Moonlit Eyes

Moonlit Eyes, Chapter 5

The two younglings made their way back to the village. Most of the crowd had dissipated, but no one seemed to notice they were gone. Though.. Something was strange. The remaining villagers were quieter. Some of them even looked scared. A familiar grey cat came running over. “Oi! I thought you were taken as well! Someone ought to keep a better eye on you.” Midnight was confused, but Sundune’s face said it all. “Our friends and our guardians were taken... Did Willow-?” “Oh, pap tried his hardest, but he ended up in the medical tent.” Ashy looked over towards a dingy white tent that was a pretty decent size.
        Midnight took a step forward. Ashy stuck her paw in the way. “Ah ah ah, I wouldn't suggest going in there.”  Midnight huffed. “Why not?” “He got pretty injured... I don't think you would like to see that.” Sundune was oddly quiet. “How did they take my father, of all cats? He was the youngest of the guardians, I don't understand-`` Ashy sighed. ''Sleeping darts. They used the nectar of some type of flower and took him out before attacking.”
        “Did they take you out?” Midnight spoke up. “I fought it the best I could. I still ended up passing out for a few minutes…” Ashy yawned and sat down. Midnight’s eyes brightened. “Do you have the dart?” Ashy’s ears perked up. “Why indeed, yes I do! It’s in my secret den though- oops, I  spilled the lake-” Midnight looked at Sundune with a surprised face, but she just looked towards the sound,
        “I knew that since we first met you. You were so eager to get there, but you got distracted by us.” Sundune said, matter of factly. “Well, guess I ain't a good secret keeper. But hey! That’s not fair, you can read my mind!" Ashy giggled. “Hrm... I might as well take you there. I don't really have a choice. Just don’t touch anything, and don’t mess Treefrost up.” Ashy sat up and started walking towards the entrance of the small town.
        After a few minutes (And confused looks), the three cats veered away from the trail and into the forest. As they dwelled farther into the forest of ravens, they all at once felt a little ZAP. Ashy seemed to ignore it, but the other two kittens puffed up. “What was THAT?” Midnight hissed. “Oh, don't get your fur in a knot. It’s just some protection.”
        Eventually, the three found themselves in front of a wall of earth. It was quite new, made in the last year or so. “The Whispering Whiskers fault line, that’s right! Remember what I said about Treefrost? Don't bother him, please. He’s working with something very important.” Ashy turned to the kittens. Sundune snorted. “All I hear is ‘Ash better be back with some fresh catch soon, or I will resort to eating my fur!’' Sundune and Midnight started to laugh.
        “That’s typical.” Ashy went behind a boulder and she seemed to disappear behind it. Midnight looked behind the boulder to find a tunnel leading into the earth. He wasn't fond of getting his fur dirty, but he didn’t have a choice when Sundune ran into him and Midnight was shoved in. The tunnel was bigger on the inside, actually. Maybe 2 Starcry- sized cats could stack on top of one another in there.
        The smell. It was completely gone in here. The thought of the stench was brought up when Midnight noticed the leaves making a path on the earthy dirt. Just a few hours ago the local cats of the Dusk base were walking around, wearing those huge maple leaves on their faces. But now... They were all gone.
        “Hey, are you just gonna stand there and daydream?” Ashy poked Midnight’s side. “Oh... Uhm, No-.” But as midnight continued walking, the thought of where his friends and family were got bigger and unignorable. ‘No. Don't think like that... We can get through this.’ Midnight glanced back at Sundune. ‘Right?’