Wild Cats

The next day, Ash awoke to the sound of voices below her tree. She blinked her eyes to get used to the light of a new day and yawned. After a good stretch, she sat up and began to groom herself, listening in on the conversation of the cats mewling down below.

"And you failed to chase her off of our territory!" The deep voice of a tom cat growled.

"W-Well, I thought she'd left after our fight." Ash heard the voice of the tom she'd fought the day before.

"Why would she?!" The new tom snarled. "You obviously didn't scare her away! If I remember your story correctly, that kittypet beat you in that fight you two had."

"And she took prey from our territory!" A she-cat meowed angrily. "You let her steal our prey, Treepaw. You said she took a vole and a thrush. You, on the other hand, brought the least to the clan from the hunt. A simple vole."

"S-She said she wasn't a kittypet." Treepaw, the cat Ash had fought, mumbled.

"She had a collar!" The other tom growled. "And why would you listen to a kittypet? Nothing they say is correct!"

Ash heard leaves crunch as the cats moved around under her tree.

The angry tom huffed loudly. "You're such a disappointment. I find it hard to believe that your mother, a brave warrior she was, could give me such a son as you. You can't even chase off a kittypet. A kittypet!"

"I miss mother..." Treepaw mumbled.

It was silent for a moment before the she-cat spoke.

"Um guys..." She started. "Do you think it's possible that this kittypet heard our whole conversation?"

Silence.

"And uh... exactly, how long do we plan on sitting under this tree?"

"Not long, Redpaw. I plan on chasing out that kittypet myself. I have to show that sorry excuse for a warrior how to properly be a clan cat." The tom grunted.

"She'll have to come down out of that tree for food, won't she?" Redpaw mused. "Let's not waste our strength climbing the tree and chasing her down. We can surprise her and fight her off once she reaches the ground."

"You are a brave young cat, Redpaw, and you'll grow into a fine young warrior. You have great planning skills just like Hazelfall…" The tom grew silent, remembering the cat that must've once been his mate.

Ash suddenly heard her belly growl. Those cats had been right. She was starting to get hungry and she really needed to stretch her legs. Standing up, she looked around her. The leaves from the branches of the trees had provided good shelter for her and from the way the leaves around her nest clustered together, she could tell the strange warrior clan cats couldn't see her.

Slowly, she crept along the branch she was on. A whistling noise from not too far away startled her and she glanced around to see where it came from. A bird was dancing and singing on a branch on a tree beside Ash's. The branch was close to Ash's tree and just a little bit higher than Ash's branch. If she made the jump carefully and precisely enough, Ash knew she'd be able to catch the bird.

Silly strange cats. Ash thought to herself. They must be strange if they believe the only way a cat can hunt is from the ground.

Sticking her tail out for balance, Ash crouched down and cautiously crawled along the branch.

I won't have shelter once I reach the edge and make my leap. Ash pondered. So I'll have to be quick but still careful.

Reaching the edge of the branch, it bounced dangerously underneath her weight. Ash took a deep breath. She focused on her target. Bunching her muscles, she made her leap, praying to no one in particular that she'd reach the other branch safely and make her kill.

The bird, a sparrow, had it's back turned to her and still hadn't noticed her. The wind was blowing in her direction, which was good.

Suddenly the bird turned around. It's beady eyes widened and it squawked in terror, it's beautiful song coming to an end. It tried to fly away, but Ash landed before it could make it's move, pinning it's tail feathers down with her unsheathed claws. The branch was swinging precariously underneath her and she knew she had to be quick, or the branch would break and she'd fall.

The sparrow was still squirming around and Ash dipped her head to put an end to that. Grabbing her prey between her jaws, she jumped back into her tree and crept back into the shelter of the leaves. Curling up in her nest, she settled down to enjoy her meal glad she'd been able to accomplish stretching her legs while catching her prey.

The undergrowth was silent below her.

Had the cats left? Ash wondered. But that wasn't right, they'd wanted to chase her out. Wait... Did they see my catch?

As an answer to her question, the she-cat, Redpaw, broke the silence.

"Did you see that?!" Redpaw gasped. "There's no way that was the kittypet Treepaw fought. Maybe she's already gone and this cat up here is a rogue."

"Nope. Same cat." Treepaw mumbled. "I told you she was different."

Was that admiration in their voices? Ash perked her ears as she listened to their conversation.

"Are you sure? A kittypet could never make that leap. They'd be way too frightened to even consider it." Redpaw argued.

"Don't you think I know a cat I fought when I see her?" Treepaw snapped.

"No." Redpaw and the other tom answered at once.

"You didn't recognize Littlewhisker at the Gathering. I saw you and him fighting in the recent skirmish over territories." Redpaw elaborated.

"This is different." Treepaw protested.

"No, it really isn't." The other tom growled. "Either way, rouge or kittypet, neither belong in our territory and we need to chase her out. She's obviously been listening in on our conversation and there's no point in waiting for her to come down the tree."

"That means we'll have to climb the tree and chase her down." Redpaw sighed. "Which might be a little hard. We all saw the way she made that leap."

"We'll find a way. We're clan cats, she's a rogue. We're better than her anyways." The tom grunted. "Redpaw follow me, Treepaw stay where you are. We don't need help from you."

"But Stoneclaw—" Treepaw sounded hurt. He quickly silenced and Ash could hear the leaves crunching as he sat down.

Quickly finishing her sparrow, Ash stood up and peered down. The tom, who must've been called Stoneclaw, had dark brown fur and gleaming amber eyes. An ear was torn and a scar ran from his right eye to his upper lip. The she-cat, Redpaw, was younger and smaller with long russet colored fur.

The two started to climb the tree. Ash noticed Treepaw sitting at the base muttering underneath his breath. He glanced up and caught her eye, glaring.

"She knows you're coming up!" He yowled.

"We know that already mouse-brain!" Redpaw called back to him. "We're not dumb cats like you!"

Treepaw turned his glare to Redpaw, his fur bristling. He parted his jaws to say something but Stoneclaw silenced him with an intimidating look. Treepaw groaned and turned away as Stoneclaw leapt onto a branch. Redpaw leaped after him and Stoneclaw helped her steady herself.

Ash had chosen to sleep on one of the lower branches of the tree and she knew it wouldn't be long before the two strange wild cats reached her. She crouched down in a battling position, her eyes narrowed in the direction she knew the wild cats would approach her at. She had her back to the trunk of the tree, her tail slowly lashing back and forth.

Sure enough, Stoneclaw leaped straight onto her branch with Redpaw following shortly after. Both of them looked surprised to see Ash crouched there, waiting for them. Stoneclaw studied her, making her nervous as his amber eyes flickered across her pelt. He looked around at her clever shelter and her nest, before Redpaw broke the creepy silence.

"Are you a kittypet?" She questioned, her head tilted to one side. "Or a rogue? Or are you a loner?"

Ash didn't answer, she only stared back at Redpaw, coolly meeting the she-cat's gaze. She looked about Ash's age, but maybe a bit older. She flicked her long-furred ears, waiting for an answer. She sighed once realizing she wasn't going to get one.

"She's a kittypet, of course." Stoneclaw spoke. "Treepaw showed us her collar. And look at her neck. Can't you see how it's matted down in the area where the collar once wrapped around."

Stoneclaw approached her slowly, the branch dipping under his weight. It wouldn't be strong enough to hold all three of them. Redpaw must've noticed this as she leaped down to a branch just under Ash's branch, snarling up at her. Stoneclaw continued to creep towards Ash, who stood her ground, eyes narrowed. She felt her pelt bristling and she bared her teeth at him.

What am I going to do? She thought desperately. She glanced in front of her at Stoneclaw and then let her gaze drop to Redpaw and even further to Treepaw. I'm terribly outnumbered. I can't fight all of them at once.

Stoneclaw was staring at her unblinking. "Leave now kittypet. Go back to your twolegs and we won't have to hurt you."

Ash didn't move. Instead she held his gaze with her own. I can't run, if I do, then they'll have won. If I run, I'll only prove to them that I'm a helpless kittypet. I'll only prove to myself that I'm not capable of living in the wild, that I can't fend for myself. That I can't protect what is mine. That I can't live free. That I have to depend on twolegs to help me figure out my life.

No. Ash would not run. She'd stand her ground.

Ash could feel a growl rumbling in her throat as she glared at the brown tom standing in front of her. His eyes widened in surprise and he paced backwards. His paws slipped as he wasn't looking where he was going and he stumbled as he tried to regain his balance. Ash twitched her whiskers, amused.

"You want to do this the hard way." Stoneclaw paced forward, cautiously this time, and shoved his muzzle in her face. "We'll do this the hard way."

Ash snapped at him and he jerked his head back. There was no way Ash could fight off all three cats. And she also couldn't retreat as Redpaw glared up at her from the branch below hers and Treepaw paced down below. There was only one chance Ash had of beating them and proving to these wild cats that she was anything but a kittypet.

Without thinking twice, Ash shot up the tree, leaping from branch to branch faster than she'd done before. The wild cats gasped and hurried to catch up to her, slipping and stumbling as they tried to match her speed. Ash didn't stop. She quickly wove around the tree, glancing to the side of her, watching for a tree she could jump to.

She stopped on a high-up branch and quickly glanced below her. Redpaw and Stoneclaw were struggling as they tried to reach her, but they wouldn't give up and Ash knew it was only a matter of time before they caught up to her.

She nimbly raced to the edge of the branch and leapt to the next tree. As she landed, the new branch swung precariously below her, and she thought she heard a creak. She jumped to the branch above it and moved towards the base of the tree, just as the other branch cracked and fell.

"Ow!"

Ash looked down to see that the branch had landed on Treepaw's head. Ash stared across at the other tree, to see that Stoneclaw and Redpaw had stopped their chase and were staring at her with a mix of horror and admiration.

Ash sat down on her branch, her tail hanging down and waving slightly. A purr rose in her throat and she did nothing to hold it in. She tilted her head to one side, blinking innocently at the wild cats.

"Do you still believe that I am a kittypet?" She questioned, amused by their stunned gazes they didn't even try to hide.