Defy the Stars

A collab by Night, Echo, Yellow and Golden.

Chapter One (Night)

The brown-and-white kit shook out his pelt. A few loose hairs flew off, and drifted away, carried by the soft breeze that wrapped its way around his legs.

The kit surveyed the land, and breathed in deeply, savouring the scent of the moorland. The moors were perfect; they had kept him and his family safe for moons. Apparently, once they had lived by a river, but not any longer. The moors were his home now, and they always would be.

A sudden change of the direction of the wind bought a new scent to his nose. Fox. The brown-and-white kit spun, staring with keen eyes at the elms and oaks behind him. Although he had remarkably good vision, he could not see a hint of a ginger pelt, even though the scent was heavy, and fresh. Where was the fox? Where was it?

A flash of fur, redder then the flames that had cost his fathers life suddenly erupted into view. The fox. The tom kit stood still, paralysed with fear, then shook his head. It was dumb enough that he'd even gotten into this situation, and there was no need for him to make it worse by letting the fox-hearted fox kill him. The tiny tom reared on his hind legs, and batted at the fox's muzzle with razor sharp claws. "Stay back!"

The fox stopped, and blinked. The kit realized that the fox actually wasn't a fox after all, only a large ginger cat with an unusally narrow muzzle. The cat glared at the kit. "Who are you, and what are you doing on our territory?"

The kit shuddered, and tried to back away, but the cat hissed, so he stopped.

"Who are you," hissed the cat, more force in their mew this time. "And what are you doing on our territory?"

The kit seemed to have regained his courage, and spat back, "Why do you need to know?"

Amusement briefly danced in the ginger cat's eyes, but was almost immediately replaced by fury. "Because you are an intruder."