Hello everybodyyyy, I've got another character study. This is about my newest roleplay character named Micah.

Alright, I'm warning you that this challenge contains manipulation or something like that, blood, murder, and maybe some gore.

If those make you uncomfortable, don't read this.

That was your only warning.

It was a stormy night when Micah and his sister, Indiana, were born. Their mother, Duchess, and their father, Jace, were overjoyed to be parents again.

Well, Jace was. Duchess...she couldn't care less.

Well, she couldn't care less about Micah. She absolutely adored Indiana and it was very obvious.

Micah and Indiana were born into a group of rogues called The Scavengers. Their mother was the leader of this cutthroat bunch. Some would say that she led it well, while others would say that she was a tyrant.

Micah believed neither to be true. Maybe it was because of his loyalty to his mother, or because of his wisdom.

For most of Micah's life, he was ignored by his mother. But...he had his father, and the rest of The Scavengers. They pretty much raised Micah and Indiana from the day they were two moons old and first came out of their den. Micah was taught how to hunt, or as the rest of the group liked to call it, scavenge for prey in the city ruins that they lived in. They never found much food in the ruins, but it was always enough. Everyone made sure that nobody ever starved. Life was hard during Leaf-Bare, but everyone always made it through.

The Scavengers were like a family. Everyone took care of each other and made sure they were appreciated, while also making sure they did their part to keep the group running.

Except for Duchess.

Everyone had close ties with one another and made sure that no one ever felt unwelcome.

Except for Duchess.

Most cats in The Scavengers had no idea why Micah stayed mostly loyal to Duchess, but he could say the same thing about them. It was obvious that hardly anyone was happy when Duchess was around and giving orders. Micah had no idea why she hadn't been kicked out yet. Until one day, when Raven, a cat in the group, was trying to leave.

"Raven!" Duchess shouted when she saw the black furred tom trying to leave with his son, Magnus, following behind.

Raven stopped and slowly turned around. Micah grimaced at the furious look on the tom's face.

"Where do you think you're going?" Duchess asked, padding over to him.

"I don't know where I'm going," Raven stated. "But anywhere is better than here."

Duchess furrowed her brow. "So," Micah groaned and hid his face with his paws as Duchess made her voice sound smooth and silky. He knew what was coming next… "You're just going to abandon us?"

Raven opened his mouth to say something but then shut it again, his tail lashing back and forth in the air.

"That's what I thought," Duchess said with a sweet smile. "Now, I was just about to send out a scavenging patro-"

"Wait a moment!" Raven snapped. "I never said that I was going to stay!"

There seemed to be a fire in Duchess's eyes and it made Micah fear what was going to happen next. "How dare you leave!" She hissed dangerously. "After everything I, and everyone else, has done for you and your son you just...you just suddenly decide to leave?!"

Duchess turned around to face the rest of the group. "Isn't that just ungrateful!" She gasped. A few of the cats nodded but most of them looked uncomfortable.

What's wrong with Raven leaving? Micah thought with a small sigh.

Raven's fur was bristling as he glared at Duchess. "Don't try to manipulate me into staying!" He growled. "I'm leaving, and Magnus is coming with me!"

Duchess sighed, most of the fire in her eyes disappearing. But there was still a spark. "Well," she said quietly, staring at the ground. Micah tensed as she lifted her head and smirked at Raven. "You know the punishment for trying to betray the group."

She flicked her tail tip and within an instant, four cats were holding Raven and Magnus down, their muzzles pushed into the ground. Micah gasped and stood up, taking a few steps back from where he was watching.

"You're...insane…" Raven grunted, struggling against the grip of Dustin and Lennox, the two cats who were holding him down.

Duchess smirked. "Well, Raven, those who are insane have more fun." Micah froze as his mother raised an unsheathed paw over Magnus' throat.

"Wait!" Micah shouted, rushing forward. Duchess whipped around and glared at him, almost making Micah shrink away from fear.

"What do you want?" Duchess snapped.

"I...uh...I…" Micah stuttered, wishing he'd just stayed quiet. But he couldn't let Duchess kill Magnus or Raven...they'd done nothing wrong!

Duchess's gaze suddenly softened. "Aw, I know what my son wants." She said with a smirk. "You want to have the glory of killing these two traitors yourself, don't you?"

Micah froze. Inwardly, he was screaming with rage and fear. But the look in his mother's eyes made him scared to say no.

So he nodded and said, "Yes, I wish to kill these two traitors myself." He stood up straight and tall, trying his best to keep from shaking. He looked around and saw the scared faces of the cats who had raised him to be kind and caring, not a killer.

Is there a way to get out of this? Is there a way to save both Raven and Magnus?

Micah knew that the answer was no. Slowly, he padded over to Magnus, his claws unsheathing. He raised his paw and killed him quickly, his heart shattering when he heard a heart-broken cry coming from Raven. Micah looked down and all he saw was red. Blood was everywhere, covering Micah's paw and pooling around Magnus' body.

What...what have I done? Micah looked back at his mother, silently pleading her to let Raven go.

"Go on," Duchess whispered in his ear, suddenly right next to Micah. "Kill him, and make your mother proud."

Micah looked at Raven. The black tom looked furious, sad, and exhausted at the same time.

"No…" Micah whispered.

Duchess frowned. "What was that?" She asked.

"I said no." Micah said firmly, turning around to face his mother.

Micah heard a low growl coming from Duchess. "Are you a traitor too?" She hissed, then shook her head. "I'll deal with you later. For now, I have to take care of Raven. Aria, please finish the job."

Micah watched helplessly as Aria padded forward, getting ready to kill Raven. At first, Micah thought she was glad to do it, as she was smiling maliciously. But then he saw the fear in her eyes…

He turned around and noticed that everyone, even Duchess's most loyal supporters, looked scared.

Nobody wants this to happen…

Right when Aria was about to deal the killing blow to Raven's throat, Micah did something.

"STOP!" He shouted. Aria stopped and turned around. Micah gulped nervously when he noticed that everyone's eyes were on him.

Duchess let out an annoyed sigh and turned to face Micah. "What is it now?" She growled.

Micah looked around and then lept up onto the biggest rock he saw, looking down at all the cats. "This isn't right," he said firmly, his gaze flitting over all of them. "You all know that it's not. Neither Raven or Magnus did anything wrong."

"That's a lie!" Duchess hissed and everyone's eyes fixated on her. "They were going to leave! After everything I've done for them!"

Micah saw Jace frown at Duchess's statement. "Everything you've done for them?" He spat.

"Yes!" Duchess nodded.

Jace shook his head in disbelief. "You've done nothing!" He growled. "Day after day, you sat in your nest watching us work our furry rear ends off, taking care of each other and you. You've done nothing for any of us!"

Micah sighed when he saw the hurt and shocked look on his mother's face.

"J-Jace," she whimpered. "My dear, my love, why are you doing this to me?"

Jace hissed at her in rage. "Don't play that game with me!"

Micah noticed some cats padding over to Jace and standing firmly beside him.

"You're insane!" Jace growled. "You've done nothing for us, and you kill us when we try to leave"

"My love, you know that I can't always control myself!" Duchess said, cowering and letting out small whimpers. "Sometimes my emotions get the best of me!"

"Cut the act!" Micah shouted, suddenly getting a burst of anger and hatred towards his mother. It had been building up all these moons from all the times she ignored him or yelled at him. "You mean every single thing that you do! You're...you're evil!"

Micah turned to face everyone once again. "We don't have to follow her!" He said loudly and firmly, a scowl fixed on his face.

"You don't know what you're talking about!" Duchess snapped at Micah. "You do have to follow me! You know what'll happen if you don't!"

Micah rolled his eyes as Duchess turned to face her brother, Skyler. "Skyler, let's teach this bunch a lesson!"

"No," Skyler said, a look of disgust on his face. "You can't tell me what to do! I'm not hurting my friends!"

"He's right!" Robin agreed and a few other cats chimed in.

Duchess looked angry. "Well...fine! See how well you do without me! Indiana, let's go!"

"No, Duchess." Indiana said, walking up to Micah and standing beside him.

"Indiana," Duchess growled. "First of all, you'll calll me mother, second of all, let's go!"

"No!" Indiana refused, shaking her head.

Duchess let out a frustrated growl. "Fine!" She started to walk away from the group, leaving the camp, but not without one last glare at Micah.

When she was gone, Micah let out a relieved sigh.

"Well…she's gone…" Lennox stated, looking up at Micah. "What now?"

Micah froze. He really hadn't thought this through very well…

"Um...uh…"

"I guess we could go scavenging," Jace suggested, obviously having noticed Micah's hesitance.

"No," Lennox shook her head. "I mean, who will lead us?"

Everyone looked expectantly at Micah, expecting him to have the answer. He took a deep breath. "We don't...we don't need to have a leader. In fact, we never did have one."

Some cats looked confused.

"What I mean is, yeah, we called Duchess our leader, but did she ever really lead us?"

"He's got a point," Ambrose nodded.

"We can lead ourselves," Micah said. "We've been doing it all this time, it can't be that hard. We just work together, and do what we've always done."

"I agree with Micah!" Some cats shouted. Micah let out a relieved sigh and smiled. For a moment he thought that he was going to have to lead everyone…

Once the group had dispersed, Micah sighed and glanced at the exit of camp. He'd still killed Magnus...he still had blood on his paws. Jace must've noticed him and padded over to Micah, sitting down next to him.

"Hey dad," Micah said quietly.

"Hey," Jace responded. "Son...I know what you're thinking...nobody blames you for Magnus' death. You really had no choice…"

"I blame myself," Micah stated. "I don't know if I can stay here...or anywhere, knowing that I killed one of my friends."

"Son, a bad decision doesn't make a bad cat." Jace said quietly. "You're still Micah...the sweet, smart cat who's always tried to do the right thing."

"I still killed a cat," Micah sighed. "And besides, I've always wanted to see the world…"

Jace chuckled a little. "Yeah...you only talked about it like...five hundred times?"

"Alright, alright, maybe I was a bit obsessed with the thought of going off on my own…" Micah admitted. "But...It's too hard to just imagine what the world is like. I want to go out there and discover all its secrets...you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I get what you mean." Jace nodded, and then sighed. "Do what makes you happy, son. If leaving will make you happy...go ahead. I won't stop you from fulfilling your dream."

Micah smiled at his father and gave him a quick hug. "Thanks, dad." He let go and started for the camp exit, excited to travel out into the unknown.

"Wait for me!" Indiana shouted and Micah froze.

It might not be bad to have someone else with me...in case I get hurt or something…

"I wanna come too!" Indiana said, stopping beside Micah.

"Alright," Micah nodded. "Let's go."

Word count: 2,164

I really hate Duchess.

And Micah...poor guy.

I hope you enjoyed reading this, please leave a review. Constructive criticism is appreciated but if it's not constructive it will be ignored.

Anyways, have a good day, and stay safe.

-Phoenix