Treacherous Skies

Chapter 11

Whispersong blinked open her eyes as sunlight streamed through the branches of bush they'd slept under. She sat up and stretched, feeling the warmth of the sun rays in her fur. The sun was just above the horizon, glowing on everything its light touched. The morning sky was a pale yellow, and the clouds that dotted the sky like leaves on the forest floor in leaf-fall were orange and yellow.

Whispersong felt Echoheart still curled up next to her, her sister's gray tabby fur bright in the light of dawn. Whispersong smiled, then turned her head and saw Bumblefrost sitting a few tail-lengths away, his thick black tail curled neatly around his paws. Whispersong stood up and padded over to him.

He looked up as she approached, and smiled. "Good morning," he yawned.

"Are River, Hazel, and Pansy awake yet?" she asked.

Bumblefrost shook his head. "No, of course not. They probably wake up at sunhigh every day," he meowed, twitching his tail in annoyance.

"Well, they are kittypets," Whispersong pointed out. "They probably aren't used to having to wake up at dawn every day."

Bumblefrost snorted but said nothing, and Whispersong knew he disliked kittypets and their 'soft, useless lives'.

Whispersong gazed over the field of tall grasses and flowers, waving in the breeze. A small creek gurgled in the distance, glimmering in the bright sunlight. Above, the blue sky was filled with feathery clouds that drifted along peacefully, pushed by the wind.

"We should hunt," meowed Bumblefrost.

Whispersong nodded. "We need to have strength for when we pass through Twolegplace; who knows how long we'll be in there?" She shuddered.

"And I doubt there'll be any prey either; with the stench of the Thunderpaths and the noise of the Twolegs, prey won't be anywhere near Twolegplace."

Whispersong nodded, then turned to wake up Echoheart.

* * *

Whispersong carried a robin in her jaws, walking side-by-side with Echoheart and Bumblefrost. Together, they each had one large meal, and a little extra for any other cat who was hungry.

They padded through the open grassland, small trees and bushes growing here and there. Soon the old mesh bordering where the three kittypets lived came into view, and the small, faded red Twoleg den, possibly their barn, popped up next. To the right, the larger of the two Twoleg dens stood, gray and white. Whispersong knew that it was where the kittypets' Twolegs lived, but they were gone right now.

Bumblefrost lead the way through the mesh, careful not to touch it. Whispersong followed, with Echoheart close behind. They trotted through the grass that danced by their paws, and soon they saw Pansy sitting on one of the mesh posts next to a small cherry tree, washing her ears. When she saw them, she leapt down and ran to greet them, her gray-brown tabby tail swishing in happiness.

"Hello," she meowed. "We've been waiting."

"More like we've  been waiting," Bumblefrost muttered to Whispersong.

Pansy didn't hear him. "Have you eaten?" she asked.

"No," Echoheart replied, dropping her prey. "Not yet."

Pansy nodded. "Well, neither have we."

"We have extra prey," Whispersong meowed, pushing a large rabbit toward Pansy.