The Memories

Characters
Frosty: Silvery tabby she-cat with lavender eyes and one white paw

Pixie: Bubbly black she-cat with green eyes

Rhino: Dark gray tom with blue eyes

Estie: Golden and white she-cat with amber eyes

Kit: Small white tom with amber eyes

Tabby: Small brown tabby she-cat with green eyes

Flashback Characters
Flarepaw: Light cream tom with black paws

Lustercloud: Silver tabby she-cat

Dustpaw: Pale gray tom with darker flecks and green eyes

Redstar: Russet colored tom with amber eyes

Tawnykit: Young tortoiseshell tom kit

Rosekit: Pale gray she-kit

Crystalwing: Silver queen with icey eyes

Snakestrike: Dark brown mottled tom with amber eyes

Frosty reared up on her hind legs, ready to strike out at Estie, who was balanced precautiously on a branch. But a familiar pair of playful blue eyes filled her mind, and with a sigh, she plopped back down on all fours. Estie frowned down at her, thinking it was part of her attack, and crouched, ready to pounce. Frosty flopped onto her belly and rolled over, trying to drown out the noise of Flarepaw's voice asking her to play.

"Frosty?" It was Tabby; the young brown she-cat was bounding towards her, worry clouding her eyes. She rocked to the side so she could face her friend.

"Hmmm?" She asked, blinking away tears as her mind replayed the badger attack. The green eyed tabby layed beside her, and the rest followed; Rhino stopped beneath the branch so he could help Estie out of the tree.

"What's wrong?" Pixie, an energetic young black cat, mewed. "Ever since the Rivers' adopted you, you've been staring out at the forest, as if you wish your Clan will appear to rescue you at any moment. I thought you liked it here." Frosty sighed and stared at the clouds as they drifted by.

"I do, trust me, I do. You're all great friends. Without you, I would've gone mad long ago." She flopped onto her belly, a few more tears escaping. "But I miss my old home. If someone came to rescue me...I wouldn't say no. I was born a Clan cat, and I will never consider a Twoleg nest my home. I live in the forest." Kit, a small white tom, sighed and brushed agaisnt her flank.

"Why don't you tell us some of the memories that have come back to haunt you since you arrived? You said that you see things that happened in your old home in dreams sometimes," Kit suggested. She honestly didn't want to. Sharing would only make her think of the times, which made her heart ache. But she could tell the others thought it was a good idea, so she took a deep breath and let the memories poor into her mind.

* * * *

"Petalpaw! Flarepaw! Petalpaw! Flarepaw!" Below, her Clanmates were cheering her name. She was barely aware of her cream colored brother bristling with joy beside her. She padded forward to touch her muzzle to Redstars' before she would be drowned in her duties. Flarepaw did the same, and they leaped down from the ledge to ask their new mentors what they would be doing first. Petalpaw was lucky; her mentor was the deputy, Snakestrike. The huge tom was strict, but fair, as his other apprentices had told her.

"Go get something to eat; we're going hunting," Snakestrike had growled as he whisked past. She whirled around just in time to see the tip of his dark tail disappear inside the nursery. She sighed. Snakestrike's mate, Crystalwing, had recently given birth. The kits' eyes had opened the day before.

Suddenly, Lustercloud's terrified yowl pierced the air. Her mother was racing into the enterance, out of breath. A hoard of badgers swept in behind her, jaws snapping. Letting out a stunned howl, Petalpaw leapt beside Flarepaw, who was already clawing viciously at a stout badger. Instinctively, she clawed at it's eyes. With a yelp of rage and pain, it stumbled away, blinded. She turned to see a large badger blundering towards the nursery, howling.

Snakestrike had left the nursery to fight with his Clanmates, leaving a tom named Gorsefall to defend the nursery. Gorsefall yowled at the badger, trying to frighten it away, but the black animal swpied at Gorsefall's head; with a sickening yelp that was cut off abrutly, he fell to the ground. With Gorsefall twitching on the ground, there was no one to protect the nursery. As the badger took another step, she caterwhauled and leapt at it. She landed on its back and propelled off into the nursery before it could roll onto her. She landed in front of the terrifed Crystalwing, who was bracing herself in front of her mewling kits.

"What happened to Gorsefall?" She wailed. Petalpaw only shook her head, for the badger was getting to its paws. She nudged Crystalwing towards a cap in the back of the nursery that had been created when a badger had fallen on it.

"Take the kits and go! Find somewhere to hide, and yowl if a badger gets clsoe!" Crystalwing only stood there, so Petalpaw Shoved agaisnt her shoulder. "Go!" Dazed, the queen hearded her kits in front of her and squeezed out the opening. Just as they raced away, a badger blundered to the gap, snapping its jaws. Trapped between two badgers, she cowered against the corner, glad she had gotten the kits out while she could. With a load snap, the left wall of the nursery split open. Expecting a badger, Petalpaw closed her eyes. She was surprised when it turned out to be Dustpaw.

The gray tom was followed by Flarepaw. The two toms each took on a badger, screeching as they clawed and swiped. She heard a high pitched wail and turned to see Tawnykit, one of Crystalwings, blindly tumbling around the nursery. She swooped down to pick him up in her jaws, then shoved through the gap Dustpaw had created. She followed Crystalwings scent trail to the ledge, where she was perched with Rosekit. Petalpaw shoved Tawnykit up and raced back to help Dustpaw and Flarepaw, but they had finished; the two badgers were fleeing for their lives.

It was done. All the badgers were gone, leaving only the bleeding and ragged cats. Shivering, Crystalwing helped her kits off of the ledge. Redstar replaced her, his eyes scanning his ruined camp.

"How many dead?" His voice cracked. Snakestrike stepped forward to answer.

"One. Gorsefall. He took a blow to the head." The deputy hung his head in shame. "It should have been me! I should have been the one to guard the nursery, not Gorsefall, who had his whole life ahead of him!" Crystalwing soothed her shaking mate.

Gorsefall dead. Petalpaw's vision blurred with exaustion. The last thing she was aware of was Flarepaw pressing agaisnt her before uncoinsiousness took over.

* * * *

Frosty explained the battle to her friends in detail, explaining all the pelt colors of her Clanmates, the setup of the camp. Kit had been right; she felt better now that someone knew how she had felt. But something else have come to mind once she finished telling her friends of the Clan life.

She was going home.