Danger on the Wind

They're coming.

Moon flicked her ear towards the winds, straining to catch any sort of sound. Danger was lurking, she knew that much - she just had no idea where it was coming from. Where it would strike next.

A low growl sounded beside her. Tensing, she turned towards the sound, fur prickling. A long snout pointed down at her, piercing yellow eyes staring into her own.

Claws sliding out, she swiveled one of her ears forward, keeping the other out towards the wind.

"What is it?" She hissed softly. "Do you smell something?"

It was quiet for a moment. Wind continued sweeping by her ears, empty of sound, full of foreboding even in its hollowness.

Finally, her sister spoke, voice deep and gruff. "I think so." She tilted her long snout back, towards the barren trees that laid north of the pack's den. Moon strained her ears harder towards the trees, but still, she heard nothing but the wind. She envied her sister's sense of smell - all of the wolves' senses, actually - but now wasn't the time for envy.

"But it isn't..." Smoke scrunched up her snout, raising it towards the winds that blocked Moon's hearing. "I'm not sure it's them."

"There's something else out there?" Moon lashed her tail, anxiety spiking freshly through her. "Is it dangerous?"

"You think I can tell through my nose?" Smoke gave her a playful whack of her tail, and it almost threw her off her feet. But then her face was serious again, brows furrowed, and Moon decided against complaining.

She was about to suggest heading home, definitely not checking out whatever else was out there, when Smoke's eyes lit up in that way they did when she was about to do something stupid. Before she could even ask, a huge wolf nose was buried in her fur. With a startled yelp, she jumped to the side, shaking out her already rumpled fur.

"What was that?" She hissed. She was already on edge - the noises from the dead forest were getting more concerning every day. The last thing she needed was a jump scare from her sister while they were spying on it.

"I knew that smell was familiar!" Smoke wagged her tail, pointing with her snout towards the woods. "They smell like you!!"

"Me?" She could feel her fur rising again, and she tried to lay it flat. "What are you talking about?"

"Exactly what it sounds like." Her sister grinned, teeth glinting like the snow beneath them. Moon stared at her. They were like her? Cats like her were conspiring against them?

Claws digging into the snow, Moon didn't try to stop her fur from bushing out. This only made things so much worse. They didn't even know what was lurking in those woods, apart from those horrible sounds at night. And now there were cats aiding them? Or... those horrible noises were cats?

Moon shuddered. Either way, it spelled out all sorts of bad news. They didn't sound like much of a threat to all of them as a whole, comparing herself to the rest of her family, but there could be any number of cats in there. What if they tried to overwhelm them? Or what if they just wanted her? And on the off chance they weren't evil, what if the pack kicked her out, and sent her to live with her own kind? Even if they were evil, they might just use that to exile her!

Smoke whacked her with her tail again. "Hello? I'm talking to you."

Moon clenched her claws tighter, looking back up at her. "Sorry... sorry. I just... this is kind of even worse than just a bunch of weird creatures lurking in there."

"Or ghosts." Smoke chirped. She continued on before Moon could roll her eyes. "But isn't this a good thing? If it's just a bunch of cats crawling around screaming at night, there's not really any danger. And you could make friends with them!"

Moon must have had a look on her face, because then she followed up with, "Or we could eat them."

"I'm not saying you should eat anybody." Moon swept her tail back and forth across the snow, claws still flexing unconsciously in the snow. "I just... I don't know. Whatever they're doing in there, it can't be good, can it? I just..." She sighed, shoulders drooping.

"I don't like it."

"Aww, c'mere." Smoke swept her up, touching her nose to the top of her head. "You worry too much. This is a good thing, I promise. Just a bunch of cats? No ghosts? Or, ah, beasts or whatever you thought it was. The pack's gonna be fine now." She eyed her for a moment. Moon looked away.

"And you're gonna be fine, too. You hear me?"

Moon looked at her briefly, sighing. "Alright, whatever. Can we just go home?"

Smoke looked like she was going to disagree for a moment, snout scrunched up in displeasure. But she relented, tail drooping slightly.

"Alright, alright. I'm starving, anyway."

Her sister started loping back into their woods, with its pretty green pines, and no leafless trees concealing hidden dangers, or haunting screams, or mysterious cats. She began trotting after her sister, but a small gust of wind made its way through her fur, and she paused for a moment, looking back.

Staring into those old dead trees, she shuddered. Maybe ghost stories and mystery cats weren't even the worst of their troubles.