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  Wildcat

  Text and Design Copyright © 2019 by Rebecca Hutto

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For information regarding permission, send an email to [email protected].

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination, or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locals is entirely (most likely) coincidental.

  ISBN 978-1-7330034-0-7

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  For my family, and all the

  maple orange moments you've given me.

  The Cats of

  Dark's Valley

  Western Colony

  Commander

  - Aspen – a ruddy brown agouti tom with a half white face, one yellow eye and one blue eye.

  Chief Advisor

  - Cloud – a grey tom with patches of white on his face, a white stripe on his chest and orange eyes.

  Senior Historian

  - Whitehaze – a silvery agouti tom with yellow eyes.

  Colony Cats

  - Ember – a sable brown molly with three white paws and orange eyes.

  - Songbird – a sable brown molly with a white blaze on her face and yellow eyes.

  - Kivyress (Kai-vee-ress) – a greyish-blue mink furred molly with yellow eyes.

  - Hyrees (High-reese) – an overweight fawn agouti tom with green eyes.

  - Wren – a ruddy agouti tom with three deep scars across one of his green eyes.

  - Farlight – a white tom with patches of agouti fur and orange eyes.

  - Tainu (Tay-new) – a black and white molly with yellow-green eyes.

  - Lupine – A dark brown agouti tom with yellow eyes.

  - Fern – a torbie molly with yellow eyes.

  - Fledge – a silver smoke molly with yellow eyes.

  - Silentstream – a grey and white molly with yellow eyes.

  - Rowan – a dark brown tabby tom with yellow eyes.

  - Redwater – a sable tom with orange eyes.

  - Sumac – a light tan agouti tom with orange eyes.

  - Trout – a silver smoke tom with yellow eyes.

  Eastern Colony

  Commander

  - Jade – a brown tabby molly with milky green eyes.

  Chief Advisor

  - Falcon – a dark grey tabby tom with bright green eyes.

  Colony Cats

  - Shard – a lynx point tom with bluish-green eyes.

  - Echo – a lynx point molly with bluish-green eyes.

  - Boreal – a brown tabby with a white underside and leaf green eyes.

  - Crow – a black cat with flecks of white in his fur and green eyes.

  - Sunshine – a creamy orange tabby molly with light green eyes and a twisted paw.

  - Brook – a silver lynx point molly with blue eyes.

  - Thunder – a grey smoke tom with a white underside and yellow-green eyes.

  - Kite – a fawn tabby tom with sharp green eyes.

  Outsiders and rogues

  - Eclan (Ee-clan) – a black and white tom with mottled yellow and brown eyes.

  - Starcross – a black molly with a white cross-shaped marking on her forehead and golden yellow eyes.

  - Bracken – a fawn tabby tom with soft green eyes.

  - Buck – an orange and white tabby tom with a stubby tail and dark brown eyes.

  - Vixen – a ruddy agouti molly with white-furred burn scars covering her body, one yellow-green eye, and one blind, blued-over eye.

  - Galax – a black and white tom with white, pupiless eyes.

  Chapter 1

  Ember

  ‘Am I going to die today?’ Ember thought. Her breathing became shallow and irregular. Wind cut through her sable brown fur, rustling leafless trees and making her shiver. She rubbed her white forepaw against the maple branch supporting her. ‘And why do I do this? This job?’

  Glistening silver, the color of morning fog, lingered in her head. It was also the color of uncertainty, and it came every morning; though it wasn’t so much a color as it was the feeling of a color.

  ‘Then again, why do outsiders sneak in? And why—’

  “Ember, it’s time to go,” a voice said, snapping her away from her thoughts.

  She opened her eyes. Searing white flashed, scorching her vision. She blinked until the sky faded back to its usual, painful blue. “Coming, Dad. One more moment.”

  “That sounds familiar,” he said.

  Ember squinted and looked out across Dark’s Valley. The rounded slope of the Eastern Mountain, with its bare trees and clusters of conifers, made up what she could see of the horizon. Far below, a murky lake of morning fog shrouded the Lowlands. A smaller, thinner cloud of mist covered Western Forest around her.

  “Hey, we’ve got a job to do, Sparky. Let’s do it.”

  “I know. Y-yes, sir,” she said. Her white-tipped tail twitched anxiously. ‘He’s right, Ember. We really do need to go.’

  She peered down through the mist. A silver-furred tomcat looked back up at her, eyes glistening. They were the same shade of faded orange as her own. His expression was unreadable, but she’d recognize his white-patched face anywhere—her father, Cloud.

  He stood in a little crook between the roots of the maple tree and propped himself up against its trunk with a forepaw. The rising sun hit his long, silky fur, giving him a fringe of gold. Ember smiled at the familiar sight, one she’d seen almost every day since joining the guard.

  “So, are you coming or not?” he asked. “Because if not, I’m leaving without you.”

  She sighed again. Her breath swirled away in a wispy puff of condensation as she rubbed her muzzle against the branch below her. Frosty bits of ice flaked off and clung to her whiskers. ‘You stay here,’ she commanded it. She stood up, then arched her back. “Coming.”

  As she climbed down, the breeze picked up. A mechanical hum filled the air, whirring and buzzing like an army of bees going to war.

  ‘Oh no. Again?’

  Ember flattened her ears. Her heart thudded against her chest as the noise grew louder. Vivid cyan flared in her head. She looked up. A human-made contraption appeared in the western sky. It was sleek, white, oval-shaped and huge. The six spinning blades set in its sides created a tempest. Ember jumped to the ground and covered her ears with her paws. She bit her tongue and trembled as the machine passed overhead, thundering, snarling at her.

  ‘Please stop. Please stop. Please stop.’ The words echoed through her mind. All other thoughts disintegrated into swirling grey static.

  The noise faded. The craft rumbled over the Lowlands, churning up mist, then disappeared behind the Eastern Mountain. Ember got up. She stared blankly at the horizon. In the silence, her ears rung. Her jaw quivered. She forced it to stop.

  ‘Calm down, Em. You’re okay.’ She breathed out slowly. “Why do they do that?”

  “I don’t know. But as long as they stay in the sky, they can fly around all they want. Better than coming after us,” Cloud said.

  “Do you think they know we’re still here?” she asked.

  “Again, I don’t know.” He licked her cheek. “It’s been so many winters, they’ve probably forgotten about us. I think we’re safe.”

  Ember shuddered. According to the History Tree, the same creatures that made the silver sky machines had also made the first colony cats. They’d tried to imprison and ex
periment on them until Commander Dark led an escape, freeing them all. It was the most terrifying and exciting story on the tree. The first time she’d read it, she’d had a nightmare about long-legged monsters hunting her and her kin down. She shook her head, trying to clear the thought from her mind.

  Cloud walked back onto the border trail. “Now come on, we have a job to do. Let’s go do it.”

  She followed after him, head lowered in respect. “Yes, sir.”

  He smiled.

  ‘Why are you smiling? If you’re trying to tell me something, well, you know I don’t know what it means. Kivy would, but she’s with Mom, so I can’t get her to translate. At least you’re smiling, though, so that’s good, I guess. Oh well. You know, I’m glad you can’t read my thoughts; you’d be so confused.’ She stopped walking and tilted her head. ‘Or maybe not.’

  She chuffed to herself and kept going. Her eyes followed the ground. As she walked, her mind raced; subconsciously calculating the exact places each paw should land for maximum comfort and silence. After mooncycles of tripping over roots and stepping on thorns, the habit had been clawed into her.

  Morning sunshine streamed through the mist, creating light beams that stung her eyes. As they walked, birds fluttered and chirped around them. A soft warble joined in the chorus. At the bottom of the ravine beside her, the Kivyress sang with rocks and water. She looked down. The nervousness went away, silver replacing itself with a bright, happy orange. The creek, her sister’s namesake, flowed over and around time-smoothed stones. The deepness of the ravine hid it from the sun, cloaking it in a soft blue shadow. Frost still covered most of the ground leading to it.

  Ember sucked in a long, slow breath. Scents of dead leaves, dried berries, and trees rubbed free of bark filled her nose. The frigid air made her muzzle burn. Little sparks of sky blue flickered through her mind.

  “Hey, Ember,” Cloud said, breaking the ambience, “just to let you know, I have to head back to the Glade early today.”

  Her tail drooped. “Oh, right. The meeting.”

  “Commander Aspen wanted to discuss some of the things he plans on bringing up tomorrow. Needs a final opinion, I guess.”

  “So, er, how early are you suggesting we turn back?” Ember asked.

  She bit her tongue. Being the commander’s chief advisor, he got summoned away often, and it happened even more frequently near the seasonal meetings. She liked knowing he helped make things work, but it didn’t make his absences any easier.

  He chuffed. “We can turn around when we—”

  “Wait,” Ember said. She stopped and lifted her nose to the breeze. The air stung her nostrils again, but the tangy stench that followed made her wince. “Someone’s here,” she whispered.

  Cloud stopped. He stared at the ravine, ears perked forward. He sank into a fighting stance. “Good nose. Stay close and hold position.”

  Ember obeyed. She bent her legs, pointed her toes outward, and lowered her head to shield her neck from throat grabs. Her heartbeat echoed in her ears, and her nostrils flared as she dissected the smell.

  ‘Not a Colony Cat. Definitely not a Colony Cat. Adult tom. Middle-aged. Outsider or rogue. Not a wildcat. There’s blood in there. Did he fight with Wren and Hyrees earlier and not leave for some reason? No, they wouldn’t let him go like that, and he’s not dead yet.’

  “You have entered Western territory,” Cloud said. “Show yourself.”

  A mottled black and white head popped up. His eyes looked like dying birch leaves: gold with patches of deep brown. Both of his ears were torn, and a recently-dried cut arced above one of his eyes. He vaulted himself out of the ravine and glared at Cloud. Scars covered his body.

  “I’ve shown myself,” he said. His gruff, Lowland accent made Ember tense. “You happy now?”

  He watched them, looking from Cloud to Ember, then back.

  “Who are you, and why are you here?” Cloud asked.

  Ember kept her eyes trained on the tom’s scruffy torso, subconsciously watching for signs of an attack. Meanwhile, her active conscious analyzed every scar and scrape she could make out on his body. Her vision blurred.

  ‘Those scars aren’t normal for an outsider, so definitely a rogue. Then again, most rogues aren’t that scratched up. Maybe he is a wildcat.’ She bit her tongue again. The silver came back, making a knot form in her throat. ‘Tahg,’ she mentally cursed, ‘he’s a mercenary, isn’t he?’

  “If you’d like to live, you’ll answer my questions,” Cloud said.

  Ember shook her head and blinked until her eyes regained their focus. Cloud looked the cat over, waiting for a response. Getting none, he shoved a paw against the cat’s throat, claws unsheathed.

  The cat grinned up at him. He pushed Cloud’s paw away and wavered as he stood. “Eclan. What’s it to you?”

  Mint wafted off his breath. Ember wrinkled her nose and coughed, trying to rid herself of the mind-numbing plant’s scent.

  “Alright then, Eclan,” Cloud said. “Why are you here?

  Eclan glared at him. “S’pose I don’t tell you. What’ll you do, then? And if I do, do I get to finish what I was doing?”

  Cloud growled. “Oh, another wiseacre. About our luck. Better than some kinds of outsiders, I suppose. That’s enough questions for you. Time to leave.”

  He pushed his paws against Eclan’s side. Eclan staggered backward, and Cloud clamped his teeth over his scruff. Eclan hissed but didn’t struggle.

  ‘Okay, that’s not right.’ She bit her tongue again. ‘This is not good. This is really, really not good. Oh, he’s leaving.’

  Cloud dragged him down the slope of the ravine. He walked across over a path of rocks, Eclan’s lower body sliding along the creek bottom. Still, he remained limp. Cloud stepped onto the opposite bank, then started up the other side.

  Ember half ran, half skidded to catch up with them. When she reached the creek, she leaped across the stones. “Dad, wait!”

  Her paws hit a slick patch of algae. They slid out from under her. Ember squeaked in surprise as she stumbled into the creek. Near-freezing water splashed her underside, covering her legs. Prickling, searing pain stabbed at her paws, creating blue polka dots in her head. She tried to climb back onto the rock, but her claws couldn’t find traction. She slid back into the water. “D-d-dad?”

  Cloud reached the top of the ravine. He dropped Eclan and spun around. “Oh! Are you okay?” He ran back to her and helped her out of the water. “You’ve got to be careful on those rocks.”

  “I kn-kn-kn-know.”

  “I know you know, but knowing you need to be careful only helps if you are careful. I guess now we know when we’ll be heading back.”

  When they reached the opposite bank, Ember shook herself off. She shivered as they climbed to the top.

  Ember lifted a forepaw and wiggled her toes. “I c-can’t feel my paws.”

  “Th-that’s what happens when you fall in the creek in the winter, kitten. Be glad it h-hasn’t snowed yet,” Eclan said. He twisted around to groom the wet fur on his haunches, then transitioned to his feet.

  Ember tensed her jaw to keep her teeth from chattering. ‘Oh, right, him.’ Somewhere in the back of her mind, she realized this was the farthest she’d ever been beyond Western borders.

  Cloud nudged Eclan’s flank with the back of a forepaw. “Leave. Now. You’ll have plenty of time to groom when you make it back to the Lowlands where you belong.”

  Eclan stopped grooming mid-lick. His tongue hung limply out of his mouth for a moment. He stood up and looked Cloud over. “You don’t say. Well, I hate to break it to you, but this here’s outta your territory. You can’t make me leave land you don’t own.”

  “I also can’t leave you here to slink back in the moment we’re out of sight, and I certainly can’t sit here watching you all day. I have more important things to do.”

  He stretched and yawned, then walked in front of Cloud. As he passed by, the tip of his tail thwacked Cloud’s nose.

&n
bsp; Cloud growled. “You know what? Maybe I should kill you. Or take you to Aspen and let him figure out what to do with you.”

  Ember swallowed hard. ‘Kill him? You aren’t going to make me help with that, right?’

  Eclan sniffed a few times. He sharpened his claws on a young tree, then turned around and sprayed it. “No authority, ol’ tom. You’re in my territory now.”

  Cloud growled again.

  Ember bit her tongue. ‘Go away, silver. You’re not helping. This is not going to end well. Come on, Em, do something.’ She sucked in a deep breath and stepped closer to her father.

  “Okay, can we decide on something, please?” she asked. “I’m cold. This is taking too long. Dad, I, uhm, I think he might be a mercenary. So maybe we should take him in for questioning?”

  They stared at her for a few moments. Eclan sniffed again. “Sounds reasonable. Let’s do that.”

  A faint smile flashed on his face, then he pounced. Yellow flared in her head. His paws slammed into Ember’s side, knocking her over. They hit the bank of the ravine, and momentum sent them into a roll. The world somersaulted around her. Pebbles and debris scraped at her sides.

  “Ember!” Cloud shouted.

  His voice was muffled by the sound of crunching leaves and her own heartbeat.

  ‘What’s going on? What just happened? I’m falling—that’s what. Come on, Ember; there are rocks down there. Do something, or you’re going to get hurt!’

  Ember tucked her head in. She closed her eyes hard, sunk her claws into Eclan’s fur, then yanked him in front of her as a shield. They crashed into the creek together. The stream sucked her under like thick mud. Icy water seeped into her nose. She tried to cough, but got a mouthful of liquid. For a split moment, she couldn’t tell down from up nor up from down. Her side hit the creek bed. Ember pushed off to get her head above the water. The landscape spun in and out of focus as she burst through the surface. She staggered against the current and almost fell back under. She gasped for breath, stabilized herself against a stone, then exploded into a fit of coughing and uncontrollable trembling. Eclan splashed up beside her, shivering and sputtering.