Tiger trembled as she was shoved harshly into the den. The other she-cats jumped back, giving her room.
Slate hissed at her. "Get ready." He pushed the stone in front of the den entrance.
Tiger scrambled to her paws. "Lily?" she whispered.
Someone bumped her flank. "Sorry," they murmured.
Tiger stopped them. "Do you know a cat named Lily?"
The cat coughed once, then responded. "Yeah. I'll help you find her. I'm Moon, by the way."
Tiger smiled. "Great."
Moon gazed back at her. "Wow," she commented. "You're smaller than I thought you would be. Come on."
Tiger followed Moon through bunches of she-cats, apologizing each time she bumped into someone.
One cat hissed. "Sorry," Tiger muttered.
Moon paused. "Jade, have you seen Lily?"
The cat, Jade, turned. Tiger blinked in surprise at her brilliant green eyes.
"Last time I saw her, she was talking with Hail and Dusk."
Moon nodded. "Thanks. Come on!" she added to Tiger.
Tiger continued following Moon. This den is massive, she thought.
A sharp voice cut through the mutterings of the other females. "I won't let them take me! I belong to nobody!"
Moon's shoulders, previously tense, relaxed. "Hail!" she called.
Tiger felt her heart beat faster as she heard a soft voice. "Moon?"
Moon padded around a large group of she-cats. Tiger followed.
A tiny bunch of cats sat in the corner- a mottled gray cat was speaking. "Yeah, they'll never get- Oh, hey Moon."
Tiger looked around the group. A ginger tabby, a tortoishell, a blue.
The blue cat noticed her. "Who's the newcomer?"
Moon blinked. "This is Tiger." she mewed. "Tiger, this is Marcie-" she pointed with her tail to the blue- "Hail-" the mottled gray- "Squirrel-" the ginger tabby- "and Flower." The tortoishell.
Tiger heard a voice. "Marcie? Hail? What's going on? Why is Moon here?" She turned.
A small, pretty calico cat gazed back at her, her confused expression turning to one of shock and happiness.
"L-Lily," Tiger choked out. The calico sobbed once, then rushed forward. "Tiger!"
Tiger nuzzled her sister, then pulled away. "Where's Frost? And Winter?"
Lily blinked at her. "They were picked," she whispered.
Tiger felt irritation bloom inside her. "Picked? What's that mean? And what is this?" she snapped.
Lily stared at her helplessly. A soft tail touched her shoulder. Moon.
"I'll explain," the silver tabby murmured. Tiger swallowed her anger and sat down in the group.
Moon began. "We are from all across the city. Hail and I are from the apartment area, Marcie from the dump, and Squirrel and Flower from the alleyways."
Tiger nodded. "Okay."
Moon sighed softly, then continued. "A group of cats formed. Their leader is a cat named Scar. He 'rules' the city. He started rounding up recruits. After his group was big enough, he decided he wanted a mate. More than one." Here Moon laughed bitterly.
"He sent out patrols to capture she-cats- Hail and I were picked up a week ago. Marcie and Lily have been here for over a month."
Tiger frowned. Why would a cat need more than one mate?
"Anyways, once Scar had enough she-cats, he picked from the best, leaving the others to his recruits. Once one of his mates has had five litters of kits, he lets them go to the next rank, below him. If any of the litter turn out to be female, they are sent to one of the lower ranked toms when they are six moons old."
Tiger gasped. "But-" she began.
Moon smiled wryly. "They're kits, I know."
Flower butted in, her voice surprisingly deep. "Tomorrow, Scar and his deputy, Agro, are going to visit the den to pick new mates. Two of Scar's mates were hit by cars, and three ore were passed down."
Tiger shivered. "Why does Scar need more than one mate?"
Hail snorted. "He doesn't."
Marcie shot her a look. "He wants them because they do things for him- like sire kits, clean his pelt, and fetch him prey."
Squirrel growled. "He took my sister, Leaf, a month ago. She-" she paused, then continued, "she was one of the ones to get hit by a monster."
Tiger felt horror squirm uncomfortably in her belly. "I'm so sorry," she whispered.
Lily opened her mouth to say something, but a loud scraping noise stopped her. Moonlight shone into the den, illuminating a tom's body at the mouth of the den.
"Lights out!" he yowled. Tiger growled as she recognized Slate's voice. He rolled the stone back into place, sealing the den.
Squirrel's body thumped to the ground, her glowing yellow eyes shutting. Hail and Marcie's eyes disappeared. Moon touched her nose to Tiger's ear, then padded away. Lily settled down. "Hurry," she hissed. "They check."
Tiger quickly lay down next to her sister and shut her eyes.
Please don't let either Lily or I get picked.
"Get up, maggots!"
Tiger jumped to her paws with a hiss. Slate was standing at the mouth of the den, scraping his claws against the stone, making a screeching noise.
"Scar and Agro are coming soon!" the tom screeched. "Back row, middle row, you'll be picked through by Earth and Lingo, and front row, outside, now!"
Tiger watched the front row females file out. The middle row followed suit.
A loud scraping noise made her ears twitch. She turned.
A familiar black tom was pushing back a stone near Lily. Lily gazed at them tom with contempt.
Tiger staggered forward. "P-Panther?"
The tom froze. "Tiger?"
Hail narrowed her ice-blue eyes. "You know him?"
Tiger nodded. "H-he's my brother." she croaked. "Panther, how could you?"
Panther stared at her, then narrowed his yellow eyes. "It was my choice." He spoke coldly, like they were enemies.
Moon's silver pelt flashed next to her. "Get behind me," she whispered. "I lead the line out."
Tiger silently moved into place, hurt by her brother's betrayal. Moon led the back row out of the den and into the sunlight.
Tiger blinked several times, the sunlight momentarily blinding her. Moon led her over to a wall, where they were joined by Squirrel, Flower, Marcie, Hail, and Lily.
Hail began to wash her pelt. Tiger watched her. Her pelt wasn't a mottled gray- it was silver tabby, like Moon's.
Moon poked her. "Wash," she hissed.
Tiger hurriedly began to lick her pelt. She realized her pelt was much dirtier than it had been yesterday- her calico fur was almost brown with dust.
Everyone finished relatively soon. Squirrel was still ginger tabby, Flower was still tortoishell, Marcie turned out to be more blue than gray, and Lily's pelt shone.
Panther paced in circles. "Line up!" he yowled suddenly.
Moon hurried into place. Tiger stood beside her. The she-cats formed a horizontal line, stretching across the alley.
Beside her, a small tabby and white cat was trembling. Tiger touched her pelt with her tail, but said nothing.
A well-muscled, brown tom appeared around the corner. His blue eyes gleamed violently, and he was followed by a ugly yellow tabby tom with a black collar.
Panther bowed in front of the brown tom. "Scar, Agro," he murmured respectively. Tiger studied Scar's face, noticing an ugly pink ribbon stretched across his eye.
Agro shouldered Panther aside and strutted forward. Scar followed at a more leisurely pace.
Moon stiffened beside her as Agro opened his mouth to show disgusting yellow teeth.
"Listen u', she-cats," he yowled. "Scar's gonna 'ick four of y'all to be his mates. I'm a'gonna 'ick six."
Tiger narrowed her eyes are Scar began to speak. "I see some new, pretty cats here," he murmured, his eyes fixing on her.
The tabby and white cat beside her moaned fearfully. Tiger blinked.
Scar padded up and down the line. He paused near the other end. "You," he ordered.
A pretty brown tabby darted out of the line. She stood next to the wall, trembling.
Scar picked a cream cat with amber points. She had a collar on.
Scar paused at the place where Flower and Lily were. "You," he decided.
Tiger frowned as Flower stumbled out of line. She stood by the brown tabby and the cream cat.
Scar padded closer to their end of the line. His gaze was fixed on her; fear squirmed in her belly.
Scar paused in front of her, considering the tabby and white cat beside Tiger.
"You." he ordered, pointing at Tiger.
Tiger froze, staring at him. His eyes became angry, and she darted for the wall.
Scar stepped back. "They're all yours, Agro."
Tiger looked through the line. Moon gazed at her sadly, and Lily looked stricken.
Agro leered at the she-cats. "I want the 'retty silver kitty there," he murmured, pointing. Tiger gasped as Moon stepped quietly out of line and walked to her side.
Agro picked a blue tabby cat wearing a red-stripe collar, a brown cat with white tabby stripes, a calico with a green collar, and a black she-cat with a blue-striped collar.
Tiger looked through the line. A few stragglers were left- including Hail, Squirrel, Lily, and Marcie.
Agro stopped in front of Marcie and Hail. "I want you, 'rincess," he said, pointing at Hail.
The silver tabby cat's eyes widened. "No!" she spat. "I won't go!"
Agro hissed violently. "Marko! Sully!"
Two large, ginger tabby toms barreled from around the corner. They stopped in either side of Hail.
"No!" Hail screeched as they carried her over to the line. She struggled, scratching at the toms. She hit one in the eye. He grunted in pain, subsiding his grip for a few precious heartbeats.
Hail broke free, flinging the other tom into the wall of the alley. She sprung onto a dumpster.
"She-cats have equal rights." she declared. "I'll come back for everyone soon, and I'll have my own army." With that, she sprung onto a roof and disappeared.
Agro hissed angrily. "You, then," he spat, pointing to the tabby and white cat. The cat jumped, then ran to her place in line.
Scar sauntered over to his cats. "So," he chuckled smoothly. "I need to know your names. You first," he said, pointing to the brown tabby.
She shifted uneasily. "Coyote."
Scar's muzzle wrinkled. "Too male-sounding," he muttered. "You'll be known as Queen."
Queen looked angry, but she hid it with a dip of the head.
Scar moved to the cream cat with amber points. "You?"
The she-cat trembled. "I-I'm Amber."
Scar nodded. "Good. You?"
Flower started, then spoke. "Flower," she answered, making no effort to hide her deep voice.
Scar looked revolted. "Why is your voice so deep?" he hissed.
Flower stared at him, trembling. Scar rolled his eyes and moved on to Tiger. "Your name?"
Tiger hesitated. "I..."
Scar snarled suddenly. "Answer!"
Tiger leaned back. "T-tiger," she stuttered.
Scar smiled, his eyes gleaming. "Feisty name, eh? You can keep it."
Tiger shot a glance at Queen, hoping that the she-cat wasn't angry. But Queen was staring at a tabby not unlike herself; the only differences were a purple collar and white socks and a tailtip.
Scar stared coolly at Agro. "Agro, what are you cats' names?"
Agro leered creepily at his cats. "This 'ere is Moon, this is Droplet," the blue tabby- "this is Snowy," the white-striped- "this is 'etal," the tortoishell- "and this is Holly." The black she-cat.
Scar nodded curtly. "Let's get started, shall we?"
Four Moons Later
Tiger groaned uncomfortably as the kits kicked her stomach. Her body was wracked with pain.
Moon and Flower scurried forward. "What do I do?" Moon hissed.
Flower had brought a stick with her; now she shoved it between Tiger's jaws. "Get water," she told Moon.
Tiger hissed. "I think one's coming."
Flower checked, then blinked in surprise. "You're right. Ready... push!"
Tiger pushed with all her might- and then a kit was next to her stomach, suckling.
Moon was back with a bundle of wet moss. Tiger lapped gratefully at it, pausing when a sharp pain stabbed her stomach.
Flower growled softly. "This is a big one! Get ready... and push!"
Tiger almost screamed. The pain was unbearable. She pushed harder, and a kit slid onto the moss.
Flower nipped open the sac and handed the kit to Moon. "Warm it up," she ordered.
Tiger flopped in her nest. "Is it over?"
Flower shook her head. "One more."
Tiger felt the pain gradually grow. "Okay," she panted.
Flower's eyes narrowed. "Ready, push!"
Tiger barely had to contribute her strength- the kit slipped out easily.
Tiger felt the pain ebb away. She laid down in her nest.
Moon nudged the wet moss closer. "Drink."
Tiger tried to lap at the dripping fronds, but she was exhausted.
Flower poked her gently. "Oh, Tiger, I'm so sorry," she whispered.
Tiger tensed. "What?"
Flower blinked away tears. "They're all she-kits."
Tiger felt numb. Her kits would never be able to hunt or fight. They would just raise kits and groom pelts, like she did.
A deep mew sounded from behind Flower. "Let me see my kits."
Tiger narrowed her eyes. Scar.
Scar crouched by her kits. "They're all female, eh?"
Tiger nodded mutely.
Scar frowned. "I name this one-" he gestured to the first-born- "Birch, for her brown pelt."
Tiger gazed at her kit. She squeaked a few times, then was still.
Scar poked the smallest kit, the third-born. "I name her Tiny, for her size."
Tiger watched her "mate". He was being surprisingly gentle.
"You name this one."
Tiger shifted, caught off guard. "W-what?"
Scar blinked at her. "What do you name out last kit?"
Tiger stared at her kit. She was calico, like her mother, but had the build of Scar.
"I name her Storm," she answered softly.
Scar nodded, standing. "Good names. Birch, Tiny, and Storm." He left.
Tiger gazed down at her kits. "Please, Hail." she whispered. "Come rescue us soon."
Hello peoples!
Sorry for not posting earlier this morning... I was really tired.
I am currently having a problem with the site. It won't show me how many views/visitors I'm getting each chapter. If anyone knows how to fix this, or what's wrong, please review or PM me. If you read this chapter, please write a review. if you don't want to day anything about the chapter, just write "read". If you do want to say something, write your review, then put the word like so:
*read*
Anyways, thanks for reading! Bai!
-Cherrystone
PS. I won't be able to post anytime tomorrow. On Thursday, yes. Tomorrow, no.