"Leave me alone!" A cat was snarling. Princess could scent fresh blood, but the strongest scent was that of Speckle.
"You shouldn't be on my territory, then, kittypet." Speckle sounded as if she was enjoying this cat's suffering.
"Leave him alone, Speckle." She warned, walking around the corner. A thin dappled tom was surrounded by a ring of cats, Speckle one of them. The tom's short, ruffled grey fur was dripping blood, but his amber eyes glowed in defiance.
"Why should I? This alleyway is mine, and I can do what I want with trespassers." Speckle said darkly. "Besides, he accepts food from twolegs, and he's fought my freinds before. One of them died at his claws. A weakling, yes, but I will have my revenge."
"He attacked me! And the dog finished him off!" The injured cat protested, dodging a swipe from a ginger tom.
Something about this cat's voice made Princess jump. She'd heard that voice before. He did not seem like a true kittypet, so Chestnut wouldn't have introduced them; however, Chestnut's friends seemed to include all sorts of sharp-tongued rogues these days.
As Speckle prepared to leap at the tom, Princess slipped over until she was right beside the she-cat. Speckle bristled and growled, but did not move apart from a twitch of her tail. At this slight signal, the ginger tom leapt at Princess, pinning her down.
"Help!" Princess screeched. She'd never learned how to fight- why would she have?- and this cat was obviously experienced in battle. I'm going to die.
As soon as Princess screamed, something flashed in the other, injured cat's eyes. Recognition, perhaps? He leapt at the ginger tom, snarling in fury. "Leave her alone!"
The ginger tom, startled by this sudden attack, was knocked off balance. Princess managed to twist out from under him, nipping the tom's stomach. The gray tom, who had saved her, slashed at Speckle's muzzle.
"Run!" He hissed, shoving Princess out of the alley. There was no time to argue as Speckle and her freinds chased after them.
"Which way?" She panted, knowing that at any moment thorn-sharp claws would dig into her flesh.
"Follow me!" The loner dove down a hole in the thunderpath. Princess followed, quickly but reluctantly. It was a long, dark tunnel, and foul-scented slime was swirling around her paws.
"This place smells like crow-food!" She hissed in disgust. "What if they follow us?"
"Scent trails never last down here. Besides, Speckle's minions may enjoy killing, but they've never liked getting there paws wet." The tom purred in amusement. "It's been a long time since I've seen you, but you haven't changed a bit."
"What do you mean? Who are you?" Princess gasped. So she did know this cat! Staring at his thin, ragged pelt, Princess suddenly had an answer.
"Diablo?"