Our Little Secret[C]

Valley waited patiently just outside the border, which he now recognized as the foul-smelling scent marks all over the pine trees, for Batswarm to arrive. It was the exact date that they had arranged to meet. Since then, he'd met a few more cats around, and even got into a fight. The tabby's ears twitched as a cat padded towards him. Batswarm. He lifted his tail in greeting. "Lets get going," He mewed.

Just as promised, Valley was waiting for him at the border of Twolegplace. Nervously, Batswarm's whiskers twitched as he recalled all the forms of life he came across his last time here; all of it scary.

"What will you show me today?" The calico would be the first to admit that Valley truly held the ShadowClan warriors life in his paws... This place was spooky.

Batswarm seemed especially nervous about the Twolegplace. Valley's whiskers twitched in amusement as he replied, "Oh, just a quick tour around a small area, you don't need to know the whole place by heart yet. Just the basics if you should ever get stuck here for the night." Truth to be told, he himself wasn't all that familiar with the Twolegplace, but he had been to plenty others. How more different could it be?

With that, the tabby made his way from the pine forest, heading straight for the Twolegplace. He stopped on a small hill that overlooked the small town and waited for Batswarm to catch up.

Relief washed over the muted calicos fluffy pelt at Valley's reassurance that they would only tour a small part, and not the entirety of it. He could have done with the 'stuck here over night', though; even the slightest chance of that happening made him shudder.

As he stood next to the tabby on the little hill, his tail twitched behind him. It was different seeing the layout from higher up: rows and rows of Twoleg dens lay next to each other in slightly uneven rows. Each den a different width or height, the borders that separated each were of different colours, heights, and some were even incomplete. A diversity the clan cats of the forest would never tolerate. "Interesting...

Valley couldn't help but smile at Batswarm's almost kit-like wonder as he saw the Twolegplace. "Well, let's get started," He purred, bounding off the hill and entering the cluster of houses. Hold on, the cats around here called them Twoleg dens, didn't they? What an odd name. Did they call birds Winged-Twolegs? Whisker twitching with amusement at the thought, the tabby scanned his surroundings. Where to start...

Right, the road. They call it a Thunderpath, didn't they? Checking that there were no cars around, Valley placed a paw onto the dark gravel road. "What do you know about these uh Thunderpaths?" He asked Batswarm.

Making sure he was close behind Valley, Batswarm eyed his surroundings, ears lightly pressed back against his head. "That monsters stalk across it, running faster than any cat I've ever seen." They also held reflective surfaces that he often took advantage of when they slept; making sure he looked perfect any chance he got. Not that that took all that much effort. He was perfect, after all.

"We're not... crossing it, are we...?"

Monsters...stalk? It took a moment for Valley to understand what Batswarm was talking about. Right, clan cats had different names for everything... "The Monsters that run across the Thunderpath actually has no mind of its own. From what I've seen, the Monsters simply follow the same path every day. Think of it as avoiding logs flowing down a river. The logs won't hunt or attack you, but it would be painful if you get hit," Valley tried his best to explain in a way that wouldn't totally confuse the other tom, but would help assure Batswarm that there was nothing to be scared of.

"Place your paw on the edge of the Thunderpath. Notice how still it is? Well, when a Monster is coming towards you, it starts vibrating very hard. For now, there are no Monsters coming so we can cross," Valley explained, then hopped onto the road and bounded to the other side. Roads and cars were way too common, even in a small town like this, for a cat to be scared of. Not unless they wanted to starve to death.

Batswarm stood at the edge of the Thunderpath, trusting of what Valley said to him to be true. Still... He hesitated, lifting a paw only to put it back down several times. Another concern was that it could be dirty. "I've sat on top of the monster near camp; Not having a brain of their own... That explains why they never woke up even when I looked into their eyes." His sister, Moondancer, had been the one to point out that the Great Marshes muddy pools weren't that great to view ones own reflection.

Glancing at the tom who had made the first move across Thunderpath, Batswarm heaved a sigh.

Both eyes closed, he stepped a single paw onto the hard surface.... Huh. Nothing happened! "Hey! I'm still alive! What has everyone been worrying about this whole time? A new confidence was in his step as he padded up beside Valley, a grin on his calico face. He would definitely remember the bit about the ground shaking when a monster neared.

Valley couldn't hide his amusement when Batswarm confidently stepped onto the road. So excited... you'd think he wanted to be a house cat or something. "Well, I've lived in a place where every heartbeat has Monsters rushing past on the roads, so of course I'd need to know how to avoid them. For cats who don't interact with the Monsters as much, I suppose they just haven't come up with a way yet. They don't really ned to, do they?" He tried to explain to Batswarm.

"Moving on, I'll show you how to get food. There are three ways: Dumpster-diving, hunting, and begging. Begging Twolegs to give food is the most rewarding, least effort taken, and also the riskiest, since there is a high chance the Twoleg will pick you up and take you somewhere. But its ok, I know a Twoleg that feeds stra- rouges," Valley told the tom, then ran across the road. He bounded down the street, took a left, then a right, completely unaware that Batswarm might not catch up with him. At last, he stopped at the Twoleg's house, and he turned to face Batswarm.

Batswarm's eyes widened in surprise when Valley suddenly sprinted across the Thunderpath and down a smoothed Twoleg trail, before turning out of sight. "W-Wait! Hold on-!" The ground began to tremble under his paws. There was plenty of time for Batswarm to move out of the way- but his pristine claws unsheathed and gripped the hardened path below him, green eyes squeezing shut. He was afraid. He was going to die-

A strange, high-pitched growl sounded from the approaching monster, making his eyes shoot open once more. Instinct must have taken over  because his paws started moving him across the Thunderpath and onto the Twoleg trail that Valley had disappeared on. Right... No, left! A left and then a right.

Paws came to a skidding halt before Valley, the calico looking at the tabby in disbelief. "Why would you do that?!" He huffed, out of breath. It would take him a moment to catch his breath from that one- and get his rustled pelt back in order.

Valley flicked his ear as Batswarm finally managed to catch up. “You didn’t seem all that confident about the Twolegplace, so I thought I’d let you explore on your own first. Was there a problem? You’re here not, aren’t you?” He mewed casually.

That had been the problem beforehand, exploring it on his own. His ears went back slightly. "Right..." A quick grooming session before he returned his attention to Valley. "...What now?"

"We're going to wait for a certain Twoleg to come along," was all Valley said before he went quiet and silence settled between the two toms. After a few minutes in silence, a blond-haired female Human came along. She spotted the two cats and immediatly began gushing over them. "She won't harm you. Just do what I do," Valley whispered to Batswarm, then trotted towards the Human and reared up, resting his chin on her knee and looking at her with wide eyes. The Human smiled and stroked Valley's head, to which he admitted a loud purr and closed his eyes. After a few moments of this, the Human reached into her bag and pulled out a sandwich, which she pried open and peeled off a thin strip of pink-coloured meat. Valley licked his lips and took the slice of meat gently in his mouth before turning to look at Batswarm.

Now you try, he mouthed silently.

He knew this weird, fur-less creature from the first time he scaled the tall, wooden borders along the Twoleg dens. This Twoleg had made sounds and beckoning gestures with her strange paws, scaring him into turning tail and never coming back.

He glanced at Valley warily as her naked paws reached out to touch the tabby tom. Unfortunately, Batswarm would not allow the Twoleg to touch him no matter how much she begged for him to come closer. Although... The pink meat she dangled in front of him smelled kinda good; a scent he hadn't ever smelled before. Maybe he could just have a little taste...?

Delicately dipping his head down, he nibbled a small piece before gluttonously devouring it, barely even chewing before swallowing. And that was when an unbelievable sensation washed over him as the Twoleg took advantage of his distraction: red painted claws scratched the top of his head, causing him to fall to his side in bliss.

However, her hand traveling down his flank made him snap back to reality, claws lashing out and forcing him to hiss at her. "She's trying to slice into my belly!"

Batswarm was doing well, enjoying the meal and letting the human scratch his head. To his horror, when the human reached to rub his belly, the warrior had tried to claw her hand. The human screamed, jumping back in shock. She quickly gathered her things and ran away quickly. Valley signed wearily. "The Twolegs don't have claws, and their teeth aren't sharp enough to actually hurt you. It was just trying to rub your belly," He explained gently to the tom.