A Place to Belong

aki's 100 themes challenge entry

(only half of the chapters are here i'm still sorting it out)

prologue // introduction


 * One hundred broken pieces lay scattered across the cavern floor. Each piece is a different color, but I don't know what they are from. Gemstones, perhaps?


 * I can see no end to the line of mysterious shards; they stretch far into the dark depths of the cave, further than I could walk. The cavern I stand in is dark, but a faint blue light shines far up ahead. The light reflects off of the shards, creating an array of beautiful colors on the ceiling. It seems as if every color in the world is right there, right above me.


 * I risk taking a step forward. An icy cold seeps into my pawpad, and I lift my paw to see a small white shard. Bright colors, like orange and red, dance around in its interior, and I'm mesmerized by the beauty of it.


 * Something shoves me, and I yelp in surprise as I stumble over a few more of the shards. I turn to face the offender, but there is no one there.


 * I blink, then turn and continue over the trail. The path is long, seemingly endless. But I have to push on. There is someone waiting for me at the end of this path, I know it. I don't know who, but someone is waiting, patiently watching for me as I walk along this path. It's a long road, but I'll go wherever it takes me.

chapter one // innocence


 * "Adder! Copper!" a voice shrilled.


 * We looked up from our playfight. The look on my brother's face told me that he was annoyed, but I was more curious. The sun was setting, casting a faint golden light over the forest. Our mother Privet raced over to us, a squirrel in her jaws. We waited for her to drop the fresh-kill at our paws, but instead she flung it back into the bushes.


 * Before I could ask what was happening, Copper was lifted from the ground and thrown onto Privet's shoulders. "Hang on," she hissed at him before picking me up. Then she sprang into the undergrowth, her fur lifting. Copper's claws dug into her shoulders, but she didn't seem to notice.


 * Privet bounded through the trees with me and Copper. I hadn't noticed it before, but now a snarling noise was audible from behind us, as well as heavy pawsteps.


 * I had to admit, I was terrified when I saw the creature pursuing us.


 * A huge black animal with a white stripe on its head. It had shaggy fur, enormous paws, and dark eyes that glinted furiously. Privet had told us about this animal. It was called a badger, and badgers eat cats.


 * Copper had glanced behind us, and now had his face buried into Privet's fur. Privet had sped up, and was practically flying over the forest floor. The badger crashed through the bushes behind us, snarling and roaring in rage. Suddenly a loud noise sounded from somewhere to the left. Another sound like twigs or bushes being crushed followed, and everything was silent.


 * Privet ran for a bit longer, slowed her pace, then glanced over her shoulder cautiously. I turned my head to scan for any sign of the badger, but it was gone. A path of broken twigs and clawmarks in the grass were all that was left of it.


 * "Is it gone?" Copper asked anxiously.


 * "I think so." Privet sighed. She didn't allow me or Copper to walk by ourselves, so she continued to carry us until we reached a thornbush. The bush had a gap in the side, so Privet carefully inspected the bush before declaring it safe to stay in. We settled into the grass beneath the bush and Privet curled around me and Copper.


 * Just as I was about to doze off, a noise caught my attention. I flicked my ears up, alert. At the same moment Copper whined, "I'm so hungryyyy..."


 * "Stop complaining." Privet growled at him. Still curled around us, she mumbled, "You'll have to go without food until tomorrow morning."


 * Another whimper sounded from Copper, but he said nothing more. Our mother was very intimidating - he definitely wouldn't protest. Soon both cats were asleep, but I was still wide awake. I stared blankly through the gap in the thornbush out into the forest. A light rain had started to fall - I liked rain, but Privet and Copper didn't. Copper would complain all the way to the lake.


 * I eventually fell asleep.

~**~**~


 * Loud shrieking made me sit straight up in the den. I grimaced in pain as a thorn pierced my ear, but the pain of the wound was nothing compared to the fright I felt. Copper was still sleeping - lazy furball. Privet was nowhere to be seen. She may have been out hunting, but...


 * "Get away from that bush!"


 * That voice was definitely familiar. It was Privet's.


 * Who was she talking to?


 * Another voice sounded. I didn't recognize this one. It was deeper than Privet's voice. "There's nothin' special about that bush!" the voice snapped. "Get out of our territory, mangy rogue!"


 * "I will! Step away from the bush for one minute, you heartless bastard!" Privet's normally low, quiet voice had risen to a shrill scream, as if she were panicking. And maybe she was - but that was unlike my mother. I cautiously peeked outside through the leaves of the bush.


 * It was almost dawn - the sun had just shown itself through the trees. Privet was standing a few tail-lengths away from the bush Copper and I were sheltered in. A dark grey cat was closer to the bush, its teeth drawn back and its claws unsheathed. And the tones they were speaking in - they were fighting. Privet cast a worried glance past the strange cat's shoulder, as she had done in the past when me and Copper were smaller.


 * This strange cat... it must be a threat!


 * Instantly I became anxious. I slipped over to Copper as quietly as I could and tried to nudge him awake. "Hey! Copper, wake up!" I whispered, hoping not to alert the stranger to our prescence.


 * After a few heartbeats, my brother finally opened his eyes. He stretched his jaws into a yawn, then drowsily (and loudly) mumbled, "What's--"


 * I quickly silenced him with a cuff over his ear. He hissed in complaint, but when I summarized the situation his eyes grew wide. "And we have to be quiet! Privet's worri--"


 * A scream of "NO!" and a high-pitched shriek cut off my words. I scrambled to see what had happened, and the scene before my eyes was horrific.


 * I didn't know much about death, but I knew what blood was and I could tell if someone was dead. And Privet...


 * Blood was welling up around her throat. A deep slash stretched from her left shoulder to her right ear. She hissed, and stumbled toward the stranger to counter. But the grey tom struck her in the head with a huge paw, and Privet was sent reeling. She rolled for a few tail-lengths and stopped right at the paws of another terrified-looking stranger.


 * Privet thrashed her limbs and yowled in agony. She said two words. I could barely tell they were words, but they were. Those words were Adder and Copper. Then she just... stopped.


 * The grey cat stalked back toward the white she-cat, grumbling, "She shouldn't've come onto our territory. You agree, don't you, Chervilpaw?"


 * The grey-and-white cat slowly shook its head, tears welling up in its eyes. "N-no...! Stonepelt, that was... that was murder!" Its voice was emotional, laced with sadness and horror.


 * Copper suddenly sprang out of the safety of the thornbush, wailing, "Privet! P-Privet!" He collapsed at her side, sobbing. I was frozen, terrified for my brother and horrified at my mother's death. I quickly regained my composure and slowly stepped out from under the bush, into the views of the strangers.


 * And that's when I started crying.


 * Seeing this cat who had just slaughtered my mother stare down at the dead body of his victim, hatred clear in his eyes. Seeing Copper sobbing over the lifeless body of his mother. Our mother.


 * Our mother was dead.

chapter two // friendship
 * "...Young kit, it's time to wake up now."


 * "She's prolly dead. Heyyy, someone poke her and see if she's alive!"


 * "Hey, if you want to know if she's dead, you poke her yourself!"


 * "...Nngh." I blinked my eyes open. My vision was blurry at first, so I could only see smudges of color against more smudges. I struggled to my paws, trying not to fall over.


 * A gasp sounded to the left of me. "She isn't dead!" someone announced.


 * Another voice, a softer, gentler one, mewed, "Of course she isn't. Leave her be, kits!" A series of small thuds followed the command, getting fainter as they went on. Then it was silence.


 * I blinked a few times, then rubbed at my eyes with my paws. Once my vision was clear, I immediately took in my surroundings. I was in a den, one similar to a badger's den. It was bigger though, and had a bunch of scents that I didn't recognize. A small pool of water was present at the back of the den, with moss soaking in it or drying beside it.


 * The cat in front of me was one I didn't recognize. A large brown tabby with sleek, shining fur, a short tail, and bright green eyes. I immediately tried to scramble away from it.


 * The tabby stepped back, meowing, "I'm sorry! Did I scare you? There's no need to be scared, I swear...! I know next to nothing about fighting, and I--" He continued to ramble on and on about how bad he was at fighting and hunting, and how he wouldn't hurt me.


 * This cat definitely wasn't a threat.


 * Then I turned and realized something. I tried to let out a cry of alarm, but no words would leave my mouth.


 * "Oh, right! I was told that you'd fainted before they brought you back to camp. It's been quite some time, too." the cat added with a small laugh. It then surprised me with an offer. "You want some water?" The tabby gestured toward the water at the back of the den.


 * I nodded gratefully and clambered out of the nest I was in. I crouched by the pool and lapped up some of the water, lifting my eyes every few moments to see if the cat had moved. But it was only pulling apart the nest I was in. At one point it introduced itself as Brambleheart.


 * After I'd drank as much water as I could, I sighed. Then I urgently rose to my paws and demanded, "Where's Copper!?"


 * "Copper...? Ah, the kit you were with, correct? He's already in the nursery with your foster mother."


 * Foster mother...?


 * "PRIVET!" I shrieked, startling the tabby. "WHERE'S PRIVET!?"


 * Brambleheart's green eyes clouded over. "I'm sorry, but your mother is..." It looked as if it was struggling to find the right word. Then he looked to his paws and murmured, "Deceased."


 * I stood there, shocked. Then I remembered. The events of that certain dawn flashed back to me. The slash over Privet's neck. The grey cat with the blood on its claws. The smaller grey-and-white one with the horrified look on its face.


 * "She's dead..." I whispered. Brambleheart padded over to me silently and guided me out of the den, across a clearing, and into a den weaved from brambles and ferns.


 * Copper bounded over to me, a huge grin on his face. "Adder! Hey, you have to meet Smokekit and Shadekit! They're-- hey, are you...?"


 * I shook my head. Brambleheart led my past Copper and over to a long-furred black cat. "This is Nightbreeze. She'll take care of you from now until you're six moons old." the tabby murmured to me. It seemed like the cat was trying to comfort me, but its attempts weren't working.


 * "I don't want Nightbreeze to take care of me." I protested softly, looking down to my paws. I didn't even know that cat, and now she'll be raising me and Copper? What if she kills us!? "I want Privet back."


 * "I'm sorry I couldn't get to her in time." As it turned to leave, Brambleheart glanced back at me with sympathy in its eyes. Then it was gone, leaving me with three strangers and my brother.


 * Two kits, seeming to be about my age, stared at me, wide-eyed. One of them said, "That's the rogue, right?"


 * The other answered. "Yeah! And now he's in our camp!" It spat at me, "Get out of our camp, dumb, mangy rogue!" Then both kits started to bat at me with their paws, grinning stupidly.


 * Nightbreeze, the mother of the kits, snapped, "Hey! Smokekit, Shadekit, leave that poor cat alone. She's been through so much, give her some rest." The two kits - Smokekit and Shadekit - glared at me before exiting the den. Copper scrambled after them excitedly.


 * The black cat then waved its tail at me, as if it were inviting me to sit with her. I hesitated, then slowly padded over and settled at the edge of the nest. Nightbreeze tried to curl its tail around me, but I shuffled away.


 * "I'm so sorry about your mother." Nightbreeze murmured quietly, twitching its tail tip.


 * "You didn't even know her..." I hissed, looking away.


 * Nightbreeze nodded slightly. "You're right. And I'm not in the position to say I understand what you've gone through. But let me just say this: I hope you come to like your life here in RidgeClan."


 * "That Brambleheart cat... do you know it?"


 * "It?" Nightbreeze seemed confused.


 * "Yeah. Do you know it?"


 * "...Brambleheart is not an object. No cat is. It is not the appropriate word to refer to someone. Unless they state otherwise, toms are he and him, and she-cats are she and her."


 * "But Privet..." I widened my eyes. "Privet told us to refer to strangers as it." Was that a lie?


 * "I'm sorry, but Privet was wrong." Nightbreeze mewed, shaking its-- her head.

chapter three // games

chapter four // dreamer

chapter five // faith

chapter six // inspiration

chapter seven// start

chapter eight // healing

chapter nine // separation

chapter ten // memories

chapter eleven // troubling thoughts

chapter twelve //  dangerous territory

chapter thirteen // a moment in time

chapter fourteen // slow down

chapter fifteen // summer haze

chapter sixteen // burning

chapter seventeen // colors

chapter eighteen // failure

chapter nineteen // complicated

chapter twenty // reflection

chapter twenty-one // challenged

chapter twenty-two // boundaries

chapter twenty-three // answers

chapter twenty-four // shadows

chapter twenty-five // opportunities

chapter twenty-six // never again

chapter twenty-seven // bitter silence

chapter twenty-eight // forever and a day

chapter twenty-nine // lost and found

chapter thirty // stirring of the wind

chapter thirty-one // heartfelt apology

chapter thirty-two // change in the weather

chapter thirty-three // frost

chapter thirty-four // at peace

chapter thirty-five // nature's fury

chapter thirty-six // out of time

chapter thirty-seven // shades of grey

chapter thirty-eight // cold embrace

chapter thirty-nine // exhaustion

chapter fourty // unbreakable

chapter fourty-one // echoes

chapter fourty-two // midnight

chapter fourty-three // gunshot

chapter fourty-four // falling

chapter fourty-five // running away

chapter fourty-six // love

chapter fourty-seven // rivalry

chapter fourty-eight // dead wrong

chapter fourty-nine // fork in the road

chapter fifty // a place to belong