Disclaimer: I do not, in any way, shape, or form, own Warriors. Only OCs and this story belong to me.
When It All Began
The grass was tall and casted shadows down on my small form. My adolescent paws padded across the soft, moist dirt, sending insects fleeing in my wake. I purred in content at the scenery and the rush of freedom that came with finally leaving the stifling cocoon of Her home.
Ahead of me, Copperhead forced the overgrown greenery out of his way with ease. His overflowing confidence and daunting aura impressed greatly on my juvenile mind. My chest warmed at the thought of the approaching training session.
I was so naïve.
Copperhead stopped in a patch of sunlight, highlighting even more his fully ginger head against the rest of his tortoiseshell pelt. We'd arrived in a less dense part of the BackEnds, moving more into the Twoleg park area but still outside the city. The stank of crowfood filled the air.
"Is this it?" I chirped eagerly, prancing ahead.
Copperhead hummed. "Probably."
I blinked, Does he not know where he's going? Couldn't Boss have given me a more competent mentor? "Well, I can't wait to get started!" I said. The higher-ups in the gang had only seen a kit-step's worth of my "warrior" training when we first met so I was hyped to show them more. I could easily climb my way through the ranks.
The older tom didn't respond with another hum or snide comment like I expected, but with a deep and throaty growl. Too deep.
I whirled around to come muzzle to muzzle with a snarling dog. Drool dripped onto my dark head from its snout way above me.
The beast was ashy and lean with monster paws armed with claws as big as my largest fangs and vicious teeth to boot. The dog's beady black eyes, as black as its soul, leered down at me, gleaming with crazed hunger. It made since with the way its ribs were so clearly defined.
Well, it seemed the thing had just figured out its dinner plans.
I gulped, fear (or maybe lunch) rose up my throat and my fur fluffed up to make myself look more intimidating (though how a furball was scary escapes me. Cats have a pretty stupid defense mechanism). My eyes darted about to seek out Copperhead, but he had disappeared. Suddenly, the dog charged.
I dodge-rolled with a panicked yowl and skirted a safe distance away as the beast crashed into some boxes. Breathing fast, I tried to pull myself together. What the dung?! Where did this dumb mutt come from?!
Shaking its head, the dog recovered and swung around, ready for more. Doesn't matter; he made the mistake of messing with me-and in the middle of important business, too! It growled.
"Bring it, badger-face," I hissed. Lowering myself into a battle stance, I knew to wait for it to attack first-which would be easy since it wouldn't be thinking strategically due to its starvation.
Just like I predicted, the dog launched another attack. I dodged again and went around to its rear and clamped down on its tail. The beast yelped in pain, but quickly got over it and turned another snarl on me.
It tried to turn around on me, but I jumped off first. Using the momentum of the jump, I sprung back at its face and clawed at its eyes, hissing in retaliation. It howled and shook its head wildly, trying to knock me off, but I held on. I started clawing my way up its long head to get away from its snapping teeth, but it finally landed an attack, sinking its fangs into my swaying tail.
I mewled painfully and wrenched my tail free, losing all the fur on the end in the process. I had to give up on my first tactic and leapt from the dog. Landing, I had planned to give the creature an angry glare, but instead my jaw went slack.
Directly in my path of vision behind the mutt's head, gleamed something in the canopy of some trees. A cloud passed over the sun, diminishing the glare and I could see what it was. Copperhead's cruel, yellow snake eyes glowered mockingly at me along with the dark gazes of two other gang cats: a patterned brown tom and a badly scarred black one.
I had been set up.
You May Find
I wake from unconsciousness gasping for air, my fur thick with sweat and sticking to me tight. My eyes dart around manically, alarmed by my unknown surroundings.
It's obviously some kind of Twoleg den-(ew)-but it's different from the ones I have been in before. The walls aren't made from smooth rock or other strange Twoleg material, but are wood, displaying a normalcy that their kind is not known for. The floor is the same and so are much of the other things occupying the space. Theirs is only one of those "window" things next to the entrance and a stone shelter on the opposing wall smells of fire. I am sitting in a nest of some the softest moss I've ever felt and furs of other animals.
I blink confused, What the? Where am I? How did I get here? I search my memories for answers, but the last thing I can recall is the fight with Scar's gang. Did that she-cat bring me here? I thought recalling the pretty cat that got me into that mess (not that I can really blame her…but I will). My green gaze scans the den once more, but I appear to be alone.
"Well, best be leavin' now…" I mumble. Trying to get up, I find that that is a pointless endeavor as a searing pain cuts through me. I turn to look at myself and investigate my battle scars. I may have forgotten about them, but something isn't right.
My wounds have been dealt with; an herby scent wafts into my nostrils when I sniff them. From what little healing techniques that She taught me, I can at least deduce that I've been treated by expert hands-er, paws.
Well, lucky me, then; I saved a healer. Accepting that I wouldn't be going anywhere any time soon, I relaxed back into the nest with a sigh of contempt.
Though I have gotten the most rest that I have had in a long time, I am still kind of spent. And these memories haunting me sure don't help, either. Even though I have completed my one good deed per a lifetime, it seems it isn't enough to atone for my past sins.
Looks like my new friend Insomnia is here to stay.
My ears perk up as they detect movement; someone is coming. I quickly shut my eyes and slow my breathing to give the illusion of slumber; whoever it is, it'll be better for intel purposes for them to think I'm still unconscious.
Two sets of soft pawsteps enter the enclosed space and head off in another direction. The sound of a struggle can be heard as the unknowns drag something to my nestside. They stop shortly before me and I can hear one begin tearing into something as the other's presence shadows me. I have to work to remain still as they touch my injuries and remove the dressings.
"Got the goldenrod and marigold?" the one closest to me asks. I almost don't recognize the voice of the she-cat from before with it so calm and sweet now.
"The two yellow flowers, right?" the other says in a much higher and softer tone.
"What have I taught you?"
"…Yellow's mellow?"
She hums her approval. The unknown, who I guess is another kitten, skitters over and soon I can feel something being pressed into my worse cuts by tiny paws. I can't stop myself from stiffening at the strange feel of herbs, but I don't sense a change in temperament from her.
"Need more cobwebs, Mama?" the kitten asks, "I can tell Twig and Sonny to go get some!"
"No, no, that won't be necessary. His wounds aren't bleeding anymore, but it wouldn't hurt to spread a little burdock root on his minor injuries."
"OK!"
"Darling, we don't have any here…"
"Oh…"
I have to admit, it was quite amusing to listen to the exchange between mother and kit. It reminded me of my days with Her…of course, we talked about war strategies and hunting skills, not medicine.
"Don't worry, dear," the she-cat sooths her kitten. "I can just go dig some up outside. Plus, it'll give me a chance to check on the others and make sure they haven't gotten into any trouble." She got up and padded away, leaving me alone with her kit. Bold move.
Now is the time for action.
A sliver of green opens to the world, as I peek at my current company. However, my eyes burst wide in shock at the sight of the small cat. Her pelt is a blinding shade of white, but what really have me so enamored are her eyes.
They are as red as blood.
The kitten must have felt my eyes boring into her for she quickly darts to look at me and our eyes lock. I have a hold of her for a minute, a single minute, before she sees my revelation to her appearance within my eyes and she shrinks back from my stare.
She steps away with an expression as if I had said I was going to murder her family (which I probably won't do). "M-M-Mama!"
Almost instantly, the pretty she-cat is back inside the den in all her glory. She immediately sees what the problem is and comes up to my nestside purring. "So you've awoken?"
I grunt.
She mrrows, "That's splendid, absolutely splendid. We were beginning to worry that something had gone wrong." I watch her check over my wounds once more, at a dangerously close proximity to me for any other cat.
"Well, everything checks out. Your wounds are healing nicely, but it will still be awhile before you're traveling ready." She purrs at me, "I hope you won't mind staying with us for a bit!"
I blink. This crazy cat saw me fight and my permanent scars; she should know I'm no ordinary loner, but still she…
Averting my eyes, I suddenly feel really warm under my fur.
"Whatever."
Your Life Turning
What happened in the following days was something that I will never be able to completely comprehend no matter how many times my thoughts come back to it. It was all just so strange and surreal that it passed as a blur.
Obeying the she-cat, I remained with her and her family for many more days. After all, it wouldn't be good for anyone if I reopened my wounds and bled all over the place. Can you imagine the mess? And I certainly wasn't going to clean it u-Anyway, she was the experienced medicine cat here…I guess I should start referring to her by her name, which she immediately introduced to me after our first real meeting.
"Maisy; because Madam Tish said I was the one pearl she found in all the mucky oysters around her."
Madam Tish, as Maisy explained to me (she really seems to want to tell me all about herself. She-cats), was her previous owner, making her a kittypet. The she-twoleg had been like a medicine cat for the twolegs and from observing her use of plants was how Maisy learned her own healing skills. But Madam Tish had been an elder and had left the world of the living just when the she-cat had reached adulthood. However, Maisy had continued to stay in the wooden den where she had been cared for by the twoleg elder even after her death.
Why was beyond me, but I guess it was a good a place as any to be raised. Which brings me to them (again not THEM them, but, you know-): those nasty, little verm-I mean, "precious gifts from above" (*insert gagging*).
"But MA~MA~," the golden tabby furball we all know as Sonny whines loudly, "You can't let him stay here!"
Maisy doesn't even turn to look at him. "Oh, how rude of me! I haven't introduced you all, Mister…um?"
I raise my green gaze steadily to her amber eyes.
"Phantom."
She shivers at my deep voice and turns away to lick down some unsettled fur on her shoulder. "Yes, well, Mister Phantom…um…I'd like you to meet my kittens." Her tail rests on the annoying brat first as he is closest to her. "I believe you've already somewhat met Sonny here." Sonny hisses at me which earns a scolding from his mother. Hmph, immature small fry, I think while giving a sneer back when Maisy's not looking. He fluffs up in anger, but remains quiet.
"My other son is Twig," Maisy continues. This kit is the obvious runt of the litter, dwarfing even his sisters. His fur is dirt brown and so short, it sticks out in spikes.
"And these are my daughters, Tawni," the last unknown kit is a tortoiseshell she-kit with soft blue eyes in contrast with her brothers' amber, yellow eyes. "And Anemone." The last kit is the abnormal-looking one who still refuses to look me in the eye and I'm slightly grateful for it.
She purrs, "I'm sure you'll all get along with each other real well during our time together!"
I'm getting the feeling that she is an obnoxiously cheery cat, I think annoyed. I shift my gaze to each of the kits, a brow raised doubtfully: Sonny is still silently fuming, Twig fidgets nervously under my inspection, Tawni is licking a paw uninterestedly, and Anemone seems ever the emo. Yeah,
We were definitely going to get along just fine.
And I was right to be sarcastic. Sure, the newbies were timid toward me at first, but then that evil spawn Sonny had to go and start things up, and his littermates followed. Behind closed doors (or whenever Maisy left the den), all Dark Forest broke loose.
Sonny and Tawni were the most mischievous of the litter and were the leaders to my torment: they stuffed nasty-tasting herbs into my food, tore at my nice moss, and flicked things at me when I tried to sleep (not that that I was all that eager to return to my dreams). Even when Maisy was there, they would mock me from behind her back.
Poor Twig didn't want to join in, but got dragged into it anyway, coughing all the way. It didn't take me long to put two and two together and figure out that his small size was due to some medical issue.
The only one who could get around her raucous littermates was Anemone, who tried to avoid me as much possible, only getting close when tending to my wounds or when Maisy was watching worriedly. She was a sensitive soul and I must have affected her deeply with my reaction, but something like that was just something she would need to get used to in this cruel world and I told her just that.
Anemone is tending to my bad chest injury when I bring up my point.
"You should get used to it."
She flinches, it's not like we've ever spoken before. Saying nothing, she continues rubbing in the herb paste like before, if a bit more quickly.
"If you don't fit to their standards," I grunt, "they judge you cruelly as if it's your fault that you're different." Our eyes lock once more. "So grow a pair because life's only going to go downhill form here."
At first she says nothing, removing her little paws from my chest and backing away. I prepare to settle in for a little nap (I'm gonna need to seriously work out after all this if I want to get back in shape. I'm acting like a freakin' kittypet), but I catch Anemone stopping with my peripheral vision.
The kit whips her head back toward me and I halt from her eyes for a completely different reason than the last time. A newfound twinkle lights those bloody depths and I can tell she wants to say something to me…but then Sonny and Tawni crash back into our world, Twig limping behind them.
"Anemone! What ya' doin' with that freeloader?!" her golden brother hisses. I glare at my new "nickname" from the brat.
Tawni stomps her paw. "Come on; you're done, aren't you?! Let's go play!"
Their sister looks down and nods, "'Kay," the first I've heard come out her mouth. She bounces after the other kits, the tip of her white tail the last thing I see.
Anemone never bothered to tell me what had been cut off that day, but it didn't matter to me. I did, however, notice that she no longer avoided me and seemed, at the most, contempt with nursing me when her mother was busy.
Now, don't go thinking I went soft or anything or you'll be in for a world of pain. I wasn't going to let some furballs boss me around! Oh no, this meant war.
So whenever their mother would disappear (really, it's some pretty bad parenting to leave your defenseless kittens with a stranger. Seriously, woma-she-cat), Sonny wasn't the only one making trouble. They thought that since I was injured I couldn't move at all, but OH, did they find out how wrong they were. The kits would try to pounce on me, but I would suddenly jerk up and swat them away, making sure to look asleep and innocent when Maisy came back to find groaning kittens.
And that's basically how I spent half a moon: lazing around and assaulting kittens. Some might even say that my heart grew two sizes that-HA! N. O. I'm not about to turnover a new leaf for some strange little family. Did you losers forget my job? I am and will be a killer and these kittypets sure weren't going to get in the way of my ambition.
Around
I lick at my fur slowly, really more into investigating my healed scars than grooming. All the minor nicks that Scar's lackeys had given me have healed over nicely and the nasty one down my underside has faded to a dull pink zigzag. Yep, good to go.
My ears twitch at the sound of pawfall and I look up to Maisy's slim form padding over to me. Sonny, Twig, Tawni, and Anemone stop behind her, keeping their distance. She sniffs me over, checking the wounds we both know are fine. I roll my eyes.
"Well, your wounds have healed up nicely." Our eyes meet. "So I guess it's time for you to go."
I hum in agreement. With a nod to them, I leave the little family behind and exit the den for the first time. I can easily tell that she's trailing me so I pause to wait for her. I glance at the she-cat from over my shoulder. "Need something more, Maisy?" It's the first time I've addressed her by name.
My voice seemed to have startled her again and she looks away. I should be feeling pretty annoyed at her right now, but instead I wait patiently for her to ring the silky chimes of her voice again.
"Thank you."
I blink, thinking I must have heard her wrong. I mean, she's the one who saved my hide after I had a moment of stupidity and tried to play the hero so why is she thanking me? My face must give away my confusion because she purrs and prances up to my side. I can only think of one thing to say.
"Have you been in the catnip or…something?"
At first, she stares at me like I grew a second head (though why that would be bad escapes me, I mean, double the handsomeness, right?), but then she breaks out into mrrows of laughter. "N-No, no, ha. I'm thanking you…for staying with us."
I hum, "Not like I had much choice; I'd probably be pushing up daisies now if it wasn't for you."
"True, true," she nods, "but really it was no problem. After all, the healing skills I learned from Madam Tish are really the only useful thing I can do except give birth." I get a bit hot at that last part. "So really, it was nothing. It's practically my job."
Our eyes meet again and my gaze softens from realization. "You're stalling, sweetheart."
Instead of fluffing up in embarrassment like I expect her to do, she sighs. "Yeah…I am."
Silence spreads between us for a while, but that special moment can only last for so long. "I really hate owing cats," I say, "So thank…you." It actually hurts a little bit to choke out that phrase, but it had to be done. Wow, great time to grow a conscious. Then, still retaining my namesake,
I am gone.
For Better or for Worse
{Maisy}
Even after he's gone, Maisy continues to stare off into the distance. Her face is blank, empty of any and all emotion. She is so deeply absorbed in her thoughts and her confusing feelings that she doesn't notice tiny paws pad up behind her.
"Mama?"
She jumps, but turns around steadily to face her kittens. She purrs at them, instantly comforting them from their worries. "Yes, my precious ones?" Three of them still seem weary, but everyone's favorite ball of sunshine is completely oblivious to the tension in the air.
Sonny chirps, "Well, now that that freeloader is gone, things can finally go back to normal!" Satisfied, he skips away back into their home, golden tail flicking in glee. The sisters look at each other, ever exasperated by their hyper older brother, and then follow him in. As always, Twig is tagged on at the end with his mother following until he finally speaks for the first time. His voice is soft, but smooth.
"I don't know; it was kind of nice to have a daddy for a while."
Maisy freezes, those words shaking her to the core. Her world begins to shift sideways as frantic images of a dark brown tabby tom flash across her vision. Yet again, it's a kit mewl that brings her out of her stupor.
"You coming, Mama?"
She blinks. "…No, Sonny. Mama remembers that she has errands to run. Go play and make sure you all stay inside," she murmurs, turning away from the cabin. Her oldest kit shrugs and bounces back indoors.
With a mind all of their own, her paws guide her away from the only home she's ever known until she is eventually out of the woods all together and facing a tall brick wall, the local neighborhood looming on the other side.
Bunching her muscles, she leaps onto the top of the wall and starts on a path that she hasn't followed for a very long time. All the while, she is once again absorbed in her thoughts.
"It was kind of nice to have a daddy for a while." Oh god, how long has Twig been thinking like that?! Do the others have similar thoughts? I know I've done all I can to provide both the roles of a father and mother, but nothing can really replace their actual father. I mean, I'm no tom and I certainly don't know how to act like one. She chuckles darkly, Lord knows I never understood them and I still don't. This time the tom she sees in her head is their departed guest. Maybe having Phantom around had a greater impact than I thought on the kittens. That certainly doesn't help me get over wanting him to have stayed…Her head lifts to the skies as if they can provide the answers she desperately seeks. Oh Madam Tish, help me.
By that point, her paws have relinquished control back to her and she now finds herself in front of a very small human house. For a while she just stares at it, unable to fathom that she has actually returned to this place. It has nothing but bad memories for her.
Starting to regret this, Maisy takes a step back, but it's too late. The flap in the back door stirs as a dark brown tabby enters the back garden. Quickly, he picks up her scent and their eyes lock. They are green like Phantom's, but these eyes don't give her any of the tingles that his do (in fact, they actually kinda scare me since they don't look happy at all to see me).
Although, they once did.
He clambers up onto the fence she waits on and immediately begins interrogating the she-cat. "What are you doing here, Maisy?" His tone is curt and rude.
Any chivalry she had planned to show him is instantly tossed out the window. "Pleasure to see you, too, Joey."
Joey sighs exasperatedly. "Sorry: Hi, Maisy. There, now answer the question; you know we're through."
"I'm not here for us!" she hisses. "I'm here to talk about your kits!"
"Oh, not this again. I've told you: I'm not interested and I've moved on...Several times."
"But you're their father-!"
"Well, I didn't want to be!" Now he's really rattled. Joey's fur is poofed in agitation and she can actually see hate gleaming in his cold eyes. "It's not my freakin' problem you got knocked up! I told you from the start that I wasn't serious; did you really think that you getting pregnant would change that? You can say that I'm a terrible mate and a worse parent, but you can't say that I'm a liar."
The tom's tirade has silenced her. Even though she hated him with a passion, she bitterly couldn't deny that what he says is true. Now she feels even stupider for coming here. Joey would never change and it didn't matter anyway. Her sweet babies didn't need this loser.
"Fine," she finally says. "I can see this is pointless."
Joey snorts. "Just realizing that now, sweetheart?"
She flinches at the name and without thinking, lashes out, catching him on the cheek. He yowls indignantly and Maisy realizes the possible consequences for her outburst. She bounds away before he can recover and retaliate.
The last words she ever hears from the father of her kittens is, "That's right, run you worthless stray!"
Good Luck
{Phantom POV}
And then there was one, again, just the way it should be.
The sun has set, meaning I am on the move. The twilight is mostly silent except for the scuttling of woodland creatures in their preparations for nightly rest. Yep, it's nice to be back to peaceful and tranquil nigh-
A twig snaps.
Duuuuuuung.
With fast reflexes, I whirl around just in time to see the perpetrator leap out of the bushes. What I see causes a look of pure, unadulterated horror to take over my features as I stumble back in disbelieving mortification.
"N-N-No-o."
"Ha! Scared you, freeloader!" Sonny proclaims proudly. Growling at the accursed nickname, I prowl a step forward. The golden tabby-kit squeaks in terror and tumbles back into his littermates who've just come out of the foliage themselves. It creates a domino effect and when Maisy arrives, she finds her kits squabbling in a pile of fluffiness.
Completely ignoring them, I set my sights on the mother. "Care to explain."
She hums and struts (that's right struts, the conniving little minx) behind me. I turn to face her as she begins speaking. "Oh, well, you see-the kits have become bored of our drab little abode," Drab? I believe, I distinctly remember her rambling about how much that wooden den meant to her, "And so I thought it's time to move on."
My eyes narrow suspiciously. "Well, y'all are NOT traveling with me."
Her dazzling amber eyes flutter innocently at me and I twitch uncontrollably. "Oh, I would never dream of that. I'm sure a big, bad cat like you has some big plans for the future. We just so happen to be traveling in the same direction."
"Uh huh. And what direction would that be because I'll be sure to pick a different route."
She mrrows, "Wouldn't you like to know," and with that, she's done and goes back to tend to her tangled litter. I growl in frustration, my claws tearing at the grass in the darkness. "Oh! And don't forget you still owe me!" She has the nerve to purr in delight at my indignant yowl.
Starclan. What have I gotten myself into, now?
ERMAGERD! I FINALLY UPDATED! WHUT?!
Yes, I'm alive and I'm sooooo sorry for being absent from FF for so long. Since I've joined I've just become really obsessed with DeviantArt (would it be wrong to advertise myself right now? Probably X3), but now I'm going to be getting back to work and it's spring break for me so…Hoped you like this! I already have the next chapter thought out.
R&R!