The Forest's Shadows: #1 The Runaway

Chapter 10

The cats gathered around the storytime nest. Spots led Ash and Cliff on some hay rolls. 

"So," Spots said. "Ash and Cliff, tell us how you two met."

They nodded.

Before they could start, Snow interrupted. 

"Night, how come you didn't tell me that these two helped you in the fox attack?" she demanded. 

Night sighed then opened his mouth to reply but Dust interrupted. Dang it..

"Snow, Night, how come you guys didn't tell me that Night was attacked by a fox?" 

Night decided to answer Snow's question first. 

"Well, Snow. I didn't tell you because I, uh, didn't," Night answered. "And Dust, we forgot."

Snow nodded. "Yeah, Dust. We forgot. Uh.. Go ahead and tell your story Cliff and Ash."

Everybody brought their attention to them. "So, when I was about ten months old, I lived with my mother and father," Ash began. "My mom was Daisy and my dad was Spike. We had a little camp under a thick tree. 

"Every day, starting in the noon, I would go out exploring alone. I would usually come back around sunset. One day, I went exploring of course and decided to hunt. I haven't hunted in a while, but just then and young cat bumped into me.

"And the cat who bumped into me was Cliff. We introduced each other and I told him that he shouldn't be out in the forest alone.

"Cliff told me that he didn't have parents, or at least he didn't know them or met them. So I decided that he could come live with me. I took him to our camp and Daisy told me that he couldn't leave with us. I told her that Cliff didn't have parents but she didn't believe that.

"She told me to take him back where I found him but I tried to convinced my mother that he actually had no parents. Spike came over to see what was happening and Daisy told him to take Cliff away from the camp. Spike went to grab him but I stood in his way. I told him that Cliff was no threat to us but in the middle of my talk, Daisy interrupted me and told him the possibilities that Cliff could do.

 "She grabbed my scuff and held me down while Spike took Cliff away. I tried getting out from my mother's teeth but I couldn't."

Ash took a deep breath. 

"Daisy put me in a corner and made me stay there was about two days. She and Spike would take turns watching me. One night, Daisy fell asleep and Spike was not near us. I was able to brush pass the thorn bushes and find Cliff. Of course it was painful to go through bushes with thorns. 

"Soon I was able to catch Cliff's scent. I followed it by running and then I slipped it mud. It was raining pretty hard the night before. I soon saw a tail disappear behind a tree. It's tail-tip was white like Cliff's. I assumed it was Cliff and lucky for me, I caught up to him. 

"I called him name and he looked. When he realized that it was me, we just stood there. We looked at each other for a couple of minutes and then I finally said that we should take him away from my camp. We found a little cave for him to stay. I asked if he could hunt and he said 'Barely'. I told him that I'll hunt for him and then we went out for moss. 

"I later decided to go back to the camp and Daisy asked where I went and I told her that I wanted to find Cliff but I couldn't find him. She then asked why I was covered in mud. 'I thought I smelled him so I ran but then I slipped in mud.' I answered to her. She didn't seem to think I was doing anything wrong so we went to clean me up.

"I continued helping Cliff until one day.. I decided to do what I did like always but I didn't know that Daisy and Spike followed me until I came and met up with Cliff. Of course they realized that I was a huge liar. They decided to kicked me out of their camp. They told me that I could no longer be their child..."

Ash took another deep breath.

"It's okay if you don't want to tell the rest of the story," Cliff meowed. "I could tell the rest of it."

Ash shook his head. "I could continue. So, uh, after they left.. I cried of course. I blamed it on Cliff for a few days until I realized that I shouldn't blame it on anyone. From then on, we lived together. We traveled and met new cats. That's pretty much it." 

"Aww, I feel so bad for you two! Especially you Ash," Snow said. "You risked your life trying to make sure that Cliff was okay."

Night was slightly annoyed but then he nodded. 

Spots got up and looked out the entrance of the barn. "Its nighttime. Lets all have something to eat and then go to sleep. 

Night laid down on a pile of hay. Snow, Dust, and Bird were also sleeping with him. Night laid his head down on his paws and closed his eyes. He could feel Snow pressing against him. He suddenly feel asleep. 

Aye!!! Reached a milestone!! I honestly ship Ash and Cliff. These two characters are based off two classmates of mine from school but if you do ship them, DON'T SHIP THE PEOPLE. I mean, you guys don't even know who they are. 

Fun Fact (not really): I almost typed 1000 words. I have 900 words.