Oh wow, I'm on the tenth chapter already. What is this? I think I'm doing pretty well anyway. I hope you leave a review on the bottom. The more reviews I get the more chapters get posted so type a good or bad review at the bottom! I'll love you for it, well not if you flame. Constructive criticism is good so review away!

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Cat: Millie

Title: Millie's Teammate

Words: 3,211 Words

Millie stretched and she looked into her elderly female owner. She was getting out of bed and Millie licked her whiskers. She decided she'd go out for the day. She'd heard from her friend Tasha, the kittypet who lived next door that there was a new cat on the block. Perhaps she'd go pay him a visit.

She scratched at the door and her owner opened the door and murmured something in their language that Millie couldn't understand.

She climbed up her garden tree and gazed down at the footpath. And there, she saw a handsome grey tom strolling down the street, shooting cautious looks in every direction. He's cute Millie thought and scolded herself. He's walking near the hedge she realized. Should I warn him? Too late.

The dog that lived in that garden shoved its head out and the grey tom leapt a mile into the air and took off towards the lawn next door and almost hit Mr. Green who was mowing his lawn. She tried not to laugh as she watched him go. The grey tom leapt onto the road and a car moved towards him but he reared back just in time. Her whiskers twitched as she watched him. He was handsome and quick on his paws.

The last she saw of him was him sprinting back to his nest. She spotted his den. That was where her mother used to live, before she passed of course. Millie closed her eyes for a silent grieve. Then she opened them again and she couldn't see the handsome grey tom anymore. Maybe I'll see him tomorrow…

A quarter moon perhaps later. She hadn't seen the grey tom at all. She'd watched and waited but she didn't see him. Perhaps his housefolk were angry at him for getting out the first time and they were punishing him. She frowned.

Suddenly she saw him leaping out of his tree. The window was open a crack and he'd squeezed out. He looked around and murmured something before walking across the lawn. And then he saw a butterfly and chased it. Millie snickered and smirked. She'd like to meet this cat. She just needed to find the right time to introduce herself.

He leapt over the fence towards her, and the next fence… and the next fence. Was he exploring? What was he doing? Didn't he know that housefolk kitties should only go into the yards of their friends? Some of the cats who lived around here were very aggressive.

After about five different housefolk nests, Millie watched as he seemed confused. He clambered up a tree and gazed around. Millie saw muscles rippling beneath his pelt and guessed he was very athletic.

"And just what do you think you're doing?" she recognized Duke, the toughest house-cat in the neighbourhood. She cringed and wondered if the grey cat could beat the large black-and-white tom.

"Excuse me?" the grey tabby asked, turning around and facing the black-and-white tom. Millie leapt and raced across the road and clambered quietly into the overhanging tree so she could get a closer eye on them.

"This is my territory, anyone comes or goes here, it's by my say-so, and you don't have permission." Millie held her breath and she watched the grey tabby smirk.

"Oh, I'm sorry," the grey tabby murmured sarcastically. "I didn't realize fat, lazy kittypets ever had territory of their own," Millie used all of her self control not to start laughing right then. Duke's expression was priceless.

Duke let out a roar of anger and he threw himself at the large grey tabby. But the grey tabby was ready. But as he went to duck, Duke bit his neck.

"Here's your fat and lazy," Duke mocked.

The grey tabby threw him off and Millie's eyes widened. No one ever won a fight with Duke. Was this newcomer about to?

"Hey-" the grey tabby started but Duke let out a battle cry and the grey tabby pinned him to the grass. They rolled and Duke scratched the grey tabby's underbelly. The newcomer seemed to be in pain but he didn't show it. He clawed rapidly and Duke kicked him away viciously.

"This fat, lazy cats about to rip your head off!" Duke spat and he leapt at the grey tom's throat and Millie held back a shriek. He was going for the kill! The grey tom ducked and let out a hiss before racing away.

"Yeah! That's right! Tail between your legs, you little runt!"

She saw him leap onto the path and race just under her tree. He halted and Millie wondered if he had smelt her. If he did, he didn't say anything. He just sat down and looked annoyed. Here was the right time.

"Nobody's ever won a fight against Duke," she pointed out and he looked up, surprised. His eyes were yellow. Even more handsome she thought cheekily. "I wouldn't feel bad if I were you," he looked surprised, but didn't reply. She leapt down the tree and landed with a thud on a grassy patch. "I'm Millie. What's your name?"

The grey tabby paused for a moment, looking around warily as if he were expecting someone to pounce on him and pin him to the ground. So distrusting she thought, amused.

"Uh, Graystripe," he murmured awkwardly and Millie smirked.

"I've seen you around that house with the little boy and girl… you're new in the neighbourhood, aren't you, Graystripe?" Graystripe looked surprised for a moment again and then he nodded.

"Yes… you could say that. You live here? You're a kittypet?" he asked her. She tried to hold in her laughter. A kittypet? That's a new one she thought.

"Kittypet…" she meowed. "That's funny," she paused and remembered his other question. "Yes I live here," Graystripe seemed interested and a leaf fell from the tree she had been sitting in before and landed on the ground beside her. "I haven't seen you this far from your house before. Do you know how to get back to it?" she hoped he'd ask her for help. That way they could chat.

"Uh… well…" he started and Millie got it. He had no idea where his housefolk nest was. She'd be kind and show him the way.

"That's fine. I'll show you the way, come on! Follow me," she called over her shoulder as she started her way back down the path with Graystripe following behind her.

"Well here we are!" Millie meowed cheerfully. He hadn't spoken much on the journey, only a few mumbles. "It was very nice meeting you Graystripe," he murmured a thanks and Millie decided to up her game.

She walked past him innocently and bumped her head casually against his shoulder and she saw his astonished look. Her whiskers twitched.

"I'll see you around then, yes?"

He didn't answer, but as she walked back towards her own housefolk nest, she felt his gaze following her as she walked and she felt confident and happy with her efforts to get Graystripe to like her. He seemed like a good cat.

The next day Millie was loaded into her monster and taken to the Vet. Millie hated going to the Vet because they always injected her with needles and all sorts.

"Going to get your needles sweetie," her female owner spoke clearly so Millie could hear her from where she was perched on the front seat. Dammit! What if Graystripe is looking for me today? Oh well…

Finally they parked in front of a blue building with pictures of animals at the top. Millie groaned. She was here at the vet and she was carried through the door. She was placed on the counter and she saw other cats.

"Millie!" she recognized Tasha, one of her close friends. What are the chances? Millie waved her tail in greeting and suddenly Tasha smirked. "Did you spend time with the grey kitty?" Millie tried to hide her smirk and she gasped. "You did! I need all of the gossip, tell me now!"

"His name's Graystripe for starters,"

"Graystripe huh? That's a weird name…" Tasha sounded confused and they were both carried into the same room. The spirits must be giving me good luck today she realized and smirked.

They stood side by side in the room on the work table while the vet examined them.

"I think it's interesting," Millie meowed and Tasha looked at her. "And he's a wild cat! He used to live in the forest with a Clan. He was the deputy, the second in command," she explained and Tasha's eyes widened.

"If I hadn't been messed with, I'd have his kits any day," Millie gaped at the sentence and Tasha lashed her tail.

"I'm just joking; he's all yours Millie,"

"Hey Millie," the next day she found Moonshine Sunshine and Venus. Moonshine Sunshine was a white tom with fluffy fur. And Venus was a night black tom. "We saw your friend, the grey one. He was looking for you and he gave us the biggest scare,"

"Oh really?"

"He sure did," Venus meowed, eyes wide. "He said he ate the bones of live kittypets like us!" his fur was already beginning to bristle at the thought. Only Graystripe she thought, amused.

"Did you ever consider that he might be joking?"

"Um…"

"I didn't think so," Millie answered. I'll check his garden and see if he is there. Mille waved her tail in farewell to the two toms sitting on the table with the umbrella.

Millie clambered onto the fence and balanced ungracefully. She spotted him dozing in the garden and she purred. Maybe he was settling in here.

"Graystripe! Hey, Graystripe!" she yowled from where she balanced on the fence. "Wake up!" she saw his head lift and he looked around, dazed. And then his eyes locked on her and his eyes lit up, much to her delight.

"Come on, you're sleeping the day away," Millie pointed out. "Come with me, I've got something to show you," Graystripe looked interested. I remember that forest I found just beyond the neighbourhood. I'll show him. Maybe it'll cheer him up!

Millie started to run along the path and then cut across and down the slope. She heard the thudding pawsteps of Graystripe behind her and she spotted the train track where the train crossed every day at sunhigh.

"What in StarClan's name was that? I've seen the Thunderpath but that's a completely different Thunderpath," Millie didn't understand any of that. StarClan? Thunderpath? Seeing her confusion, his eyes narrowed.

"Oh yes, the Thunderpath is the black path," Millie's whiskers twitched. I think he means the road not a Thunderpath!

"You mean a road?"

"A road?"

"Same thing as a Thunderpath," he frowned.

"Weird,"

She laughed and they crawled under a fence. Just up this slope here and the forest is all ours! Graystripe looked at her cheekily and charged up the hill.

"Race you!"

"Hey!"

Millie took off up the slope and because of her slim figure, she managed to overtake the plump former wild cat and they stopped abruptly when Graystripe caught sight of the forest.

"Do you like it?" she asked quietly. "I thought it might remind you of your home in the forest."

"Do I like it?" Graystripe paused. "It's beautiful! I had no idea anything like this was around here!" he looked at her with affection. "How can I repay you?"

"I'm just glad to see you happy," Millie answered, purring.

The two cats started a stroll into the forest after Graystripe missed catching a mouse. They'd settled in a clearing under the sunlight and they bathed in the warm light.

"Can I tell you about ThunderClan?" he asked her and she looked at him.

"Of course!"

"The leader was my best friend, Firestar. He was once a kittypet like you," Millie twitched an ear, imagining what it was like to be a Clan cat as Graystripe went into great detail. "The warrior code stops us from killing cats in battle, and there are lots of rules we have to follow. But ShadowClan never follows them. They're cold-hearted," he scowled as if remembering memories and Millie was warmed.

"You should teach me to hunt," she meowed suddenly and she kind of surprised herself. Graystripe looked up, surprised. He murmured something and she repeated. "No, I'm serious, teach me to hunt!"

"Okay then,"

Millie worked on it until sunhigh about and she thought had perfected it. She flexed her claws and wiggled her haunches and pounced on a leaf that had fluttered down.

She even caught her first mouse and it was the most delicious thing she'd ever tasted. I want another one right now!

"Graystripe, it's delicious!" she announced and she turned to look at him and licked her whiskers. She had hunted like a warrior cat. She felt proud. Now she just had to fight like a warrior cat. She realized what she wanted now.

"Teach me how to fight!"

The days went by and Graystripe taught her more and more. She learnt about medicine cats and how they could cure practically anything. She wondered what it would feel like to be a warrior cat. It'd be amazing. She'd be free to do what she wanted when she wanted. But that would never happen. Her place would always be a kittypet here in the Twolegplace. She was picking up on the language.

And one day at the end of their training session, they ended up on the chimney of Graystripe's housefolk, or twoleg nest. Graystripe was telling her some things.

"It just sounds like such an adventure. Like every day, you don't know what to expect," the idea warmed her. She would love to be free sometimes. "Not like my life here at all," she sighed. She'd wake up every day and eat and drink and then make dirt in the garden. Usually she'd go for a walk but now she spent time with Graystripe. Things were kind of adventurous with him. It was… nice.

"No… no, it's not like here. Not one bit,"

The next day while they were training, she noticed a scent. It was Duke and he was watching them with scornful eyes. Millie cowered as he loomed over them with two of his bully friends, Snake and Claw.

"You're gonna take a serious beating," he growled and Millie froze. She didn't want to go home with scars and bites! She tried to get Graystripe to leave but he stood his ground like he did the first day she met him.

"No a warrior stands and fights," is what he said.

"Oh yeah?" she meowed. "And who's the warrior here?" she demanded. "Not me, I'm pretty sure!" she didn't want to fight Duke and his friends. They'd be defeated and humiliated.

But in the end, they flogged Duke and his friends, and sent them running for home with their tails in between their legs. Millie was absolutely amazed. She had fought as well!

"That was incredible! I've never done anything like that! You were incredible!" Millie yowled. "Do you know what it means that you beat Duke? Nobody beats Duke!"

"Yeah… I guess,"

He didn't sound too pleased and Millie decided she'd try to cheer him up.

"Graystripe… I see you in a new light now. I see your world. You don't belong here, living with the twolegs! You should go and rejoin your Clan again,"

"That's not going to happen…"
Millie was shocked and surprised. He wants to stay a kittypet after the wild life of a Clan cat he's been living his whole life? Something's wrong…

"But-" she started but he interrupted her. "Look I can't all right? I don't know how to get there and plus, ThunderClan might have moved or even been destroyed," his yellow eyes grew round at the thought of his precious Clan being destroyed and Millie stepped forward to comfort him but he stepped away. She felt a little angry now.

"Graystripe, you never struck me for someone who'd give up," Graystripe reeled back, hurt.

"Then I guess you don't know me very well do you?"

And he fled, leaving Millie standing alone in the flower meadow.

The next morning while Millie was sunbathing on her doorstep, she saw Graystripe approaching, looking apologetic. Millie had forgiven him overnight, realizing she didn't want to lose his friendship if he was going to stay here.

"Millie," she stopped grooming and looked at him.

"Good morning Graystripe," she purred, glad to see him. "What's up?"

"Well I thought about what you said and uh, I had this dream… But that's a long story. Here's the thing. I've decided to go find my Clan." Millie was over-delighted for him but she felt sadness pricking at her. She'd miss the grey tom.

"That's fantastic! But that means you're coming to say goodbye then, doesn't it?" Graystripe looked at his paws for a moment and then he gazed hopefully at her.

"No! I mean… no. No, Millie, I-I wanted to ask you…" Millie gazed at him, wondering what in StarClan's name he would ask her. "You'll come with me won't you?" Millie was shocked.

"Come with you?" she replied, not knowing what to say. "You mean… right now? Come with you to the forest?" she asked quietly. "Graystripe I can't just leave! I have my whole life here. I can't just make this decision on the spot. What about my Twolegs, I can't just abandon them!"

Graystripe flinched and he seemed to be regretting asking her. Millie felt hurt at that and she took a nervous step back. Graystripe turned his head away.

"I just thought… oh well, it's all right. I uh, have to go now," he murmured. As he began to walk away, Millie felt as if her heart had broken. He stopped walking and turned to look at her. "I'll miss you. Take care of yourself okay?"

Millie didn't reply, but she watched him go.

When she walked back into her Twoleg nest, she looked around at the home she'd lived in since she was a kit. This was her life.

No surprises. No excitement. Just the same boring life. How could she stay here when she got offered the chance to be a warrior?

She saw the bird caged up on the counter and she closed her eyes before looking up at it with curious eyes.

"Would you fly away if you could?" she asked it. The bird didn't reply, but gave her a strange look as if confused as to why she was talking to it. It couldn't answer her.

Her Twoleg placed a bowl of food on her favourite spot by the window and she leapt up, eager to eat it but as she gazed at it. She suddenly wished it was a tasty mouse. How could she have ever left Graystripe to go alone?

She swallowed, thinking carefully. She thought she loved him. And he liked her obviously to ask her to go on such an important trip. I have to go!

"Goodbye," she whispered as she looked once more at her Twoleg nest before darting out the crack in the door, not looking back.

Her heart now belonged to Graystripe now, not her Twolegs.

And Millie's oneshot is done XD Next up is Thornclaw's. Please leave me a review I'd really appreciate it!

-Blossomstripe xx