Just something I thought I should mention, Tear's name is like a tear in a piece of cloth, not a tear from crying. ~Capitaine Jaf
Chapter Three
Kittypets
"Striker has reported to me that you still cause him some trouble."
"I try not to, Sir."
"But you do," I meowed.
"Yes…" the tom meowed quietly. "I do, sometimes."
I was sitting on top of my mountain. Striker was sitting beside his servant in front of me. My favourite cats were all in the alley, in various positions. Fang and Talon guarded the entrance, as usual. Tear and Brick sat against the wall on either side of my mountain, ready to protect me if necessary. The brothers Ice and Snake were sitting on a wooden twoleg container. Red, Fleet and Red's apprentice were guarding the line of seven kittypets that were sitting against the wall, watching me with wide, terrified eyes.
I could tell that Striker's personal servant knew I was using him as an example. He kept glancing over at the kittypets, trying to see if they were reacting to what was going on. I was trying my hardest to ignore the kittypets, but my gaze kept flashing back to them. One in particular. Once or twice I had let my gaze lay on one of them, a pretty white she-cat, for a moment too long. Striker had noticed the second time, and he had quickly glanced back at them to see what I could have found so interesting.
I couldn't help myself. It was her eyes that drew my attention. Even from the top of my mountain, I could see that they were bright with defiance. They were a bright blue-green colour, and compared to her white pelt they seemed to glow.
"Sir?"
I pulled my attention back to the two cats in front of me. "What?"
"Sir… is a punishment necessary?" Striker asked.
"Yes." I motioned for Striker to leave the circle, then nodded to Ice and Snake. The two brothers jumped into the middle of my alley as Striker backed away and sat next to Tear. I glanced at Red, wondering how she'd react to the treatment of her brother. She was sitting quietly, her eyes watching him carefully.
Her brother had started to back away from Ice and Snake. He hissed loudly, his claws scraped against the hard twoleg-made ground. For a moment I was worried. Ice and Snake were good fighters, but they would try to show off. They wouldn't be fighting as well as they could, and as annoying as the tom was, I knew he could fight well. I could just imagine him beating off both Ice and Snake.
My thoughts were cut off as Ice pounced. He landed on the tom's shoulders and dug his claws into his body. The tom screeched, his cry of pain echoed around the alley. I saw the kittypets flinch. All but the intriguing white she-cat.
The tom threw himself to the ground. He landed on top of Ice, then rolled over and stood up. The white tom lay winded. Snake pounced, but this time the tom met the attacking cat head on. The two cats tumbled around the clearing in the centre of the alley. Sometimes as they moved it was almost impossible to tell them apart.
Ice was getting to his feet. The white tom shook himself once, then leapt back into the battle. Landing perfectly on the shoulders of… his brother. Snake hissed, and as the two brothers coordinated themselves, Striker's servant took a few steps back and sat down. I was pleased to see that he was favouring his right foreleg, but besides that he didn't seem injured. The tom looked proud of himself. That bothered me.
Ice suddenly threw himself at the tom, who simply side stepped to avoid the attack, then lashed out at Ice's side with his good front leg. Ice screeched in pain, but his attack had done its job. Snake leapt at the tom from the side, and succeeded in pinning him down. For a moment it looked like the brothers had won, then suddenly the tom was out from underneath Snake. I blinked in surprise. How had he done that?
He was backing towards my mountain, and I was starting to loose patience with Ice and Snake. I leapt from the top of my mountain, landed lightly right behind the tom. He spun around to face me and at the same moment I lashed out at him. My claws scraped across his face, barely missing his eye. I hissed, and he backed up, keeping low to the ground to show me that he had surrendered. Ice and Snake had frozen when I jumped down from the mountain. I signaled for them to return to their twoleg container.
As they did, I jumped back up onto the mountain. "Hopefully these wounds will have taught you to behave," I hissed. "Next time, I will let my warriors kill you."
I knew none of my warriors believed that I had stopped Ice and Snake, but the kittypets looked convinced. The warriors could tell that I had jumped down to do real damage on the tom. Ice and Snake exchanged a nervous look, wondering if I would punish them.
"Striker, take him," I ordered.
Striker returned to the centre of the circle and led his servant away.
"Red, Red's apprentice. Come forward," I meowed.
Brick had moved over to the kittypets to take Red's place guarding them. Red walked into the clearing and sat in front of my mountain. Her apprentice followed, looking excited but also scared.
"Red, is your apprentice ready to become a full BloodClan warrior?"
"I believe he is, Sir."
I jumped down from my mountain and sat in front of Red's apprentice. The young grey cat's eyes glowed with excitement at becoming a full warrior.
"Apprentice, you have trained well this past quarter-moon. Red has reported that you are ready to become a full warrior. Do you promise to obey my orders, even if they risk your life?"
"I do," the apprentice replied seriously.
"Then I accept you as a full BloodClan warrior. Your warrior name will be Ashes."
Ashes lowered his head and presented his left leg to me. I heard meows of surprise coming from the kittypets as I marked him as a warrior. He lowered his head further and licked the ground at my feet.
"Congratulations," Red purred quietly. Once Ashes had lifted his head again, she leaned over and licked his shoulder.
"Thanks," Ashes replied. "Sir… thank you. I'm proud to be the first apprentice to receive my warrior name."
I nodded. "Go stand with Tear," I told him. "Red, return to the kittypets. There is one more thing I must do, then bring them to me."
I turned around and walked back to the base of my mountain, then I leapt up to the top for the second time. "Striker," I meowed. "Come forward."
The young black and white cat looked surprised at having his name called. He walked out into the clearing and sat in front of my mountain.
"I have yet to name a deputy," I meowed. I saw all my warriors glance at Striker in surprise, and I noticed the young tom's eyes widen. "You have guessed correctly. I name Striker my deputy." I jumped down from my mountain once again and sat in front of him. "Tear, Brick?"
"Sir?" Thye meowed in unison.
"As my most experienced warriors, I must ask your opinion. Do you both believe that Striker will serve as a good deputy?"
"Yes Sir," Brick meowed.
Tear took longer to reply. "Yes Sir."
"Striker, are you prepared to take on the responsibility of being my deputy?"
"I am, Sir."
"Very good," I meowed under my breath. "Return to your place. Red!" I yowled the she-cat's name, then turned around to jump back up onto my mountain. I hadn't planned on moving around this much. I settled down in my usual spot as I waited for my two she-cat warriors to set up the kittypets. The two she-cats lined them up in front of me. Without meaning to, I watched the white she-cat. It wasn't in till Red meowed loudly to get my attention that I realized they were all waiting for me to talk. I shook my head to attempt to get my attention back to the important things.
"Kittypets," I meowed. "BloodClan has a new leader. My BloodClan is stronger and more organized then Scourge's ever would have been. The warriors you see here are just a few of my best. Do not stray from your twoleg nests, for my warriors will not let you return to them in one piece." Ashes yowled in agreement, and some of my other warriors joined in. Once they had quieted down I continued. "The twolegplace is BloodClan's once more!" That statement rowsed even louder yowls of agreement from my cats. The kittypets trembled, glancing around nervously as if they expected my warriors to jump down on them. "You have a quarter moon," I started again, "One quarter moon to tell any kittypets you care about my message. If they leave their nests, they will not live. A quarter moon from today, any cat outside of their twoleg nest is free for my warriors to… practice their skills on." I leapt down from my mountain, and landed gracefully in front of the kittypet who was seated in the middle of the line. "BloodClan lives," I hissed. "I am Shatter."
I turned around and stalked back to my den. My warriors knew exactly what to do. As I entered the cave in the twoleg garbage mountain, I heard Red yowling orders to the kittypets. She and Fleet would return them to their twoleg nests. Ice and Snake would go check the forest border, and take the newly named Ashes with them. Fang and Talon would continue to guard my alley, Tear and Brick would do whatever they wanted. It was only Striker who had nothing to do. I was about to call him when I realized how tired I was. I trusted Striker to do something useful without me having to tell him, he was my deputy, after all. So I curled into a ball and slept.
