Gingerstar14: this is more like an excerpt than a one-shot, but who cares?
Expectations
The floor of the cage was cold an unearthly to the young ginger tom. He threw his entire weight to one side, causing the cage to slide across the floor of the monster. "No! I'm destined to be great!" he spat. But the twolegs merely slammed the monster shut and climbed in the front. He shivered as the roaring grew louder and it began to move. The tom gazed around the monster's belly. There were other cages, all empty though, and they slid around as the monster crawled forward.
Then he saw the scraggly gray tom crouched in the corner of another cage. He looked up and commented in a raspy voice, cracked with age, "Destined to be great, eh? Well, the best you can hope at the pound is not to die."
The ginger tom stared. "Do the twolegs just bring cats to die?"
"They capture strays'n sell em. If they're not adopted within two weeks, it's bye-bye kitty. Yer dead." he snorted.
"No!" the other cat yowled. "I must get back to ShadowClan!" he glanced around and then added more quietly, "What is your name, anyway?"
The gray tom closed his eyes for a bit. "Well now. I've not been called anything for quite some time. But you can call me Percy. What's your name?"
"Goldpaw."
"You still a kitten?"
Goldpaw stood tall, despite his cage. "No way! I'm an apprentice of ShadowClan. Have you heard of the Clans?"
Percy shook his head. Suddenly the monster stopped again, and in a few moments the twolegs tossed in a tortoiseshell she-cat and stuffed her in a cage near Goldpaw's. The little cat crouched in the corner of her cage and said nothing, even when Goldpaw tried to talk to her.
Finally the monster came to a stop, making all the cages slid backward again. A twoleg came out and grabbed his and the tortioseshell's, and a second grabbed Percy's. Goldpaw felt relief to be out in the cold air, but he was soon carried into the huge twoleg nest. He let out a hiss and shrank into his cage, for the room they were in was filled with barking dogs on either side.
He let out a sigh as the twolegs passed through the entrance and into a room filled with cats, filled with pitiful and angry yowling. The bigger of the twolegs shoved Percy into one of the cages, and Goldpaw was hoisted out of his and into the one on the side. The tortoiseshell was shoved into the one on the side, and the twolegs left.
"Just my luck," snarled a gray tom in the cage underneath his. Goldpaw jumped and looked down.
"Shut up, Cinder! Terrorizing the kits won't help!" a voice snapped from below the tortoiseshell's. Goldpaw saw that a tabby she-cat was glaring at the gray tom.
Percy ducked his head. "I ain't no kitten!"
"Who cares?" snarled a black and white tom from across the room. Goldpaw flinched. These were not the kinds of cats he was used to; even ShadowClan wasn't this fierce!
He flinched away as a ginger she-cat directly above him called down, "Got a name, stranger?"
"yeah, I'm Goldpaw."
"Great. I'm Ginger." she meowed. "Who's your friend?" she motioned to the tortoiseshell beside him. Goldpaw shrugged. On the other side of her was a scrawny black she-cat, and above her a burly brown tom.
"When the humans let us in the run tomorrow, I'll introduce you to everybody. But for now," she flicked her tail. "I advise you to get some sleep." Goldpaw obediantly lay down, but his sleep was disturbed, and he dreamed of his Clan yowling in fear.
Goldpaw woke as he felt himself being picked up, and a twoleg carried him through the door and set him down on the grass. He felt free and happy, until he saw that it was surrounded by a fence, gleaming coldly. Twelve other cats were milling about.
"Is everybody here?" Ginger called.
A light brown she-cat gazed over the cats. "All," she paused, counting Percy, who was streching happily, Goldpaw, and the tortoiseshell, who was huddled against the door, "fifteen of us."
"Is there a way to escape?" Goldpaw asked.
"Sure there is!" Ginger meowed. "We're digging our way out. Today's the day we'll escape, because we now have three more helpers." she glanced at the tortoiseshell doubtfully. "Now, Goldpaw, let's introduce you to the others."
He followed her to a small boulder and leaped up. "Cats of the Pound, welcome Goldpaw!" she yowled.
"Goldpaw? That's a Clan name!" Cinder meowed. "Are you a Clan cat?"
Goldpaw dipped his head. "ShadowClan apprentice."
"He's wild!"
"He can help us dig!"
"He'll be a great help!" In a heartbeat, the cats' opinions of him had been changed. Somehow they knew that Clan cats were strong, and now Goldpaw would have to work up to their expectations.
