We’re On An Adventure (Stormwind)

Newton simply seemed to be having rotten luck, missing the first three mice he went after and hissing in frustration after the third.

Lady managed to catch a mouse but barely, it only being the second time dhe’d ever hunted.

Newts nodded, standing up and stretching with a solemn look and demeanor about him as he set about hunting.

Lady pinned her ears back, frowning, but didn’t push. “The sun’s up. We should leave as soon as we’ve eaten.”

Newton relaxed after a moment, taking a shuddering breath. “I’m alright,” The tom murmured, as if the same thing had happened to him many times before.

Lady jumped slightly at his sudden movement and stared down at him worriedly. “Are you okay?”

Newton curled up into a tight ball as Lady began to poke him, as if he was being attacked with claws instead of prodded with a paw. Eventually the Tom’s eyes shot wide open and he glanced up at his friend, his breathing rapid.

At the sight of Newton, Lady’s eyes widened and she started insistently nudging him, trying to get him to wake up.

Newton was still asleep, though some nightmare seemed to be in progress in the Tom’s mind. He occasionally kicked out or let a soft, yet distressed mewl slip from his mouth, his eyes screwed tightly shut.

When morning dawned, Lady was awake with the rising sun, a habit she’d accidentally fallen into the past couple of days.

Newton sighed, nibbling on his mouse for a little while before dragging it outside and then retiring to his friend’s side, curling up about a taillength from her and eventually falling into a fitful sleep.

Lady was asleep by that point, curled up into a ball and snoozing.

Newton didn’t return for some time, leaving his mouse where he’d set it.  Eventually, however, the Tom’s belly called for food, and he was forced to leave his darkened corner and return to Lady’s side to satisfy his hunger.

Lady didn’t follow after Newton, instead munching on one of the mice, eyes bright with delight at the taste.

Newton pinned his ears back sadly, turning from the tom and padding off to a dark part of the barn sulkily.

Lady frowned at her friend. ‘I did say he might be dead,’ she mouthed.

Newton pinned his ears back, a pang of guilt shooting through him as Barley turned away. He glanced wordlessly to Lady with an expression that said something along the lines of help or What did I just do!?

Barley can loses his eyes briefly, a pained expression flirting across his face. “Not anymore.” He turned away in dismissal of the tom, not wanting to talk to him anymore.

Newton nodded, waiting a bit before asking his next question. “...I noticed another scent in here. Does someone else live in here with you?”

Barley shook his head. “Like I said, I only know that they headed towards that place they called Highstones. I don’t know where they went after that.”

“And do you know where they went, by chance?” Came the Tom’s next question, seemingly more into the quest of finding the lost clans now that he believed they actually existed.

“They didn’t exactly stay here. They stayed in an abandoned, broken-down house over that way (I think),” Barley flicked his tail in said direction. “But it was very close, yes.”

“...So they all came here for a night?” Newton eventually interjected, wondering wether that was the stale cat scent he had noticed.

Lady had joined the two toms halfway through and was listening as well, spellbound. Some of the stories were known to her, but most were new. The three mice lay forgotten at their paws.

Newton’s eyes seemed to grow wider and wider with every story Barley told. The Tom’s whole worldview was being shattered right before his eyes. Those fables I heard growing up, the whispers of the old kittypets about brave, strong warriors living and dying in the wild... they’re all true!