Authors Note: I've been meaning to write a Warriors story for quite some time, but it took a contest winner to push me to do so. This fic is dedicated to AmberyAmber for winning the LawlClan avatar contest. This fic is rated T for safety and will contain one major ship (Fire/Gray) later on. Constructive criticism is desired and listened to.
Shout out to Ten ways to spoil dinner for the beta markup of this chapter!
Young Love Murdered
Prologue: Explorations and Confrontations
Rusty stepped lightly into the forest, remembering all the terrible things Smudge had said about the cats residing in it. "It's a whole different world," Smudge would have said. "The cats sharpen their teeth with bones," Smudge would have said.
"Yes, it's a whole different world. Perhaps it's also a whole different type of adventure."
Rusty took note of the rustling leaves where a small mouse escaped. Maybe this was what Smudge meant by "forest cats eating live animals". Determined to bring a story back home, Rusty dropped into a crouch, staring at the mouse, not blinking an eye. He clumsily hopped into the air and fell onto the mouse, flailing slightly in a failed attempt to end the life of the tiny creature. His attempt was to no avail; the mouse scurried off towards a nearby bush and Rusty didn't find a point in failing again.
He continued to tread through the forest, trying to make note of every little detail to tell Smudge. He couldn't wait to see the look on Smudges' face when he dispelled all the stupid rumors of bone-chewing, mouse-hunting cats in the forest!
The bushes shook with a fair amount of force. Rusty backed up a little, wondering if there really were fierce cats in the forest…
Something leapt from the rustling bushes, aiming directly at Rusty. It was a gray blur that Rusty couldn't identify.
His claws instinctively unsheathed as he started batting whatever was attacking him. After a few thrashes, he found the gray blur to be a… cat?
"Mrrow!" the tiny gray cat spit and hissed towards Rusty, making thrashes of his own and pushing the two into a roll. They rolled end over end for a few seconds before both cats stopped and stood.
"I'll fight you again if I have to," spat Rusty, lowering his head in slight aggression.
"No need. I thought you were from ShadowClan," mustered the gray being.
"What's your name, anyways? You look awfully thin. Don't your housefolk feed you properly?" Rusty was curious and nervous at the same time.
"I'm Graypaw. What are housefolk? You mean Twolegs?" Graypaw chuckled. "I don't have any Twolegs. I'm a ThunderClan cat."
Rusty's eyes were clouded with confusion as he let Graypaw explain himself and whatever these Clans were.
"So many Clans—" Rusty was cut off by a hiss nearby.
"That's Bluestar, she's our Clan leader. You should run, she won't like me letting you go eas—"
"What have we here, Graypaw? A poor, lost kittypet?" Bluestar's voice wasn't aggressive, but her perked ears showed otherwise.
"He's a kittypet, Bluestar. I thought he was a ShadowClan invader!" Graypaw's defense was clear. Bluestar walked up to Rusty and examined him.
"You fought rather well for a kittypet, Rusty. I've been watching you both. Haven't you ever thought of a life away from food in a pail?" Bluestar seemed to be making him an offer of sorts…
"Well, yeah, but—"
"Meet me here tomorrow. I'll bring a couple of my senior warriors. You can meet them, if you choose to come with us. The forest life is not an easy one. There is disease, battle and little food now in leaf-bare. We cannot guarantee you'll be comfortable, but it's better than eating pellets from a bowl." Bluestar's eyes met Rusty's and she nodded.
"Come, Graypaw. We must return to camp. Rusty, return to your Twolegs. We may or may not see you tomorrow." Bluestar twitched her ear, telling Graypaw to follow after her.
Rusty dashed through the trees towards Twolegplace, both Bluestar's offer and his memories fresh in his mind and ready to be shared with Smudge.
Authors note: This was purely to set the tone. I apologize, but the first couple chapters will be like this.
~LawlClan~