Ravenstar yawned, his ivory fangs on display for all to see. It had been two days since Raven, now Ravenstar, received his lives and title. His nose wrinkled in disgust at the scent of the ruin ahead. "Two-legs. We should be wary," the leader would comment before adding, "Are we ready to depart?"
Blazeheart sleepily nodded her head and stretched her sore legs. "I'm ready when you guys are. I can't wait! But I must say, what a shame that this place had to be ruined by them..."
Red looked over to the ruins, not as used to the smell of two-legs and their destructive creations as she was before. She was not in great spirits after traveling for so long, unaware of their destination, and simply nodded in response.
The cats that had joined them on their quest did not respond, their energy still very low, as they had not grown as used to such constant exertion.
Raven took Red's nod, and the others' silence, as a gesture of readiness, climbing back on his four limbs. Over the moons they spent traveling, Ravenstar's muscles had grown stronger, and they no longer ached. With a swish of his tail, he disappeared into the brush behind him. Once he emerged on the other side he would halt, claws unsheathing to plant himself in the ground. "Stop!" the black feline hissed, and flickered his tail to a beast several foxlengths away. The monster in front of them was covered in brown fur and equipped with giant paws. It easily towered over any cat. He stared at it warily as he whispered, "Do you have any idea what that is?"
Blazeheart studied the creature intently as she too unsheathed her claws. "I... I have never seen a creature such as that before. Never anything that big in my old clan's camp, besides your average antler-creature..."
Red's claws also unsheathed upon spotting the beast. Her pupils compressed into slits as she focused on its image, trying to force any memory of it to rise to the surface, but nothing came. "I'm afraid the same is true for me. I've never seen anything like it before."
Ravenstar spoke in a low whisper. "It would be best if we avoided crossing paths with this... fur-monster. The thing looks like it could take out an entire clan. Let's stick to the side." Raven crouched down lower into the grass in an attempt to hide himself from the beast ahead.
The other cats simply nodded in response as they followed suit, slinking through the grass away from it.
Ravenstar took a quick glance behind them once they had crossed a ridge, to see if the fur-monster had detected them. Upon no signs of the creature, Ravenstar whispered, "It never saw us, we should be safe." As he spoke, he disengaged from his crouching position, twisting around to continue down a path, clearly made by elk, due to the potent smell rising from it, and the tracks imprinted on its dry surface. His ears perked up at the sound of flowing water ahead. "Looks like there's a river. Let's go."
The small group approached a body of water with a fast rapid. Fortunately, there seemed to be a bank within leaping distance.
Red looked happily into the current, letting the smell of fresh, running water overwhelm her. Before the other felines could move to make the jump across, she carefully walked up to the edge and lowered her head to drink. Once she was satisfied she sat down in the coarse sand, covered in smooth rocks, waiting for them to go first.
Ravenstar chuckled to himself at her display of happiness. Then he bent his legs and leaped with ease to the other side of the bank. Once his paws touched the ground he twirled around and sat, awaiting the other members of his Clan.
Blazeheart too lowered her muzzle to the river and took a quick drink. She then crouched low to the ground, pushing up and leaping across the rushing water. After her came Moon and Almarne, the two felines who had joined them in the moons they had been traveling.
