The Outside

''A story told by a kit. ''

The Outside is a story I made up about Bella. In a way it can be a bit like a human story.

We've all felt lied to,

Lost,

Alone,

And on the outside looking in.

Sorry the Chapters a so long. You might feel them dragging on a bit.

I might take a while to right this because it will be very very long.

Blurb
''Bella thinks she is a normal cat living a normal loner life. But soon, when her mother tells her never to cross the stream, things start to get a bit strange. Bella knows her mother is hiding something from her, she just can’t figure out what. ''

''Soon mysterious cats come after Dove. Bella is left lonely, dark, and very very scared.''

Characters
Bella – grey tabby she-cat with white paws and green eyes

Dove – long-haired silver tabby with silvery blue eyes

Smudge – small grey and white tom with amber eyes

Lily – pretty pale cream she-cat

Arianna – beautiful dark grey she-cat with blue eyes

Ginger – ginger and white she-cat with pale green eyes

Bonnie – dark ginger she-cat with green

Harry – grey tabby tom with amber eyes

Lynette – white she-cat with golden stripes and violet eyes

Chapter One - New to the World
I could hear the birds singing outside of the bush. I could hear the wind roaring, sweeping across the ground, and smell the smell of damp leaves. But I couldn’t see anything. I could only see darkness.

My mother’s warm body was snuggled against me, keeping me cosy. Her long fur was mixed with mine. I breathed in her familiar scent, letting it soothe me. I wanted to open my eyes. I wanted to see, to explore. But maybe I would just have to wait until I was a little bit older.

I went back to exploring the outside world with my weak senses.

A small creature – I think it was called a mouse – was scuffling about in the dead leaves. My mother had often brought them back to the bush to eat them.

A squirrel was nibbling at a pine cone at the foot of a tree, its bushy tail sweeping the ground, making a sound much like the wind. A bird was on a low down branch opposite the squirrel. It trilled a beautiful, high-pitched song.

The outside was magical and crawling with life. I couldn’t wait to explore it.

“Sleep Bella,” my mother’s soft voice flowed like the wind. It sounded as soft and silky as her fur. “You’ve got a big day ahead of you.” I felt my mother’s tongue rasp around my ear, felt her breath warm on my cheek. My jaws stretched in a huge yawn and I drew in her milky scent.

Suddenly I was very very sleepy.

I woke to the sound of paw steps. A mouth-watering smell wafted towards me, even better than the smell of milk. I opened my mouth and drank the scent in, letting it dance on my tongue.

Suddenly I could hear my mother’s purr. The smell came closer to me and so did my mother. What was it?

“It’s a mouse, Bella,” my mother told me. “Why don’t you open your eyes and we can share it.” I wanted to sink my teeth into the mouse, to let the juicy flavour soak into my mouth.

Very slowly my eyes began to open. At first just a crack. Light almost blinded me. But I wanted to taste the mouse. I wanted to explore. Ignoring the brightness, I pulled my eyes the rest of the way open and blinked, waiting for them to adjust.

The first thing I saw was my mother. She had long, silky, silvery tabby fur that sparkled in the sunlight and silvery blue eyes. I purred. My mother was beautiful! My eyes then floated downwards, towards the mouse at her paws. It was tiny and grey, its eyes staring lifelessly up at the bramble branches that arched above our heads.

“Come on, Bella,” my mother mewed softly. “This will be you’re first taste of proper food.” I nodded and heaved myself up onto shaky paws. Very, very slowly I stepped forwards, my legs trembling dangerously.

I soon got the hang of it and padded the rest of the way across the bush. My mother wrapped her tail around me and pushed the mouse to my nose. I gazed hungrily down at it and took my first bite.

It was delicious, a lot different from milk. I glanced up at my mother and she nodded. I took another few bites, letting the flavours dance on my tongue.

“I’ths yummy,” I tried to say. My mother purred happily.

“I know,” she mewed. “And later you can try some other types of prey. There’s bird, squirrel, vole, shrew and rabbit and each one tastes different.” I nodded eagerly and pushed the mouse back to my mother with my paw. She looked down at me and then finished it off.

After it was all gone my mother got to her paws and bounded across to the exit. She beckoned to me with her tail. I followed more slowly, a sudden thought popping up in my head.

“Mami,” I meowed. “Whath’s your name?” My mother turned around, her silvery eyes thoughtful.

“My name is Dove,” she told me. Dove. It was a beautiful name and suited her perfectly.

I leaped forwards, following Dove into the outside world.

A gust of icy wind hit me in the face, knocking me from my paws and onto the ground. The ground was hard and frozen. I could feel wetness slowly seeping into my fur. So far I wasn’t enjoying this.

“Mami!” I cried. “Wait up!”

Dove turned and lifted me back to my paws.

“Here,” she mewed. “Grab my tail. I’ll take you some place more sheltered.” I grasped onto her tabby tail and was toed forwards.

Looking down at the ground, I placed my paws in the prints Dove left behind in the frosty white stuff. I looked at the size of my tiny paws compared to the size of Dove’s. Some day mine would be that big too.

Dove pulled me into the shade of the forest. The ground was wet hear and my paws slipped on the leaves.

Suddenly I felt my paws slip from under me and I tumbled to the ground. I dug my tiny claws into the leafy earth and pulled myself up again. Dove had stopped and was gazing down at me.

“The leaves are very slippery!” I exclaimed. Dove nodded, her silvery blue eyes dancing with amusement as I picked soggy leaves off of my tabby fur.

When I had finished I grabbed back onto Dove’s tail and went plunging into the undergrowth.

I fought my way through bramble thickets, feeling the thorns rake through my fur, struggled over gorse bushes and fell over a lot.

At last we came to a halt at a still clearing, free of tree roots, brambles and gorse bushes. A small stream wound through the trees at the very edge. The grass and leaves glittered with dew.

Maybe it wasn’t so bad outside – once you got the hang of it.

“I’ll go get something for us to eat,” Dove mewed. “You must be hungry after our trip.” I nodded. I had been so caught up in trying not to slip and trying not getting tangled in brambles I had forgotten how hungry I was. My tummy growled loudly.

Dove dropped into a crouch and stalked across the clearing. I watched, amazed. If you hadn’t known Dove was there you wouldn’t have noticed her. She crept across the grass, silent and quick. Then she disappeared. It was as if she had never been here.

I looked around me, eyes wide in admiration. Dove had just... disappeared.

Her tabby body soon became visible as a bramble bush parted. A plump robin hung from her jaws. I gazed at it, my mouth watering.

“That was quick,” I mewed. “You are very very good at hunting!” Dove shook her head.

“I know better,” she mewed, twitching her ears. “Know let’s eat.”

We settled down on the mossy tree roots at the edge of the clearing and took it in turns to take a bit of the robin.

“It’s a bit fluffy!” I mewed, spitting feathers out of my mouth. “I like mouses better.” Dove purred.

“Birds can be like that,” she told me. “Shrews are a bit stringy. Rabbits are a bit scrawny. Voles are a bit watery. No food is perfect.”

“Oh,” I meowed. “I didn’t know that. I can’t wait to try them all!”

As soon as they had finished Dove took me to the edge of the stream. I gazed down at the rushing icy water.

“This is the stream that separates us from the twoleg place,” Dove told me. “You must never ever cross it. Got that Bella? You must never ever cross it.” I looked ahead of me but all I could see was more forest.

“Why not?” I asked. “Twoleg place doesn’t look scary or hurtful.” Dove looked down at me crossly.

“Twoleg place is the most scary hurtful place you could never go,” she warned me. “Only cross that stream if you want to die.” I shrank down slightly. Twoleg place did sound scary now.

“But,” I meowed. “I can smell other cats. Why are they still alive?”

“Those are kittypets, Bella,” meowed Dove. “They live with twolegs. You never want to be a kittypet, Bella. They have to eat rabbit dropping food and mush out of a metal bowl. They only ever get to see sunlight if they stay behind their fence.”

“What’s a fente, Mami?” I asked. “It doesn’t sound very nice.”

“A fence is very nice,” Dove meowed, flicking her ears. “It’s what separates us from them.”

“Oh,” I meowed, gazing across the stream. “Can you take me there someday?”

“No!” Dove snapped. “You never under any circumstances cross that stream!” I leaped back, feeling frightened. I had never seen Mami so angry.

“Sorry,” I squeaked. Dove softened and wrapped her bushy tail around me.

“I think you’ve had enough for one day,” she mewed. “Let’s go back home.” I nodded and followed her back into the forest.

So basically this Chapter is about Bella being knew to the world and Dove telling her not to cross the stream.

Chapter Two - The thunderpath
Sunlight filtered through the bramble branches, birds twittered their beautiful songs. I woke alone. Dove’s nest was empty, but still warm. She had gone hunting. I got to my paws and stuck my head out of the bush.

A thin layer of white stuff covered the ground. It wasn’t like the – I think it was called frost – that had covered the ground yesterday. This stuff looked all fluffy and bouncy. It reminded me of clouds.

I could spot Dove’s perfect prints in the stuff. I placed my paw inside her print. It was freezing cold and sent a shiver down my body. But the feeling was exciting and I wanted to go further outside.

Maybe I could follow Dove...

Puffing out my grey tabby fur to keep out the cold, I moved further outside. I placed my paw carefully on to Dove’s second print.

Soon I was hopping from paw print to paw print across the narrow strip of white covered grass. I followed the track into the forest, an excited thrill rippling through me from the tip of my ears to the points of my claws. It was fun breaking the rules!

I trekked further and further into the forest, always placing my paws carefully in Dove’s prints.

Dove’s tracks lead me to the clearing we had gone to yesterday. I followed them to the edge of the stream and stopped. The prints continued at the other side. Should I follow them? Mami had said never to cross the stream. But she had crossed it...

Squeezing my eyes tight shut and bunching my muscles, I leaped over onto the other side. Quickly getting my balance back, I bounded into Dove’s prints and followed them into the forest.

The trees soon thinned and I came to a big space of deserted land. At the end of the space of land tall wooden planks were sticking up from the ground. They were placed so close together that there was no gaps between them. The only way to get past them was to jump over them. And that was exactly what Mami had done. Her tracks stopped and at the base of the wooden planks and flecks of white stuff were left at the top.

I focussed on the white stuff and lowered myself to a crouch, preparing for the big leap. I sprang upwards, my claws just digging into the top. I managed to heave myself up.

The planks were thin and I swayed precariously. It took a while to regain my balance and look at the scene ahead of me.

A black path of hard stuff, untouched by the white stuff, lay in a straight line in front of me. Rows and rows of cave like things were placed evenly away from each other. Each cave place had a path of neat grass and lower planks of wood separated one cave from another.

What I saw next I couldn’t possible forget.

A huge brightly coloured shiny thing came rushing towards me along the black path. It sounded as loud as thunder and reeked of smoke and hotness. Every hair on my felt sprang up, my ears flattened against my head and I leaped back down from the wooden planks, not waiting for the monster thing to get any closer to me.

I ran the rest of the way through the forest, never stopping until I reached the bramble bush. Mami had been right! Twoleg place was the most terrifying place you could ever go! I don’t see why any cat would possibly want to be a kittypet if they had to live there.

I tried to calm my breathing, tried to prick my ears up and flatten my fur. Mami would be back soon; she couldn’t see me like this. She couldn’t know I had crossed the stream.

“Are you okay, Bella?”�

I almost jumped a tail-length as Dove padded inside the den. She carried the strange scent of twoleg place on her fur. I had never noticed it before.

“Fine Mami,” I mewed, trying to keep my voice as normal as possible. “I just had a bad dream, that’s all.” Dove purred soothingly and wrapped her tail around me. She pulled back almost immediately.

“You’re freezing!” she exclaimed. “Did you go outside?” I shook my head quickly, trying not look guilty. Dove narrowed her eyes but didn’t say anything.

“Would you like to come on you’re very first hunting trip?” she asked, changing the subject. My face lightened up. In an instant I forgot all about twoleg place and the scary shiny monsters.

Dove dropped a mouse at my paws.

“But first you’ll need to eat this,” she mewed. “You’ll need all the energy you can get.” I gulped down the mouse in six bites and then sat by the exit, flicking my tail impatiently. Dove flicked her ears and ate the last scraps of her bird.

“All right, all right,” she purred. “I’m coming.”

We ran out into the icy morning. I danced about in the white stuff, throwing it up into the air.

“It’s called snow,” Dove told me. “Its winter now and there is lots of snow everywhere. In spring it will melt and new life will grow.” I nodded, making paw print patters in the... snow.

“Ok, Bella,” Dove meowed with a slight edge of impatience in her voice. “Are we going or not?” I stopped messing about and leaped over to Dove. By now I had gotten the hang of walking.

Dove lead me back into the forest. I bounced along after her, practically buzzing with excitement.

We went to the same clearing as yesterday. I then remembered the twoleg place and spotted Dove’s paw prints that led to the there.

“Mami,” I meowed hesitantly. “Why did you go to the twoleg place? I thought it was scary and dangerous.” Dove flicked her ears uncomfortably.

“I’m a full grown cat,” she meowed. “When you’re eight moons old I’ll take you there. You’ll need to learn how to cross thunderpaths.” I cocked my head to one side.

“What’s a thunderpaths?” I asked.

“A thunderpath is a black path that twoleg monsters run along,” Dove told me. “Cats have died there so you have to be very very careful.” A shiver ran down my spine as I remembered the huge shiny stinky thing. That was a monster.

“Ok,” Dove meowed. “That’s enough about twolegs. Let’s start the lesson.”

They practiced the hunter’s crouch all afternoon but Bella didn’t manage to catch anything. It was winter so there was a shortage of prey – well that’s what Mami said anyway. I lent how to crouch if I were stalking a bird and a rabbit and a mouse. I learnt that you always stay downwind from your prey. It was a brilliant lesson.

We trudged through the snow back to the bramble bush. I was tired out and my belly was roaring. Dove had caught us a few shrews. I was dying to try them.

We brushed inside the bramble bush. Dove immediately stiffened and I realized there was a strange smell in the air. Had some other cat been in the bramble bush - their bramble bush? The bramble bush that they had scented and marked to make sure no other cat entered it? I smelt harder, and realized it was more than one cat. What were they doing in here?

“Let’s eat,” Dove mewed though her voice sounded faraway and empty. I nodded and settled down in my nest. Dove nosed to shrews towards me and I gulped them down in a couple of bites. Although I should have felt sleepy and full all my senses were alert and I was just dying to find out who had been in our den. So I squeezed my eyes tight shut and curled up into a ball.

I waited until Dove’s breathing slowed and opened my eyes a crack. She was sound asleep.

Very slowly and quietly I crept out of nest and made my way silently to the den exit.

Cool night air made me shiver. I looked up to see tiny white flakes dancing down from the sky. I would have to be quick.

I scented the air and looked down at the ground. Sure enough, two sets of paw prints went in and out of the den. How could I have not noticed? I followed them into the forest.

Chapter Three - Curiosity
The night was cold; I could see my breath coming out in clouds. Flakes of snow came down heavier and I had to follow the strangers scent rather than following their paw prints.

The scent trails sent me weaving around trees, brushing against bushes, some even leading up trees. I followed the trails right into the heart of the forest were there was the most undergrowth. Mami said this place was the place you were most likely to catch prey. I clambered over bramble thickets and wriggled under tree roots. At last the forest came to an abrupt halt.