"Hello? Are you awake?"
An unfamiliar voice coaxed Dart into wakefulness. She fought off drowsiness and opened her eyes. A pair of unknown yellow ones stared at her. Dart jumped up, moving to block the sleeping figure of Twist. Her pelt bristled, and she slid out her claws. A black and white cat stood in front of her, blinking curiously.
"What?" The stranger said, tilting her head to the side.
"What are you doing here?" Dart hissed through clenched teeth. "What do you want?" The stranger smiled.
"I want to help." She mewed, flicking her tail towards Twist's unconscious form. "Her."
Dart blinked, speechless. "What?" She managed to say after a silence that seemed to stretch on forever.
"I want to help her." The unfamiliar cat repeated. "She looks hurt. What happened?" Dart sheathed her claws, trying to comprehend the situation. The stranger looked friendly enough, and seemed to have no ill intent. She glanced at Twist. She did look like she needed help...
"She was injured in a fire." Dart mumbled. "She fell unconscious a few days later. She won't wake up. I brought her here." The stranger frowned.
"Why here?" She glanced around. They were beside a small bush in a clearing, damp leaves scattered on the ground. It was certainly not an ideal resting spot. Dart looked at the ground, feeling embarrassed.
"I couldn't take her any farther.." she whispered. The stranger frowned again.
"Let me help."

...

After carrying Twist until about noon, Dart was growing weary. The stranger, Mitten, was taking them farther and farther. The trees were growing sparse, and Dart got the feeling that they weren't going to be in the forest much longer.

...

Dart was right. After travelling for what seemed like an eternity, the trio arrived in a gigantic clearing. There were long wooden structures everywhere, and creatures darted in and out of the entrances. Another structure held gigantic animals of different colours, their tails swaying back and forth. Their feet looked dangerous to Dart, and her fur bristled.
"Those are the horses." Mitten said, noticing Dart's apparent fear. "They're harmless." Dart's gaze turned to the other creatures. They were tall, and stood on two legs. Their paws had five long toes, and their claws seemed useless.
"Those are the humans." Mitten added. "They're the ones that will help your friend." Dart frowned, the idea of the "humans" touching Twist felt outlandish. But she needed help.
"Okay... what do we need to do?" Dart meowed. Mitten smiled.
"Watch and learn." She mewed before letting out a yowl. Dart's fur stood on end, her eyes wide.
"What are you doing?" She hissed. Mitten glanced over at her.
"Getting their attention. Make some noise." She said. Dart clenched her teeth together.
It's for Twist, it's for Twist. She repeated in her mind over and over. Dart took a deep breath and yowled as loud as she could. Three of the many humans looked over, noticing the cats. They ran over, making distressed noises at the sight of Twist. Mitten licked Twist's shoulder, her eyes wide and helpless. The humans seemed to understand whatever she was trying to say, even though Dart didn't have a clue. The humans picked up Twist, cradling her in their strange arms. Dart had to dig her claws into the ground to keep from lashing out at them. She just watched with narrowed eyes as the three humans carried her sister away, screeching at each other. They climbed into a strange object that shined when the light hit it. It was supported by two circular black objects. The object suddenly roared forward, the circles spinning. Dart bit back her screams at it sped away, Twist in it.
"They'll fix her." Mitten reassured Dart. "They fixed Benny when he fell out of a tree, and that was pretty bad."
Dart glared at Mitten. In any other situation, she would have asked who Benny was, but she was too distressed at the moment to care. Mitten's eyes widened.
"Okay, I think I'll let you be alone for a while."

...

Dart lay on the ground, her eyes squeezed shut. Mitten has shown her a warm place to sleep, right underneath these giant shiny cylinders-boilers, Mitten had said-that contained hot water. Dart wished for sleep, but it wouldn't come. She stress of a new environment, having no sister, and seeing all of this new stuff for the first time was getting to her. As she scattered the rocky floor with a swish of her tail, Dart realized that this was the first time she had been without her sister since their mother died. In the darkness, with nobody beside her, Dart started to cry.

...

The next morning was hellish for Dart. She was woken up bright and early so that she could be "shown around". Dart wasn't paying very close attention, but she learned that they were staying at a camp, whatever that was. A bunch of humans would come here every summer, for what seemed like no reason to Dart. She heard them yowling from inside some of the wooden structures-cabins, she reminded herself-. They sounded strange to her, but she couldn't find the energy to care about the sounds they made. All she could think about was Twist...
"Dart? Are you listening?" Mitten's voice roused her from her thoughts.
"Hm? Yeah." Dart responded half heartedly. Mitten rolled her eyes.
"Well, I'm gonna introduce you to the others. I hope you're ready." She responded.
Mitten led her behind one of the buildings-this one was a lodge- and gestured towards a clearing. A bunch of picnic tables sat in the clearing, cats perched on top of them. They were chatting amongst each other, and Dart felt like an outcast.
"HEY!" Mitten yowled. All the cats ceased their chatter and turned to look at her. Dart felt the stare of the strangers like a thousand needles.
"This," Mitten nudged Dart, "is Dart. She just got here. I expect you all to be nice to her." Dart shifted on her paws, growing uncomfortable. Mitten nudged her again.
"Go say hi to everyone." She whispered. Dart nodded and turned to the others.
"Hi." She said, immediately regretting it. It came out awkward and unusual, at least from her perspective.
First impressions, Dart, she nagged herself. Luckily for her, a chubby ginger Tom stepped forward.
"Hi!" He said, grinning. Dart smiled back at him.
"I'm Benny." He said, padding closer. "I assume you've already met Mitten." Dart nodded. There was an awkward pause. Benny turned around and hissed to the others. "Guys! Introduce yourselves!"
One by one, the other cats stepped forward.
"Hi, I'm Puff." A fluffy white she-cat said. She smiled before stepping away. A sandy speckled Tom took her place.
"Hey, I'm Luke." He meowed. He stepped away as well, standing beside Puff. An old-looking Tom with a dusty grey coat padded forward.
"I'm Rusty." He said, walking away. A grey speckled she-cat stepped forward. She grinned.
"Hi. I'm Petal." She said, gracefully stepping away. A less-graceful she-cat padded forwards.
"Hi...I'm Puck." She said, her brown tail swishing behind her. She stepped away. Dart blinked, looking at all the cats. They all seemed nice and accepting. They all seemed like a family. One by one, the cats smiled at Dart. After a moment, Dart decided to smile back.