Chapter 1

Thin-tail wasn't special. She knew she wasn't. She was a normal cat. A normal everyday stray cat. Her group all had something that made them unique. Wether it was Storm's hunting and fighting abilities or Wave's unique fur colors. She was a normal brown tabby with black stripes and a white underbelly. Unless her thin tail counted as special but she doubted it. She was starting to lose her confidence. She looked up as Wave walked over to her. The tom looked down at her with his soft green eyes.

"You good, Thin?" he asked. Thin-tail didn't like the nickname but it was fine when he said it. He curled his tail around her.

"Yeah, fine," she replied. She hid all sadness or doubt from her voice but her face said otherwise and her ears were pinned sadly.

"No," he said doubtfully. "You aren't fine. What's going on?"

Thin-tail sighed. "It's really nothing. I just-" She broke off.

"You aren't thinking about how you aren't special again are you?" Wave asked.

"No." Her lie was obvious.

"So you are. Got it."

"What? That's not what I said!"

"It's what you wanted to say though." The cat smiled at her. "Cheer up," he said. "You have plenty things about you that are special. You're great just the way you are."

"Not really," Thin-tail answered sadly. "I can't hunt like Storm. I can't find the right healing plants like you. I can't connect with the dead cats like Cloud or heal like Chestnut."

"But you have plenty of things that are special. Like your tail. I've never seen that before. Or your pink nose... Or your ability to collect dandelions and turn them into flower crowns," he teased.

"Yeah yeah. But the crown looked really cute with your golden stripes," she teased back.

He batted her. "It did not! I was sneezing for days!"

"And that Wave," she said with a smile. "Is how we figured out your allergic to dandelions."

Wave batted her again and she laughed.

"Did you cheer her up yet?" Chestnut asked gently, padding over.

"Yep." Wave said. "Is Cloud healed yet?"

Chestnut frowned. "Not quite. That fox really got him good."

Wave looked at his paws and shook his head. "It's been an entire moon cycle. He's still hurt?"

"Healing takes time." Chestnut's voice was soft and kind.

"At this rate he'll never be better!" Wave said angrily. "Does he need more grass and roots for his bed?"

"Maybe some dandelions?" Thin-tail laughed as Wave batted her a third time.

"Not dandelions. How about some tulips?"

"No! Dandelions!"

Chestnut smiled again. "He does need bedding but I'll ask him about the flowers."

"Ok." Wave got up and trotted off to get some grass for Cloud.

Chestnut looked at Thin-tail with a knowing gaze. "You're more special than you realize." She looked at Wave then back at her before walking off to Cloud.

The cats lived in a in a small thicket behind a car-home. They were constantly under attack by foxes and raccons. The home was where the humans lived. The cats called them wheel-homes since they acted like wheels and humans lived in them. Thin-tail didn't know why humans lived in things like that. Wheels only stayed on the black path. The home only went off the path if it was going to stop moving. Otherwise it stayed on the path like other wheels. Humans were so weird. So were the humans' cats. They called themselves home-cats but to Thin-tail's group they weren't cats. The group called them kitties. They were so soft and could barely fight off a kitten. Let alone a full grown stray. Thin-tail went to her hole. The cats had designed the holes like a fox den but with a back exit. Thin-tail didn't think foxes had back exits but she hadn't ever been in one so she wouldn't know. She walked in a circle for a bit on her grass bed until she was certain she had made it comfortable. She laid in the grass and fell asleep.

***

Thin-tail dreamt of the night Cloud had been attacked by the fox one moon cycle ago.Thin-tail yawned and stretched. She blinked sleep out of her eyes. She half-heard the yowling outside. It was quiet. As if it was far outside the thicket. She finally processed the sound and rushed out of her hole, grass still clung to her fur. She shook it out. Storm was rushing out of the thicket and Thin-tail followed him.

She followed him into the forest and to a clearing where Cloud was battling a fox. He had a few wounds but they didn't look bad. The fox was standing over top of him and Storm leaped onto the fox' back. He clawed at the fox as Cloud yowled. Thin-tail ran to the fox and bit it's leg hard. The fox jumped off Cloud and shook Storm off it's back. It scratched Thin-tail's side. Storm scratched it again and hissed and the fox ran off.

Cloud lay on the ground, breathing heavily. Thin-tail dragged him to the thicket so Chestnut could check on him. Chestnut came out of the healing hole. "He'll be ok," she said. "It's good you and Storm got there so fast."

***

Thin-tail woke up to the sound of Wave and Chestnut talking. She couldn't hear their muffled meows from underground but she could tell they sounded concerned.

She shook out her fur and left her hole. She walked over to the two cats.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Storm scouted outside the thicket," Wave said. "He caught the scent of other cats a little way into the forest."

"That's normal though," Thin-tail said, confused.

"Not this close to the thicket." Chestnut was visibly worried.

"How close?" Thin-tail asked.

"Very," Wave answered. "Storm caught the scent close to the Oak Log."

"That close?" Thin-tail got worried now. The Oak log was probably about seven cat-lengths away. It doesn't sound as close as it really is. "How many cats?"

"Storm caught somewhere around seven or ten different scents." Wave told her. Chestnut nodded.

Thin-tail's eyes widened. "We have three fighters right now."

"Yup." Wave nodded then looked at her with fear overpowering the softness of his eyes. "We're way outnumbered if they decide to attack."