Warriors: Rise of the Weather [1] : The Journey Begins (OLD/DISCONTINUED)

Chapter Fourteen

Edited ✔️
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Mouse padded onwards with an air of confidence, his questionable ambition to find moss for his mother bringing an odd eagerness to his bouncing limbs. Every now and then, he encountered a few yellow covered twolegs poking around, and he hid in a bush to not get caught.

Although Mist doesn't allow me out on my own, she still teaches me basic survival tactics. Mouse thought to himself as he watched a twoleg yowl to another, pointing with an oddly colored stick to a large tree jutting out of the ground. The second twoleg padded over, shaking an odd metallic container and spraying a strange substance against the tree. Mouse cowered away, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the foreign creature's appalling actions. While the twolegs concerned themselves with the tree, Mouse darted along behind them and out of their vision.

As he strayed further into the forest, he found more and more things that astonished him. A rancid stench filled his nose and he physically recoiled, his fur bristling. A large creature lay crouched to the ground, glistening red skin with large round black paws that sank into the snow. It took a moment for Mouse to identify it as a monster from stories his mother told him, and immediately he felt shadowed with fear. Snowflakes had begun to drift from the sky as he silently crept past the terrifying beast, and his movement was interrupted by an earsplitting roar and a blinding flash of lights.

Mouse let out a screech of terror as the monster rumbled to life, its paws viciously churning against the snow. The small tom scrabbled to his paws and bolted as fast as he could, the roar of the monster pounding against his head. "Mist!" He wailed as he ran, his tail streaming behind him. He dove into a bush, shivering with fear as he crouched to the ground, his wide yellow eyes peering through the loosely packed branches. The rumble of the monster faded into nothing as he waited, fear pounding against his chest.

Tentatively, he stepped out of the bush, his eyes darting too and fro. "Mist?" He mewled, hoping that his mother had gone out in search for him. He'd completely forgotten about the moss he'd set out to retrieve, and wanted nothing more than to get back home.

"Mist?" He called again, his voice shaking and growing weaker from the bitter cold. He just wanted to lie down and forget about anything that had happened. I'll never find her! He thought to himself, letting out another weak yowl. He collapsed to the ground with a shudder, wrapping his paws tightly around his muzzle.

Suddenly, a voice pierced the silence, and the tom-kit raised his head.

"Mouse! Mouse, where are you?"

Mouse quickly identified the voice to be Mist, and he let out a pitiful mewl in response to her frantic cries. The sound of snow crunching beneath somebody's paws filled Mouse's ears, and Mist came into view.

"Mouse?" She meowed loudly, her blue eyes flashing as she searched for him. Mouse lifted his head even higher, and his mother spotted him curled against the ground.

"Mouse!" The dappled she-cat exclaimed, darting forward and covering the tom-kit in worried licks. "Oh, my kit! You're okay, I'm here."

Mouse's rapid breathing gradually calmed, and he pressed himself against his mother for warmth. Mist grasped his scruff between her teeth, and began carrying him in the general direction of their den. When they finally reached it, she stopped, her jaw tightening and causing Mouse to shift in discomfort, kicking his legs through the air. What she saw she wished wasn't real, but the dread hollowing her belly confirmed that it was in fact real.

Twolegs were crawling throughout her den, poking and prodding at the stone walls with odd lights on their heads. Mist quickly dropped Mouse to the ground, who started towards the den, but was stopped by one of Mist's paws blocking his way.

He looked curiously up at her, confusion hinted in his gaze. "Mist?"

Mist shook her head gently. "We can't head back home." She announced, her heart sinking like a rock. "We need to find someplace else to stay."

Mouse briefly pouted, not wanting to travel through the snow storm that had begun to rise. "Why?"

Mist shook her head once again, not responding as she lifted Mouse once more from the ground, snow whipping at her face as she began trudging through the white blanketed ground. After a long time of traveling, Mist finally placed Mouse onto the ground. His fur was tipped with icicles, and he quickly shook them away.

"Why can't we go home?" Mouse asked, his fur sticking into the air.

Mist shook her head, gently lapping her kit between the ears. "You're too young to understand, Mouse. Get some rest..." She trailed off, her voice hard a twinge of hurt mingled amongst the disappointment.

Mouse felt a surge of guilt. Obediently, he curled up against the cold earth, his ears flattening against his head.

I never should've wandered off.