A sandy-brown tom slowly waved his tail back and forth, high in the air. A gray tabby she-cat, who was standing near the sandy-brown tom, nodded, purring.
"Great job! And that's to say 'hi, nice to meet you', in case you need it," the gray tabby purred. Field smiled and lowered his tail.
Field and Far had decided to make a new sort of... language. A way for Field to communicate without using his voice. They had been practicing for the whole day, and they hadn't made much progress. They had only worked on things such as how to say 'I, you, he, we' and the like. It was taking a lot longer than Field had anticipated.
"Alright, now... let's make this 'please'," Far meowed, flicking her right ear once. Field copied her and Far nodded, smiling.
"Yeah! And this could be 'thank you'," Far flicked her left ear once. "And this could be 'you're welcome'!" Far then flicked her left ear twice.
Field flicked his left ear once, looking earnestly at Far. Far smiled brightly, her blue eyes shining. The gray tabby looked away, her smile still bright on her face. Field walked closer to the gray tabby and nuzzled her cheek.
"It's nothing, really," Far mewed, nuzzling him back. Despite not having known the she-cat for very long, Field felt very close with her. If only he could tell the gray tabby his name.
Suddenly, out of the corner of Field's eye, the tom saw a lovely tan tabby she-cat with dainty, white paws pad into the den.
"Hi, Far. Hello," Fresh nodded to the two of them. "I hope you don't mind me dropping by?"
"Oh, not at all! I meant it when I said you were welcome any time! What brings you here?" The gray tabby she-cat padded over to her and nuzzled her cheek, Field close behind. Fresh purred in response.
"Well, I'm not exactly sure you two will like it," the tan tabby hesitated.
"No matter what it is, we'll at least listen," Far meowed assuredly. Fresh smiled at her in thanks.
"Well, I bumped in to one of the rogue cats. Not Flame. His name was Fish?" Fresh mewed, looking at the two of them. Field showed his teeth. He knew that name.
Fish was known for being cruel to all the loners and kittpets in the area. He was even horrible to cats in the rogue group. Field was not excited to hear what came next.
"Anyway, we talked, and we had a sort of... vision? His dead parents came to him, and—" Fresh was interrupted before she could continue.
"What? His dead parents? How does that work?" Far said in disbelief. Honestly, Field couldn't blame her. He, too, found it hard to believe.
"I'm not exactly sure how it works, but you just have to trust me that it happened," Fresh looked pleadingly at the two of them.
Far turned to Field, hoping for some kind of answer. Field blinked twice, which they had decided meant 'ok', or 'yes', depending on the situation. Far sighed and turned back to Fresh.
"Fine. We trust you, Fresh," Far meowed. Fresh smiled in gratitude.
"Thank you, really. It means a lot. So, Fish's dead parents came to him, and they told him that Vex killed them, which he didn't know," Fresh meowed.
"Of course Vex did. He is awful," Far snarled. Field nodded in agreement.
"Yeah..." Fresh's green eyes glazed over, as if remembering something. She quickly snapped out of it. "Anyway, his parents also told him to start a rebellion against the rogues. So, here I am, recruiting you guys."
Field stared at the tan tabby in shock. A rebellion? Against Vex? That's practically suicide! Despite the obvious danger of the plan, the sandy-brown tom was intrigued.
"What? What are you saying, Fresh? To go up against Vex..." Far shook her head. "We'd all be dead before we even got started!"
"Not if we were prepared. Fish is getting cats from inside the rogue group, and he told me to convince as many loners as I could. You were my first thought. Just come to the meeting, everything will be explained better there," the tan tabby said.
A meeting, huh? Well, I've just got to convince Far...
"No way am I going to be a part of this. I'm not looking to die!" Far hissed.
"Cats are dying all the time because of the rogues, either by starvation, or actual physical injuries," Fresh hissed in response, which shocked Field. He had not expected the tan tabby to be this aggressive.
"What would you know about starvation and death? You're just a kittypet!" the gray tabby snapped. Fresh flinched, her green eyes wide. The tan tabby looked as if Far had clawed her. Fresh turned away from Far and looked at Field.
"Will you come to the meeting?" Fresh whispered.
Field nodded and nuzzled the she-cat, though it didn't seem to make her feel any better.
"Thank you. The meeting will be held at the half-moon, by the cypress tree. Tell others around here, too," Fresh nodded respectfully to the tom, who flicked his left ear twice, even though he knew Fresh wouldn't understand.
The tan tabby slowly turned and padded out of the den and disappeared from sight. Field turned on the gray tabby, who was looking downcast.
Far looked up to meet Field's gaze, but couldn't hold it for long. She sighed and closed her blue eyes. "Yeah, I know. That was too far."
Field continued to stare at the she-cat, unmoving. Far glanced up at the tom hopefully. Field narrowed his green eyes.
"Fine. We'll just have to go to the stupid meeting so I can apologize," Far sighed and shook her head in exasperation.
"I just... I don't want to die."
Field stared hard at the gray tabby she-cat, who relented yet again.
"I guess it is a bit selfish. Fresh was right that other cats are dying..." the gray tabby she-cat shoved Field, trying to improve the mood. "Why do I always have to be wrong?"
Field smiled and shrugged innocently. Far smiled mischievously back at him. The gray tabby then jumped up and pounced on the sandy-brown tom. Field rolled over so he was pinning the she-cat. The gray tabby snickered and used her hindlegs to kick Field off. The tom lay only for a moment, but it was enough for Far to pin him to the ground.
"Brute strength doesn't always work. I may not always be right, but I can at least say I'm a better fighter than you," Far smiled and stepped off of him. Field stood up, then sat down, tired from their momentary scuffle.
"Well, even if we don't join the rebellion, I suppose we could find some cats that might want to," Far reasoned. The sandy-brown tom padded over to her and nodded. The gray tabby leaned against Field's shoulder and closed her eyes. The tom smiled and let his chin rest on her head. After a moment, Far shook him off and sat across from him.
"Ok, we've made some progress, but I think we need to work on some things," the gray tabby meowed. Field was confused for a moment, but then he remembered what they were doing before Fresh arrived.
"Now, if you want to say 'mouse', you can do this," Far demonstrated by drawing a circle with one of her claws. Field copied her, and Far nodded.
"For 'forest', it should be this." This time, Far drew a circle with a line attached to it. Far drew another one beside it. Field drew two circles with lines as well.
"Now, for 'plains', or 'meadow', or 'field', do this," Far drew some spikes in the dirt. She turned to the sandy-brown tom, but Field was too excited to draw the spikes.
"What is it?" Far asked, looking confused. Field shifted, unsure how to say it.
The sandy-brown tom placed a paw on his chest, then drew the spikes in the dirt. I... Field. Field wished he knew a better way to say this, but he didn't, so he hoped Far would understand. The gray tabby still looked confused, so Field repeated his actions. After one more time, Far's blue eyes lit with understanding.
"Your name is Meadow? What an odd name, but then again, my name isn't exactly normal either..." Field shook his head, hoping Far would get it this time.
"Not Meadow? Alright... Is your name Field, then?" Far questioned. Field's green eyes lit up, and so did Far's blue ones.
"Field! Oh, I'm so glad I know your name now! Honestly, it was kind of weird not knowing your name, but now I do! This is just great!" the gray tabby purred in delight. Field nodded and padded over to her. The sandy-brown tom laid down and so did the gray tabby she-cat. Field curled up around her and closed his eyes, feeling content.
"Goodnight, Field," was the last thing he heard before drifting off to sleep.