both of his friends were surrounded by three other big cats. Five of them!

"You're hunting in our territory, of course you're causing trouble. Don't you rogues know any better?" The smaller brown tabby spoke up in a growl.

"Rogue?" Ember asked, tilting her head.

Tooth let out a low growl. "Just what some cats call those who don't have homes. They usually cause trouble." He explained. "We aren't rogues, like Fisher said, we're just passing through. Looking for his nofur."

The black tom scrunched up his muzzle in distaste. "What's a nofur?"

"My housefolk." Fisher explained, glancing over at Ember worriedly.

"You're a kittypet?" The black tom exclaimed in surprise. "You don't have the stink on you, but whatever."

"Are you guys from around here?" A gray tom flanking Tooth spoke up in a wary voice. He turned his head and watched as Ember shook her head.

"We've been traveling for days. Fisher lost his housefolk, he was taken. So we've been looking for him." She explained.

"How do you know which way to go?" The gray tom asked. "Are you tracking him?"

Fisher jerked up his head. "No, uh, we just kept walking. We have to find him sometime, right? How much ground is there to cover?"

The gray tom scoffed. "We've traveled much farther than a few days, and trust me, the world is a lot bigger than you kittypets think."

"Now why do you keep calling us kittypets?" Ember asked. "What's that?"

"You guys call them housefolk." A white she-cat spoke for the first time. "The twolegs you live with, that makes you a kittypet."

Swift ducked his head out from under Fisher's legs, looking back at the white she-cat curiously.

"You have a kit with you? And you've been traveling for days?" The white cat meowed surprisingly.