Disclaimer: I do not own Warrior Cats in anyway, but the story plot and the new character names are mine. This is my first time writing a fanfiction so any and all reviews are appreciated! Thanks ^.^
~Prologue~
Metra's Life
Our story begins in the Chimerial Forest, far east of the territory that the Clans inhabit today. In this forest there was a delicate balance of power, one that given the slightest encouragement, could shift from one Clan to another. The forest had 21 different factions, or Clans, all of which vie for that power. To keep that power from favoring one Clan over the others for too long, a ruling council was born out of the 21 Clans. Of these Clans, 8 were chosen to rule over the rest, dictating where and when each Clan was allowed to hunt, travel, or fight. At first everything went smoothly until the lust for power drove some leaders to the brink of insanity. The weak Clans soon began to fall, taken over by those whose greed outran their common sense. The fight for the top position out of the 8 ruling Clans began, leading to many innocent lives lost and words spoken that could never be taken back.
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Of these 8 Clans there was one, ToilingClan, who were waiting, watching from the side of the wars for their own chance to strike and take back the power that they believed was rightfully theirs. Maskedstar, the leader of this Clan soon began to work his way up the ranks, bringing his Clan to nearly the height of their glory and gave some stability to the warring Clans. But no good thing ever lasts. On the night of the full moon, the other new 7 houses of the 8 launched an attack, nearly wiping out all of the ToilingClan cats in the process.
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The only cats to survive were two young Apprentices who had been out on their own when the battle occurred. Their names were Chaos and Eternity, two of the older apprentices in the Clan. When they returned to camp, only to find their Clan taken over and what few cats were left imprisoned, there was nothing left for them to do. Yet bravely, almost to the point of foolishness, they choose to fight, a quick battle indeed that soon ended in their defeat. The leaders of the 7 other Clans decided not to kill the two apprentices right away, but to make an example out of them for all the other weaker Clans who might have had possible thoughts of starting a rebellion.
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However, this was not to be their fate. They were thrown out of the territory, beaten and starved, to fend for themselves however best they two surviving cats somehow managed to do just that, helping each other through the long and miserable days. As the time pasted, these two cats became close, depending on only each other. Although neither of them chose to acknowledging it, something was happening between them that not even they foresaw.
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Soon Eternity became pregnant and Chaos wasn't at all certain that the kits would be his. Eternity was a striking shecat and often flirted around as they traveled, but he kept his silence as the kits were born, four small bundles that would soon be called Envy, Asylum, Metra and Alcatraz. For a while everything went well as the family settled down, soon forgetting about the Clans they had left. But the peace was not to be.
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Late one night a group of cats attacked, quickly overpowering Chaos as Eternity tried to protect her kits. Subdued and powerless, Chaos could only watch and snarl empty threats as they dragged Eternity away from their kits, his eyes gleaming furiously. Through the group of cats padded forward a large black tom, a livid scar over his right eye. This was Dragon, one of the head rulers and coordinator of the destruction of ToilingClan, from the Ruling Clans they had left behind. From him, Chaos and Eternity learned that the Clans were no more, destroyed by a group of twolegs and their dogs that had come in with their big machines and ripped up the ground until nothing but dirt and dead cats littered the ground. Only a few cats remained from the once proud Clans but now they were all scattered to the four corners of the Earth...all except Dragon and his group. Dragon had remembered the two apprentices that had been thrown out and presumably died, but he knew better. In his twisted dark mind, Chaos and Eternity had caused the destruction of his power for it was not long after ToilingClan was destroyed that they twolegs arrived, and for that they would pay. Nurturing a deep hatred towards the two he had set off, following them from place to place until he made sure that he could get them alone. And so the trap was sprung, one he fully intended on making the best of.
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Despite Chaos' struggles, he could only watch at Dragon padded over to Eternity dragged her away from the group, slashing her throat with his claws. He pushed her bleeding body aside, not enough to kill her right away, but a slow death and ignoring Chaos' howl of pain and grief, slowly made his way past her to the den. His eyes glittered maliciously as he savored the moment, wanting nothing more than to bring as much pain as he could before finishing the task. He then padded over to the kits and pulled them out of the nest, one by one by one, and despite their small cries and feeble blows, killed them right in front of Chaos. Nearly blinded by grief and fury, Chaos fought like a wildcat, killing two and severely wounding the last of Dragon's group until blood loss prevented him from moving anymore.
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Dragon sat back, watching all of this with two of the remaining kits besides him. Alcatraz, a tomkit whose black pelt was stained red with his sibling's blood and Metra, a small shekit whose flaming golden pelt was almost an exact replica of her mothers. He padded over to Chaos and with a gloating look, slashed tiny Alcatraz's stomach, leaving him unable to move and bleeding to death next to his father. Chaos watched his sons life slowly leave him as his kit cried feebly, unable to help or offer any comfort that hurt him more than any physical blow could. He looked up as Dragon made his way back over to the nest, a fury so profound and consuming pushed Chaos to his paws and on stumbling legs, leapt to save the last of his family. Dragon was bent over the last kit, his Metra, when Chaos struck, slashing out with his claws with all of his power put behind that one blow and managed to catch Dragon at the base of his neck in a critical hit, a one kill blow.
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But that blow had cost Chaos the last of his strength and with a sigh he laid his head back down on the bloodstained grass, between his enemy and family as his eyes glazed over. The last thing he saw before he succumbed to the darkness was Eternity, his beautiful mate, friend, and lover who would live on within him, no matter where he was headed to. And so the great cat Chaos died and with him, the last of the cats from the once proud number one ruling Clan of the forest. But our story doesn't end here, for little Metra, no bigger than a new apprentice laid among the dead, her tiny body quivering with fear, grief, and a sense of loss. Her body was caked with blood, some of it hers but most of it soaking up from the ground around her. As the darkness came and went, she laid next to her fathers' corpse until the blood dried and the grief within her heart hardened into hatred.
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She didn't want to leave but she knew that if she stayed there then those cats could come back and what would she do then? So instead she ran, doing the only thing a kit in her position could do. And ran and ran, never staying in one place longer than a few sunrises. Soon Fall turned into Winter and Winter turned into Spring, allowing a fully grown shecat to emerge. Metra was now a hunter, fully grown and powerful in her own right. But to her, not yet powerful enough. She wanted strength so that what had happened to her family would never happen to anyone again.
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It was around this time that she met a strange cat, a tom whom she had seen following her numerous times. Warily she hid in the shadows, waiting, watching until it was the perfect chance to strike and bring him down. But as fate would have it, he was not what she had expected. No instead of asking for mercy he just watched her, smiling as she held him down, threatening to slit his throat. Perplexed and thoroughly confused as to why this cat was taunting her to kill him, she had allowed him to live after he expressed the only reason he had been following her was that they had the same goal in mind, even if she herself hadn't recognized it yet.
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With a companion she never thought possible, she and the tom continued along their ways, until they found a place that suited their needs. During the months of traveling he manged to earn her trust, and she had admitted to him the very deepest of her secrets, her past and about her family. In return, she found out that he had been abandoned when he was young and both wanted to change the future so that history would not repeat itself. They took up residence in a ruin, and after time went by began to think of ways to expand their own grasp of this new territory. The two set off once again together, persuading, kidnapping, and even killing cats to make a Clan of their own. And so the League was born.
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Deemed Primal Instinct by those who heard of the fast growing group, shield away from it as these cats were more likely to kill you first and ask questions later. The League became powerful as they continued on their journey, gathering cats as they went along. With Metra as the Nemesis, the League began to grow quickly at a amazing rate. With new names and positions, these two cats built upon themselves a deadly force to be reckoned with. And now they are here, finally settling down in a territory not far from the Clans which was only spell disaster. But for whom? That is yet to be seen.
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And so begins the story of Primal Instinct...
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For every action there is a reaction. For every gift there comes a price. For every life another must be taken. This is the law of the land, one that no living creature can escape in order to keep balance upon the land. Yet for one shecat, death was not an option. To her, it was the greatest form of defeat and powerlessness that existed. Haven dodged death from the murder of her family to numerous times over the moons that followed, Metra was not very keen on the idea of wasting the life she had been given.
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Building up the ranks of Primal Instinct would take time, lots more time than neither she nor her traveling companion, Razvan, had. Fueled by the desire to create an unstoppable League, Metra gathered up the group with a flick of her tail and departed, searching for new territory. For many moons the group traveled, gaining members along the way through various means. Some cats came for the protection a large group offered, others craved power or had a thirst for blood. She didn't care, as long as the obeyed her commands above all else, any cat was welcome.
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To prevent these cats from turning on one another, titles were organized, power distributed, and a ranking system soon emerged that ensured there would always be another cat to take over if an execution was needed. Spies were sent out to explore new possible territory or recruits, often with a Hunter or two in case any cat stumbled upon the group. It was at this time Metra realized that in order for there to be an assured future of her precious Leauge, kitlings and young cats were needed. In every direction her Hunters went, returning with kits of every age and breed. Everything was running well, except for one thing. One group of Hunters never returned, sent East towards a forest that her Spies had informed her was seen with other cats every now and then. Curious on what had happened to the group, Metra sent Razvan, her only friend from when she was a kit and second in command, to track the group down and kill each member if they refused to return.
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Razvan tracked the group for many moons, coming unexpectedly across a Gathering one night. As he quietly sat and observed from the bushes, his whiskers twitched in anticipation as he gazed across the clearing. Never before had he come across a group of cats with numbers such as these; and yet he could catch multiple scents coming from below. Where was their leader? Surely it must be a cat as powerful and wise as Metra to be able to control so many cats. Yet from the mass of bodies, 4 cats jumped onto a pile of rocks in the center, none higher than the others. "Is it possible? Are there 4 leaders for this group or perhaps…there is more than one group here" Razvan thought, his eyes narrowing in the darkness. He watched the Gathering take place below, the tip of his tail twitching ever so slightly.
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He continued to watch for the rest of the night, a silent observer to the clan politics and squabbles that took place until the moonlight began to wane. As the cats below gathered into separate groups and left, Razvan quietly shook out his pelt and slipped into the shadows, disappearing into the night. There was much to report to Metra about these Clan cats with endless possibilities on how to proceed…
