Nightstar's Calling (Discontinued)

Chapter 21

Nightpaw awoke with a head-splitting pain, wincing as sunlight hit her face.
"It's about time you woke up."
Still drowsy, she mumbled at the sound of the voice. "Midnight? Mossrush?"
Juniper, the one who had spoke, gave the she-cat a confused glance before shaking her head. She prodded Nightpaw to wake her up more. Her eyelids lifting, Nightpaw shook herself out, and then instantly flinched back at the sight of the tan cat sitting in front of her.
"I'm sorry for the, err, unconventional means of getting you here," Juniper began, flicking her ear. "But it's important for you to be here."
Nightpaw had been taken away from the den where the fresh-kill pile was, and instead was somewhere else. A clearing, where a few large, smooth rocks poked out from the earth. A silver she-cat and a brown tom lay sprawled out on them, appearing to be sunning themselves.
Nightpaw huffed.
"You guys are insane."
Juniper brushed off her comment as she turned to Kyumii. "Should we bring her now?" The silver she-cat asked. Juniper nodded, and then stood up to address Falcon as well. "You guys escort her to the tree den."
Nightpaw noticed how the two cats nodded without any show of reluctance.
"She must be some sort of deputy." She thought to herself, noting her authority.
Kyumii and Falcon lifted themselves up from the stones, and padded up to Nightpaw as they looked at her expectantly.
Nightpaw learned that she shouldn't refuse, acknowledging again the dull pain that resides in the back of her head. And so without another word, she followed the two cats.

Nightpaw took in her surroundings as the cats walked with no conversation. It was like the forest back at Mistclan, but without all the mist. Clear sunlight peered through the yellow leaves of the trees, which she found odd considering it wasn't leaf-fall.
She suddenly paused as the cats around her did too.
"Quick, groom yourself, you need to look presentable when he sees you." The brown tom spoke.
Nightpaw noted her messed up fur as she nodded, quickly licking the messy tufts of fur.
I wonder why they didn't say anything about my eyes...
"There's no time for that, come on!"
Nightpaw sighed as she stopped. So do I groom myself or not?
Falcon and Kyumii suddenly bounded off, leaving Nightpaw confused and scared. Who was here?
She looked forward where there was a large tree with a hole in it near the bottom. She froze as she heard rustling coming from within it.
Slowly, a yellow-furred cat emerged from the hole. First there was a paw, and then the rest as they landed onto the grass. Nightpaw's heart beat faster as they walked towards her, their tail waving slowly against the ground.
They looked up, and Nightpaw was met with familiar blue eyes.
Nightpaw trembled, what was she supposed to do?
The cat then smiled as their whiskers twitched.
"It's about time you showed up."

Nightpaw recognized the scent instantly, and she took a step back. "You, you're the cat from my dreams!"
Her ears lowered. "But I don't understand any of this. Juniper said I need to be here, why?"

"I can't answer your questions, not yet. It's very complicated." The cat sighed, his tail flicking. "But I will in time. But for now, you need to stay here."
Nightpaw blinked at him, I probably don't have a choice in this, do I?
"Are you able to walk in dreams? Why were you there? Did you control it? Why was there fire?"
Nightpaw still continued to question the tom, confusion plaguing her mind. "And what's your name?"
The cat looked at her, and then just replied, "Steve."
Nightpaw tilted her head. Steve? While it wasn't as weird to say as Kyumii, it was still among the more, err, uncommon names she's heard.
"Were you a kittypet?" She blurted out, and then clamped her jaws shut.
She saw Steve's gaze fall dark, and she flinched. Did she say something wrong?
"I should take you to properly know the others, since I assume you probably weren't taken here easily." Steve ignored the question, and then stood up. Kyumii and Falcon slid out of the bushes once more she padded up to Steve.
Nightpaw wondered to herself. Steve seemed to be the leader of this group, and yet he seemed to be barely over the age of 15 moons.  She also noted a scar on the right side of his face. Probably a battle scar, not unusual for leaders. She looked at Kyumii as well. A short, soft-furred silver she-cat with the scent of herbs stuck to her fur. Maybe some sort of medicine cat?
Then there was Falcon, who intrigued her the most out of the two. He definitely reminded her of a warrior. She had wondered how he was able to catch up to her so fast, before noticing his skinny, long-limbed, aerodynamic frame, perfect for a fast runner.
She was quickly snapped out of her thoughts once she realized she had been staring for more than a few moments.
She muttered an apology, looking away.
"Come on, Juniper is waiting for us back at the sun-stones."
The two others nodded as the group started to walk. Nightpaw followed close behind as they did.
She let her thoughts wander again.
So I was right, Juniper and Steve are definitely figures of authority in this group.
That thought sort of scared her, knowing that she'd most likely have to treat them like clan leaders. What if they have some sort of code of their own?
That would be very counterproductive, considering the entire reason she ran away was to get away from clan life. But then, she heard snickering coming from Falcon.
"Oh look at me, I'm mister mysterious." Falcon said in a mocking tone as he nudged Steve.
"Oh be quiet." Steve grumbled, nudging him back.
"Seriously, what's with all the serious act all of a sudden? You wanna make a good impression on Nightface over here or something?" Kyumii joked as the group walked.
"Um, paw." Nightpaw said quietly to Kyumii.
"Oh, right."
Nightpaw was stunned to say the least. One moment they were like a clan and the next moment she couldn't tell them apart from gossiping apprentices at a gathering.

This is going to be a very, very interesting experience.