Scourge the most feared cat in the city, wandered the city to attempt to find a certain housecat named Rusty. Scourge knew him as Firestar. His mission was to help Firestar become leader of Thunder Clan. "How do I get to him, though?" Scourge asked himself. Suddenly, an idea popped into his head. He then looked for Jake, his father. Jake, an orange coated tom, looked Scourge with a hint of fear in his eyes. "Who are you?" Jake questioned. "It does not matter, I want information. Where would I find a descendent of yours named Rusty?" Jake told him to take the next left, and the first nest on the right would be Firestar's nest.
Scourge appeared like a normal, lost housecat. The small black cat was immediately taken in. "Maybe this is the life I could have had? No! I still have to mentor Firestar, although I should call him Rusty at first. This will be hard." Scourge walked to a small orange tom. "Hey, what is your name? I'm Scourge." Rusty looked up with a distress the second he saw the evil looking cat. "Umm… Rusty. Scourge, why are you here?" "I'm related to you." Scourge said calmly. That was when Rusty looked even more alarmed. "But, how is that possible? My father is named Jake!" He exclaimed. "Rusty, my father was Jake. So, I assume that you are scared of me? Do not be afraid, I am not here to hurt you. I am only here to mentor you. You see, I should have found you earlier. You are destined not to be a housecat, but a great cat." Scourge had now told him as much as he could without telling him everything, also getting him interested. Scourge thought," Now, the hard part is over. All I have to do is train him." Firestar was now calm and cool. He knew Scourge was not telling him everything. Now, he was interested.
Scourge trained Firestar in all things. Hunting, fighting, and healing for just a few. Firestar was also naturally inquisitive, but was shy. Scourge pressed the young soon-to-be-leader for why. Scourge found out that the younger tom had been hated by his own family. The worst part was that his own mother hated him the most. Kinder cats had helped him survive this long. Scourge was hard-pressed to not kill Firestar's "family" right then. But Scourge now had Jake's inquisitiveness in Firestar, which was a good thing. "Rusty, are you ready? Can you leave your owners forever?" Scourge questioned for the final time that night. "Yes, I know that my destiny lies in that forest. Something tells me that for better or worse, things shall happen." Firestar stated calmly. "All-right, then, let's go!" Scourge smirked, looking fearsome, even though he was small.
Firestar soon scented a mouse. "Hey, Scourge!" He smiled. Scourge was laughing, thinking, "Let's see how this will play out. I scent Bluestar, Lionheart, and Graystripe." Sure enough, Firestar was soon engaged in combat with Graystripe, while Scourge was giving injuries to Lionheart. Greystripe and Lionheart were stopped by Bluestar. Scourge and Firestar quickly got an invitation, so to speak. At noon the next day, Scourge and Firestar walked to the place where their first battle had occurred. Firestar told Scourge that he scented Lionheart and another cat. Not a moment later, Lionheart and a white cat, with blue eyes came out of the bush. "Whitestorm,meet Scourge and Rusty, the two who defeated me and Greypaw respectively." Lionheart said. "These are the cats that defeated you? They're housecats for Starclan's sake!" Whitestorm exclaimed ridiculing Lionheart. In response, Scourge showed his collar, smiling. "Yes, these are real." That was all he had to say. Whitestorm just stared in shock. Scourge smirked as he told the Clan cats that he'd also trained Rusty. The apprentices had been pestering Greypaw for details on the skirmish. The warriors had been shocked when Lionheart came back to the camp. Well, soon enough, all four cats arrived in camp. Scourge and Rusty listened carefully to the golden warrior's explanation on camp life. Bluestar came out. The day was ordinary by Clan standards, that would change soon enough, as the cats would see. Before long, Bluestar called a Clan meeting. Scourge had only to play his cards right and Firestar would join the Clan.
Bluestar watched as the cats gathered around the Highrock. Then, the catcalls and jeers started. The small black cat looked kind of familiar. She suddenly remembered the prophecy made by StarClan: Fire and Ice alone shall save the Clan. Those ice-cold eyes stared her in the face. She then remembered the kit, and what Tigerclaw had done. Suddenly Rusty and Scourge were jumped by Dustpaw and Longtail respectively. Rusty had his collar snapped, but had easily defeated Dustpaw within a minute. Scourge dealt with Longtail just as quickly, sending the arrogant tom to the medicine den with serious injuries.
"Come here, both of you." Bluestar's voice shouted over the commotion. Immediately, all was silent. Rusty and Scourge leaped across the Highrock. "What are your names?" Bluestar questioned them quickly. "Scourge" was the black tom's name now, apparently. "Rusty" was the orange tom's name. Bluestar made Scourge a warrior, but could not find a fitting name for him, therefore, the newest warrior was named Scourge. Rusty was easier, Firepaw was his new name. Scourge suddenly got the job of mentoring Firepaw. She noticed the bond between the two quick enough. (AN: Scourge deserves his name, which is why Bluestar lets him keep it. Firestar and Scourge are so close to each other at this point that they are always at each other's side. That is why Scourge is mentoring Firepaw.)Scourge then went with Bluestar to her den, as did his new apprentice. Scourge had to tell them everything. The moment Bluestar settled down, she asked Scourge the big question. "How did you find Firepaw?" Scourge answered with the truth, and everything that Firestar should know. Bluestar was not surprised when Scourge told her how Firestar really met Scourge, of Tigerstar's betrayal, and how Tigerstar died under his claws. She was surprised when he introduced Firepaw as the leader of Thunderclan during the battle against BloodClan, not that she had not expected that. Then, suddenly, Bluestar realized that Tigerclaw had betrayed ThunderClan. "Okay, my deputy, Redtail, is battling RiverClan with Tigerclaw and a few other warriors. If Redtail dies, I'll assume that Tigerclaw killed him. Scourge, since he wronged you first, if he did kill Redtail, you may have your revenge."Ravenpaw came back not too long after. Scourge looked at Ravenpaw, and asked, "What's going on?" Ravenpaw said that Redtail was dead, and that Tigerclaw had murdered him. Moments later, Tigerclaw came back with Redtail's body. Bluestar then sentenced Tigerclaw to death, and Scourge ripped Tigerclaw open from tail to throat with his reinforced claws. Now, Tigerclaw was dead. Only one question remained: Who would be deputy, Scourge or Lionheart? Bluestar made Lionheart deputy. She hoped that Firepaw would be a warrior before Lionheart died. But, not 2 days later, ShadowClan attacked. "Bluestar! ShadowClan are taking the kits!" Firepaw yowled. Scourge and Firepaw moved to the nursery, fighting like they had before they had joined the Clan. "Blackfoot!" Scourge said with an icy tone. Firepaw went for the belly flick that Scourge had shown him. Blackfoot dodged, but Scourge jumped the huger tom, and slashed his back. Blackfoot heard," Scourge, let's teach him a lesson." Blackfoot made to jump the smaller cat, but Scourge dodged and cut a gash into the cat's chest. Blackfoot ran. Firepaw ran to the medicine cat's den. "Clawface, face me you coward!" The brown tom turned around to see a ball of orange leaping at him. Suddenly, Clawface felt pain rip through his upper back. Spottedleaf was wounded but conscious. Clawface had a choice, run, or battle it out with the kitty-pet. Clawface then saw a small black tom walk to the scarred cat. "Firepaw, how about you let Clawface leave? After all, he is a warrior, not a rogue." Clawface saw the dog's teeth and cat teeth on the collar, and then he ran. Brokenstar left the battle. ThunderClan now had to treat the wounded, and bury Lionheart, for he was dead.
Who should be deputy? REVIEW!