*drags co-authors off*
Greengangster: Which white cat?
Page Twelve
Liyen licked her daughter Zila. The little ginger tabby kitten had just learned to walk.
"Oh, they're all adorable," purred a gray queen named Dira, as she watched one of her own kittens play with Zila's brown tabby sister, Melo.
Liyen nodded, with a pang of sadness that this was not their own camp and nursery.
"Careful! Don't play too rough," called a young queen as she watched her kitten tussling with Indero.
"Don't worry Malia," Sarma murmured. "They're too young to do each other serious damage, and besides, they know not to."
"Really?" the pale tabby fretted.
"Trust me," Sarma purred.
Malia looked slightly relieved, but still watched the kittens play with a careful eye.
Solla sighed. "I wonder what mine will be like when they get older."
Cowa gave her ear a lick. "Your first litter's always hard. I'm not sure if the others are, because this is just my second one." She nosed her swollen stomach, purring affectionately.
In another small clearing, another pair of she-cats was getting used to their temorary denmates. Rist, the other clowder's medicine cat was an ancient old she-cat with fur that had been brown, but had turned to pale gray with age. Her apprentice was Fedrin, a friendly ginger training-kit tom.
"Hi," Fedrin adressed Hana directly.
The light tabby nodded, "My name's Hana."
"I'm Fedrin," the younger cat answered.
Ariya's introduction was much more blunt.
"You sleep here, she sleeps there, Fedrin and me sleep in there," Rist told her, gesturing with her tail first to two piles of fern fronds and sparse feathers, then to a ground-high hollow in a tree.
"Thank you," the younger medicine cat nodded.
"How long do you think you will be staying here?" Oneric asked Merra.
"We'll leave sooner if you want us too, but it would be best for us to stay until Cowa'a kittens are old enough to travel."
"Is Cowa that little gray tabby?" Oneric questioned.
Merra nodded. "I know it will be a while. We'll help while we stay, though."
Oneric nodded. "I was going to send out a hunting party soon anyway. Should some of your warriors go?"
Merra purred, "Yes, thank you."
So the party, made up of Langen, Azenek, Shira, Atrun and Sydraz was sent out.
"How long do y' think we're going to stay?" Shira asked Azenek.
Before he could answer, the other second delt Shira a blow with his paw, knocking her flat. The little cat pressed herself to the ground, and whimpered in confusement.
"You're leaving as soon as I can make you leave," Sydraz growled, and moved past her.
Langen and Atrun helped the white warrior to her paws.
"What's with him?" Azenek muttered loudly.
Atrun sighed. "Sydraz hates anything that isn't a member of our clowder," the tabby answered.
Speaking of which, Shira felt her nose twitch, darted into a clump of bushes, and found herself nose-to-nose with another she-cat.
No, I don't really know if 'confusement' is a word.
