Outcasts

Chapter twenty-two

Bianco tread quietly through the thorny bushes, carefully avoiding ripping his thick white coat. He had only seen Gale twice, once when she recruited him to join Fox and the other when he chased her away after her attack. From what he’d seen of her, he wasn’t missing much. He had been following the scent left by Harry, Song and Vix for the last hour and their smell was becoming stronger.

He stopped suddenly when he heard movement and he flattened himself to the ground. His snowy fur wasn’t the best for camouflage, but he was skilled enough to not be seen. Bianco closed his eyes into slits and watched as many different coloured paws walk mere centimetres from his hiding place. He assumed that that was Gale’s hoard trampling through recklessly, but he didn’t see the familiar light brown paws that belonged to Angel.

Four big black paws stopped right in front of his nose however and he looked up to see Gale’s intense blue eyes staring down at him. She didn’t attack or retreat but kept her gaze locked with his. Her face twisted into a sickly smirk and she spun around to follow her clan.

Bianco let out a breath that he didn’t realise he was holding and he sat up once he couldn’t here footsteps anymore. What had he just experienced? Had Gale just let him off the hook or was it a warning? He decided to shrug it off for the time being and quickly raced over to the small clearing Gale used to be inhabiting. Angel scent was extremely strong and he kept his mouth open to taste it.

He saw a small den that looked disturbed so he galloped over just to see that it was completely empty. Although her scent was intermingled with another foreign scent, but he could tell that they had left mere minutes ago. Bianco continued to look around until he saw two figures lying off to the side. His breath caught in his throat as the wind picked up Angel’s scent drowned in blood. He raced over to her side and felt his breakfast make its way up to his mouth at the sight. Her once beautiful face was shredded and what remained of her left eye was obvious that she wouldn’t see out of it again. Her fluffy light brown fur was mattered in blood down to her shoulders and what caused him the most instability was the expression she held.

Pleading.

Her face was mixed with both defiance and pain. He soon realised that he was just standing there so, he placed a paw on her stomach gently to check whether she was breathing. To his relief she was, but barely. He would have to take her back immediately if she hoped to survive. She moaned as he started to lick her wounds and opened her right eye.

                  “Bianco.” She rasped.

                  “It’s ok. You’re safe now.” Bianco reassured her.

                  “Petal.” She breathed before blacking out again. His head shot up as he slowly turned to see the small white and orange cat lying motionless on the ground. Her perfect fur remained stainless except for the four deep fang marks on her neck. His eyes started to water and he collapsed next her.

                  “I’m so sorry.” He told her and sobbed into her fur. “I promised to protect you.” Her skin was still warm and he hated the fact that if he had of gone faster he would have been able to save her. His grieving was cut short by the sound of a stick snapping. Bianco jumped to his paws and felt his hackles rising.

                  “Come out right now if you value your life.” Bianco yelled. He was surprised at the force he held in his voice but ignored it. A white and cream cat gingerly stepped out of the bushes and took a step towards him. Bianco hissed at him, warning him to stay back.

                  “Sorry, I’m usually a lot better at hiding.” The cat confessed. “I just haven’t had the guts to see if Angel was ok.”

                  “Does it look like she is ok?” Bianco spat and gestured to the critically injured cat. The younger white cat ignored Bianco’s warnings as he came up to Angel’s side.

                  “Oh god. She was so beautiful.” He said sadly. Bianco’s hostility faltered slightly, but he wasn’t quite ready to let his guard down yet.

                  “How did you know her?” Bianco asked.

                  “We were cellmates for about twenty minutes. But I knew there was something special about her from the moment I met her.” The smaller cat said and brushed some of her long fur out of her wounds. “Can we save her?” He asked desperately.

                  “If we leave right away, she stands a chance, yes.” Bianco paused briefly and glanced over at Petal. She didn’t deserve this. She should have grown up into a strong brave cat with the promise of loyalty and safety. Petal was yet another casualty to Gale’s violence. Bianco broke himself out of his thoughts and started to think of a way to get Angel safely back to the group. “You’ll have to help me carry her.” Bianco told him. The small cat nodded. Giving Petal one last glance, Bianco took Angel’s scruff in his mouth and lifted her off the ground.

                  “I’m Kimba, by the way.” The other cat said and grabbed Angel’s shoulder. Bianco would have responded, but he didn’t want to injure Angel any further, so he slightly nodded in recognition. From there, they silently dragged her back down the valley wall.