This is honestly the biggest what if in the story: what if Rusty (or Fie Fie, as we later come to call him XD) never joins ThunderClan?
I might write a sequel later, just to show what happens to ThunderClan without this little guy.
It was a warm night. Rusty gazed out into the forest. What secrets it held…
He, like every other housecat, had heard the tales about the wild cats who lived in the forest. Rusty knew that they were savages, but he could not help but to envy them, to wish to be one of them. To feel the limp body of a freshly caught piece of prey; to sleep out in the open; to be free.
A rustle came from among the trees, not natural, not caused by a breeze. For a second Rusty had the sensation that he was being watched from afar by shining yet unseen eyes. He gave into his natural fear of the unknown for a second, then shook off the fanciful notions.
But still...
Something in the woods called to him, and he made an instant decision to go exploring. As he bunched up his muscles to spring down from his post on the fence, his friend and neighbor Smudge climbed up on his section of the fence.
"Evening, Rusty. What'cha doin'?"
"Nothing...I think I want to go out into the forest."
Smudge looked shocked. "In there? With the wildcats? They'll skin you alive!"
Rusty purred in amusement. "I doubt they'll do that. But still, you never know."
Just then, one of Rusty's housefolk emerged from the nest and called him, shaking a pot of pellets. Besides the snack, a warm night in the crook of his housefolk's knee awaited him if he went back. If he went out into the forest, he would satisfy his curiosity, but at the cost of missing out on the treats and a warm night.
He sighed and cast one last longing look at the rustling trees, mewed a farewell to Smudge, and turned towards his housefolk, who let out a pleased mew as he approached. As Rusty went inside, he felt a weight leave his shoulders, as if many things depended on the decision he had just made.
But that was just another of his fanciful notions.