Feathers and the rest of the cats walked north to the city where Lightning and his cats were taking over. As he was walking, Finch was talking more about the current situation.
"Yeah, like I was saying Misty and her two kittens are being held hostage by Lightning. We have no idea why he's choosing to keep them alive. He and his cats killed all of the other cats that they were able to find... unless they could run away of course, or unless they would join him. It's very confusing really," Finch added to Feathers with an unsure expression.
The blueish gray tabby thought for a few moments before saying, "Maybe they're related?"
"Doesn't look like it! Misty's pelt is black, white, and other shades of gray. Lightning on the other hand is a golden brown tabby. They look nothing like each other! If they were related they would look somewhat like each other, plus, Lightning has amber eyes. On top of that, their personalities also don't match at all! Misty loves kittens and is welcoming to other cats and is generous! Lightning hates all cats... especially kittens! I think!! He also is selfish!" Finch exclaimed before covering her mouth with her paw. "I got carried away, sorry."
Feathers smiled and nodded at Finch, "Oh don't worry. One time I yowled loud enough for a cat on the other side of the world to cover its ears. I also only did it because there was an ant on my tail." He added, trying to assure her with a bit of humor.
The golden and brown molly laughed and fell over, rolling on the ground in amusement, "You yowled because there was an ant on your tail! That's hilarious! Oh, the great Feathers, ready to change the world and ready to jump into a completely unsafe battle is afraid of an ant!" She exclaimed.
Feathers laughed a bit looking at her, "Ah. You say that now but when there's an ant on your tail you're not getting any sympathy from me."
"Hey! Love furs! Where are ya going? I said that we're hunting here before continuing our journey!" Pheasant exclaimed, shaking his head. "You two never pay attention do you?"
"Heck ya, we don't!" Feathers exclaimed with a sarcastic smile, sprinting back to where the other cats were trying to pick up a scent trail.
The oddly colored cat sighed and rolled his eyes, "And now you've scared away all the prey and we're gonna go hungry. Thanks for nothing, Feathers." Pheasant said to him flatly before he then rolled his eyes.
Tetra walked off into the woods quietly and quickly. Something caught his eyes however, and without another word he ran off deeper into the forest.
Silver opened her jaws and yelled after him, "What are you thinking, hairball brain? You don't run after prey! Didn't Starling teach you anything?"
The black cat kept running away until he was out of view from the other cats, he didn't show any signs of stopping.
"Well... We're not going anywhere with him gone... TETRA! BE BACK BEFORE NIGHT!" Feathers yelled after him as loud as he could before laying down on the ground. "Ok. I guess we go hunting somewhere else where our prey will still be out and about, and then we wait for him to come back- unless someone has a better idea. If you do, please tell." He announced to his group of cats.
Feathers was met with silence so he just decided to carry out his own previous plan.
The sky was dark and the cats were still waiting for Tetra to come back, Pheasant was licking a mouse bone while the other cats kept glancing at each other silently before Feathers broke the silence.
"Look... I think we should go out and find Tetra. I'm starting to get worried... What if he ran off and isn't coming back because Lightning found him? If that was the case, waiting isn't going to help him at all." Feathers added as his blue eyes widened with fear.
"I agree with Feathers... for once-" Silver added, a hint of sarcasm to her tone. "We have no idea about where he is and something bad might've happened to him." She explained before nodding to Finch and Pheasant. "You can either stay or come with us. It's your call, personally though, I think you should go with us."
Pheasant and Finch hissed a few words to each other quietly before Finch spoke up loudly enough for Silver and Feathers to hear. "Yeah. We're coming with you, Lead the way Feathers- or Silver." She told the two of them.
Feathers gulped looking at the dark forest. The night made everything more dangerous no matter what, even with the best vision it was still hard to see. "Ok. Let's go." He told them while trying to hide the fear inside of him. He began the walk through the shadowed forest silently and was followed by the other cats.
Eventually, after following Starling's scent trail he came across a small house where people must have been living. On the fence, there was a beautiful pair of older cats that were talking with each other. The two of them were smiling and talking about a black cat with two different colored eyes.
Feathers' ears pricked up a bit and he walked to the fence and looked up at them before making a small chirp to get their attention. "Excuse me... Have you seen a black cat with different colored eyes- or am I hearing wrong?" He asked them.
The pretty ginger molly looked down at him before jumping off of the fence and responding to his question as she sat down in front of him, "Yeah, he's over at this house, or somewhere near it, that's where we saw him last anyway. He's talking to a pure white cat who claims to be a littermate of Monsoon and Hurricane., like it's something really special or something... Who are Monsoon and Hurricane anyway, do you know?"
"Wait, have you heard about what's happening in the city area yet?" Silver asked her, looking kind of surprised. The other cat that was sitting on the fence dug his claws into the fence and slid down.
"I have but she hasn't. She's been living by the coast until a few weeks ago when she moved here. Now me and her live together in that forest." A silver tabby responded, gesturing to the trees with his tail.
The ginger cat looked at both of them, obviously confused, "Soooo... is anyone going to tell me about what's happening?" She asked with a small amused purr.
"I would say- but we're on a tight schedule. We're on our way to the city to bring peace to all of the cats living there, and we need to find our friend kind of quickly," Feathers told her with a determined smile. "We're gathering cats to help us. Would you like to join us in our mission?" He asked both of them.
The two cats hesitated before the silver cat spoke up again, "We can't... Phoenix is expecting my kittens. I'm sorry, any other time I would."
"But once you bring peace to all of the cats make sure to stop by!" The ginger she-cat chirped with a small smile.
Finch nodded before asking the silver cat, "And what's your name? I know you're Phoenix but who are you?"
"Me? I'm Moony. You can call me Moon though," he responded with a purr. "Stop by when you're finished!" He told them, "If you have time!"
Feathers and his cats walked through the cat flap inside of the door and then into the house a few seconds after all of them wrapped up their conversation. He saw Starling and a lithe white cat with yellow eyes.
"You want me to help defeat my own two brothers?" The white cat asked Tetra with his eyes serious, not yet realizing Feathers and all of the others.
Tetra nodded, "Yes, They're killing off loved cats like my brother! I really need your help, even though it sounds wrong and completely immoral! We need more cats." He pleaded.
The white cat nodded, "Well then... My brothers tried to kill me when I was born so now it's time for revenge," he told Tetra with a sly smirk.
Tetra looked thrilled and was about to say something else before he was tackled by a tabby cat. "Aye! I missed you too! Sorry I ran off... I followed Cyclone to where his home was because he looked promising. I saw him hunting so it looked pretty assuring that he was going to be a good cat if he joined us." He told Feathers with a smile.
"Is it really true? You're Monsoon and Hurricane's brother?" Silver asked Cyclone while narrowing her green eyes, like she always did when she asked questions.
Cyclone sighed before speaking again, "Yes. I also feel the same way about them that you do. They tried to kill me a while back, it was this whole mess."
The black cat nodded, "Yep! He can also sneak in as a spy and find out all of their plans." He suggested.
"Of course I can! Dur! I got into this house and I don't even live here, but I knew the people would be up in their cells? Rooms? Upstairs by now, so it was safe to go in. They have their own cat that goes out at night, his name is Badger, gotta love the guy but- he's a little...." Cyclone trailed with wide yellow eyes before changing the subject. "I've always wanted to spy on cats and ruin their plans, if it's called for anyway." He meowed.
"If you think of it, that will also be a good asset to our plans," Pheasant said with a small smile, which was kind of rare for him.
"I think it would be better if we had two spies. That way if one gets captured or if they get lost or die we have another, not like we want that to happen," Feathers added as he put together a plan. "We'll have to find more cats though because Pheasant, me, and Tetra are going to be fighting and the other two are helping the injured cats."
Cyclone smiled and spoke up, "Well, I know some cats that could be useful. Over the seasons I've been able to make a... a few friends, I've actually had this idea in my head for a while- but I wasn't quite sure how we should carry out the approach, and I was still waiting for the stars above to send me assurance that this was the right thing to do and the right time to do it." He told them as his white tail flicked quickly as he thought about it. "Come on, we'll spend the night at their place. I think they may have a bit of extra space to house five extra cats."
'Extra space for five cats? Sounds kind of fishy,' Finch mouthed, mostly to herself.
The cats all waited for what Feathers would say about Cyclone's generous offer. After a few moments he smiled and said, "Alright, I think we can trust him. Let's go."
In under an hour they arrived at a clearing of sorts in the middle of the forest. Almost immediately Feathers noticed a large group of shrubs, bushes, and small trees that looked like they would be a great place to shelter, and it was also not a small area either.
"Alright. This is it. I'll lead the way. These cats here don't bite unprovoked." Cyclone told them, his meow having a hint of amusement to it.
Feathers followed him into the bushes and his own cats followed. He was pretty surprised to see how well organized it was, there was room for plenty of cats to live there, and every place here and there was a cat moving in and out of the bushes.
"Yeah, and all of these cats are ready for battle. They also all want to do the same thing, bring peace to the cats on the streets. I'd say you have a good group of thirty or so cats to pull this off." Cyclone added, sounding proud before speaking up loudly for all the cats to hear, "We have a new co-leader. My cats, meet Feathers."