The Horseplace was bigger than Riverpaw and Wildpaw expected.

The twolegs sure know how to make a cat feel small, and yet feel at home! Riverpaw pondered as his feet hit harder land.

He had been holding his breath, and finally was able to release it.

I don't see any cat guarding the Horseplace. All I see is some weird stuff trying to keep us out. Silly Twolegs, if you want to keep us out you're going to have to try harder than with some silly mesh.

Riverpaw easily sprang onto the weird mess. It wasn't dangerous.

Wildpaw and Pearl followed him, Pearl alert with fear scent trailing off him.

Riverpaw wanted to ask if he was okay, but he stiffened up after that, pretending to be braver than he actually was.

The three cats leapt down the weird mesh thing, the wood piercing Riverpaw's pads. It dug deep into his left hind paw.

Riverpaw flinched and could smell a small tang of blood beginning to flow out of the pierced pad. It would need a helping pull to get wormed out of his paw.

He would be limping back to camp if he wasn't going to by the time they were done exploring this Horseplace.

Speaking of which, why are we still exploring this place anyways? Curiosity? A deep longing to know about those weird spotted animals with black spots?

Riverpaw did not know.

All he knew was it was too late to back down now.

They were padding through the lush grass of the Horseplace.

It was nice for being a part of Twoleg settlement.

The smell of twoleg was faint, as if they had been scared away by something or some cat.

The smell of musky-and-rank cat surrounded them.

Growls could be heard but between the harsh growls and pelts bristling, a pair of young yellow eyes peered from a bush nearby.

A red-orange striped tail raised high, stopping the approaching black, brown, and white cats from attacking the three trespassers.

The three cats paused, confused.

A purr rumbled within the bushes, and a beautiful she-cat padded out from within the small shrubbery.

She was orange-and-red. She was a tabby. And her golden eyes flashed with curiosity at the strangers.

Her head tipped at Pearl.

Pearl shrunk himself to the ground.

"Pearl!" She squealed, running over to the cream tom, running her tail around his head.

"You're back!"

She sounded happy to see him.

Was Pearl wrong about these cats?

They seem nice, Riverpaw notes. Nothing as how Pearl described them.

Or...perhaps it was only the brown tabby who was mean?

Pearl seemed disgusted at the Orange-red tabby she-cat. His face was contorted of many different emotions. From anger to love.

Did he use to love her?

Riverpaw didn't know. This mysterious she-cat seemed to be excited to see him though.

"Yeah. Unfortunately, I'm back. Two curious kittens just had to explore this place, and put us all in danger." Pearl huffed.

He appeared to be grumpy.

His tail was in between his legs, and his face was looking at the ground in...shame?

The orange-red she-cat only purred.

"You're being over dramatic, Pearl. As always! You're in no danger at all! I'll vouch for you and your new friends. No doubt about it!" The she-cat purred, elegance radiating from her pelt.

Pearl's wars flattened, his gaze turning away from the young she-cat. "That's what you say. You're the daughter of Gecko, for Pete's sake! Of course you would say that!" Pearl meowed distrustfully.

The orange-red tabby ignored him with a sweet purr.

Riverpaw felt his heart skip a beat.

His tail curled a bit as his green eyes gazed at the pretty she-cat.

The she-cat locked eyes with him, and he looked a different way, feeling very shy.

His pelt began to feel hot.

His ears were practically burning and on fire at this rate.

"Who are your friends by the way?" She asked Pearl, pointing and Riverpaw and Wildpaw with her tail.

Wildpaw seemed to be purring for some odd reason.

"Them? Don't hurt them, Zinnia! They're still young. Younger than me I mean." Pearl practically pleaded to the apparent Zinnia.

Zinnia purred, her whiskers twitching.

"Why would I hurt anyone, Pearl? That's my mother you're talking about. Even so, she's not as bad as you keep trying to put in other cats minds. Sheesh. You're a scardey-mouse, that's what you are."

Her yellow eyes flashed with amusement.

"He was always one of the more scared members." The white cat meowed, murrowing with laughter.

"Poor Pearl, always having to deal with fear because he's too scared of us!" Laughed the black cat.

"Honestly, you need to be braver. How about you work on that instead of your false stories? They're all fake, and they make you sound like you're old!" The brown cat laughed.

Pearl snarled with fury.

Riverpaw and Wildpaw turned towards Pearl with confusion.

"Is this true? Did you lie to us?" Riverpaw asked, shakily.

Wildpaw bunched his shoulders, ready to pounce the scarred tom.

"No! Of course not! I wouldn't lie to you. They're the ones who are lying!" Pearl snarled, lashing his tail harshly.

The black cat leaped forward, nipping at Pearl's paws.

Pearl screamed, jumping back.

"Stay back, you evil rogues! You're going to give me rabies!" Pearl yowled, lifting a front paw to gaze at it.

The three cats laughed at him.

Zinnia rolled her eyes.

She lifted her tail once more.

"That's enough, everyone. Stop mocking the poor dear. He did in fact get scarred, so let's not make fun of him for it."

The other cats stopped their murrowing.

They were staring attentively at Zinnia, awaiting orders.

"Stand bye," she mewed, lifting her tail even higher.

The other cats stood there, glaring at Riverpaw, Wildpaw, and Pearl.

Zinnia approached Riverpaw and Wildpaw.

The action made Riverpaw gulp.

What was she going to do? She was kind of intimidating for him to even look at. How could he stand to be near her when her every action made him feel like he was going into a different clan territory and then getting caught?

Her golden gaze first set upon Wildpaw, tilting her head at his wild stuck up fur.

She laughed a bit at his fur.

"Wow! I've never met a cat who's fur stuck up so much. It's so wild!" She laughed, circling around him.

Wildpaw appeared to be uncomfortable with this action. "Could you please be at least three Fox lengths away from me at all times?" He asked.

She laughed, backing away before setting her eyes on Riverpaw.

If Riverpaw didn't notice his pelt was hot before he could really tell it was now.

He wish he could shrink and never return.

His heartbeat kept racing. He was sure Zinnia would be able to notice it, but she never made a remark or teased him about it.

"You two look alike. Are you brother? What's with the weird orange pelt color in only one of you?" She questioned, touching Riverpaw's fur.

"It's just in our genetic makeup I guess," Riverpaw meowed, wondering how he didn't even flinch with his remark.

He shied away his body from hers by backing up a little, bit she didn't get the hint he was nervous.

Or maybe she did, but she just wanted to get closer to him. That thought made him even more nervous.

"What are your names? Little ol' Pearl here is keeping secrets away from his best friend." Zinnia asked them, flicking her tail against Riverpaw's throat.

She didn't know how to keep distance apparently.

Riverpaw was stiff with overwhelming emotions. He wasn't sure how he felt about the way he was feeling towards this strange she-cat.

But she surely can't be bad if she's this friendly and nice! Maybe I should get to know her more. Riverpaw thought.

"I'm Wildpaw, and Mr. stiff here is Riverpaw!" Wildpaw meowed, stifling a purr.

The tom flicked his orange-and-gray tail at Riverpaw.

Zinnia was murrowing with even more laughter now.

"Wildpaw? That's your actual name? Wow. I got it almost on point with the wild description." She purred, her eyes glowing with amusement.

Riverpaw purred in amusement as well.

She did get it correct.

"Want to come inside? You can come too, Pearly whirley! You can still come back too! We're not going to kill you like you keep meowing about, so keep your mouth shut." Zinnia mewed, slapping her tail over Pearl's mouth when he tried to talk.

"Sure! We'll come in. Just make sure your mother is ready for two warriors apprentices to come in, though. I'm not sure how she would react to two warriors." Riverpaw meowed nervously.

His heartbeat was pounding even faster.

How would Gecko react once seeing them?

"Oh, you'll be fine!" Zinnia meowed, waving her tail.

She bounded with such a grace, Riverpaw didn't know if he's ever seen any she-cat walk like that.

"Are you coming?!" She yowled towards them.

"Yeah!" Riverpaw meowed, not bothering to think before he spoke, feeling his pelt grow hotter by the minute.

What's wrong with me? Riverpaw wondered as the three cats followed Zinnia, being trailed by the white tom, black tom, and brown she-cat.
—————

Author's Note: We are finally getting deeper into the actual plot of the story.

What do you think of the other cat in the cover, Zinnia?

I would love to hear your thoughts on her and her lackey.

And of course everything else.

Thanks so much for reading! Chapter eight will be out tomorrow.

I could update today once more, but I'd rather think I should be doing other things. Give my mind a break.

Anyways enjoy! And hope to see in the rest of the chapters!