[Chapter Nine- Scandalous]

While I had plenty of bad entrances through my entire life, this one made all the other ones take a run for their money. One second there was solid ground beneath my feet—paws, and the next second I was tumbling through the air to what would surely be my death. The wind rushed against my face, and I barely had time to let out a piercing scream before my body slammed into the harsh stones below me, knocking the breath out of my lungs.

Lying on the smooth stone, I tried to gather my bearings in my bedazzled state. I was still alive after that brief but awful fall. Vaguely, I remembered hearing that there was an old abandoned mine somewhere in the woods. I must have fallen down it in my sudden euphoria at my newfound skills and haste to get away from the wild cats.

The wild cats who were talking to me.

Again, the revelation hit me again so rapidly that my mind woke from its dazed state almost immediately. I was suddenly holding up my body weight on four wobbly legs that could definitely not be mistaken for human legs. Scanning the area around me, I took in my surroundings with a tense posture, legs almost locking together with fear.

I was not very surprised to see that an entire population of cats had settled themselves down in these abandoned mines. Dozens of them of different sizes and colours were staring at me. Some had their fur puffed out in alarm and were hissing at me; others regarded me with a wary kind of curiosity the way someone would observe a dangerous animal in a zoo.

Except now I was the animal, and I felt intimidated by all the eyes narrowed in on me. I began to think that maybe running away from Fangclaw had been the wrong choice in the first place. I had a much better chance in an open space with one trigger-happy or now more appropriately named unsheathe-happy cat than in an enclosed manmade crater with dozens of cats staring at me.

No one was making any notion towards me, and I wondered if I had a chance at escape no matter how slim it might be. I decided that speaking was the best approach for me. I couldn't fight all these cats for my life, and I didn't know a way out of these smooth walls. It was best that I played innocent and maybe they would take pity on me.

Like that had worked with Fangclaw. Still, I had to try my luck while hoping these people—cats were different.

Who was I kidding? They were cats.

"I'm sorry," I immediately said, hoping it was best to start with an apology. "I'm really sorry for intruding on your territory." A good way to start an apology to a dowt of cats was to quickly address the situation of territory. Some of the cats flattened their ears and regarded me with downright hostility. I held back a wince; so maybe this wasn't the smartest way to go, but I had no other options. "I'm just trying to get home—"

The cats ignored my next words, parting away to reveal a pretty tortoiseshell she-cat walking forward with serene and confident steps. My words died in my throat when I saw her approaching me, unnaturally coloured eyes zeroing in on me.

She paused within a foot of me and took a subtle sniff, obviously trying to pinpoint my scent. Her lips didn't curl back in menace when she had my scent. "Kittypet," she finally said, and I tilted my head in confusion but didn't ask. I assumed that was the name for a housecat.

"Yeah," I agreed, drawing out the syllable while still aware of all the eyes on me. "I, er, happened to fall down a crater while I was running away—"

She cut me off coolly. "Running away from what?" she asked, her tone taking a sharp turn and eyes flashing with something that looked like worry for a moment. She watched me carefully but didn't say anything else; it was like she was trying to get me to admit something with telepathy that I didn't have.

"I—cats?" I managed. Now that I was thinking clearer than before, I wondered how I was going to get back to the cottage. There were cats everywhere, and I wouldn't be lucky enough to escape them. They would seek me out the same way Fangclaw did, and I knew that he was lenient compared to other wild cats. The thing I needed most right now was a safe place to stay before I figured out what to do next. "I need a place to stay," I finally said, noting the low growls from other cats. I didn't blame them for being so wary of me.

The tortoiseshell she-cat tilted her head slightly while she examined me. "And why would a kittypet be wanting a place to stay when you can go home straight away?"

I stumbled with my answer here, not wanting to reveal the crazy and obnoxious sounding truth while I was at the mercy of wild cats. "I'm lost," I finally admitted. "I need a place to stay for the time being. I'll be out of your face as soon as possible," I added, hoping that it was true.

There were some grumbles of protests from the other cats, but the she-cat silenced it with a quick flick of her tail. She dipped her head slightly, and I wasn't sure if I should return the gesture. "Yes, you may stay for a while. Be warned that if your stay is lengthy, you'll need to pull your weight around here. My name is Dapplestar; welcome to ThunderClan." A comment rose to my throat about the oddness of the name, but I managed to repress the juvenile response.

"Luna Castro," I blurted out instead before I could stop myself. Dapplestar stared at me oddly. "That's my name," I finally said. She gave me a curious look before dipping her head once more and turning away, obviously indicating for me to follow her with a commanding flick of her tail. A few cats followed after Dapplestar with what sounded like protests. Some of them continued staring at me while the rest of them went back to their business but with a cautious air around them.

I let out a breath that I didn't realize I was holding. Human habits die hard. I followed after Dapplestar with my head low, trying to shrink into myself and fade into the background.

~0~0~

After Dapplestar interrogated me, she ended up stuffing me in a cave that she called 'the medicine cat's den'. I held back a noise of amusement at this and nodded solemnly. When I walked past the brambles and into the den, my senses were immediately assaulted by the smell of verdant herbals that made me wrinkle my nose. The scent was strong enough that it could easily be mistaken for a bad smell. Before I had the time to take another step, a blackish blue she-cat made her way out from another section in the cave to greet me.

"Hello," she meowed politely. I noted that I could immediately tell whether she was male or female. I dipped my head in a greeting before meeting her cyan eyes. Something pounded at the back of my head and I averted my gaze, letting my eyes settle on the dull brown walls to fight against the sudden vertigo.

"Your name is Luna Castro, correct?" she asked me, her tone professionally polite. I confirmed it, and she continued speaking. "My name is Blue, and you will be meeting my apprentice Bramblepaw shortly." Right on cue, there was shuffling noises from the back cave and a cat popped his head out to eye my warily.

The light brown tom stared at me. "That's her," he stated blandly, his nose twitching almost imperceptibly. "What is she doing here?"

Blue wasn't surprised by Bramblepaw's unfriendliness towards me. "She suffered a fall from earlier. We need to tend her wounds."

Bramblepaw muttered something under his breath while he glowered at me before he made me sit in one of the mossy beddings while they tended any injuries. I was a little hesitant at first to rest along it, and Bramblepaw scoffed at my reaction with the word, "Kittypet." It was a sneer, and I got the feeling that the term word was only ever used as an insult.

While Blue was examining my cuts from the thorns earlier, a dark brown tom strolled in from the entrance. My head snapped immediately to him when I heard the brambles swishing, and I was met immediately with brown eyes zeroed in on me.

My mouth suddenly felt very dry, and my heart started to pound in something that felt like anticipation. I wasn't infatuated with him at first sight; there was just something about that cat that cried: he's your ticket home; be human again.

Those thoughts disappeared as suddenly as they had come, and I was left staring at the face of a very confused young tom. He tilted his head slightly while he examined me, looking thoroughly perplexed. Only Bramblepaw's snarky comment threw us out of our staring contest. "Oh look, Rowanpaw's smitten with the new mystery now." There was a tone of bitterness in his voice that I didn't expect, and I looked over at Bramblepaw questioningly. He was staring at Rowanpaw with his jaw locked and eyes fierce, and I sensed a deeper reason for the animosity running between them than mere dislike for each other.

Rowanpaw disregarded Bramblepaw's words without even shying away in embarrassment. "If you're done, I came to show Luna Castro to her resting area for the moment."

"Let me guess, she's sharing the bedding with you?" Bramblepaw nearly hissed, and I was confused at why he was being so vicious about this. I wasn't sure if there was an undertone of jealousy or just the plain desire to make Rowanpaw flinch.

"No," Rowanpaw deadpanned. "Dapplestar said she was an apprentice's age. She will be sleeping in the apprentices den." He looked at me now, and I made sure not to meet his eyes. "Are you done, Blue?"

"Yes," Blue replied, stepping away from me and allowing me to stand up on my four feet again. "She's done. There was nothing more than minor scratches." She gave me an amiable nod. "I hope to see you around soon, Luna Castro." I dipped my head back before following a waiting Rowanpaw out of the medicine cat's den.

We walked in silence, and I felt awkward and out of my comfort zone. Was I really doing this and living with cats until I could figure out a solution for my predicament? I was so lost in my own thoughts that I didn't notice Rowanpaw had begun to speak until he asked me a question, staring at me with curiosity.

"I'm sorry; can you repeat that?" I asked him meekly, not wanting to get on the bad side of every single cat here. They probably thought I was idiotic and stupid already, being a 'kittypet' and all.

"Do we know each other?" he repeated, staring at me with narrowed eyes. "Because I swear—"

Alarm bells went off in my head. He's your solution. He'll help you. He'll find a way for you to become human again. Just trust him—

The voice shut off just as quickly as it had come. I stared at the cat in front of me, wondering where his wild claim had come from. I shook my head before I realized that it was a human gesture and looked odd on the body of a cat. "No," I finally answered, staring at his brown eyes that were so oddly different from all the other cats that I also wondered if I knew him from somewhere. "I don't know who you are."

Disappointed clouded in his eyes, but he didn't say anything else as he led me away.

I'm back-ish. I apologize for the lengthy wait and the possible dreariness of this chapter, but it's mid-season finale time for TV shows and they kill my feelings. Anyway, this might be oddly written because I had been writing a NaNoWriMo targeted at an older teen audience, in third person (which I think I like better than first person...), and from a male's pov before. I have to say it feels really odd to go back to this when I was writing about topics that an author wouldn't normally breach in this genre. And the last thing I wrote before this was an Xover fic that was incredibly angsty, so it was also odd to go back to the lightness of Luna's word, so far at least.

In regards to the new versus old version of this fic, I've expanded on character relations more, but I'm not sure if I've done it well. I think the largest change regards the Bramble/Rowan relationship and it's also the biggest risk for this fic for multiple reasons. I'm a little unsure about my implicit themes there (if you don't know what I'm talking about, you don't need to know unless you are sorely curious then you can PM me about it) because it was never something discussed in the Warrior's book and is odd in context of cats, but I feel like I want to discuss it so... I'm not sure if I'll pursue it or leave it in the implicit background.

Reviews=love!