Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters! They belong to Erin Hunter and the Warriors series.
"Lionheart!" a young voice called, pitched with excitement. A longhaired half-grown tom bounded over to a muscular golden tabby, his eyes alight with an apprentice's vigor for training. "What are we doing today? Hunting? Fighting?" he wondered aloud.
"Actually, Graypaw, we have a little surprise for you." The cat that spoke was not Lionheart, but a slight gray she-cat. The apprentice's eyes widened in astonishment. The golden tom gave a chuckle.
"Yes, Bluestar has decided it's time for an assessment," Lionheart confirmed. Ignoring a small squeak of protest from Graypaw, he continued, "You may go anywhere you like in ThunderClan territory, and the two of us will follow behind, checking your progress, hunting-wise. Understand?" The large tom's voice was strong and commanding; Graypaw could only swallow hard and nod, though his nerves were already dancing. His first assessment! By both Bluestar and Lionheart, no doubt. But the ThunderClan leader's gaze was warm, and his mentor's equally confident. The gray tom felt courage flood him; he could do this.
With a spark of his usual cheek, he quipped, "Catch me if you can!" and dashed from ThunderClan camp, disappearing into the forest. He kept up his quick pace until he was deep into the woods, then abruptly slowed. It was time for some serious hunting.
After successfully killing two mice, a thrush, and an unlucky squirrel that picked the wrong time to be on the ground, Graypaw had forgotten his qualms about being assessed and was thoroughly enjoying himself. But he'd also lost track of exactly where he was in the territory. Catching a glimpse of a line of enormous Twoleg nests, the apprentice realized how far he'd come. About to turn around, he saw something that really piqued his interest.
A bright orange-pelted cat, a little smaller than he, was crouching near the forest, intently gazing at something. Curious, Graypaw crept silently closer. The unmistakable reek of kittypet assailed him, and forgetting about being quiet, the apprentice raced over, eager to defend his territory against all intruders. He leapt onto the cat, knocking him sideways and digging his claws into its back. The kittypet tried to escape Graypaw's grasp, but the gray tom was strong. What he didn't expect was for the cat to fall over on its back, sending Graypaw thudding to the ground. "Ughhh…" In his surprise and position, the kittypet managed to free itself and fled. Disappointed that the fun was over so soon, Graypaw pursued the fiery pelted cat, concentrating solely on catching up. Then the kittypet did a second unexpected thing. It stopped and turned around, willing to risk another battle, if it came to that.
Totally unprepared for this new development, Graypaw was unable to stop and crashed full tilt into the cat. Dazed, he collapsed, panting heavily. When he had recovered, he sat up and nonchalantly groomed a paw, quite pleased with himself. He'd shown the kittypet who was boss, and would now rather talk than fight. The gray tom had completely forgotten about his assessment, his focus solely on this unusual cat.
"Hi there, kittypet!" he merrily mewed. "You put up quite a fight for a tame kitty!" He had to admit that the red-orange cat had impressed him. For a moment it regarded him warily still, then suddenly relaxed, as if finally deciding that the ThunderClan apprentice wouldn't attack again.
"I'll fight you again if I have to," it stated harshly, clearly not intimidated by the stronger cat.
"I'm Graypaw, by the way," the gray tom offered. "I'm training to be a ThunderClan warrior." He felt like bursting out laughing at the kittypet's threat; though it was a decent fighter, for a Twoleg pet, it was no match for an apprentice, trained to fight with tooth and claw. He wisely kept silent, not wishing to provoke another battle. "What's a kittypet like you doing out in the woods? Don't you know it's dangerous?" He was extremely curious, wondering what on earth could make a kittypet stray away from its pampered life.
"If you're the most dangerous thing the woods has to offer, then I think I can handle it," the orange tom retorted.
Again, Graypaw felt a chuckle rising from his lungs; forcing it back, he instead grew serious and replied evenly, "Oh, I'm far from the most dangerous. If I were even half a warrior, I'd have given an intruder like you some real wounds to think about." He watched the cat closely for its reaction. Was it truly silly enough to think it had a chance out here in the wild? "Anyway, I didn't think it was worth hurting you. You're obviously not from one of the other Clans."
"Other Clans?" the kittypet sounded confused.
Graypaw couldn't help letting a hiss escape his lips. He idly wondered whether he would have to explain the entire warrior way of life to this cat. "You must have heard of the four warrior Clans that hunt around here! I belong to ThunderClan. The other Clans are always trying to steal prey from our territory, especially ShadowClan. They're so fierce they would have ripped you to shreds, no questions asked." Speaking of the rival Clans agitated the apprentice. He spat to accent his point before continuing on. "They come to take prey that is rightfully ours. It's the job of the ThunderClan warriors to keep them out of our territory. When I've finished my training, I'll be so dangerous, I'll have the other Clans shaking in their flea bitten skins. They won't dare come near us then!" In the back of his mind Graypaw knew he was exaggerating, but he figured the kittypet would eat it up.
But it wasn't convinced yet. "So you're not a warrior yet?" it questioned.
"Why? Did you think I was?" This cat must be very thick. "I won't be a real warrior for ages. I have to go through the training first. Kits have to be six moons old before they even begin training…" in the back of his mind an alarm went off. His assessment! He gave a furtive glance around, hoping that Bluestar and Lionheart weren't watching this exchange. He wanted to end the conversation, but the kittypet wasn't through yet.
"Why don't you find yourself an owner with a nice cozy house instead? Your life would be much easier," he suggested. "There are plenty of housefolk who'd take in a kitten like you. All you have to do is sit where they can see you and look hungry for a couple of days-"
"And they'd feed me pellets that look like rabbit droppings and soft slop!" Graypaw retorted. He felt a surge of anger pass through him at the stupidity of the suggestion. Trying to calm down, he reminded himself that the kittypet didn't know any better, that was his entire way of life. "No way! I can't think of anything worse that being a kittypet!" he spat the word. "They're nothing but Twoleg toys! Eating stuff that doesn't look like food, making dirt in a box of gravel, sticking their noses outside only when the Twolegs allow them?" He was reciting all the tales his mother told him about Twoleg cats as a kit. "That's no life! Out here it's wild, and it's free. We come and go as we please. Until you've tasted a fresh-killed mouse, you haven't lived. Have you ever tasted mouse?" The words were out of his mouth before he remembered that he was trying to end the conversation.
"No," the kittypet meowed defensively, though there was a hint of wistfulness in his voice. "Not yet."
"I guess you'll never understand," Graypaw sighed, deciding he might as well keep talking. "You weren't born wild. It makes a big difference. You need to be born with warrior blood in your veins, or the feel of the wind in your whiskers. Kitties born into Twoleg nests could never feel the same way."
"That's not true!" the other returned, apparently offended. But Graypaw was not listening. He had caught the scent of two ThunderClan cats, and the apprentice suddenly realized he had overstayed his welcome. Bluestar and Lionheart must have caught up to him.
"I smell cats from my Clan. You should go. They won't be pleased to find you hunting in our territory!" And they won't be pleased to find me talking to a kittypet, a sullen voice in his head reminded. The cat looked alarmed, but didn't flee. Graypaw was anxious now. "Quick! Run!" he hissed, glancing around for the unwelcome sight of a blue-gray or golden pelt. A sharp voice behind him made the tom jump.
"What's going on here?" Bluestar! Graypaw thought in dismay. And the kittypet was still sitting there, stupidly staring at the leader of ThunderClan. The apprentice tried to make himself smaller, wishing he could disappear into the earth, as Lionheart followed closely behind.
"Bluestar!" he murmured despondently, giving the orange kittypet a dirty look.
"You shouldn't be so near Twolegplace, Graypaw!" his mentor reprimanded sternly.
"I know, Lionheart, I'm sorry," Graypaw apologized, suddenly finding his stone-gray paws very interesting. Perhaps they could just go home and forget all this. But Bluestar wasn't finished yet.
"Who is this?" she demanded.
"He's no threat," Graypaw interjected. He was annoyed at the cat for not running when he was told, but for some reason he couldn't allow the wrath of Bluestar to descend upon it. "He's not another Clan warrior, just a Twoleg pet from beyond our territories." He turned aside to the kittypet, informing him of the identities of the two warriors.
"Thank you for the introduction, Graypaw," Lionheart sounded, clearly not pleased.
Bluestar's gaze was still fixed upon the intruder. "You fight well for a Twoleg pet." Graypaw suppressed a groan. They must have been watching the entire time! The tips of his ears burned with shame. Had they heard the whole discussion? But his leader's next remark surprised him. "We wondered how you would deal with the intruder, Graypaw. You attacked him bravely." So maybe not all was lost. The gray apprentice allowed his tense muscles to relax a bit. "Sit up now, both of you! You too, kittypet." She paused as the two young toms did as they were told. "You reacted well to the attack, kittypet. Graypaw is stronger than you, but you used your wits to defend yourself. And you turned to face him when he chased you. I've not seen a kittypet do that before. I have been wondering how you would perform out here, beyond the Twolegplace. We patrol this border frequently, so I have often seen you sitting on your boundary, staring out into the forest. And now, at last, you have dared to place your paws here. You do seem to have a natural hunting ability…" As Bluestar spoke, Graypaw became incredulous. Surely she wasn't going to allow a kittypet into the Clan? She might as well ask the squirrels to be warriors, for all the good it would do. But…another cat his age in the Clan might be nice. After all, Bluestar wasn't the leader for nothing. She knew exactly what she was doing, always.
But Lionheart was far from convinced. "Bluestar, this is a kittypet," he meowed in his low, rich voice. "He should not be hunting in ThunderClan territory. Send him home to his Twolegs!"
"Send me home?" the kittypet replied huffily. "But I've only come here to hunt for a mouse or two. I'm sure there's enough to go around."
"There's never enough to go around," Bluestar responded bitterly. "If you didn't live such a soft, overfed life, you would know that."
Graypaw couldn't help shaking his head at the kittypet's words. Had the creature not understood a thing he'd been explaining to it? Bluestar was furious. He's in for it now…