I followed the three Peace Clan patrollers for a few minutes when we finally came to a stop. I had said goodbye to Uncle SmokeTail before we split ways. I knew I'd miss living with him everyday but I would visit him as often as I could. For now, all I could think of was meeting the rest of the Peace Clan, and hopefully joining. This was my clan, the one I'd stay in forever, I just knew it. These were the cats my parents grew up with, they knew HomeValley, they were probably all Maine Coons like me, I'd fit right in. Plus, I'd get to see my friends again! Better, Flower, Snicker, and of course Gentle and Backstab. I wondered if they missed me as much as I missed them...

"We're here BlueWhiskers" said the curled eared she-cat, who I remembered was named Dandelion.
We walked through some shrubs and reached a rock wall. It looked as through hundreds of rocks had been piled on top of each other, about three metres high and as far as the eye could see. The rocks were covered in moss and vines and appeared to have been there for hundreds of years.
"This way" Pineapple, the short furred she-cat said, and we walked a few paces to the right, where in the rock wall was an opening, though you couldn't see it until you or someone else was walking through, or you really paid attention. See, the hole was small and the long grass that grew beside the entire wall made the whole look completely invisible, and unless you knew where it was and really concentrated, there was no way you'd be able to tell the difference between this spot and the rest of the wall. If someone had been passing by they wouldn't have even noticed there was a hole here, you only saw it if you were looking for it.

"Gold?" Pineapple called.
I tilted my head to one side, she seemed to be talking to someone on the other end of the wall.
"Who is it?" said a males voice from behind the grass.
"Come on Gold you know who it is!" Dandelion growled in frustration.
"Sorry, but this is my job, I can't let you in otherwise!" the cat who's name must've been Gold, replied. His voice sounded defensive, as if people often got frustrated at him for this.
"Why don't you just come out and look Gold.." Dandelion said and Gold sighed, as if he was told to walk a very far distance.
Then the grass parted and a golden cat walked through.
He had very dark golden fur and a white paws and undercoat that connected to a white line of fur tracing his upper lip. He had bright green eyes like a healthy leaf.

He looked across the faces of cats with an almost lazy expression, as if he was doing a difficult favour for someone he really didn't want to do. When his eyes reached me he looked back to the others.
"Who's this?" he asked, as if I wasn't there.
"That's not your business Gold, we're taking her to the Master." said Dandelion. Something told me the two didn't get along. "So she's a prisoner?" Gold asked and Dandelion seemed as taken aback as I was.
"I never said that! Move aside!" she growled and Gold stepped to the side, clearing a path for us to walk. "So she's a prisoner" he said.

Dandelion rolled her eyes and walked into the long grass and through the hole, followed by Honey, then me, Pineapple close behind. I walked through the grass and smiled as I saw the other side. It was a beautiful territory, full of fresh grass, tall trees and scattered flowers.
Some cats were walking around here and there, but they were all looking curiously in my direction. I shuffled my paws a bit awkwardly.
A couple of ginger cats began walking our direction.

The cat on the left was a fluffy male cat. His upper coat was black and dark ginger, while the bottom was white. His under coat extended around his neck and over his muzzle and his eyes were yellow.

The cat on the right was also a male, a bit on the chubby side. He had a brownish ginger over coat and a white under coat and paws. His limbs looked a little stubby and he walked in a half crouch. His eyes were dark hazel.

"Hey, Gold who's this?" asked the cat on the right, the chubby one.
Gold had just walked in after Pineapple. "She's a prisoner" Gold said simply and Dandelion rolled her eyes so far back it was slightly worrying. "Let's go" Pineapple said quietly to me.
"Oi! I heard that!" Gold called.
"Quit it Gold, it isn't your business." Dandelion growled.
"Your the one not answering me, it's my job to know who's entering the territory and who's leaving it." Gold said. It seemed fairly reasonable for him to know.
"Well I'm here to-" I started but was very quickly cut off.
"No BlueWhiskers, don't answer him!" Dandelion growled and I shrugged.
"Oh so her name is BlueWhiskers aye?" Gold asked. The chubbier cat snickered and the fluffy one shrugged.
"Just let her go Gold, honestly." the fluffy one said, and Pineapple joined in. "Yeah Gold, stop always having it against Dandelion" She said and the argument continued even louder. I sighed. This wasn't the welcoming I imagined when trying to join my dream clan. Everyone was arguing now except me and Honey. He didn't seem like a big talker.

But just as I thought that, Honey seemed to notice I was looking at him and turned his head to me, making eye contact. To avoid an awkward situation I lowered my gaze to the soft grassy ground.
"Uh hey" he said, his voice soft and young sounding. He sounded much more confident when he had tackled Uncle Smoketail though. "Want me to take you to the Master?"
"Oh, yeah sure." I replied. Finally, someone who was a bit more welcoming.
Honey headed off away from the others and I followed after him. His voice may be soft but he had a very confident and strong stride and I struggled to keep up with him. Finally reaching his side I spoke.
"Uh, hey Honey, what's up with those guys back there?" I asked.
"Oh, um, don't mind them... Dandelion and Gold have had a bit of a rivaltry for awhile. And Butter and Mustard- the two other cats who joined us- being Gold's cousins and closest friends, and Pineapple being a close friend of Dandelions, they tend to get caught up in the arguments." he said.
"Oh I see. Are you a close friend of Dandelions?" I asked.
"Oh um, I- I don't know, maybe I guess..." Honey stuttered a bit awkwardly.
"Oh okay.. Just not much into arguing?" I asked, also feeling slightly awkward now.
"Yeah I guess.." he replied.

After about five minutes of keeping up the same fast walking pace, dens began to come into view. I was taken aback when I first saw them. "Honey.. Those dens!" I started and Honey looked at me curiously as we walked past them. "They're like the ones in HomeValley! They're like a burrow!" I exclaimed in excitement. I had completely forgotten the Peace Clan would've had burrow dens. It felt even more like home now. "Oh yeah.. I guess so" he said then giggled a little at my excitement.
"So aunt Pounce still keeps up the tradition I see" he said and I snapped my head away from the dens and up at Honey.
"Aunt who?" I asked and Honey tilted his head a little. "Your mother. We call her Aunt. It is respect for your elders you know?" he said a bit unsure and I nodded.
"Oh"
We both looked back in front of us, seeing the dens go by. "Hey Honey, how do you guys know so much about the things happening in HomeValley now? How did Uncle Smoketail know about what happened to my father, and know about my brother StripeTail, how do you know about my mother, I doubt you were born when you were all back at HomeValley?" I asked and Honey shrugged.
"Word spreads I guess. I never met your family but they're spoken of here. After all, your father was up until recently, the Masters brother." Honey said and I nodded, then paused. "Wait, what do you mean up until recently?" I asked. And Honey stopped in his tracks, his face was the face of someone who had just let something important slip, that they now regretted saying. "Honey... What does that mean? Until recently..? I thought my grandfather or Uncle was Master... Aren't they?" I had a bad feeling, what does 'until recently' mean?
"Um..BlueWhiskers right? We're here!" Honey said nervously, clearly faking excitement. But I looked anyways, not far in front of us was a den bigger than any other den here. It was probably the biggest den I had ever seen. It also went under ground but the opening was very large, and when I walked closer and looked inside it was huge. In the ground above the den there were holes poked into the soil to let light into the den. In front of the opening was a flat stone. "Wow.." I said under my breath.

"Yeah, pretty isn't it... That's the Master's Centre Den. It is located at the exact middle of the Peace Territory. That's where any important matters are discussed or where you'd normally go to find the Master. She sleeps in there too, along with her daughter." Honey explained and I noted the fact that he was saying 'she' and 'her' daughter.

"Well, let's get you inside"

April Bluebird/BlueWhiskers1.
BlueWhiskers 2; Awakening Shadows.
Chapter 13
10.Jan.2021
1622 words.