Impregnable

Chapter 3

A pink nose poked out of the bushes, catching a whiff of something fresh. The tiny cat came stumbling out, white pelt blazing in the green bush. Stumbling on three legs, the fluffy pelt shone as the she-cat stretched, shaking her head to clear the fog that still lingered in her head. Another cat came through the leafy bush, her golden pelt sticking out in the sea of green with recovering scars dotting it.

     Snow let out a happy chirp and jumped in a small circle, chasing her tail. "Here! Finally!" she exclaimed, rubbing against Hurricane, who curled her tail around the white cat that she had begun to treat like a daughter. There was another kind of commotion and out came a tan-colored tom, shoulders sagging with exhaustion. The two she-cats glanced over and only one of them looked delighted to see him arrive.

     Lightning stepped out and sat down, looking annoyed, but seeing the two of them well, Hurricane could tell he was glad to see that neither of them had gotten lost or injured - after they snuck away from him, again. She joked and pranced around him claiming it was for Snow's health that she moved around and adjusted to running and fighting with just three legs before they left. Both knew that the tom had sharp senses and could easily pick them out any time of the day.

     "Hurricane," he started out. "I know you're against this idea, but I think it's time we try to find Wildfire."

     "This again?" she repeated, wrapping a paw around Snow, pulling the disabled kit close. "Even if we did go after Wildfire doesn't mean that your father will send cats after you or I. You know how he keeps his threats."

     "You sure talk when you haven't lived with him as long as I have," he snapped back, cold. "If anything, it's reversed."

     "True," she answered, facing Lightning. "But like I keep saying, even though it's only been a moon, are we ready to take any action? With our small group of cats, that's not going to be easy. Especially if some cats are expecting kits."

     "Then we don't take them, it's as simple as that." Lightning flicked his tail impatiently. "For as much as you talk about sticking together as a family, you don't seem very eager to go back and rescue that family." He looked at Snow and she wandered out of Hurricane's grip and made her way back to the small camp they shared with a few other cats. Alone, she smiled and pointed her tail toward the Tribe of Roaming Spirits.

     "Look, I know you want to go back and save Wildfire and I do too. You know that I've visited that territory many times but can't seem to find Firestorm or Blizzard, so I never get updates. I'd like to at least see them before we just barge in and take her back. I know cats who would gladly let us in, but Python still bugs me and makes me wonder what exactly will happen if we're caught. Not to mention he's the leader, and his word overpowers most," she mumbled the last part quietly. "You know Python's never liked me and only kept me around because of my affliction to the Tribe of Shining Suns."

     "And why do you think he kept me around?" Lightning snorted. "Your skills have gotten better, and if you've been able to sneak into his territory and go unnoticed, sticking your nose in his camp shouldn't be any harder."

     "That doesn't mean I worry about her. Wildfire's always going to be Wildfire, there's no changing that, but what if something's changed? Unless you have any idea of what has happened over there, I don't know if he's changed." Hurricane pondered, unleashing her claws to dig out a small diagram on the ground. Lightning peered at her drawing curiously, watching with intense determination.

     She managed to draw out a messy circle in the dirt and made little marks in the soil, representing the small group they had. Her and Lightning acting as a leader of the group - when in reality, they both snuck away from the responsibility and let the cats who had the skills to lead take over. There was Fern, the determined yet hard-working she-cat they had found during a hunt, and the calico she-cat promised to help them with their goal, promising them what little strength she had. Vixen had originally gone after Snow, thinking the white she-kit would be a good bargaining chip for prey, and after Lightning caught her in a trap, she settled down and grew close to Wasp, the golden tom Hurricane trusted her life with.