Outcasts

Chapter thirteen

Author's note

Hi there, I don't usually make author's notes but this one is important. If you have already read this chapter please re-read it because I have changed quite a few things that are going to be important later on. Also I have updated the earlier chapters as well, but nothing important just grammatical errors. Keep reading folks because the plot just gets thicker :)

“I’m freeeezing!” Amber shivered. Her bright orange fur was coated in snow and she shook it off, sending snowflakes in all directions.

                “Do you mind?” Scar grumbled and brushed the snow off of himself.

                “Sorry.” She said sheepishly.

                “Do you know how hard it is going to be to find prey?” Fox over heard Bandit.

                “How hard?” Jellicle asked.

                “Very hard. All of the prey has gone to hibernate somewhere which means there is going to be hardly anything to eat.” Bandit told him.

                “Does that mean…” Jellicle trailed off. Fox didn’t hear what Bandit said in response, but he could have easily guessed it. He looked around to check if everybody was keeping up, when he noticed that Storm was falling behind. He turned around and headed in his direction and realised how slow he must have been going.

                “You all right?” Fox asked him. Storm nodded and kept his eyes on the snow in front of him. “We can slow down the pace if you like?” He asked.

                “No.” Storm sniffled. His smoky grey coat looked dull and blended in with the snow. Fox didn’t know what to do or say. He wasn’t used to seeing his friend as bad as this.

                “I’ll be back.” Fox said and raced past him.

                “Angel, I need you to see if Storm is ok.” Fox said. Angel looked behind her at Storm.

                “This snow isn’t helping his cold.” She said under her breath. She slowed down and waited for Storm to catch up to her. Fox didn’t go with her because he guessed that Storm would want to keep his pride.

                “What’s that?” Bandit asked. Fox looked in his direction at the small figure on the horizon.

                “It’s coming this way.” Jellicle said. Fox walked in front of both of them as the figure fastened its pace and started to sprint. It wasn’t long until he recognised who the figure was.

                “That’s Petal!” Soot exclaimed and he and his sister ran up to greet her.

                “Something’s wrong.” Bianco said as they caught up to them. Petal’s whole body was small and not just because she wasn’t very old. She had lost a lot of weight in that day and you could see all of her ribs through her short white and orange fur. Fox flinched. Her once beautiful orange patches were colourless.

                “What happened to you Petal?” Fox asked in dismay.

                “She killed him.” She answered quietly.

                “Killed who?” Fox asked.

                “Moo.” She said. “We were half way up the mountain when it started to snow. We ignored it and continued. It was really windy and Moo got ahead of us. He couldn’t see where he was going or hear us above the wind. So when we saw he was going towards an ice lake we tried to warn him, but it was too late. The surface of the water cracked in and he fell.” She finished.