A mouse sat on the root of a tree, nibbling a seed. Its huge ears were oblivious to the quiet sound of paw steps that echoed almost silently throughout the forest. Suddenly a large black cat pounced on the creature and instantly killed it. The cat blinked its blue, almost purple eyes and shook out her long fur. “This should be enough to tide me over, along with the shrew I caught” she thought out loud , holding the mouse in between closed jaws.

She turned and headed back the way she came, finding her shrew safe and sound in a fern bush. She grabbed the shrew by it’s short tail and bounded away, tracking a familiar scent. She soon reached a small den, a hole in the ground covered with small boulders and moss. She squeezed her way through the rocks and padded Into the moss and feather filled den.

Her eyes landed on a pale orange-yellow she cat who laid on the soft ground, her back leg damaged from old fights. The cat lifted her head, not even signaling that she heard he r and gave a soft smile. “Orchid, you’re back" she purred in a raspy voice. “Yes, and I brought you some food” orchid said softly, setting down the shrew in front of the cat.

The she-cats eyes filled with gratitude as she meowed a quick thank you and began to eat the prey. “Leaf-bare ‘s a little late isn’t it Sun?” Orchid mewed after a while. The yellow she cat, Sun nodded as she finished her meal. “let’s hope it’s not as bad as the last one” Sun mewed jokingly and pushed herself up into a sitting position. Orchid nodded and looked down at her mouse that laid near her paws. Last leaf-bare had been awful and the two barley managed to survive on the little prey they had found.

Orchid sighed and wolfed down her small mouse. After she finished the small meal she gave her pelt a quick groom and helped sun with hers. It was Sun-high by time she finished and the she cats left the den, orchid having to support Sun so she wouldn’t fall. They headed to a gentle stream that stood out in the small forest they lived in. The warm stone riverbank made it a favorite in the forest to Orchid.

Sun laid down on the rocks near the water and dabbed her paw in the water, not seeming to care if it was cold or not. Orchid flopped down on the warm rocks and sighed as sun shone down on her fur, warming her like the rocks below her did. She watched sun who decided to hunt some fish in the water, successfully pulling one out after a few tries. She stretched and looked up a the sky, her eyes narrowed against the sun. She could see the show of a hawk as it gave a proud cry and dove after its unseen prey.

Orchid blinked and lifted her head as she heard paw steps as Sun padded towards her with a large fish in her jaws “we can take this to the den to have tonight “ she mewed through the fish. Orchid nodded and rolled to her paws, stretching and then following Sun back to the den.

The two cats had made it halfway there before a strong unfamiliar scent hit her at the same time it hit sun. Orchid bounded to suns side and growled as three pairs of eyes could be seen above them and the outlines of cats in trees. Suddenly a battle-cry sounded and two other cats came from the behind Orchid and sun. The cats in trees had jumped down too. Orchid hissed as a cat darted towards sun and she swung a large unsheathed black paw at the cat, knocking it away. The cat instantly jumped to its paws and lashed its tail angrily and hissed at her.

Orchid hissed as she felt a claw slice her ear and kicked out behind her, hearing the breath knocked out at some cat as it was thrown away from her. Sun crouched nearby her, her eyes in slits as she growled viciously at their attackers. Orchid snarled as a cat approached her, back arched and eyes narrowed . Orchid didn’t have time to react as the cat darted towards her, its brown fur blending in with the pine needle blanketed ground. The cat head butted her chest, causing her to draw in a sharp pained breath. She was knocked off her paws and rolled on the forest floor, her chest stinging and head spinning.

She shook her head and noticed two cats facing sun as she stood above her proud catch defensively. Orchid winced as she watched the she cat get her nose sliced by a quick lash. She jumped to her paws, ready to help her but instead came face to face with three other cats. She bared her fangs and leaped at one of the cats. She easily pin the cat down, due to the cat being slightly smaller. She gave the she cat decent wounds with a few quick jabs and jumped off to avoid being clawed by the other two around her. The cats hissed at her angrily and they both charged for her. She tried to jump away and dodge them but teeth clamped down on her tail and yanked her back.

She screeched as the teeth bit down harder and twisted in herself around in an uncomfortable way and batted the cat away, her claws slicing the cats head. She ducked in time as she felt claws graze her ears and spun around, grabbing the cat by their neck, thought not hard enough to kill them or draw blood and threw them into the recovering cat. She looked at Sun and her heart lurched as she spotted the she-cat covered in cuts and scratches, trembling as two cats spat insults at her.

Orchid snarled and bolted towards the cats. She threw herself into them and knocked them into each other. One of them recovered sooner than she expected and leaped at her. She was knocked off her paws but thought quickly and hooked her claws into the cats shoulders and flipped the cat over. She flicked her ears in cruel amusement as the cat gave a confused and pained expression. She growled and lifted her head to avoid the swinging claws as the she cat tried to claw her. She gave her a stinging blow to the face and bounded over to sun.

“Let's go" she whispered into the she cats ear. Sun nodded quickly as she saw the cats stalking towards them. Sun scrambled to her paws and darted away from the battles Orchid following behind her, sending cats chasing them tumbling with a heavy blow. The two kept running until they reached a clearing full of dead grass. Orchid panted heavily and looked over her shoulder, glad to see that no cats were following them. She looked at sun and sighed in relief as she realized she only had one deep wound while the rest were shallow.

She looked around and luckily found cobwebs and surprisingly moss in the small yellow clearing. She used the skills she learned from her father to stop the bleeding and bandage the wounds, decided to find marigold later when the forest was safe enough to venture in. Sun had fallen into a doze once her wounds were taken care of. Orchid noticed that she didn’t have the fish with her. Poor thing she must’ve been forced to leave it in the battle, that fish meant a lot to her. She sighed and sat down, beginning to clean her own wounds.

A short while later her wounds had been bandaged and she looked around tiredly, the sun had set and she believed it would be safe to head back now. She nudged sun with a paw and the two left the small clearing. The chirps of crickets accompanied by frogs were soon audible as the sky turned dark. Orchid flattened her ears as the air got hot and humid, her long dark fur not making it any easier on her. After a little bit she was panting and Sun seemed concerned. “we can take a break if you’d like” Sun murmured but Orchid shook her head “I’ll be fine, besides we’re almost there.” The she-cat mewed

And they did reach the den, both cats ready to flop down on their moss beds. Orchid laid in her nest, watching the small entrance with half closed eyes. Who were those cats? They all had similar scents and had a pine scent to them. Were they a family or something? Several questions ran through her head and she soon began to doze off, the cats staying in her mind. She wasn’t sure why but she knew they were important.

End Of Chapter

I will never use wattpad a day in my life, that thing terrifies me (no hate towards it though)