Yarrowheart screwed up her nose as they approached the Blackpath, grumbling. She placed her paws carefully among the scattered objects on the side of the Blackpath. "I can't imagine why the Pale Ones use this awful trail to travel" she hissed.
Branchtrot meowed "Who knows? The Pale Ones do strange things. Maybe they like the scent of Blackpath," then hopped over the scatter, sitting on the very edge of the hard black tar.
Yarrowheart flexed her claws against the stone as she sat next to him, waiting.
A beast roared past, buffeting them with foul-smelling air. Yarrowheart coughed and choked, but launched out onto the Blackpath, dimly aware of the beating of Branchtrot's paws behind her.
She leaped into the overgrowth on the other side, coughing and spitting, Branchtrot flopping onto the ground next to her. "Moons . . . If I ever have to smell that again, it'll be far too soon." she meowed, "Agreed." Branchtrot agreed, huffing.
After regaining their bearings, they both stood and began to pad into the undergrowth. A thick scent of stale burnt wood carried by the breeze.
Pushing through a bush, Yarrowheart gasped as she gazed down a sudden cliff, leading down to a ravine of slick mud, shining dimly with the glow of the sun above. "Stop!" she yowled, taking a few steps back, Branchtrot peeking his head out of the bush and peering down the cliff with wide eyes. He quickly stumbled backward, to the other side of the bush.
She was staring down the cliff, when she saw Branchtrot launch himself over the gap, rolling onto his side on the other end of the gap. "Wha- What is wrong with you, Furbrains!?" she yowled, Branchtrot laughing in reply.
She huffed, reared back, then lept over the gap, walking past him. Well, despite how fur-brained that was, atleast we're on the other side now. she thought
Walking further, the scent of stale burnt wood flooded their senses, as they came over a hill and found themselves gazing at a ruined burnt wood, black trunks crossing and twisting everywhere, ash blackening the grass.
"What the . . ." she meowed, but she was suddenly bowled over, black fur filling her vision, sharp teeth stabbing into her shoulder. She exclaimed in pain, rolling over onto her back on the attacker, rolling down the hill into the ash. She coughed and sputtered as the ash was upset in the air, her attacker letting go to launch back up the hill. She stumbled out of the ash-laden grass, coughing. She looked up the hill, and saw Branchtrot, fur bristling, speaking to the attackers - A shortfur she-cat calico, and the black tom from earlier, Foxtail.
She spit out the last bit of ash from her lungs and walked up the hill. Foxtail turned to look at her, ash staining his orange tail. His fur bristled, but he paused. He tilted his head then meowed, "Hey wait, you're the cats who were with Whitespeckle earlier!", The calico she-cat raised her head, "Huh?" she meowed, then turned to look at Yarrowheart.
"You're the cats who were with Whitespeckle?" she repeated, then her fur began to bristle. "Where is she? Why did she leave?" Branchtrot and Yarrowheart paused, and stared at eachother. "She?" Branchtrot meowed, "Tuftedpounce- the cat you met - is . . . A tom . ."
The two new cats exchanged a glance, then Foxtail meowed, "Huh . . Maybe that wasn't Whitespeckle then . . . Looked oddly similar though . . Even the same patch of white on the side of their heads. . . Well, you're here now, you may aswell come to our camp, can't send you back already since you came all this way," he finished.
Foxtail and the calico she-cat led them into the ash-laden forest, ash swirling around their paws. Yarrowheart kept her nose raised, not wanting to breathe it in.
They walked into a clearing, the ash less dense in the air and grass. Several large black trunk were felled in the center, but they were clearly pushed here from somewhere else, arranged in a triangular shape. Foxtail hopped ontop of one, tail raised. "This is our camp," the calico meowed as she leaped over.
Yarrowheart climbed up after them, and behind the trunks she found a large hole. "You live in a hole?" she meowed. Foxtail let out a Mrrow of amusement, and meowed, "What, you got a problem with that?" and jumped down into the hole. She glanced sideways at Branchtrot, whose confusion mirrored hers once again.
Branchtrot shrugged and followed Foxtail and the calico into the hole. Yarrowheart hesitated, then jumped down.
She landed roughly on stone, pitch black surrounding her just outside of the small dim circle of light shining from above onto the hard gray stone. She looked around, seeing nothing except for Branchtrot next to her.
"It's rude not to shake the ash off your pelt," she heard an unfamiliar tom meow from the darkness, and flinched slightly in startle. "S-sorry . . " she meowed, and shook the ash off her self, Branchtrot doing so aswell. She padded cautiously into the darkness.
After a few moments, her eyes had adjusted to the darkness, revealing a large open cavern, filled with curious cats. A large fluffy tom walked out toward her and sat. "Welcome to Those Among the Ashes. I am Foggystar. What brings you here?" he meowed.
Yarrowheart and Branchtrot exchanged a quick glance at eachother, and Branchtrot meowed, "Uh- Well, we came because . . . Foxtail I believe his name was, met us on a patrol next to the Blackpath - We're from across the blackpath - and thought our friend, Tuftedpounce, was one of your cats, Whitespeckle. But, i'm pretty sure it was just a mistake. This Whitespeckle was a she-cat, right?" The leader meowed "Yes, Whitespeckle was a she-cat," and Branchtrot continued, "Well, Tuftedpounce is a tom. Problem solved! . . We should probably get going now, shouldn't we?"
The leader meowed, "Oh, no no, you're here already, why not atleast stay the night? It's been a long, long time since we've been visited by any other cats," his tone warm and welcoming, "Please, take some prey, meet the group. We're happy to have new cats in our home." he gestured with his tail toward a pile of prey - mostly small mice and voles.
Yarrowheart meowed, "Oh, uhm . . . Thank you, thank you very much, Foggystar." and padded over to the prey pile. She picked out a scrawny mouse and looked around. She decided to sit next to Foxtail, who was sitting next to a crack in the cave wall. She padded over and sat, then gulped the mouse down quickly.
"So, uh . . . Tell me about this Whitespeckle" she meowed. Foxtail looked up, surprised. "Huh? Whitespeckle?" he meowed, then continued "Oh, sure! . . She was one of the best fighters in the group before she disappeared. Large and formiddable, she could probably take down a cat twice her size!" he Mrrowed with pride in his littermate.
"Hey, Tuftedpounce did exactly that! With my help," she meowed with amusement. Foxtail meowed "Oh, really? This Tuftedpounce sounds like he could match up to my sister just fine," his tone happy, clearly happy to meet a new cat.