The Barn Cat

Chapter Thirteen

"Why are you being so rude to these cats?" Leafstride hissed under his breath. Mistfoot shook her head, as if shaking away an annoying bug flying around her head. "They're here to help us, claw my ears if I'm wrong but I don't think we are supposed to make those that are here to help us hate us." It was the next day and Leafstride had offered that he, Mistfoot, and Ivypaw join the barn cat's morning patrol and to train Ivypaw. It would be easy if Mistfoot hadn't been so arrogant and rude to the cats taking care of them. "I don't want to be here," Mistfoot snarled. "But we are here, and we were sent here. That was our mission. Did you forget?" Leafstride's mew was hostile, since he was trying to make sure Mistfoot didn't say anything to get them in trouble. "Of course, I didn't forget," Mistfoot hissed, "I just wish I wasn't chosen."

Leafstride stared at her, sympathy suddenly overwhelming him for the Fireclan she-cat. "I wished the same thing, Mistfoot, when I first got the dream. I wanted nothing to do with it, I just wanted to be a normal warrior. I was so angry with Starclan and did everything I could to avoid this, but I knew I had to come when Ivyfern joined them." Mistfoot's fur bristled, "so you're saying Starclan stole your mother from you to force you to come on this trip?" "No! I was trying to get to the point of that neither of us want to be here, and yet here we are. It's not so bad when you make friends, like I did with you, Ivypaw, Palepaw, and Brightshade. Maybe, just maybe, if you tried, you could do the same friend making with these tribe cats that you did with us clan cats. Give it a thought." Leafstride watched Mistfoot look reluctantly away and decided to leave it at that. If she didn't want to try and be friends with the barn cats she didn't need to, as long as she's not hostile towards them.

"So, you do the same thing clan cats do," Ivypaw mewed. He was talking to a gray she-cat whose tail faded into white, who was about his size. Another apprentice. The she-cat shrugged, "I guess if this is what clan cats do." Ivypaw nodded, "we call this dawn patrol" "Sunrise walk," the she-cat mewed back, "that's what we call it. Night decided to do this to make sure no dangers snuck into our territory in the middle of the night." "Who's Night?" Ivypaw asked. "Our leader," the white she-cat with brown spots called back. She was taking the lead with a gray tom named Storm, and by the way the two cats were walking in stride together, Leafstride assumed they were mates. "I thought Courage was your leader?" Ivypaw asked, sending a confused glance backwards to Leafstride, who just shrugged it off. "Night is his father," the she-cat paused to turn and talk, "but Courage was the one to start teaching us these ways." "Nows not a good time for a story, Leaf," Storm mewed. Leaf gave the tom innocent round eyes, "our paws are sore, and I was just explaining the confusion." Mistfoot snorted next to Leafstride, causing Leaf to turn her head and give her a silencing stare.

"If we are having story time, I'm heading back to camp," Mistfoot grunted. "We are not having story time," Storm mewed calmly, then gave Leaf a harsh stare, "we get our duties done around here." Leaf gave him an annoyed flick of her tail, and the tension between the two made the air around the rest of the cats awkward. "Let's just get this done and let you two bicker elsewhere," Mistfoot mewed as she brushed past Leafstride. As rude as she can be, Leafstride admires how Mistfoot has the ability to not be completley hostible, but also show that she wants to interest in getting to know cats without starting a fight. This is a skill Leafstride has tried his best to get, but no matter how hard he tries he struggles to not start fights, especially if he is stressed or angry. "Hey, calico." A mew coming from Leaf broke Leafstrides thoughts, making him realize they were the only two there and the group was further up ahead. "You coming or what?" Leaf asked, curiousity edging her mew and gaze. "Coming." He walked next to her until he caught up with the group.

"I hear a hunting group coming," Storm mewed, "we are done doing the walk. Olive and, er, Ivypaw, you two go report back to Night that everything is just fine." Ivypaw's pelt ruffled uneasily, and he sent a worried glance back to Leafstride. "Ivypaw should stay in with his mentor," Leafstride mewed, "so he can train." Storm dipped his head, "I apologize if you don't think he'll be safe, but Night wants you clan cats learning our territory while you're here. He wants you to know it as good as we do, since you'll be helping us from whatever it is." Great, now Mistfoot's fur is getting ruffled, "how long does he think we'll be here for?" Storm shrugged, "as long as it takes." The gray tom turned his blue gaze back to Leafstide, "I assure you Ivypaw will be perfectly fine with Olive, she knows this territory like she knows her name." Ivypaw looked at Olive, who gave him a warm stare back. "I suppose they are around the same age," Leafstride nodded to Ivypaw, "will you be fine exploring with Olive?" Ivypaw looked thoughtfully at the gray she-cat, then nodded, "I'll be fine." Leafstride dipped his head, "off you go then."

The group of older cats watched as the two young apprentices trailed off together, Mistfoot swinging her tail, clearly annoyed at the sight of watching the apprentice go off with a stranger. "As for you two, explore as you like." Storm dipped his head to the clan cats, then turned to Leaf, "we should get going." The two tribe cats took off without another word or goodbye. "Why would you let Ivypaw go off with her? He should be training!" Mistfoot spat. "He'll have plenty of time training, in the meantime I'm going to let him explore with another young cat he can trust," Leafstride answered calmly. Mistfoot glared at him, "you want him to make friends." "Of course I do," Leafstride answered simply, "so he isn't stressed while being here." Mistfoot took a step closer and snarled, "and howdo you suppose he's going to feel when he has to abondon his 'friends' when he goes back to his clan?" Leafstride stared at her, consideration taking over his thoughts. He never thought about that. If Ivypaw did make friends and wanted to be here, would he ever return home? Of course he would, his father is home. "He'll be fine," Leafstride answered back, trying to sound confident with his answer. Mistfoot hissed and turned to trot away, leaving Leafstride in a clearing alone.

"She's a fiesty one," a smooth, honey-like mew came from the bushes, sending Leafstride flinging himself around. An orange tabby she-cat with white stomach and paws came padding out of the bushes, her bright, golden eyes shining from the sun as she walked up to him. "I'm Flame," her mew was sweet, and her eyes were soft as she stared at Leafstride. "I'm Leafstride." "I know who you are, you came into my home, remember?" Flame meowed, amused. "Of course I knew that, I was studying what you knew," Leafstride mewed, giving his chest an embarrassed lick or two. Flame nodded in the direction where Mistfoot left, "is she coming back?" "Don't worry, she won't go anywhere. As much as she hates it here, she loves her clan more and will do anything to help them, including staying here." Flame's eyes looked hurt and confused, "I don't know why she wouldn't like it here, we do our best to keep visitors happy." "Don't torture yourself on it," Leafstride gave Flame sympathetic eyes, "she just misses home." The she-cat gave him a nod, and the two cats just stared at each other, not knowing what to say. Flame broke the silence. "I could try and become friends with her.." "That would not be a good idea, just let her come around in her own time," Leafstride gave Flame a warm gaze, "I know she will." Flame stared at Leafstride intently, "you must like her." Leafstride's ear tips grew hot, "I like her as friends." Flame shook her head, "when you speak about her your gaze lights up." Oh Starclan, do I like her? "We're just clan cats from different clans, nothing more." Flame nodded, her gaze unreadable. She doesn't believe me. "Mistfoot isn't my type anyway." "What is your 'type'?" Flame asked. Leafstride thought for a moment, "gentle she-cats who love kits and her clan." Flame nodded, soaking up Leafstride's information. "We should go back now," Leafstride mewed, just wanting to get away from this conversation. "Okay, I'll show you the way," Flame mewed.