Furfire

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 I woke to the break of dawn. I heard a clinging sound and a deafening howl from deep within the forest.

"What are you doing, Furfire?"asked Mother. I guess that Mother wanted me to go back to sleep, but I can't remember a time I ever listened to her. I dashed out of the den and ran straight towards the center of the forest. I loved the forest - the thick trees, the vegetation, and the prey. I didn't know what I was looking for, but suddenly I smelled prey. I looked around and spotted a plump rabbit. I hid among the bushes and then I pounced on it. I caught it in my mouth and sunk my teeth into its neck. I carried it in my mouth to the nearest pond and I started eating the rabbit.

     When I finished, I took a sip from the pond. I stared into my reflection. I was different from the pack. My fur was a grayish black with a cast of red; unlike the rest of my pack, which was a grey color. I was smaller and slender than the average wolf in my pack. Mother says I was found weak and frail alone in the forest. She said she had taken me in when no one else would. Mother says I am "special." I doubt it. I suddenly remembered why I was here in the forest when I caught a scent that I hadn't smelled in a long time. A Twopaws! And something unfamiliar, too. And this unfamiliar scent strangely made me want to follow it. I heard a sound behind me and spun around. A Twopaws had been sneaking upon me with a wolf-sized cage in his hand.

    I ran back to my den as fast as I could have. I nuzzled my Mother for her to wake up. At first, she didn't pay any attention to me but I made sure she did. I told her what I had seen in the forest and what I had heard when I had woken up. She told me to stay in the den while she told the rest of the pack. She came back and told me I had to go with some wolves on a short expedition to show them where I'd seen the Twopaws. I left the den and came across the wolves I had to go the expedition with. I saw Scratch, Largetail, and Rapidpaw among them. They were my only friends in the pack. Well, I thought of them as my friends. The rest were also in my pack, but I hadn't taken the time to learn their names. We took off just as soon I reached them.

"Take us to where you encountered the Twopaws," ordered the expedition leader. I tried my best to take them where I had encountered the Twopaws. I felt my fur stand on end and I didn't know why. I suddenly caught the unfamiliar scent from earlier and the scent of Twopaws, but the scents were stale. I noticed some of the wolves curl back their lip and growl at the scent of Twopaws. Twopaws are some disgusting creatures. The expedition group, including me, sniffed around the area to catch the scent of Twopaws, but we failed. The expedition went back to give the news that no Twopaws were found. I lingered a bit more. I suddenly caught that unfamiliar scent again and whatever it was, it was close. I tried to ignore it, but I just couldn't. Whatever it was, it made me lose the willpower to ignore it. And I was afraid what it would lead me to. I finally took control of my willpower and started walking toward my den. I tried to remember what the unusual scent reminded me of. It smelled a bit of Twopaws, but not quite. It had an unusual tang to it, too. I suddenly found myself going the wrong direction to my den but that I was following the unusual scent. I knew it was too late to go back cause the scent was way too strong and too close to ignore and I was close to finding what had been worrying me this whole day. I suddenly stopped dead in my tracks. I had not been aware I had walked in to a camp. A Twopaws pack!

     I wanted to run away like earlier in the day, but what I saw made me stay. I saw at least a dozen of Twopaws. They were everywhere around their camp. And worst of all, there were cages everywhere. Most of them were filled with wolves! I knew none of them. The Twopaws were too involved in what they were doing to notice me. Then, all of the sudden, I felt myself get scooped up from the ground. I was being carried by a Twopaws and it put me inside a cage. I guess I was wrong. Maybe I was too shocked to notice them noticing me.

    It had felt like an eternity before I got there. I had been taken inside a wheeler and spent a lot of time in it. It had been really cold inside the cage and so lonely. When a Twopaws finally grabbed my cage, I wasn't in the forest anymore. I was taken inside a massive tall den made of what looked like shiny stone. Inside, I was taken to a room that was inhabited by wolves. And the room resembled the forest somewhat. Then I gasped. These wolves didn't look like the wolves in my pack. They looked like... me.

    I was released from my cage inside the room. Once the Twopaws opened the cage, I ran straight for the corner of the room. All the other wolves looked at me. I then walked toward them. I couldn't look weak around these new wolves.

"Did the Twopaws capture you too?" I asked the wolves. This seemed to puzzle the wolves.

"If you mean humans, then yes, we were captured," answered one of the wolves. Humans?

"Uh, yea, I guess. Where am I?" I asked.

"A zoo. You know, where humans come to see animals for enjoyment. The zoo owners capture animals from all over the world and display them for other humans," answered the same wolf. I guess this was the leader of the wolves. I felt much safer now. I knew these wolves meant me no harm and they would answer all my questions. But I couldn't stay here. I wanted to be in the forest where I belonged.

    The humans, as the wolves called them here, fed me three times a day, but it wasn't the same. I liked to hunt my prey, but the prey here was already dead. I had come up with a plan to escape. The humans had to open the door to enter the room to feed us, so when one of them opened the door I would instantly run out and find my way out of the zoo. I didn't know how long I'de been in the zoo, but I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to be out in the open and breathe in fresh air. I knew I didn't have to wait long till one of the humans opened the door.

    It was time. I could feel myself swelling with anxiety. I could hear the humans coming closer and closer. Then, I could hear the door being unlocked and then I heard the click. The door opened slowly and once the space was wide enough, I would run through. And then it was. I ran faster than I ever ran before. I ran straight through the gap and into the corridors. I should have thought this through. I didn't know where I needed to go, but I knew I had to get out of here. I could hear the humans' shrieking cries and screams. I just ran through the corridors. There were lots of turns and I was pretty sure I had passed many places more than once. I saw many different animals I had never seen before. I finally saw the door. I ran to it and when I came near it, the door opened by itself. Almost like magic. I didn't think much about it. I just ran.

    The fresh air from outside was awesome. I could hear many humans screaming. I bet from seeing a stray wolf in their streets. I saw many wheelers, too. Cars, as the other wolves called them. I must've ran for a long time because I sat down to rest inside a couple of bushes. I woke up to the scent of something familiar. I walked outside of the bushes and took in the scent. It smelled vaguely of... the forest! I guess I hadn't noticed the day I was captured that I had come so close to the forest. I followed the scent. It didn't take long before I reached the edge of the forest. I had done it. I was home.

     I didn't know this part of the forest, but I tried my best to find my pack. I walked from the afternoon to by sunset. I quickly stopped to hunt. I was full by the time I had caught and eaten three squirrels. This was the best meal I had eaten in what seemed like ages. I was getting tired, but I suddenly heard a loud howl. It sure woke me up. It had sounded like a howl of pain. I ran to the direction I had heard the howl. I suddenly came upon a human campsite. It looked different from the one that I'd been at when I was captured. I started to turn around to run the opposite way, when I heard a loud bang and saw the spot beside me burst in a miniature explosion. I froze in fear. I then knew I couldn't just stand there. I had to run to see my pack again. So I did. I ran faster than ever. I wasn't fast enough. I heard the same loud bang and then I hurt all over. I let a whimpering howl and collapsed. It was too painful too move. I knew wasn't going to see my pack again. I knew I wasn't going to live anymore. And then, everything went black and nothing hurt anymore.

Author's Note

This is an original story created by me(kind of).

*This story is massively inspired from the Warrior Cats books*

Furfire was the first real story that I ever wrote and so, it is special to me. The writing may not be very good(as it was written a little over 3 years ago), but I'm proud of myself for putting the amount of effort that I did.

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