Pretty Brown Eyes

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Thanks for you, my faithful readers, for sticking with me this far! This is a nice Christmas treat for you!

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Night blanketed Twolegplace. There was a hard chill in the air.

Blackheart gave a small purr. A perfect night for a raid.

The moon shone from behind Scourge as he stood in the window. The stark contrast of light and the darkness in the room made his fur seem even darker than it actually was. With his black pelt, cold eyes and battle trophies glinting in the moonlight, he looked as if he was not of this world. Blackheart found it quite alluring.

While he was well aware that his fascination with the dark leader was outside the norm for relations, Blackheart could have cared less. He was determined to take every small ounce of good out of Twolegplace that he could; that included becoming closer to Scourge. He only hoped that the cat would reciprocate in time.

"BloodClan" Scourge stared at them with conviction. "Let us begin." Without a word, he turned onto the windowsill and made his way to the ledge. Within seconds all of BloodClan was onto the adjacent building and flying through the night, shadows against the sky.

Keeping pace easily with his long legs, strode alongside his leader, striking up conversation as he went. "Are you prepared?"

Leaping lively over a ledge onto another rooftop, Scourge answered with confidence. "Yes. Are you? Questions like that are often a sign of a fearful heart."

"I am merely being cautious." Blackheart sailed over another precipice with amazing grace. "Be assured, I will not cower."

Scourge paused before the jump to the roof overlooking StoneClan's territory and turned to his Clan. Though he spoke as if to the whole, his eyes never left Blackheart's. "Bone, Brick. Rush them from the side as we planned and draw away as many as you can. While they are distracted, Blackheart and I will descend after and attack."

Bone asked, "Should we fight?"

"No," Blackheart said. "There will be far too many. Just distract them, run them around the place until you hear a long yowl. That will signify that Scourge and I were successful. Or that we failed. Regardless, as soon as you hear it, break away and return to the haunt."

"I don't feel comfortable leaving you two to fend for yourselves out here." Brick paced up to Scourge. "Will this plan truly work?"

Scourge narrowed his eyes in slight frustration, but remained clam otherwise. "Worry over you own safety. Blackheart and I are capable. Now go!"

Brick frowned but jumped ahead with urging from Bone. The toms disappeared below the next building's lip.

"You handled that surprisingly well Scourge." Blackheart jumped to the next building over and sauntered to the middle, awaiting the chaos soon to follow.

"It is… strange. It has been moons since another has shown something to me other than fear. Concern from another is something I will have to readjust to."

A mirthless chuckle found its way past Blackheart's lips. "Are you truly such a stranger to positive emotions?"

"No more than you yourself are." He walked to Blackheart's side, brushing pelts. "In all the time you've been here, I sense no emotions other than sadness or anger in you. The way you walk, the way you talk. You're an empty being Blackheart."

For a few moments, Blackheart said nothing. His eyes closed. Slivers of sadness slid in his chest; Scourge was right. In all his life, he had never once known any form of happiness or contentment. It hurt… He wished that Brick and Bone would hurry, start the raid, give him a distraction from the pain.

Fur pressed onto his chest. He twitched, swiveled his head down.

"Don't move." An order.

He stiffened immediately.

"Wh-"

"Silence." He shut up. A tail around his body.

With his head buried in Blackheart's chest and his tail wrapped around the other tom, Scourge stood them both still under the moonlight. He didn't understand why, but he knew that this had to be done.

Blackheart had been helping him to lead. It was Scourge's turn to teach this cat to live.

A shriek and subsequent yowls sounded from below; it had started.

Before pulling away Scourge muttered against the larger tom's chest.

"Show me your passion. Live for me, in this battle." Then in a more in character tone, "I order you." He jumped below.

Heart thundering, Blackheart stared into the sky, then jumped over the edge into the battle below.

His heart burned…

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The crunch of bones and flesh cushioned Blackheart's fall. The poor cat didn't suffer. Not that Blackheart would have cared either way. With a yowl he barreled into a cat in front, rolled, then sprinted for the trash cans in the other section of the camp. Yowling filled his ears from all sides. They were panicked, frantic. As he jumped aside to dodge an attack from a brown tabby, he saw that the numbers were greatly diminished. Good. The less there were, the easier the mission.

Unsheathing his claws, Blackheart surged forward and slashed at every cat that came his way. His main targets were the eyes. Most cats backed off; nobody wanted to lose an eye. Some stood up, but quickly recoiled, shrieking , blood rolling down their faces.

Finally, he came to the storage. A few small kits stood before him, but he simply sheathed his claws and batted them away. He wouldn't want to hurt them too badly. When his eyes came upon the food, he froze in amazement.

Chicken, hot dogs, chips dripping with sauce. All types of morsels were thrown in. It was a treasure trove… He leant forward. His teeth barely caught onto a chicken leg before a jaw clamped onto his tail and he was pulled out and thrown back into the fray.

Sprawled on the ground, Blackheart was pinned before he could even gain footing. A furious hiss sparked in his ears. A paw batted him across his right eye, drawing blood. He shook his head to slide the blood from his eye and gazed into the eyes of his attacker.

Dark yellow. Fur of rust.

Sinew!

She yowled in fury. "Halt your attack monster! Surrender and leave us, else I'll ruin both of these pretty brown eyes! You will die next."

She poised a claw above his face to show that the threat was not idle. From his position, Blackheart could see Scourge and every other cat in the camp witnessing Sinew's threat. The dark cat's fur stood on end, his hackles raised in fury. Blood ran down him, dripping from every hair, as if he had bathed in an ocean of the fluid. His teeth were pulled back in fury, eyes like daggers. His claws had as much blood as the rest of him, plus bits of flesh on them.

If he's fought as viciously as he looks, then there's no way he will surrender. Blackheart's heart sank. But he cannot win either. He must surrender. He must!

But despite Blackheart's silent plea, he could see it was wasted. Scourge's muscles tensed as he prepared to leap at Sinew.

No! Scourge could not attempt to fight. There was no doubt they would kill him. Blackheart could not allow that to happen!

"Scourge!" He yowled with all his might. "Leave me!"

A purr of amusement above him. "Sacrificing yourself for this monster? Humph! A cat such as you is wasted on him…" Sinew leaned down and to the horror of every cat in the fray, she licked the blood from his face. "I have seen you. You are a fierce warrior. Renounce Scourge, pledge your loyalty to me. Be mine."

A bloodcurdling shriek of pure loathing cut through he night; a thousand nails dragging on rocks.

"He belongs to ME!" Scourge's muscles bunched, ready for the kill. Blackheart was his! How dare that filth claim him! Haw dare she!?

"Scourge, stop! Leave me!"

Scourge's eyes flashed at Blackheart in disbelief. "You are BloodClan! You are mine!"

"Don't be foolish! I'm no good to BloodClan dead. Without you, there is no BloodClan at all! Remember what I said. Be wise! Don't let your anger rule you! Now go! Live, so you can fight another day."

The dark leader trembled in rage, in despair, overwhelmed.

Blackheart's voice was but a whisper now. "Please… Live for me now… so that you can save me another night."

Raggedly breathing, Scourge bowed his head, torn.

"Please!"

With a yowl, Scourge tore from the spot and raced into the streets. The yowls of victory rang from StoneClan as he sprinted for the haunt.

With each step that he took from Blackheart, the agony increased for them both.

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Sorry if this was too romantic or over-dramatic. As I was writing, I realized that this story didn't have enough drama or action. Hence the input. Tell me what you thought.

Thanks for reading. Please review.