Birchpaw gasped as he awoke soaking wet in a Monster. I've been eaten! Quickly he located an open part in its belly and narrowly escaped. As he leapt down, his paws splashed in a huge puddle as his cream fur turned brown with mud. "Mossdream!" He meowed. "Where are we?"
Twoleg rubbish littered around a clearing. It teemed with cats pushing garbage into a pile next to a thin line of trees. A river would lazily around the side of his monster, apparently oblivious to the fact that it was pouring. For a second, he thought he was home at camp . Then he realised that Oak sat on a barrel five tail lengths from his Monster. He saved me. Oak saw him and jumped off, muscles rippling under his coat.
"Mossdream is in the den there, " He motioned to a clearing with a branched den. Midget knows what he's doing." He laughed dryly. "Unlike Tierno." He fixed his gaze on Birchpaw once again.
"Anymore mouse-brained questions?"
"Who are you?" Birchpaw Blurted. "Why does Mossdream know you?"And then, "Who are these cats?"
"Well, I'm Oak. You know that. Mossdream has visited us on her way to her sacred place many times over. And to answer your last question, I'll introduce you."
He padded over to a dark Gray tabby she-cat who was drinking water from a drip off the side of the Monster Birchpaw was trapped in. "This is Blue. She saved Mossdream once, and she did it again a few sunrises ago. If you can call them sunrises. The sun hasn't shown." How long has it really been? I feel fine, but Mossdream collapsed. Is she okay? ... Yes. She should be. He wouldn't have saved her for nothing, right? Assuming Oak isn't lying, of course. I should be wary of these strangers.
"Come, young one. Lots of faces to see!" Oak interrupted, cheerfully padding over to a group of cats sharing a small hare. Birchpaw moved to follow.
"Birchpaw." He spun around to face Blue again. She looked at him for what seemed like moons before she purred contentedly. "I like that name." With the water dripping down her fluffy fur, he almost purred back. But Mossdream could be hurt. The sooner he was introduced to these cats, the sooner they could leave. Surely they were only strangers?
"Thank you, Blue. I... I have to go meet the others now." He said hurriedly as he shuffled away. Joining Oak again, Oak motioned at a small black she-cat sitting very close to another pure black Tom.
"The she-cat is Luna. She's fast, small, and full of energy. Luna raised her tail to Oak and said in a high pitched voice that Birchpaw imagined a squirrel would talk in, "Hi! My name is Luna and I've been here for a while now and Oak and Blue are very kind and this is Blackie," she motioned to the tom, "He's lazy, but it's okay because he's a good fighter and he's very kind and -"
"Thanks Luna!" Oak rushed on. "Gotta go, bye!" He fled towards the next cat, and the only other cat Birchpaw could see.
"This is Coconut," He said. The wiry tom had a brown muzzle and white back and belly fur. As they walked over, he nodded to Oak and turned to Birchpaw as the other cats did.
"Hello, young... apprentice? I can never tell. You look like a warrior." Coconut complimented.
How does he know what it even means to be a warrior? "Thanks." Birchpaw said awkwardly.
"Come now. You do want to talk with Mossdream, don't you?" Oak asked.
"Yes!" Maybe he could find out why he was even here. Oak sprinted away from Coconut to the clearing. Following, Birchpaw drank in the cleaner air. Soaked flowers grew in all places, while sheltered medicine herbs grew some tail lengths away. At the far end of the clearing , a den was woven into the landscape with branches. Oak trotted in with no hesitation.
"Everything okay, Midget?" Oak looked down at the small cat. Another tom, it smelled strongly of herbs and was brown with tips of white on his ears and belly.
"Yup." Midget was focused on the still lump of red, ruffled fur in the corner. "Mossdream is fine, but she's in no condition to-"
"Birchpaw?" Mossdream lifted her head and stared at him with emerald eyes. She looked back at Oak and Midget. "We need to talk alone." The cats nodded and stepped out. Shaking, she sat up and groomed her fur flat before speaking again.
"Birchpaw," She wheezed. "Where do I begin? I have betrayed everything! This clan, my clan, and you. Ah, but it wasn't in vain. You can pass on my messages to Troutstar and Sunpaw. They will understand." Before he could interrupt, she continued, "I am in no state to travel. Don't worry, Midget's skills rival my own. But, as I said before, I must tell you. I never wanted this to happen. But one day, my brother abandoned our clan. He left for the Moonstone, seeking advice. I could not bear to see him go, and so I followed him and helped him get situated. Next thing I know, I come back to visit him and he has a mate and other cats staying with him.
"Next time I come by, his mate is dead. He was scared. Scared for the first time in his life that somebody he loved could die. He tried to get me to join him, but I had another clan to tend to. He was fine with it, but always tried to persuade me otherwise. When the storm came-"She coughed, "It wasn't a normal storm, mind you. Those cats you saw when you touched the stone. They are evil, evil cats who kill to get what they want. They hate the living and envy the good dead. Once a moon, there is a time when no cat should go near it. I should have known.... I'm sorry. You'll learn more later. Any questions?"
"What was your brothers name?"
"My brothers name was Alderflight, but he renamed himself Tierno." With that, Mossdream coughed and wheezed, "I need a minute. But that isn't all."