Nightstar's Calling (Discontinued)

Chapter 20

Bustling and awake, Nightpaw was prowling through her new surroundings. Her stomach growled with hunger as she sniffed the air for any prey scents.
She whipped around as she heard the sound of wings beating. In front of her had landed a dove as white as snow.
Why would prey come to me instead of away from me? Nightpaw thought to herself. She didn't give it any further thought though as her stomach growled yet again. With a sudden leap she went to pounce on the dove, but was surprised as she looked at her empty paws, and then back at the dove who was suddenly above her. How did it fly away that fast..?
Tail swishing in frustration, she leapt at the dove yet again, who flew effortlessly out of the way of her claws. The dove started to fly away, but slowly, almost as if it wanted to be followed.
"Get back here!" Nightpaw growled out loud, and started to race after the dove, who flew faster. Her tail streaked behind her and leaves flew up from the ground as her paws thrummed against the earth. After a good two minutes of running, Nightpaw stopped and looked in dismay as she lost sight of the bird.
There goes breakfast. She thought with a sigh.
Only when she paused did she start to take in her surroundings. She tilted her head as she saw a large den, woven together with leaves and sticks, decorated with colorful river rocks.
Prey scent was strong here, and she came to realize that it was coming from a prey pile to the far left of the den. While it was clear some cat lived here, another loud growl coming from her stomach made her desperate. Looking around wearily, she slowly approached the fresh kill pile. She craned her neck down and nearly managed to clamp her jaws around a piece of prey, but she jerked her head up as she was frightened by a loud yowl.
"Thief!" She heard a cat growl. All she saw was a blur of brown and gray fur before she was suddenly knocked to the ground. She hit the ground with a thud and looked up to see a cat towering over her. Their blue eyes were filled with rage as they growled yet again.
"You think you could just come into our territory and steal our prey?"
Nightpaw's ears flattened in fear. She knew this was a bad idea. Her heart raced in anxiety and she looked away.
Repressed memories started to resurface again as she recalled how Mossrush had died, pinned down with claws against his neck.
Nightpaw looked at the cat's unsheathed claws that pinned her. Will I go the same way?
"I'm sorry!" She sobbed suddenly, "I was desperate and couldn't help myself! I won't do it again!"
The cat's eyes widened and they suddenly got off, giving Nightpaw time to get up and back away, trembling.
"What's going on here?" Another cat's voice called. Nightpaw picked up two more scents, and her fur bristled as she crouched in a defensive position.
Two more cats emerged from the bushes a bit beyond. A silver cat with white spots dotting her body and light amber eyes, and a more fluffy looking cat, with tan fur, tufted ears, brown spots and leaf-green eyes.
She braced herself for hostility, but instead, the attention was drawn away from her.
"Falcon, did you completely forget about the whole, you know, thing?" The tan one spoke in a slightly irritated tone.
Nightpaw tilted her head. What thing?
Nightpaw assumed they called it that just to keep whatever it was a secret.
Falcon looked at Nightpaw again, and then their eyes widened as they looked back at the tan one. "Oh, THAT thing."
The tan she-cat let out a sigh before turning to Nightpaw. "Sorry about him."
Him? Nightpaw asked herself, confused as all she could scent from him was the scent of a she-cat. Then her ears perked up in sudden realization that they were a transgender cat, something her mother had taught her about once.
"I know this seems really weird, but for reasons we can't specify yet we need you to come with us." The tan she-cat spoke again.
Nightpaw backed away. "Go with you guys? No way!" She hissed defensively. "I already got attacked by one of you guys, I don't need another reminder as to why I shouldn't have come here."
"Are you sure this is the one, Juniper?" The silver one whispered to her taller groupmate, who simply nodded in return.
Juniper sighed, "Unfortunately, we aren't asking you. You need to come with us."
Nightpaw started to back up even more. "You can't make me go anywhere."
"You really won't like what happens next if you don't follow us peacefully."
Nightpaw paused for a second. Is this really worth it? One side of her brain was telling her to go, while the other was telling her to keep fighting it.
The fight side of her brain took over as she let out a snarl at Juniper's statement. The she-cat sighed, "Welp, I tried to warn you."
"I'm sorry about this," Nightpaw froze as she heard the voice of the silver she-cat behind her. But before Nightpaw could say anything further, she grunted as a hard object hit her in the back of the head.
With a thud, she fell to the ground as it gave way to dizzying blackness.