Quote:
Originally Posted by Thistledawn
Guilt prickled at Hoot's paws as he watched Silence push her ears against her head. The she-cat's reasoning made sense. Besides, what could those cats do now? They were already dead. On top of all of that, Hoot was just picking fights with her now. He was stubborn, but he also thought he was right, despite how awful he was being. The Abyssinian knew he should have apologized, but he didn't know how. Apologizing wasn't really something Hoot had a lot of experience doing. He felt oddly protective over the she-cat. Hoot hadn't felt anything like that towards another cat before. Well, he hadn't really felt anything towards another cat other than distaste or hatred. Of course if you asked 4 moon old Hoot, he'd say that he had plenty of friends that he liked and enjoyed hanging around with. 6 moon old Hoot wouldn't say that. The tom had learned by then that other cats weren't to be trusted. His "friends" had betrayed him, stolen from him, and left him alone without another thought. Since then, the tom avoided other cats at all costs. His efforts went to waste many different times as he'd met and verbally fought with many other cats. But Silence didn't seem that bad. Unlike every other cat Hoot had ever met, he had a good feeling about her, even though he didn't quite agree with her all the time. At least he didn't want to claw her whiskers off.
Hoot shook his head. Silence was waiting for him. He parted his jaws to speak, but changed his mind. It was too late. It felt too weird to say anything. So the green-eyed tom just followed Silence in silence. He hadn't even known there would be a storm coming, but he smelled it in the air once he took in a deep breath. Great, Hoot thought. I'm for sure stuck here now. I can't go wandering around in a storm. |
As they walked back, Silence began to feel uneasy. It was more than the coming storm pricking under her pelt. Her orange eyes scanned the foliage around them restlessly, checking back to make sure Hoot was behind her several times. When they got close to her hollow, she stopped, and scented the air. Silence froze like she'd just tasted lighting.
Silence felt the world spin for a moment, her paws rooted to the ground. Her black fur puffed up, making her look like a spooked shadow. Her heart sped up, jittery like a mouse, her breath uneven. In her broken, raspy voice, she choked out "Hoot. Hide. Now." Her throat burned, but she didn't take time to swallow, just looked back at him, trying to smother the fear she felt. "P-please." She forced herself to move, fighting the urge to run. She motioned left
There's an entrance to the den around the back. Be quiet.
Silence had known he would come for her. She had nightmares about it. Of course he would come with a storm on his heels. But looking back at Hoot, she wouldn't run. This was her home. Hoot was her friend. She would protect him, and everything she'd worked so hard to build. Uprooting again wasn't an option.