Why are they in a forest? This question and many more in this chapter of…

Trailing Stars: Chapter Four

By: Brightshadow

Edited by: Jayfrost

illustrated by Jayfrost

Huh?

Why am I in a forest? And why do I have fur…?

I’m a cat!

I scanned my surroundings, curious. Something was obviously wrong. People don’t just magically turn into cats overnight. Well, I guess now they do, I thought. It was the strangest sensation of the most normal thing: it felt like everything was alright; no tug at my chest, no tight feeling, everything felt normal. Yet it felt abnormal…

I have to stop thinking. I’m confusing myself, I thought.

Right as I went to get up and explore my surroundings, I heard the soft murmuring of a near group of cats. Oh no, I thought. What if I’m on their territory, and they’re coming to fight me off?

I went towards the sound, then asked softly, “Hello?”

The faint sound of pawsteps stopped as a group of cats came into view. “Hello,” a she-cat with pale amber eyes said. “I am Cakestar, leader of BlogClan. I’m guessing you are part of BlogClan as well?” The she-cat’s eyes had a gentle, kind look. She seemed nice, as well as most of the other cats. I gave my tail a happy flick.

“I’m Brightshadow,” I told the leader.

“Oh!” she mewed. “Well, you might as well join us. We think all the cats of BlogClan are scattered over the forest. Dawnmist, here,” the she-cat flicked her tail towards a silver tabby, “thinks that StarClan has sent us to start a Clan.” Cakestar paused, then continued, “I’ll explain it all later,” this time to everyone.

I flicked my tail in response. “Okay. And yes, I will help you find the rest of our Clan.”

We padded across the damp floor of the forest. I could hear leaves rustled in the trees, the occasional snapping of a twig, the scurrying away of a squirrel that had been startled by the faintest of noises, and the lovely singing of the birds.

“What is going on…?”

“I have no idea.”

I heard the quiet meowing of cats, a fox-length or two away, behind a clump of bushes.

“Cakestar,” I mewed, “I think I heard some cats back there.” She stopped, as well as the rest of the cats did. “Probably some cats in our Clan.”

“Well, let’s go get our new clan mates,” she responded. “Lead the way, Brightshadow.”

I led my Clanmates to the spot where I had heard the other cats. Two of them were lying on the ground, quietly talking among each other. They became quiet, startled by seeing such a large group of cats. Then one of the she-cats stood up and backed away from us.

“Please don’t hurt us,” she mewed shakily. Her eyes had a noticeable glint of fear.

“We’ll get off your territory, just lead us out,” the slightly bigger hazel colored cat added.

“We would never hurt you!” a tabby from our group informed him, Copperclaw, I thought her name was. “I’m guessing you are both from BlogClan. So are all of us.”

“Oh wow!” the she-cat said. “I’m Kat, and she’s…”

The cat’s jaw dropped. “Mother…?”

Cakestar looked at the tom. “Hazelburrow?” she asked, excited. “I’m so happy you’re here with me! You too, Kat,” Cakestar added, almost as an afterthought. There was silence for a moment, than Cakestar spoke again. “I know a lot of you must be confused about what is going on here. I apologize for not giving an explanation, but instead of repeating myself, I think it would be better to announce what is happening when all of BlogClan is together.”

Mews of agreement followed Cakestar’s announcement.

By the end of the day, our Clan became almost complete except for about ten cats. By then it was too dark out for us to keep on searching for cats, plus, most of us had arrived during the day. Only two cats recalled waking up at night, to find themselves as cats, in a forest.

“BlogClan!”Cakestar mewed loudly, quieting the rest of the Clan. “We must find shelter for the night. Dawnmist is assured that StarClan will provide territory for us, so I will let her lead us to our new home, for who knows how long.” My leader’s last words hit me: this was my new home, for a while, at least. It was crazy, something no one could comprehend (unless you’ve lived your life as a cat before).

I followed my Clanmates. After a long trek, we had finally reached shelter, maybe our future territory: some hollow trees, some dense surroundings that formed almost a cave out of trees, some alleys filled with moss, some underground abandoned rabbit tunnels. Anything that would protect us from a sudden rainfall overnight, we used as shelter.

“Brightshadow, we would like you and Echowing to stand guard. After the moon hits its highest point, wake Dappleleaf and Kat to stand guard until sunhigh,” Copperclaw commanded.

I flicked my tail in response. I padded over to the main opening into our camp. Echowing took the opposite side.

I stood there doing nothing for what seemed like moons.

Then it happened.

I suddenly heard a wild dog barking in the distance. I thought nothing of it for a few moments, but then the barking became louder, and obviously closer. And I could tell now, that it was not one wild dog, but many!

“Echowing, wake the Clan!” I cried. “A pack of dogs is coming!” Quickly, Echowing, ran over to Cakestar, nudging her to get up. After Cakestar had woken up, Echowing told her what was going on and they both started waking up the Clan.

“I think they’re going for the little fresh-kill we have. I say we just give it to them,” Echowing told me, after most of the Clan was awake. “We can always catch some more.”

I had to agree. I would rather give away fresh-kill than have to attack a pack of dogs any day.

“BlogClan,” Cakestar hollered. “We have to evacuate, and fast. Go to the river! Quick! Once everyone is there, we cross. It’s a shame, but I think it is a sign from StarClan that this isn’t meant to be our camp.”

Everyone burst into a speedy run towards the river. The dogs were now fox-lengths away from the thorny entrance of our camp.

“Go, go, go, hurry, the dogs are on our tails!” Copperclaw shouted, bringing up the rear. I ran faster. The dogs were now at the entrance of our camp.

Finally, everyone was at the river, right as the first dog made his way through the thorny bushes. Everyone started to cross, the part of the river we came to being shallow.

Finally, by moon-high, everyone had made it safely across the river.

We were safe.