Feathers

Chapter 10

Feathers woke up and he was still in the water which was still rapidly moving, but his head was above the current and he was moving to the shore. He wasn't moving any part of himself at all though, he realized that something else was pulling him through the narrow river, there was no other explanation.

The tabby cat tried to look up and behind him to see what had a grip on his scruff and he was surprised to see a white cat that looked exactly like the two cats he had seen a while ago that he had a deep hate for. *But why would he be saving me right now? Didn't he want me dead?* He thought to himself in confusion.

Eventually Feathers' grayish blue paws touched down on the shore and he breathed a sigh of relief before flopping down onto the stoney shore and looking up at the white cat, "Who are you and why did you save me?" He asked, tilting his head to the side while blinking.

"Monsoon." He replied before continuing to speak as he shook the water out of his pelt. "The only reason that I have spared your life is because I'm hoping that you'll save me and my mate's kittens... You see, a few days ago the kittens were born... but then Lightning tried to kill them saying they were just more mouths to feed but that night we escaped."

"Where's your mate then?" Feathers asked and regretted his words as soon as they tumbled out of his mouth when he saw Monsoon's expression darken a great deal.

The white cat spoke quietly after hesitating for a moment. "Well, when we were trying to get as far away as possible we had to cross a large busy road. It went well until Birdy fell off of my back and onto the street. I didn't notice until I had all the other kittens on the other side of the street. By that point I wouldn't be fast enough to save her from the car but Nettle reacted quickly enough and she jumped onto the road and sacrificed her own life to save Birdy. After that I took all of the kittens and kept walking until I got to where this cliff was tonight and as I was trying to fall asleep I saw you and the wolf and I jumped down to save you-" He was cut off as Feathers spoke.

"We have to move now! I'll take you in but those kittens can't be left alone in the night with a wolf on the loose!" He exclaimed without hesitation, keeping young kits safe was top priority, mourning was second priority. It was better to prioritize those who were still alive first.

Both of the cats quickly climbed up the edge of the cliff and saw the three bundles of kitten fluff lying dangerously close to the edge of the large stone, all of them huddled together, looking terrified.

Feathers nudged both of them back onto solid ground away from the edge and then picked one of them up by the scruff and watched as Monsoon put one onto his back and carried the last one.

All of the cats walked silently back to camp and all of the cats were asleep in the wrecked camp, probably deciding that they'd patch everything up the day after, they also probably figured that if the wolf attacked again, some cat would raise an alarm before anyone was harmed.

Feathers slid into the wrecked camp. He fell asleep beside Finch, careful not to wake her up with Monsoon sleeping nearby with all of the kittens curled up next to him in small little balls of fluff. As the blue-gray tabby fell asleep he thought to himself, *Did I really do the right thing? This cat literally killed my best friend and I'm taking him in... Does he deserve this? Am I making a mistake? Am I putting my fellow cats in danger?*

The small feline fell asleep, his mind clouded with visions of Monsoon and Hurricane ripping apart Starling and then he remembered Starling's last words and the promise that he made again. *You'll do great things, Feathers. I don't want to die in vain, promise me... Promise me you'll save other cats like I did for you.*

*I will, I promise Starling, I will.*

Just as he was thinking a voice rang in his head, You did the right thing, It said.