Nightmare
Jingo stretched out in her makeshift nest. The stars glittered high above her head. The trees rustled and a few birds called here and there. Otherwise everything was quiet, calm... She bolted up as a leaf crackled in a nearby bush, but let her fur lie flat as she saw Hussar emerge. In his jaws he held a plump mouse."Your hunting skills have grown sharper, Hussar," she praised the grey tom. Hussar dipped his head and offered Jingo to join in on the meal with a flick of his tail. Jingo crouched down and started to tear at the mouse's still-warm flesh.
"You couldn't sleep as well?" she asked him between mouthfuls.
"Yes, and besides, there was too much prey-scent everywhere. Much more than at the Twolegplace," Hussar added after a pause.
The Twolegplace... Jingo shook her head softly to clear her mind of their destroyed home. Hussar seemed to understand and kept quiet for the rest of the meal.
"That was a delicious mouse," Jingo noted as she scraped dust over the remnants of Hussar's kill. Hussar flicked his tail in acknowledgement. Jingo settled down in the moss nest. She tossed and turned, but her full belly made it hard to get comfortable. At last she settled down and let sleep consume her.
She dreamt of monsters. Not the ones that whizzed along the Thunderpath, but the huge one, with a giant claw protruding from its front. On the end was a giant black ball, like those that the Twoleg kits play with. It came, swinging its claw and bashing their Twoleg nest over and over again, until it was nothing but a pile of rubble. All Jingo's cats made it out alive, but their home was completely destroyed. The cats had no choice but to seek refugee in the forest. Pod was limping, and Fritz got a gash on his flank, but everyone else seemed all right. Frisk, Astra, Foli, and Ricket, Speckle's kits, were terribly frightened, and went on a hunger strike for an entire day.
Jingo woke up the the sound of screeches and hissing. She unsheathed her claws, excpecting to see a battle. Instead, a mass of tumbling kits knocked her to the floor. Foli broke away from the group, her bright green eyes shining, and tackled Jingo head-on.
"It's a monster!" she screeched, batting Jingo's ears with sheathed claws. "It's going to eat us!" Jingo growled playfully and rolled onto her back, knocking Foli off of her. Astra nipped the stub of Jingo's tail and jumped away, Jingo lumbering after her. Frisk and Ricket broke away from each other and raced after Jingo, delighted at the new game. They hissed and jumped onto her back, digging their claws into her thick pelt. At last, overwhelmed by the writhing kits, she lost her balance and crashed into the undergrowth. Ricket lost his grip and tumbled straight into Pod, who growled with annoyance.
"You're starting to sound like an elder, Pod!" she meowed. Ricket stumbled back to his littermates, ears flat against his head, but soon forgot Pod's grumpiness and once again tumbled along with the kits. Jingo looked admiringly at them.
"How does Speckle manage?" she thought. "They're quite a pawful." Jingo padded over to wake the rest of the cats. Hussar was already stretching in his little hollow, his hind leg scattering moss out of the dip. Jingo scraped it back towards Hussar, who crawled out of his nest, yawning.
"Sorry Jingo. I must've over-slept because I stayed up last night," he apologized. Jingo chuckled at his grave tone and drew her tail over his side.
"Don't worry Hussar! I'm the only one awake before you." She twitched her ears and bounded off the wake Speckle and Fritz.
"Wake up Speckle!" she meowed, prodding the flecked queen with her muzzle. Speckle drowsily rolled onto her back and yawned.
"Sure Jingo. I'll be up in a moment," she called, stretching out her tired limbs. Jingo dipped her head and headed over to Fritz's nest. She was about the nudge him when she notice that his whiskers were twitching wildly.
"Fritz..?" she called softly. Fritz continued jerking in his sleep, and hind legs kicking out violently.
"Fritz!" Jingo meowed, louder this time. Fritz bolted out of his nest, fur bristling, eyes huge. His claws dug into the moist earth and his tail whipped around wildly.
"No!" he screeched, jerking his head around as if looking for an enemy. Jingo took a step back, startled by Fritz's reaction.
"No!" Fritz yowled again. The haze of sleep in his eyes was slowly clearing, and soon they found purchase on Jingo.
"Jingo! We must go! We have to find them!"
"Them... them who?" Jingo wondered. "Fritz! What's going on?" Fritz's gaze darted around over the cats, who were frozen in shock and staring at him. Even the kits stopped their play and sat still.
"We must find them!" he repeated in distress. "The Clan cats! Only they can help us!" Fritz's eyes were bulging out of their sockets as he shivered out of fear. "We'll die!" he meowed, looking over all the cats one by one. "We're all going to die!"
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