Alone+in+the+Woods

Griffin Hansen 1/2B Alone in the Woods The undergrowth of a frozen forest waved frantically. An orange tabby tom and a black she-cat whirled around. The tom flexed his claws and growled, filling the air with menace. The she-cat darted into a cave, her hackles raised and her feathery tail puffed out. The faint mewling of kits could be heard from within. Just then, the bracken parted. It was a fox! The powerful tom launched himself onto the fox with a wild yowl. Orange fur flew as the pair rolled around the clearing, locked in a deadly embrace. The cat threw the fox from him, into the rocky side of the cave. The fox lay motionless. The tomcat dashed over to the fox to see if it was dead. At that moment, a boulder tumbled from the cave roof, straight onto the cat with a sickening crunch. The she-cat skidded out of the nursery with two kits in tow. She took one look at the scene and let out a piercing caterwaul, “Yellow Sun! Noooo!” The cry was so full of pain and despair that the kits between her paws shrank back. The she-cat nosed her mate tenderly, knowing with heart-wrenching certainty that Yellow Sun was gone forever. “Come on kits. Go into the cave. We need to get you warm.” It was clear that the kits were freezing. The light gray one with black flecks pressed herself into her tabby brother. The incomplete family padded into the cave, heads down tails dragging through the snow. Days passed. There was no prey. The three cats lay hungry on hard stone. Their eyes were dull with defeat, and their pelts were ragged. The she-kit, Deep River, looked up at the roof of the cave, “We will only survive if we risk to venture out.” Her eyes were glazed with mystery, and her voice was that of a much older cat. Her mother and brother stared at her. Could it be true? Deep River had always been strange, but this? “Is that true, mother?” The tabby kit asked tentatively, shifting his weight from paw to paw. “I just don’t know, Gurgling Brook. I think that our best chance might be to leave the cave. We will die here soon, anyway.” The mother’s voice was so sad that the young ones hastened to obey. Before long, they were trekking through several feet of snow, the icy sun bore no warmth to the three travelers, and he lack of food was obviously taking its toll. They were all weak and often rested. For two sunrises this went on until, finally, they reached a spacious, abandoned barn. The cats sighed with relief. Maybe this place could offer the shelter and food that they needed. The mother nosed her way forward, intent on exploring the barn. A few feet from the barn, her fur stood on end. Without warning, a full-grown male badger hurtled through the undergrowth, straight at the she-cat. With a great rush of fierce energy that belied her starved figure, the mother cat leaped! The fury of generations of mother cats flooded through her. It no longer mattered that she was small, starved, and practically alone in the woods. She was alive, ducking, clawing, and leaping for her life and those of her kits! However, no amount of willpower can withstand the body forever. The mother was weakening, and she had many deep wounds. The badger advanced. It raised one huge, blunt paw, and- “Raaaar!” A yowl sounded, distracting the badger momentarily. A black shadow flew through the air, claws outstretched. He landed squarely on the creature’s shoulders. The she-cat leaped up in a fighting whirl. The two snapped and clawed in a perilous dance, slowly driving the badger back into the woods. The muscular male licked a wound on his shoulder, “My name is Darting Crow. Yours?” he asked, piercing the dark female with an intense amber gaze. “Speckled Night,” she whispered, holding his gaze. Her kits watched warily from several feet away. “I live in that abandoned barn. Would you care to join me? I get lonely.” Speckled Night hesitated. Too soon, she thought. As she watched Darting Crow, she glimpsed the shimmering outline of an orange tabby standing next to Darting Crow. She heard a faint purr ringing in her ears. She blinked, and the image was gone. “I accept.”