A TERRIFIC TAIL - CHAPTER NINE

*Silv's POV*

I couldn't believe it. Moon *and* Ottie! I was finally meeting both of them in person! Of course, we were cats, but that didn't matter. All that mattered was that the Terrific Three were together, after so long of talking with each other on the internet.

We stood together, our pelts brushing, heads bent together, for a long time. I ignored the whispers from my friends, and the glares thrown our way. I didn't care.

When we finally broke away, my friends were glaring at us, particularly Duskwind. *Trust her to make the mood sour,* I thought bitterly.

"Do you *know* them Silv?" she asked suspiciously. Her pale tabby tail waved irritably in the air, and I couldn't blame her. I brought them into this, and she knew that. Not to mention the fact Moon and Ottie were glaring at Duskwind for her rude remark. *Great, she already has gotten on their bad side.* Duskwind was never the best person to call on and ask to make a good first impression.

"Yeah, *do* you?" Lightningstrike brushed closely against Duskwind, aware of the glares thrown at her friend.

I nodded. "Yes, I do. I do know them." I turned to Nightfrost. "Don't you remember me talking about them? How Moon shares our birthday, and Ottie likes Percy Jackson just like you do?"

Nighty looked confused for a heartbeat, but then her icy blue eyes lit up with recognition. "Oh yes, I remember!" She looked at Moon and Ottie. "Silv has said a lot about both of you."

Moon looked at Nighty. "Silv has said a lot about you too." She smiled, then turned to me and Ottie. "We should talk when we get back to camp," she murmured, and Ottie and I nodded our heads in agreement.

I looked at where Snowfrost and Mapleflight talked with Cinderswirl in hushed voices. Lightning, Dusk, and Nighty were off to the side, heads bent together. They glanced in my direction every once in a while, and my stomach knotted into a twist. "That's Sarah, Nikki, Lizzy, Sammy, Amber, and Ivy. Or otherwise known as Snowfrost, Mapleflight, Cinderswirl, Lightningstrike, Duskwind, and Nightfrost."

Ottie nodded, and beckoned them forward. "Come on, we're going back to camp." She let Moon take the lead, then fell in step with me, my friends following us. Even though we'd already started building dens here, I figured we would be safer with Moon and Ottie.

"So do you and Moon have groups waiting back at camp?" I asked the brown tabby.

"Yeah. We each brought six friends, seven including ourselves." She stared at me intently, amber eyes flashing. "Do you know what we're supposed to do here?"

I shook my head. "No," I whispered. I glanced back at my friends, then turned to Ottie. "Did you . . . did you have the dream? Where you had to pick six friends? Maybe the voice . . . maybe it-- actually, *who*-- knows the reason why."

Her eyes widened. "Possibly, yes. We'll have to ask Moon. Maybe the voice is StarClan," she joked, and I laughed as we reached the camp entrance.

Inside, I saw twelve other cats, all of them Moon and Ottie's friends. I smelled five toms, and seven she-cats. *That means sixteen she-cats and five toms, including all of us,* I thought, surprised. It wasn't like I didn't socialize with boys; it was just the fact that I didn't have any close friends that were boys.

I gestured to my friends. "Come on." They looked hesitant, but followed me inside. I slowed my pace down and matched Mapleflight's.

"You seem like you are pretty good friends with them," she commented, looking around at her surroundings. She already seemed eager to explore the new territory.

I nodded. "Yes, I am." I stared around the camp as the cats became aware of seven new faces.

"Who are they?" A dappled tortoiseshell she-cat asked.

"This is Silv," Ottie said, pointing her tail at me. I dipped my head politely. "And these are her friends."

"Sarah, Nikki, Lizzy, Sammy, Amber, and Ivy. Or otherwise known as Snowfrost, Mapleflight, Cinderswirl, Lightningstrike, Duskwind, and Nightfrost." I smiled as Moon and Ottie introduced their friends. It was weird, meeting the people they'd known for a long time, longer than they'd known me. Just like it was weird for them meeting my own friends.

Maple and Snow started mingling as soon as Ottie and Moon had finished talking. Cinderswirl looked a little hesitant, then went up to talk to Foxxy. Only Lightning, Dusk, and Nighty remained. I saw Lightning nudge Dusk a little, and they went to talk to Lionfoot and Leafwhisker, Nighty quickly following them.

I turned to Moon and Ottie. "We should talk," Moon said, and we nodded. Moon lead the way out of camp, and the three of us settled beneath a rowan tree. *Strange to think I would have been nearly half the tree's height if we were human right now.*

"Have your friends figured out why they're here?" Moon asked me.

I looked at my paws. "Duskwind has already figured out it's my fault," I muttered. "It'll only be a matter of time before the rest of them figure out."

Ottie nodded as Moon rested her tail-tip sympathetically on my shoulder. "It'll be suspicious to them, since all three of us know each other. They'll know sooner or later we were all connected to this in some way."

Moon looked up, her icy blue eyes weighing the options thoughtfully. "We should figure this out tomorrow. After all, we need to find new territory anyway. The place Ottie and I picked for our friends will be too small for all twenty-one of us."

"I agree," I said, standing up. "Should we go tell them?"

"Yeah, let's go," Ottie replied, and we walked back into camp.

The sky was dimming now, the sun sinking below the horizon. My stomach growled, and I realized I hadn't eaten all day. I saw Mapleflight, Lightningstrike, and Nightfrost sharing a rabbit. Cinderswirl was coaxing Snowfrost and Duskwind to eat a mouse, but both refused. *Of course, they're vegetarian! But that won't help them here.*

I padded over. "You can't refuse the food! Cats eat prey, remember? And we're cats. If you were human you could, but you're not human now."

"And whose fault is that?" Duskwind muttered under her breath. I stiffened, but she bent over and bit into the mouse, chewing softly. Snowfrost stared at me, then picked up a mouse and bit into it herself.

"Hey, this isn't so bad!" She said, biting into the mouse. I smiled as she continued. "Hey - so I was talking to a gray tom - Boulderclaw I believe, and when we were talking, I mentioned I didn't like mud because it was muddy. He said it wasn't muddy, just wet and globby. I tried proving him wrong but he kept trying to convince me."

I rolled my eyes. "Don't tell me you gave him a lecture on it like you did when I asked why the sky was blue."

She grinned guilty at me. I sighed, then slipped beside her. "Do you mind if I share this mouse with you?"

"Not at all!" She pushed it towards me. "I'm not so hungry anyway." She then stared at me, grief in her light blue eyes. "I miss Sam," she murmured.

Samuel, or Sam, was her little brother, and they were very close, always doing almost everything together. I brushed against her, my pelt touching hers. "You'll be back with him soon," I reassured her. She sighed and pressed her muzzle into my fur.

I curled my tail around my friend, hoping that would comfort her. *How long will this go on?* I thought. *How long must we stay here before we're allowed to go back?* I stared at my friends, grief clawing my heart. *I'm so sorry. I brought you all into this. And I'll make sure I get you out.*