It had been moons since Rusty had left. Rusty had met some wolf cats out there, and they offered him to join their Clan. ThunderClan or whatever. Smudge didn’t understand it, he didn’t want his best friend to leave! What was so wrong being a house at anyways? There was always food, always warm shelter; the day to spend away playing or whatever you wanted to do! But Rusty had explained he felt some calling, and housecats were lazy. And soon, he’d be taken to the “cutter”, or the vet; and he wouldn’t be the same cat.

He had been sad; but he spent one final morning with his best friend before the cats took him away. One of the same cats were there; a yellowish, strong Tom with lots of fur around his neck like a Lion; and a striking white cat. He saw his reddish colored friend disappear into the woods with them. And sadness pricked his heart. And he was lonely.

He’s been having dreams about the wildcats; and seeing cats made out of stars in his dreams. Was his consciousness telling him to go out and be a wild cat like Rusty? He wasn’t sure if he was fit for it like Rusty was. He was always lazy, just sitting on the porch; swatting at butterfly’s, and eating his pet food whenever his owners set it out for him. He rarely went out of his yard, but was this the calling Rusty had always been talking about?

He decided to go out and just take a look at the outskirts of the forest. His blue collar jingling along with him as he got up, shook his white and black spotted pelt and headed out his cat door. He sniffed at the woods—his sense of smell was dull since he was a house cat, but he swore he scented another scent.

He bounded over his fence; before going lightly into the edges of the woods. Now he definitely smelled it. The scent of a wildcat. It didn’t smell like the ones Rusty went with, not ThunderClan. How many Clans were there? He started shaking lightly; an instinct that house cats had when meeting a wildcat for the first time.

Would it be friendly? Or eat him up in one foul gulp? Then he saw it bound out the woods; and land in front of him. He flattened his ears and lowered his tail. Why hadn’t Smudge run? Did he actually want to learn more about the wildcats, and maybe join them like Rusty?