Bounded by Hatred

Mouse padded through the undergrowth, sunlight making her silver tabby pelt give off a glint as she passed through patches. A couple others were behind her - a muscular brown tom and a dull orange she-cat. They walked on, having been sent out by their group's leader to check if any other battles were still being fought.

Now only birds sung, and the cats could hear the sound of creatures scampering around in search of food. Mouse had been chosen to lead the patrol; though she thought the war between the groups was nonsense, and it had all started because a number of kittens had been mysteriously stolen. She, by now, almost had herself convinced that the younglings had been taken by some other animal, not a cat or a group.

Suddenly a deafening yowl split through the air, causing the three to go rigid with shock.

"Come on!" Mouse meowed urgently to her companions as they began to race towards the source. The orange cat, named Tangle, took the lead, leaving Mouse and Claw to flank her as they ran. They broke out of the thickly entwined brambles as another battle cry was sounded. Mouse's fur stood on end and her eyes blazed.

"It's the Hawk and Light groups!" Tangle hissed. Claw's voice was easily heard over the screeching of the battle with his intense and low growl. "And they're fighting." The three cats threw themselves into battle, fighting side by side as a enormous black tom attempted to attack Tangle. Mouse recognized him as a Hawk-group cat, and she leaped onto his back and tried to hold on in vain.

Mouse jumped away and panted, looking back at Tangle and Claw. They would be okay. Suddenly a weight crashed onto her body as a tortoiseshell she-cat clung to her back. Mouse rolled over before the cat could pin her down in that position. The tabby searched for a place to sink her teeth into that would effect the rival. Her attacker bared her teeth at Mouse, and unsheathed her claws into the gray she-cat's shoulders. She let out an agonized yowl and closed her eyes in pain, then reached up with her neck and sunk her teeth into the cat's shoulder. While she did that, she drew her forelegs up and raked them across the she-cat's belly. Her attacker gave a yowl and fled into the forest. Mouse got up, panting, blood trickling from claw-marks in her shoulders. She stared at her surroundings; small pools of red were spluttered about the clearing, a few cats laid on the ground, and everything in Mouse's eyesight was a flurry of glinting claws and fur.

She retreated back into the undergrowth, having most of her strength sucked out of her from her last attack from the tortoiseshell. Panting heavily, she crouched down, trying to regain her ability to fight. Suddenly Claw burst through the low-hanging branches , and she looked up, mewing, "What?" Blood was soaking the fur around his neck, and he drew in painful breaths. He flicked his tail and Tangle slowly padded into the bushes, a small gash stretching across her side.

Claw meowed urgently, "We have to retreat. That Hawk-group cat got me...," he added in a mumble, staring at his wounds. He gave his chest a quick lick before taking the lead as they rushed back to their group's territory.

The three cats, each of them having been born with the group's blood in their veins, belonged to the Cloud group. A vast forest had been ruled by the three groups for long seasons, uncountable from every cat's view. They lived by no official rules; only the fact that one had to fight to uphold territory from intruders. Though group-leaders maintained some power among they're group to assure things didn't go out of control by accident, since groups didn't want to show weaknesses to others. Finally Mouse, Tangle, and Claw reached group-base, padding down a gentle slope surrounded by overgrown plants, sheltering it from hawks and other kit-eating creatures. Cats moved among the dappled sunlight, and some basked where patches shone through the thickly twined brambles. Shade made the fairly hot day feel very pleasant in the group-base, and a cool breeze calmed them all.

Robin, the lead-cat of Cloud group, was positioned beneath a small birch tree that grew on the left side of the base. The sturdy tom's gray pelt looked darker in the shade, and his yellow eyes shone brightly. Pounce, commander of the attackers, sat next to him, dull brown coloring her strong frame. Mouse rushed over to the two.

"Oh. Hello, Mous --"

"Robin! Pounce! The Hawk and Light group are fighting in a clearing near the river!" She blurted out the report.

Pounce leaped to all fours, prepared to gather a patrol of attackers at Robin's command. "What shall we do? Attack? Let them fight it out?" The leader sat in thought for a moment, his head slightly tilted as he went through the options in his mind.

"Pounce, call together a party of at least five attackers. Sky - yes, you - take Mouse and Claw to the healer's den."

Mouse tilted her head questioningly, meowing, "What about Tangle?" Robin glanced up, seemingly confused for a few heartbeats. "Oh, yes. Tangle too." He directed the last two words at the white she-cat Sky, who was slowly walking toward them as Pounce sped off, calling the names of attackers. Mouse, Claw and Tangle were ushered to the healer's den.

Once they were inside the cool, sun-dappled den, the silver tabby's whiskers twitched as a wave of strong scents of herb washed over her and flooded into her nostrils. Sky sped off, leaving the three. "Speckle?" Tangle called into the den, her ears perked for an answer.

A gray ticked tom stepped out from behind a bramble wall, his amber eyes widening as he spotted their wounds. Rushing forward, he sniffed at Claw's neck bite and without a word, dashed back into his herb stores. The pungent smell of an herb entered her mouth as the healer stepped back into the main part of the den with several leaves in his mouth. Chewing them, he spat the juice onto Claw's injury. Mouse could see the big brown tom wince. Suddenly she was jerked out of her thoughts when Speckle dropped some leaves in front of her and Tangle. Guess it's time I found out why Claw was wincing, she thought as she picked up the soft leaves in her jaws. She stretched her neck around and licked the juice into the teeth marks on both her shoulders, twitching for a moment. The juice stung.

After their wounds were soothed with a bandage of cobwebs and moss, the three padded wearily to their dens. Mouse walked into her small den, taking a moment to gaze around at the collection of stones and blue and red feather plumage. She circled a gentle scoop in the ground lined with feathers and comfortable moss. The silver tabby closed her eyes, sleep quickly taking her.