Born Wild

Chapter 3

1 moon later....

Drizzle padded out of her den and yawned. It had been a moon since they had come to the moor, and had settled down considerably well. Most of them had already learnt to hunt prey like mice and rabbits — not birds yet, since they were harder — but Drizzle was getting worried about Swiff. The black-and-white tom had not settled down well.

For instance, when he was hunting, he would jump at any small noises and scare away the prey. This made hunting extremely difficult for him, since he needed absolutely silent surroundings to hunt properly, so it was rare that he brought back any prey at all.

On the other paw, Shade was turning out to be an outstanding hunter. Quick and nimble, she could dash through the moorland at shocking speed, while barely making any noise. Her sister, Dash, was also a great hunter, and they made the ultimate team together.

"Drizzle! Me and Clovis are going to hunt! Should we ask somecat else to come?" A voice abruptly cut off Drizzle's thoughts. Startled, Drizzle looked around to find a pair of amber eyes staring at her. Those belonged to Misty.

"Umm... sure. Get Hansel and Angel to come with you!" she said in a hurry, too confused to think straight. After Misty, Clovis, Hansel and Angel left, she saw an annoyingly familiar face headed towards her.

"Looks like you are quite the leader, huh?" said Leaf with easily spotted arrogance and sarcasm lacing his voice. 

Drizzle glared at him. "What do you want?"

"Just to see how you're getting along..."

"Well, you've seen it. You can saunter off now in your 'I'm-too-good-for-you' manner!" Drizzle said, furious. She sweeped away, thinking, that annoying furball! Why can't he just leave me alone? I've got more important thing to do than argue with him all day! I am supposed to lead us!

Leaf blinked in confusion as Drizzle sped away. Why is she so mad? What did I do? I just want to get along, befriend her... You know what? I have a perfectly good life now, with Birch and the other cats, and I don't need her in it.

He sighed and headed over to where Birch was nesting in a tuft of grass. Birch lifted his head and meowed, "Hi, what's the matter?"

"It's nothing. I just don't understand why Drizzle refuses to accept me! I just want to be friends with her!"

"She'll get over it soon. It's just that..." started Birch.

"What?"

"Well... you weren't very nice to her the first time she met us."

Leaf hissed. "That was ages ago! It was one tiny thing! Are all she-cats like this?" Leaf absolutely could not believe that all the snarling, bristling and unfriendliness was because of one puny thing he said... one moon ago!

"It's fine... She'll forget it soon. And maybe if you start being nicer to her friends, she'll notice that you are trying to change!" Birch tried, attempting to reassure him. Leaf was still as mad as ever, so he whipped around and padded away, hearing Birch sigh. I need to think. Give me a break!

Leaf walked out of camp and decided to go on a walk to clear his head. The moor, to him, was the most beautiful place in the world and he could not imagine calling anywhere else home. The lush green grass, the emptiness above his head... He couldn't understand why anycat would want to live under trees, where you couldn't see the sky or the clouds. As he pondered on some questions that had been bothering him, Leaf heard a rustle of the heather near him and smelled a strange scent.

A sleek white she-cat with silver paws and sharp green eyes stepped out onto the moor.

"Who are you? What are you doing on my territory? " snarled Leaf, fur bristling and claws unsheathed. The she-cat, however, was not intimidated by his defensiveness. She sat down and wrapped her tail over her silver paws.

"My name is Snowflake. Sorry for intruding, but I'm a loner, and I find it hard to survive... no offence, but with you and your group stealing all the prey from the lands. I heard about your group and wanted to join, so that we wouldn't get into any conflict over sharing prey," she explained.

"You said you couldn't survive? So what help will you be to me and Drizzle's group?" Drizzle's name came out as fluidly as water, and it actually surprised Leaf. Why will I even think of that mange-pelt as a leader? But his thoughts were cut short by an aggressive hiss.

"I know how to hunt! I've been surviving on my own since I was six moons old! It's just that there isn't any prey to hunt, or am I supposed to hunt other cats? I can teach the kittypets how to fight and hunt! Just believe me, won't you? I know you need me, or I wouldn't come near you. Are you a mouse-brain or what?"

"Okay, okay. I'll take you to camp. Chill," muttered Leaf.

As he led Snowflake back to camp, Leaf's mind wandered back to Drizzle again. He had never felt worse for hurting somecat's feelings. He wished he could just go back and change what he had said...

"Wait, you never told me your name. What is it?" Snowflake's voice once again punctured his thoughts. 

Flicking his tail irritably, he called back, "Leaf." Snowflake just nodded wordlessly.

Soon after they arrived back at camp, cats rushed over and surrounded them. Great. Just what I need: A crowd. They stared curiously at the new arriver, who lashed her tail and snarled at everycat who looked at her.

Drizzle pushed her way forward and gazed at the white she-cat with puzzlement mixed with suspicion and anger. "Leaf? Who is this?"

"Her name is Snowflake. She wants to join our group."

Written by Smokepaw/dusk and edited by Silverkit/wish