The 5 Chapter 3
#4 of The 5
When Flare was finally done, he took a few paces back to look at how his den looked. It looks terrible! He thought as he sat down. The branches didn't blend with the bush, and most of them were just barely hanging on to the bush. Flare sighed in disappointment. Well, I guess I'll go get Jasper then. Flare thought as he got up. He walked over to Jasper's den and bent down to peer in. As he looked in, he found Jasper sleeping up next to the center of the bush. "Jasper." Flare called out. Jasper moved a little, but stayed where he was. "Jasper." Flare called out louder. Jasper lifted his head up and looked at Flare with a tired face. "What?" He said in a sleepy voice. "I was in the middle of a good dream." He told Flare. Flare rolled his eyes, but Jasper didn't notice. "I thought you wanted me to tell you why I find you so annoying?" Flare said to Jasper. Jasper perked his ears up. "Oh yeah!" He said as he got up. "Alright," Flare started as he backed away from the entrance to let Jasper out. "I'll tell you, but not here." He said when he was out of the way. "Okay. I guess we can do that." Jasper said as he squeezed out of the den. "Follow me." Flare said as he turned and started heading towards the exit. Jasper followed with a happy walk. He held his head high as he walked. Flare pushed through the entrance and turned right, towards the same way he took to find the twig pile. I'm surprised he didn't comment on my den as we passed it. Flare thought. Well, maybe it was too dark for him to notice. Flare thought as he made his way through the dark."Most of it has to do with my past." Flare told Jasper over his shoulder. "Really?" Jasper asked. "So, is this going to be some sort of flashback? Like in a story?" Jasper asked Flare. "What? Well..." Flare paused for a moment but continued walking. "Sure, like that." They continued walking for a few moments, then they came to a little spot where the leaves and pines didn't cover the sky, and a little shaft of light of the moon broke through. "We can sit here." Flare said as he sat down. Jasper sat in front of him. "Where should I start?" Flare started. He waited for a moment as he thought. While doing so, Jasper grew tired a less alert. "I know!" Flare suddenly said, making Jasper jolt up. Jasper looked around, then went back to looking at Flare. "It began when my brother and I were born-" Flare was interrupted by Jasper's whine. "Please don't make it that long." He complained to Flare. "Hey!" Flare snapped back. "Don't interrupt me." He told Jasper. "Now, as I was saying. It started when my brother and I were born. We were born small, and so our father thought we were weak. He rejected us and hated our mother for giving birth to small kittens. He said that he wanted strong kits. Out mother warned him about his foolish behaviour. She told him that if he didn't stop, she would leave him. He didn't believe her, and so he continued. So one night, when he was fast asleep, she left. She had a friend who also had kits, and so she gave us to her. She never told any cat why." Flare paused to look at his paws. Why did she leave us? Why couldn't she keep us? Doesn't she know that I felt so alone without her comfort? "You ganna continue the story?" Jasper said, braking Flare out of thought. "Or are you done?" Jasper asked. "No, I'm not done." Flare said as he looked back up. "So, the she-cat our mother entrusted us with was a nice she cat. She had long, soft calico fur, and her came was Enabell." Flare told Jasper. "We live with her and her son, Snowy, was an all white cat with long soft fur like hers. Oh, I almost forgot my brother." Flare said with a jolt, making Jasper sit up quickly again. "My brother is a black cat. His name is White. His front paws and muzzle are a very light grey, and he has icy blue eyes. Enabell said he got from our father. She also said I got my eyes from my mother." Flare told Jasper. "We lived with her for about ten months." Flare continued."Sometimes, Enabell would tell us about our mother, but she never revealed her name. She told us our mother didn't want us to know. She told us of stories of how brave she was. How tall and confident in herself she was. She said our mother would always give off a presence of authority. She also told us about how they would play as kits, every day. She said that some days they would even play around all day. They were almost like-" Flare was cut off by Jasper. "Sisters? Were they almost like sisters?" Jasper asked. "Well, yeah. But, stop interrupting me. Please." Flare told Jasper. "But finally," Flare continued again. "The time came for us to leave. White was set on finding our mother. Unfortunately, Enabell couldn't help us with that. I decided to help White. We wished her and Snowy farewell as we left. The change felt almost instant as we left the humans place and into the forest." Flare told Jasper. "Then what happened? Did you find" Jasper asked as he leaned forward. "No." Flare replied. "We spent moons searching for her, and we never even found a trace." Flare told Jasper. Jasper sat back down on his haunches. "Awww." He said. "Well, where's your brother now?" Jasper asked. "I was getting to that." Flare told him in an agitated voice. "My brother left to join a group of cats. We had come across them one day. They call themselves a 'tribe.' One of them claimed to be a relative. White had come up with the idea of him joining their tribe, and have me continue the search. We never really saw each other after that..." Flare trailed off, looking at his paws again. "Wow." Jasper said after a moment of silence. "Wait, why is your brother's name White?" Jasper asked with a confused look on his face. Flare looked up. He hesitated "I don't know." Flare finally said. "But, Enabell did mention something about a second part to the name. Almost like what the humans call a last name." Flare finished. "Oh, like EagleHeart and MoonStar? Yeah, it's like a last name system. Or so I'm told." Jasper replied. "It just means that they have relatives that they know about and the last name is how they show they're related." Jasper finished telling Flare. "Oh." Flare said as he got up. "Well, let's start heading back. The Sun'll come up soon." Flare told Jasper as he turned and started heading back. Jasper gave out a huge yawn shortly before following. Flare walked as Jasper stumbled back to camp.