Warriors | Broken Spirit (Draft 1)

Chapter 1

It was a quiet morning in town. Cars putted up and down the road, their drivers milling about on their way to who knows where to do who knows what. The snow fell quietly, inconveniently clogging the pathways but providing the children outside will something to throw at their friends with no consequences.

Pyramis sat inside his warm den, paws tucked tightly under his chest as he perched on the windowsill. He gazed out at the no-furs walking up and down the path, bundled up in their thick snow-fall coats. Pyramis meowed loudly at one that walked past, their kit waved up at him with a gleeful smile on her face as she pointed out the kitty in the window.

Pyramis' no-fur meowed loudly, it sounded like she was telling him he wasn't allowed out. She reached under his belly and picked him up. Pyramis struggled, longing for the warmth and comfort that she had just ripped away from him for literally no reason. His no-fur carried him over to her sitting thing that she spent so much time on and put him on her lap. Pyramis grumbled, let her pat him once or twice, before hopping off her lap and onto the soft floor below. She tried to pick him back up, but he quickly moved out of the way, skipping out of the room.

"Sorry, no-fur, but I don't wanna be held," he meowed at her, leaving the room through the crack in the door and wandering down the hall to the feeding room. The bell on his sky blue glittery collar jingles loudly as he went. He hopped on top of the counter and sniffed at the dirty plates all over it, licking some funky smelling brown goo off one of them. His no-furs mother started to yell and make noise before shoving him off the counter. He hissed up at her and dashed towards the hole in the door he always used to get outside, however, when he pushed it feebly with his paw, it didn't budge. He meowed loudly at his no-fur, but she just dismissed him off-handedly.

Pyramis grumbled to himself and wandered over to his bowl, lapping up the tangy water and wandering around a little more.

"There's nothing to do here!" He complained loudly, hearing his no-fur telling him to shut up from the other room. He poked his toung out mockingly and headed for the room that always had a locked door. He usually heard running water and his no furs would come out smelling like flowers or fruit. He poked his head in the door, finding the spinning thing in the ceiling whizzing and buzzing loudly.

When he glanced at the glass, he was surprised to find it open. Bell jangling, Pyramis hopped on top of the counter and paused, calculating the jump between him and the sill. He narrowed his eyes at it and took the leap, his claws digging into the wood as his legs missed. He hung there for a few heartbeats before wriggling in the right way that allowed him to pull himself up. Pyramis sat on the sill for a moment, staring out.

It was cold, and his breath was visible in his face. There was snow just below the window, little bits of grass poking out like stray hairs on a furless cat's spine. He held his breath, wished his no furs goodbye, and jumped.

He shuddered when his paws met the freezing ground and pulled his front paw up to avoid the cold. He sniffed at the snow, his nose barely touching it before a snowflake came flying up his nose and making him snuffle out a sneeze.

Pyramis pressed forward, the ground crunching under every little step. He reached the wooden fence at the end of the section and pounced up, finding it harder to reach the top than usual today because of the not so solid ground. Pyramis wandered down the fence line, passing the den with the barking dog without issue. It's probably inside, the old mutt can't even handle the cold! But look at me! He thought triumphantly, puffing out his chest in admiration over his achievements.

He reached Dustin's den quickly, finding him also staring out of an open window, instead, he hadn't jumped out. The ginger tom just watched the occasional flake flutter down from the sky and land on the glittery ice on the ground, disappearing into the haze of white.

"Dustin!" Pyramis yowled up at him. Dustin jumped into space and snapped his gaze down to his friend, shock rippling through his expression.

"What on earth are you doing out right now? It's freezing out there!" Dustin called down, fear and concern in his mew.

"It's not that cold!" Pyramis grinned widely.

"What will your people think? They'll be worried about you!"

"They've barely noticed I'm gone, I'll be back before they even think about me," Pyramis called up. "I was thinking of going in the woods while there's nobody out, wanna come?"

"To the woods?" Dustin screeched, horrified. The young tom looked disgusted at the mere thought. "But there are feral cats everywhere there! They eat babies!

"Yeah, the woods. And I highly doubt they eat babies." Pyramis sighed, his patience wearing thin as his body begged him to just hop the fence and bound into the treeline.

"That's what Smoky told me, he told me they eat their babies for fun! And they can kill people!" Dustin mewled like a scared kitten.

"Smoky is delusional. No cat could eat a person," Pyramis rolled his eyes at his cowardly friend.

"They might! They're savages!" Dustin squeaked, his th's coming out like f's.

"Listen, do you wanna go or not?" Pyramis growled, glaring up at his friend.

"Maybe some other time," Dustin mumbled quietly, his eyes drifting to the tree line with an unreadable expression. "Maybe when it's not so cold. Make sure you stay away from those feral cat's, they'll eat you like kibble!"

"Yeah yeah, right." Pyramis turned around and hurried back to the fence, hopping over the top with minimal struggle. He could feel Dustin's uncertain green eyes on him the entire time, but he chose to ignore it.

Pyramis hopped down onto the grass on the other side of the wooden fence and glanced at the woods. The pine trees were still full of needles, the white coating of glittering snow weighing down the branches. There was a thin coating of ice on the ferns and foliage, their leaves drooping down like a sagging tail tip. Pyramis approached it slowly, sniffing the fronds a little before pushing through, shuddering as the partially melted snow dripped onto his back. He wandered deeper for a while, looking around. The trees looked taller than anything he had ever seen from down here. They stretched towards the clouds, Pyramis could only assume they could touch a star if one dipped low enough when it shot past. He had seen a few of those types of stars before, they had always mystified the young tom. 

Thinking about it some more, Pyramis made his way to the tallest pine tree he could find and leaned up against it, propping himself apon it with his front paws. He frowned and dug his little claws into the bark, reaching up and attempting to pull himself up. He wondered if he could climb the entire thing, right to the top, where he could sit among the stars and gaze out at that bunch that crossed the sky like a rippling river, carrying those dazzling balls of light along like a leaf in the water. He dug his back legs into the wood as well, trying to shimmy upwards, but his claw got stuck uncomfortably and twisted sharply, so he let go and jumped back down. He caught his breath quickly and glared at the top of the tree. I'll climb this tree if it's the last thing I do. He thought. Pyramis jumped at it, as high as he possibly could, his bell jingling loudly as he did. He dug his claws in like he had done with the window sill, his eyes narrowed with determination. He tried again, reaching up as far as he could and pulling himself up, but his legs gave way and he fell right back to the ground with a loud "oof!" 

Suddenly Pyramis heard the sound of a twig snapping. He spun around, hackles raised and ears perked. There was a dark shadow that washed over him. He froze, eyes widened. Before him stood a tall, lanky cat with long, tattered marble brown fur, his shoulder torn apart with an ugly, gnarled scar. His eyes gleamed with pure rage, and he didn't even have to speak to make Pyramis shudder and shake with terror. 

"What do you think you're doing here?"