EDGECLAW'S GROUP
The sun had begun to sink, barely peeking above the hills as it cast a warm, orange light over the land.
Saige purred to herself happily, anticipating that they were almost to her home, "I can't wait to see Charles and the kits again! Now that we're getting so close, it seems like forever since I was with them."
Edgeclaw shuddered to his self. He had no idea how Saige was so comfortable travelling though all of the many alleyways that crisscrossed throughout the twoleg polace. He felt as if at any moment a two-leg or one of their monsters would pop out from nowhere and devour them.
They had already crossed several Thunderpaths to get to where they were now, but Edgeclaw didn't think any cat could ever get completely comfortable with crossing them.
As Berrybranch padded beside Edgeclaw, she murmured under her breath, "I can't imagine ever wanting to live here! Though Saige and Splinter both seem to be a pretty comfortable here."
Edgeclaw looked up toward Saige as she walked along, flicking her tail happily. "Me neither," He replied, "I guess she's just more excited to see her family rather than the actual place though. She sure doesn't seem to worry about the two-legs too much though. " He looked back toward Splinter, "As for Splinter… I bet there is a lot we don't know about her."
Saige suddenly made a signal with her tail and motioned for the cats to halt. Lowering her voice, she whispered quietly, "There's a mouse over there, I can smell it. Wait here."
Owlclaw looked in awe as Saige disappeared down an alley behind some trashcans. "How does she tell that there's a mouse? I can barely smell my own clanmates with all these strange scents everywhere!"
Chuckling, Splinter meowed, "It's easy once you get used to it. It's kinda like what it is for you when you are in the forest. You're able to decipher between the musty smells and the prey smells. It just takes some practice."
Owlclaw turned his head thoughtfully as he mulled over what Splinter had said. They sat for a few moments in silence, waiting for Saige to return, when suddenly, they heard a sneering voice from around the corner where Saige had disappeared to go hunting.
"Well if it isn't ol' Saige again, catching prey for us," the mysterious sneering voice said.
The traveling cats gave each other a quick look, then, Edgeclaw motioned for them to creep slowly behind him as he peered from where he was resting from behind one of the trashcans.
There were two of them. One was a savage looking tom with a matted pelt and completely dark grey fur. The other was a she-cat, better groomed than the other, and her pelt was brown with sporadic stained white spots.
The she-cat padded slowly around Saige who was protectively holding her freshly caught mouse.
"I caught this and I'm keeping it," Saige spat.
Slowly shaking his head back and forth, the tom meowed, "I thought when we showed your mate what would happen if you continued catching prey around here that you would be wise enough to leave and let us hunt here," he jeered, "I guess we'll just have to keep showing you till you get the idea."
Edgeclaw decided now was the time that they would have to interfere, before Saige got hurt by one of the rogues.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Edgeclaw walked into the clearing with the other cats in the patrol following behind him. They all slowly formed a half circle behind Saige.
The two rogues had been caught off guard and looked with panic at each other. The brown she-cat started backed away moving slowly toward the grey rogue. "Now no need for you strangers to interfere with this. We're just defending what is ours. This doesn't concern you."
"None of this is yours!" Saige spat, "We were here first and I caught this mouse."
Berrybranch stepped forward as she addressed the rogues. "We're here to stay. So you'd better tell your so called leader to be ready to back off, or there's going to be trouble."
Looking the two straight in the eye, Edgeclaw meowed, "We didn't want trouble, but since you started it with attacking Saige's mate, we're here to finish it."
The grey tom growled in a low tone, "Yeah? Well it ain't going to be as easy as your thinking." He then turned toward Saige," Blood-Eye ain't gonna like this, not one little bit. You went behind his back to get your help, now you'd better sleep with one of your eyes open and hope that your friends will be enough to keep you alive."
With that, the two rogues darted down the alley out of sight.
Saige let out a shaky breath, "Well I guess you've all had your first official run-in with Blood-Eye's rogues." Shaking her head, she glanced wearily at Edgeclaw. "Though that tom was right, Blood-eye isn't going to be too happy about this. I sure hope that I haven't bitten off more than I can chew and that we can actually rid this place of him once and for all."
Kickleg flicked his tail back and forth. "Well this is what we came for and by StarClan we're gonna finish it! We're Thunderclan warriors, and we're not gonna back down just because some rogue named Blood-Eye and his flee-bitten rogues threaten us!"
The cats all meowed and nodded their heads in agreement.
"Yeah! If Blood-eye thinks he can just go around telling cats what to do, he has got another thing coming!" Owlclaw shouted, "We'll care of him!"
Edgeclaw looked at the cats then at Saige, proud of how determined they were and at their attempts to encouragement and lift Saige's spirit.
"You're right." Saige meowed smiling weakly. After a pause she finally smiled, "Only a little longer till we'll be at my home!"
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The cats looked up at the old, abandoned two-leg nest.
"In there?" Owlclaw asked, looking skeptically at the building.
Saige padded up to the house beside the steps leading up to it and gestured to a hole where the boards were broken, allowing a big enough space in the wall for the cats to slip in through comfortably. "More like under it." She grinned.
Inside, it was nice and snug, surrounded by wood that sheltered them from the weather conditions. There was a nice supply of cobwebs in the far corner, and a little pool where drinking water must've dripped in from the last time it had rained. Finally, at the far end of the back wall, lay a dark brown tom, bandaged with cobwebs. His head tilted weakly to one side as he lay, peacefully watching two kittens play.
"How come I have to hide this time? I hid last time!" A young brown kit with a white head and tail whined to her older, light-furred brother.
"Because," the young tom-kit explained, "I have to sit here and watch Daddy like Cedar told me."
The young girl was about to protest again when she caught sight of Saige and her eyes lit up gleefully, "Mama!" She ran as fast as her short legs could carry her to meet her mother who was also running up so she could greet her little kit.
"You're finally home!" The tom-kit cried as he ran over to join his sister and mother. He and his sister both rubbed their noses against their mother's flank.
Saige was purring so loudly, Edgeclaw thought she would shake the walls.
"Yes, I'm home. I'm going to take care of you now. It's alright." She meowed in between licks.
Saige then padded over to her mate where he was also purring strongly as he struggled to get up and meet her.
She bent over and rubbed her face against his. "I missed you."
The other cats stood by awkwardly, wondering if they should leave the happy family to themselves or wait until they were noticed. Just as Edgeclaw was about to turn around and look for a less obvious spot, the small she-kit pointed at them. "What are they doing here Mama? Are they going to try to hurt Daddy?"
Saige shook her head, smiling at her kit. "No, they've come to help us. They're going to help us make sure that Mama never has to leave, and that Daddy won't get hurt again. Then we will never have to worry about Blood-Eye and his gang anymore."
The two kits stared in awe at the cats who had come to save them.
"I'm going to help as well, Mama," The tom-kit meowed as he trotted to stand beside Kickleg, puffing out his chest.
Edgeclaw looked down at the little kit with a new sense of purpose. They were going to defeat these rogues so that Saige and her family would never have to be bullied by them again. Then after that, they would go back their home, to Thunderclan, where their clan and Bravepaw would be waiting for them.
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Author note/ So we're back with Edgeclaw again after being with Thunderclan for a while! Hope u all liked it Please R&R