Chapter 26: Kittypet collars and Clan cat rescues

Lionblaze was thrashing violently. Aiden and Julia had finally Googled some kittypet names and had gotten their father to get the tags finished. Lionblaze, however, was attempting to be released from Julia's grip, but she wouldn't allow that.

"Just put on the stupid collar!" she exclaimed, attempting to fix the green fabric around his neck. Lionblaze yowled as he attempted to fight back without his claws unsheathed.

I was just watching the epidemic. Aiden was gentler than Julia was - he wasn't grabbing me around the middle and yanking the fabric onto my neck like a mad person. He held up the collar, as if waiting for me to approve. I glanced back towards Lionblaze. He had finally given up in a hissing fit and allowed Julia to slip the collar around his neck.

"God…" she groaned, tightening it around his neck. Lionblaze hacked. Julia rolled her eyes, obviously not caring.

I narrowed my eyes. She was the one who wanted a cat?

Lionblaze's collar read 'Felix' in black lettering. I smirked. Felix? Really?

"Alright," Aiden said, turning me around as he slipped the collar over my face. He tightened it slightly, making sure it wouldn't choke me, as he pet my head. "Do you like it, Indie?"

I shrugged. The collar's fabric clung annoyingly to my neck but I could get over it. I glanced towards Lionblaze, who looked horrified at the sight of us wearing collars. I bounded over towards the window, getting up on the couch.

"Your cat's really dumb," Julia muttered already doing something on her phone.

"Shut up, Julia. You're just upset you didn't get a girl cat." Julia snorted although didn't deny what Aiden said. I rolled my eyes, not bothering to look over my shoulder at their bickering. I couldn't see any Clan cats anywhere. I let out an exasperated sigh.

They're going to have heart attacks when they see these collars around our necks, I thought as I bounded towards Lionblaze. He was sitting on the floor, his fur still fluffed up from the epidemic he had faced with Julia. I smirked.

"Looking good, Felix."

Lionblaze frowned, then looked down at his collar. "Is that what they named me?" he asked.

I nodded. "I'm Indie, if it makes you feel any better."

Lionblaze snorted. "Indie is better than Felix. Twoleg names sound so weird."

I shrugged, glancing over my shoulder back at the window. It was getting darker outside, and the longer Jayfeather and the others took, the longer Lionblaze and I would have to stay here as kittypets.

(Jayfeather's POV)

I could feel Firestar's questioning gaze burning into me.

"You are telling me that… you're the Three?" he asked.

I felt Hollyleaf bristle from next to me. "N-No… Well, not me."

Firestar sighed. "I should have known…" His voice trailed off before he added, "Where's Echoflight?"

"Echoflight and Lionblaze have been captured by twolegs," I meowed. "We followed them to the house but we don't remember the way any more."

I heard rustling as another cat joined in on our conversation. "We have to get them back."

Breezepelt.

My hackles raised instantly. I turned on the tom. "Why do you care? This is ThunderClan business."

Hollyleaf brushed next to me, telling me to calm down. I ignored her, waiting for Breezepelt's answer.

"Because you really don't have many cats fit enough to go save them, do you?"

I narrowed my eyes, digging my claws into the earth underneath me. Although he was right, I didn't want to admit it. I could tell Echoflight was scared of him - and I'm certain she wouldn't want to see Breezepelt amongst our patrol to come rescue them.

"Breezepelt," Firestar meowed. "Are you sure you're alright with joining us?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm okay with it… I can get some more warriors to join if you have no one else." He paused before adding, "which you kind of don't."

Firestar sighed again. "Fine then. Go and find some warriors willing to join us."

Breezepelt scampered off. I scoffed, turning my head away. Even though I couldn't see him, I couldn't stand the thought of him. Hollyleaf sighed beside me.

"Jayfeather, what's gotten into you?" she muttered. "You've been in a bad mood since Lionblaze and Echoflight got captured."

I bristled. "I just don't want Breezepelt to join us."

"Why?" Dovepaw asked.

"I don't trust him…" I muttered. I had a feeling he wanted more out of this than just lending ThunderClan some help to get two of our Clanmates back. There was something he wanted out of this, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was.

And I honestly didn't want to find out.

Breezepelt came back with a few more cats. Two of them. I sniffed the air, recognizing their scents; Crowfeather and Heathertail.

Lionblaze is going to be thrilled when he sees her, I thought sarcastically as Firestar rounded up the patrol. Nodding to us, we bounded out of the island and to the abandoned twoleg place.

Firestar was running beside me. "So… the Dark Forest attacked last night so they could scare you five off?" he asked.

I shrugged. "That's what we've been told."

"Oh? And who told you?"

Should I really tell him every cat that was in the Dark Forest? I could if I wanted to. Name off every single cat. Firestar noticed my silence but didn't pry the conversation any further as we continued to run.

Hollyleaf suddenly skidded to a stop in front of me. "No… This doesn't look familiar at all!"

"Are you sure?" Breezepelt asked.

"Why are we even looking around if you don't remember where they are?" Crowfeather muttered. I turned on him.

"My brother is out there." I bristled.

"Sorry, I didn't know." Crowfeather responded although sarcasm was obvious in his tone.

Before any other cat could suggest something, a new scent bounded towards us. I didn't recognize it.

"Looking for your friends?" she asked.

"Who are you?" Breezepelt demanded.

"Sasha," the she-cat responded. "Now answer my question. You want to find your friends or not?"

Firestar stepped forward. "You know where they are?"

"Maybe," she responded. I could feel my temper rising.

"Can you tell us?" Breezepelt snapped, feeling the same way I was about this.

The she-cat sighed. "I know that Tigerstar planned all of this," she started. "And I know that you're against everything he believes. But…" She hesitated. "I will help you. A family had bought your friends - they live a little bit down north. Head straight down, take a left at the curve, head farther down then turn right. You'll see a large house. That's where the family lives. Good luck," she added, beginning to head off.

"House?" Heathertail echoed.

The she-cat stopped. "It's what you Clan cats call a 'twoleg place'."

"Thank you…" Firestar's voice trailed off realizing we didn't know her name.

"Sasha."

My eyes widened slightly. Sasha? Wasn't she Tigerstar's mate once?

"Thank you, Sasha." From Firestar's tone I could tell he knew who she was. I heard the sound of Sasha's pawsteps start before they stopped once more.

"I wish you would have been able to see the good in him." Him? Is she talking about Tigerstar? Before any cat had a chance to react, Sasha was gone.

(Echoflight's POV)

"So… where's that patrol?" Lionblaze asked. Aiden and Julia had been called to dinner. Aiden left a food bowl and water bowl for us but I wasn't keen on eating cat food and drinking tap water.

I sighed. "Coming… I know it."

Lionblaze shrugged. "I hope so. This collar is really-" He stopped mid sentence, reaching up to scratch his neck with his hind leg. "I can't stand it! How did Firestar deal with this?"

I held back a mrrow of amusement. "That's why he went to live in the Clans."

Lionblaze didn't respond as he continued to scratch at the collar. He hissed angrily. "The more I scratch at it the more it itches," he complained.

"Then don't scratch it."

Lionblaze glared at me but didn't say anything as he lowered his leg. "I can't stand this…" he muttered. "We're trapped inside this… this…" His voice trailed off, as if trying to find the right word to describe it.

"House?" I suggested.

Lionblaze stared at me. "What's a 'house'?"

I sighed. "Twoleg place."

"Oh…" Lionblaze nodded, showing he understood. I glanced back towards the dining room. Aiden's parents were talking to Julia about her grades, to which she complained school was getting tougher and her math teacher was really unfair. I rolled my eyes. I sucked at math too… Just get a damn tutor, stupid rich girl.

Hearing scratching at the door, I glanced towards Lionblaze. Nodding to me we bounded to the front door. Thankfully, Julia's parents were too engrossed with the conversation about her studying more to notice. I groaned, wishing that they had installed a little animal door - but since they don't own a dog, that's out of the picture.

"Do you think it's them?" asked Lionblaze. I nodded.

"Those were cats scratching, for sure." I bounded towards the living room, jumping up on the couch. Peering out the window through the dim lighting I could spot Firestar's familiar pelt. I pawed at the door but they wouldn't turn around.

God damnit! Turn around, stupid cats! I thought, getting angry. I pounded at the window louder.

"Aiden! Tell your cat to get off the couch!" Aiden's mother snapped. Aiden sighed, getting up from the table and walking over to me. Picking me off the couch, he set me back down.

"Don't do that, okay?" he said, petting my head before walking back to his dinner. I sighed, exchanging a glance with Lionblaze. Once they started talking again, I jumped back up.

Thankfully, Crowfeather was the closest and had noticed me.

Wait. Crowfeather?

Bounding towards the window, the rest of the rescue patrol showed their faces. Firestar, Jayfeather, Dovepaw, Hollyleaf, Heathertail, Crowfeather and Breezepelt. My eyes narrowed. Breezepelt?

The window was open ajar, but it was too small for Lionblaze and I to squeeze through.

"Echoflight!" Firestar exclaimed. "Don't worry, we're going to get you and Lionblaze out of there!"

"How, exactly?" Crowfeather questioned. "They can't fit through that." He nodded his head towards the window. "And I doubt that the twolegs will let them out any time soon."

"We'll find a way," Breezepelt and Jayfeather snapped in unison. The two looked at each other, then scoffed, turning away in the opposite direction. Dovepaw sighed, glancing back to us.

"Is there another way for you two to get out?" she asked.

I shook my head. "All the doors are locked."

Crowfeather frowned. "Doors?"

"Those big things… You know the thing you scratched at earlier." I responded, getting upset. They were hear but they couldn't help us.

"Maybe we could get one of them to open the door," Lionblaze suggested. I glanced at him.
"Like how? Whine about needing to use the litter box they don't have?"

Lionblaze frowned, confused by the word 'litter box', but Firestar nodded his head in agreement. "That's a great idea." He exchanged glances with the rest of the patrol.

"If they chase after you we'll be here to distract them," Hollyleaf put in. I nodded, exchanging a glance with Lionblaze.

"So… who's going to be the one to pretend they need to…?" My voice trailed off when Lionblaze looked at me expectantly.

I shook my head. "Oh… no… no, no, no, no, no! Lionblaze, I am not going to pretend-"

Lionblaze smirked. "Come on… your twoleg is more considerate than mine."

I sighed. He had a point. Julia probably would let Lionblaze wet himself before getting up to open the door. I glanced back towards the Clan cats. Firestar nodded to me. I glanced back towards Lionblaze. "Wait here," I meowed. "But once you hear us get to the door, run."

Lionblaze nodded in agreement as I bounded towards the dining table. Aiden glanced down when I pawed at his leg. I let out a helpless mew. He frowned at me. "What's wrong, Indie?" he asked, bending down. I mewed again.

How the hell am I supposed to make look like I need to pee as a cat? Should I pace? I started to walk in circles, mewing helplessly. Aiden frowned, then realization dawned on him. "Oh! We don't have a litter box yet…" He glanced towards his dad.

He shook his head. "Just take her outside."

Nodding, Aiden picked me up, walking towards the door. He set me down in front of it, opening it. Immediately, Lionblaze raced past us and to the tree everyone else was hiding behind. Catching on to our escape plan, Aiden picked me up before I could make a run for it.

I yowled, thrashing about in his arms. The rest of the family came forward, noticing Aiden was struggling. I hissed and spat.

"Indie, what's the matter?" Aiden exclaimed, struggling to hold me. I shut my eyes.

Why am I always in these situations? I felt bad leaving Aiden - he was a good kid - but I didn't want to be a kittypet. I belonged with the Clans. His father sighed, setting a hand on Aiden.

"Aiden… do you see them?" he asked.

"Huh?" Aiden looked up, seeing the Clan cats starting to appear behind the tree. Crowfeather was in a battle crouch, getting ready to attack him.

"Crowfeather, don't!" I exclaimed. The dark gray tom stopped, his blue eyes looking up at me.

Aiden looked back at me, turning me to face him. He looked into my eyes. "I guess you already have a home…" Setting me down, he pet my head once more. Before I could escape, he undid the collar. I slipped off of it, bounding after my Clanmates. Before we could escape, I glanced back towards them.

Aiden smiled, waving. I returned the smile, my amber eyes gleaming. Sorry it didn't work out, Aiden… But you can find another cat to adopt… It'd be weird if I accidentally turned back into a twoleg in your home. I looked back to my Clanmates.

"What I'm upset about," Aiden's father said as we started to run, "is that we wasted that money on those collars."

I smirked, running as we pelted into the forest. Lionblaze skidded to a stop in sudden realization.

"What's wrong?" Hollyleaf asked.

Lionblaze looked down at his collar. "I still have this!"

Breezepelt snorted. Crowfeather sighed, stepping forward, unsheathing his claws as he cut away at the thin fabric. The collar slipped off Lionblaze and fell to the ground. He glanced back at the short-tempered WindClan tom.

"Th-Thanks…"

Crowfeather shrugged, mumbling something as we started running again. Lionblaze sighed. "Free…" he murmured.

"Yeah…" I responded. To brighten the mood, I added, "That was easier than I expected."

The patrol glanced back at me. Jayfeather mumbled his agreement while Breezepelt's amber gaze rested on me. I tried to ignore it, the image of Breezepelt standing over my dead body flashing in my mind.

Dangerous…

I glanced back towards Jayfeather. He was running alongside Firestar and Lionblaze. Dovepaw and Hollyleaf were next to me while Breezepelt, Crowfeather, and Heathertail were a little ways ahead of us.

For some reason I feel like this isn't going to be the last time we'll need their help. With the Dark Forest showing how strong they are, I really had to hope that Jayfeather, Lionblaze and Dovepaw really do have the stars in their paws.

a/n: And that's the end to the first book of I'm a Clan Cat. I'm still debating whether or not to separate each book or combine them all together in this one… I most likely will keep them separate (I'm going to use the same cover so you know it's all in one series) so there won't be any confusion with the different parts. But thank you so so much for reading and I really hope you enjoyed the first 'book'. The second one will be out today or tomorrow (depending on the time I have). Don't forget to review and stay classy and a lil' bit sassy. Smileyface and heartsign and kittyface.