Chapter One: An Unusual Greeting

For a good minute, it was silent. Nothing disturbed the young, tabby tom, who was sleeping in his bedding, with his tail covering his muzzle. He was curled up and seemingly peaceful while enjoying his slumber. "Rise N' shine snuggle bear!" A sudden voice shouted, causing the striped tom to jolt awake, his blue eyes wide and the fur along his back spiking up. He looked around in alarm before suddenly noticing Cappuccino, his best friend, standing to the right of him with his fluffy tail held high and flicking side to side. Hawk blinked for a second before scoffing, relaxing his tensed shoulders "Caaap, why would you do that??" He grumbled, twitching his ear irritably before slumping back down into his soft bed. "What do you mean why? I do it every morning Hawk! C'mon it's like you never remember how you wake up in the morning!" The eccentric male snorted, sitting down and looking at his companion. Hawk glanced at Cap and blinked. Oh yeah, now that he'd mentioned it, that WAS how Hawk managed to wake up every morning, otherwise he'd sleep the day away. "Now c'mon! Let's go outside." The creamy colored tom purred, poking Hawk on the shoulder before grabbing his plushie, who he named 'Mr. Wubbles' when he was younger, and then trotted over towards the cat door.

Hawk harrumphed, but couldn't help smiling a bit at his friend's rambunctious nature. They had been together since they were kits, gaining a brotherly like bond. He stood up onto his dark gray paws and bent down into a stretch, gaping his jaws into a yawn before standing back up and shaking out his pelt, the bell on his collar making a frenzied amount of noise. He trotted towards the door, his paw pads touching the cold wooden floor before stepping into the soft palate of snow that crunched softly underneath his paw pads.

The tabby tom's optics had quickly adjusted to the rays of the Sun due to it always being rather dull. Hawk looked ahead of him towards the wooden fence where he saw his friend slightly struggling to get a grip on the fence to haul himself up. The gray colored tom couldn't help but snicker at his friend's struggle but decided to help him. "Lemme give you a boost." Hawk insisted, boosting up his cream colored feline friend's hindlegs with his head. "Thanks!" Cappuccino purred, watching as Hawk scrambled up the fence. They looked at each other and Hawk noticed Mr. Wubbles was tucked underneath Cap. "Honestly, I don't see why you keep that plushie around." The male admitted, curling his fluffy, dark gray tail around himself. "Well it's my best friend too! I've had him for as long as I can remember, I'm not sure what'd I do without him!" He exclaimed, placing a chocolate colored paw on his light blue plushie companion.

Before Hawk could reply, there was a sudden rustle in the bushes that caused the two to look over towards the snow ridden forest that was a few fox lengths away from their own home. "Did ya hear that, Cap?" Hawk murmured, glancing at him. "Yeah.. I did." Cappuccino mewed quietly, glancing back at Hawk. "Lets go check it out." Cap insisted, grabbing Wubbles and hopping down the fence. "Wh- hey! Wait!" Hawk exclaimed, hopping down and going after his curious friend. He was contemplating if this was the best idea, though his own curiosity had overcome his anxious thoughts.

The two felines cautiously stepped through the snow ridden area, mainly enjoying the scenery. The forest was filled with so many scents, accompanying a cool breeze that softly ruffled their pelage. The spruce trees were a lot larger than he expected, looking as though they were reaching to touch the sky with their leafless branches. His dark gray ears perked at a stick being snapped, causing him to turn to his right. This was.. Odd. "Hey Cap..? We should probably head back." he mewed quietly, stepping away from the mysterious bush. "What? Why?" Cappuccino huffed, looking up at his anxious friend. Hawk couldn't take his optics off the bush, something was in it.. And he rathered if he didn't know. "Because I don't think we're the only ones he- wait." He paused as he noticed bright, cerulean eyes gleaming in the bush, filled with curiosity. "Oh, hello-ACK!" he was cut off as whatever was looking at him before had suddenly pounced on to him and pinned him to the ground. He scrambled in the creature's grip, his heart pounding as he desperately tried to make an escape. "I got him Bliz!" the voice purred excitedly. "Cap?!" He squeaked, only managing to see his companion also being pinned to the ground. The creature on Cappuccino was apparently a feline, with black toes and long white legs. Out of pure panic and a sudden burst of adrenaline, Hawk pushed himself up and managed to catch his attacker off guard, who fell off of him.

Without thinking, the tabby tom rammed himself into the feline who had his friend pinned, who he also now saw was a molly with floppy ears and a stubby tail with black tabby stripes. Cappuccino scrambled up and grabbed Wubbles and the two stayed side by side, their fur bristling and their hearts pounding. The one who had pinned him earlier was a fluffy brown and orangish tom who also had a fluffy stub of a tail. That same tom suddenly dashed towards Hawk who managed to prepare himself, tensing up his body and managing to stand on his hind legs and push down the feline, pinning him onto the ground on his side. The maple colored male managed to grab hold of Hawk's gray paw and bite it, causing him to squeak and let go, unfortunately, being pinned down again. Cappuccino was about to do something until the soft crunching of snow sounded, along with a voice. "You two are quite peculiar.. Most kittypets would run off with their tails tucked in between their legs." this mew was masculine yet friendly, causing Hawk and Cap to both look up curiously. There they saw a dark brown tabby tom with striking yellow optics. "Well.. we're not most kittypets." Hawk grumbled. The tabby smiled and purred "I apologize for these two.. But you happen to be in Blizzard'clan territory. Maple'paw, get off of him will you?"

The feline, who Hawk now knew was 'Maple'paw', hopped off of him and headed back to the strange wild cat. Hawk sat up and shook off the snow in his pelt, looking at the three cats with pure curiosity. "That was quite an abrupt greeting you think.?" hawk murmured.

Cappuccino sat beside Hawk, his head tilting to the side "Blizzar-whAT?" He asked, quirking up a brow. The big, rather muscular tom purred "Blizzard'clan. A group of cats who live within the forest. I'm Falcon'swoop, this here is Blizzard'pounce," he motioned towards the fluffy molly who smiled and twitched her whiskers with a friendly hello. "… now if I may ask, "he continued,

"who are you guys?"