Hard Journey

Prologue: The Dawn of Time

"You have to go on this journey," mewed a dark gray tom. "I'm sorry... Stoneteller has warned me." A tortiseshell she-cat dipped her head. "Very well, Gray Wing," she replied. "But... I want to bring my kits." She looked down at the bundles of fur, running around the hollow. "Fine," Gray Wing sighed. "But make sure they aren't hurt."

"They won't be," the she-cat promised. "Oh, Turtle Tail!" Gray Wing nuzzled his mate. "I promise, I won't die." She smiled. "And neither will these kits."

Chapter 1: The Walk

I padded through the forest, my three kits beside me. We came to a clearing. We had prey in our mouths, and we were refreshed, because we had just taken a nap. "Are we there yet?" I looked down at my herb-loving kit, Pebble Heart. "Yes," I mumbled around the prey. We set our prey down in a shaded area.

A pine tree towered over us, and moss was hanging from trees a little way to the right of us. I looked at the scrawny mouse and the fat bird I had caught. They seemed like nothing, compared to what we had in the 'camp'. My name is Turtle Tail, and these are my kits, Owl Eyes, Pebble Heart, and Sparrow Fur. "Want any?"

I nudged some of my prey to the kits. "Thank you!" Sparrow Fur dug in, and so did Pebble Heart and Owl Eyes. After the meal, I looked up, and then back at the kits. "Come on," I meowed. We padded down a narrow path, I had no clue what we would find. We reached a clearing littered with shiny things, but they didn't look Twoleg shiny. "What are these?" Owl Eyes took one in his mouth. "I don't know, but I like them," he mumbled around it.

"They seem harmless," I meowed, picking one up. "You can keep them." The kits broke out into cheers, and I felt happy. My kits were happy, and that was something I could be happy for. "Let's go," I purred. We padded to a with logs on either side, but it was empty, so we continued down a wider path. We came to a cavern.

"Let's see where this takes us," I mewed. We padded into the wide entrance, and there was some light from Twoleg things. "Is this Twoleg territory?" Pebble Heart was shrinking back. "I don't think so," I replied. The first room had shells in the roof, and was basically a wide space, but small at the same time. "Why are there shells?" I looked at Sparrow Fur, the kit who had asked that. "Maybe this was a river long ago," I murmured, looking at the white chips.

We padded down a narrow tunnel, occasional mud puddles in our way. The next room had a marking on the top. It looked like a foreign creature, unknown to us. "What is that?" Pebble Heart was looking at the marking, his eyes gleaming with interest. "I have no idea," I replied. We continued to the next room.

It had a duck-shaped rock to the left side, and high huge rocks on either side of them left a narrow space to crawl through, if you were going through there. The next room had a platform, and a big rock. It looked like a mountain, but not quite. The kits squealed, and tried to climb it. "Don't," I mewed before they could, "It might collapse the cavern." I looked to the right of me, there was green stuff on the rocks. There was the color of rock we had seen all along - yellowish brownish? And a black, but it was probably a different type.

We padded down another narrow tunnel, where at the end it sloped upward, and we emerged into a big room. When we went up a path, there was a pool of water. There was a rock below it, but a slope only cats could use to get up there. I padded up, and stuck a paw in, relishing the coolness, for it was warm.

I didn't realize my kits had followed me. "Let me through," Owl Eyes whined. "Just a minute," mewed Pebble Heart calmly. He, too, stuck a paw in. He lapped up a few drops. "This tastes stale," he remarked. "It's probably old, because rain can't get in here, and a flood probably hasn't happened in moons," I replied. We walked through another narrow tunnel, and I almost slipped, but clamped my claws into a rock. We came to a room with more water, but tinier pools of it.

Chapter 2: Caverns' Mist

Pebble Heart stuck his snout into one of those. "What are you doing?" I asked. Pebble Heart looked at me. "Oh, I'm checking the temperature." I sat down, my paws kind of ached. The bottom of the room looked like coral, and yes, I do know what that is from kittypet experience. It bumpy, maybe like you would expect.

"Okay-" Pebble Heart was cut off when a Twoleg strolled into the room. Hordes of Twolegs followed it - making it harder for us to hide. "Hide," I hissed. I found a dark corner and backed into it, hopefully the Twolegs wouldn't see me in the shadow. Or would they come this way? Soon, they disappeared down another tunnel. We emerged. "Should we... Follow them? I suppose it leads to the next room." I looked at Pebble Heart. "Let's wait until their out of here, completely," I replied. I curled up in a ball under a small hanging stone, and drifted into a light sleep.

I felt paws pushing me awake. "Mama! It's time to go!" I blinked, and saw Owl Eyes. "I'm up." My eyes gleamed playfully, and we went down the tunnel the Twolegs had gone down. It led us to the next room - glorious, and right in the middle, a formation that should be sacred, was a stone under a hanging rock.

I touched it, and drifted into yet another sleep. "Hello, Turtle Tail." A familiar voice woke me. "Bright Stream!" I cried. "Yes, it is me," she mewed mystically. "What are you doing here? In this place?" Bright Stream jumped. "I would be happy to tell you. Next time you come, maybe we can... Catch up." Her eyes glinted playfully as I left the dream. "Why were you asleep?" I looked at Sparrow Fur, who had asked that. "I met Bright Stream," I replied. "You mean the cat we always hear stories about?" Owl Eyes glanced innocently up at me. "Yes, her," I mewed calmly. We trudged on and we came to a room that had a formation, that looked like Twoleg nests you see in the Twolegplace. And then, there was a slope that led upward. A slimy, blackened rock was on my left. I came up to a colorful room. It burst with color, red, ooh, it looked like lava.

It also had blue, orange, green, and when I came to the corner I saw white. And more red. There was a tunnel that sloped upward, leading out of the cavern. My paws were aching again, for some reason. Had we really been walking for that long? I saw a bat, it was sleeping in a crack in the roof.

"Phew, that was..." I finished Owl Eyes' words for him, "Amazing!" Owl Eyes nodded, his eyes shining. I could tell they had a good time. "I wish we could live there," I whispered. I had loved it there - the underground air temperature, the awesome formations, and just... It was amazing. "Let's go," mewed Sparrow Fur. We came back down the trail that had led us here. "I forgot my shiny things!" Just when we had reached the clearing, Owl Eyes cried. "Pebble Heart, go and look with him," I ordered. He nodded and they ran away together, wind brushing their fur as they ran.

"You know, I saw some water around here. Wanna go check that out?" I looked at Sparrow Fur. "Sure," I mewed, "But where?" Sparrow Fur looked confused for a second, but then replied, "I don't know." I sighed, and settled down where we had eaten our prey. All of it was gone, maybe a fox had gotten the leftovers.

I saw Pebble Heart and Owl Eyes returning down the path. They were walking, I don't know if in disappointment or if they were just tired. When they reached us, Owl Eyes was gripping the shiny thing in his jaws. "Sparrow Fur says there's a lake around here. Let's see if we can find it." I looked at my kits, and their eyes were shining with excitement. "Maybe we'll find fish," meowed Owl Eyes. "Yay! Fish!" Sparrow Fur also looked happy, so we set off. We soon reached a lake, that didn't look quite like a lake, but a spring. "Is it cold?" Pebble Heart put a paw in.

"Brr!"

Chapter 3: A Rogue's View

I watched the moor as a black she-cat padded down the trail. Her fur was ruffled, and she didn't stop to say anything to me. So I jumped down, and she halted in front of me. "What do you want?" I narrowed my eyes. "Don't you know? This is my territory," I mewed, talking slowly. "No, this is ours," she snarled.

Cats appeared from behind her, and closed in on me. "Do you want to challenge me now?" Her voice was a sneer, and her eyes glinted with triumph. I ran, and I heard the words, "Coward! Mouse-brain! Bird-brain!" Being called behind me. But this? This was not cowardice - this was a plan. I swerved down a path that I knew would lead behind the cats, and attack them from there. But unlucky for me, there were a few cats guarding from behind. "You thought you could trick us," they sneered. "Maybe I can't trick you, but I can outrun you."

I burst forward, but little did I know, I was heading right towards their 'camp'. (ON HOLD, I WANT TO MAKE ANOTHER STORY, MAYBE THIS WILL BE EDITED FROM TIME TO TIME)