Not Blind

Chapter 1
There are three things that everyone should know about me. First, my name is Dragon. Second, I live with housefolk, the tall creatures that wear colored pelts, by a forest where wild cats are rumored to roam. And third, I'm not blind. Unless seeing clearly for only a mouse-length in front of you is blind, then I'm not blind and I hate it when the housefolk call me that.

I dream of becoming the perfect mouse-catcher, better than any trap or at least my brother, Tabby, and my sister, Birdy, but my vision makes it hard to see those little mice and then I can't catch them. I wonder if I could escape to the wild forest, but then I would have as much chance of surviving as snow in the summer. So I was stuck here, eating those brown pellets that don't taste as good as the mice that Birdy and Tabby eat, until one fateful day.

-:- "Dragon!" Birdy's call woke me up from my dreamless sleep. "There's fire!"

I have never experienced fire, except for the times the housefolk light flame-sticks when they have other housefolk over for food. And even then, the fire is only in a small space, with no chance of burning up a house. So, as you might imagine, it was pretty scary to have our home on fire.

"We need to escape somewhere!" I yowled. I started running crazily around, looking for some way to escape the burning flames.

"Instead of pointing out the obvious, why don't you point out a way to get out of this place before we burn up!" Tabby said scathingly. I could tell he was as scared as I was.

"Through there!" Birdy gestured with her tail to a hole made by the flames. "We'll be safely outside!"

Even though it was a big drop, we leaped through the hole, one at a time. Birdy jumped last, panting heavily. "I'm glad that's over," she sighed.

We never saw our housefolk again.

Chapter 2
"What a nice place to be," Tabby growled sarcastically. "Out in the forest with killer cats and no housefolk to take care of us."

"They might be friendly," Birdy suggested. "How about I go look for them?"

"And get yourself killed? No way!" Tabby growled. "Besides, if it's as good as you think, you might just abandon us and enjoy it all to yourself."

Birdy sighed. "Ok, you can come. And Dragon." -:-

The forest wasn't just amazing. It was more than amazing. It was all of the amazing in the world. The sights, the sounds, and the smells that I couldn't even begin to describe, the feel of dry leaves crackling underneath my feet, and I could almost taste the air. This won't be so bad to live in I thought.

"I think I smell other cats," Tabby meowed. "They smell wild, not unlike the forest itself."

I sniffed a bit. I could smell them as well, and they seemed to be close by. "Keep alert," I warned. "They may not like us."

"C'mon, there has to be some good in them," Birdy protested.

"They have to be called 'wild' in the stories for something," I explained.

Birdy looked visibly nervous. We went on, looking for any signs of other cats, or at least anything that could help us. Well, at least my siblings looked. I listened or smelled.

"Mouse!" Tabby hissed. "I'm going to catch it!" He stalked the mouse like the expert he was, but he wasn't expecting the other cat stalking the mouse—from the other side. They crashed into each other with a sound like a branch falling.

"Rouges!" the cat snarled. "Get out of ThistleClan territory!"

More cats leaped out of the bushes and bracken and surrounded us. There was nowhere to run. We had to fight or die!