ACT ONE: The Blood Rout

The air was cold and the world was black. He tried to open his eyes but his eyelids felt stiff as if frozen in an icy grasp. He lay curled up in a tight ball with his head pressed against his own stomach. He couldn't smell or taste anything in the air so he imagined he had to be inside a building somewhere.

"Where am I," he cried in fear. "Is anybody there?" His voice seemed too shrill to be his own. His head was spinning and his whole body felt like it was burning and freezing at the same time. With a gasp of effort, he lifted his head and forced his eyes open to gaze around at his surroundings.

The world was desolate and gray, full of shadows and dark stains on the street and walls. He wasn't inside like he had predicted, but instead on the street of a housefolk's place. He couldn't remember what street it was or how he had gotten there. In fact, he couldn't remember anything- even about himself. What was his name? Did he have a name? Where did he come from? His paws were curled up in front of him, the black and white fur doing nothing to jog his memory.

With a wobbly first try, he got to his feet, eyes sweeping over the tattered houseplace that lay before him. The buildings were crumbling and decrepit, the gray windows shattered, and glass was strewn across the cold ground. There was no moon, sun, or stars in the sky and the only light came from the flickering lamp posts that lined the street. This place wasn't home, he knew that for sure. To his terrified frustration, he had no idea which direction would take him back to where he belonged.

He took a couple shaky steps towards one of the collapsed structures. It may have been home to a family of housefolk at one point and he expected to see or hear at least some signs of life, but there were none. No breeze rattled the windows and no breath stirred the air with a sound.

Something crunched beneath his paw and he looked down to see the smashed bones of a tiny mouse. To his surprise, he noticed many more bones of all sizes littered around him. Most were small like those of birds and rats, but every here and there he could spot the larger remains of cats, and even dogs.

Icy terror was beginning to trickle down his spine.

Surely he would run into some other cat and they could tell him who or where he was. He padded along the street, staying in the pale puddles of light left by the lamp posts. He didn't dare venture into the darkness and he did his best to avoid the corpses that seemed to fill every nook and cranny. Surprisingly, even though he could taste salty blood in his mouth, the skeletons that surrounded him didn't seem to produce any scent.

A particularly vile carcass of a cat lay in dark pool of black tar, the eyes staring mournfully at him as he limped by. It may have been a trick of the light but he could have sworn they followed him.

"Hello?" he called loudly, high pitched and hostile. His meow echoing through the hollow streets. There was no answer and he felt the urge to panic. The world was completely quiet other than his claws scarping the stone earth with each step, but there wasn't even a breath... not even a heartbeat.

He stopped, realizing that something was terribly wrong. He frantically pressed his ear to his own chest, his spine twisting and popping as he strained to hear the pounding of his own heart. There was none. "Am I dead?" he mewed in shock, his voice still foreign to him. He was struck with a sudden wave of understanding and a faint memory flitted through his mind.

He had been in battle, his claws reinforced with dog teeth as he slashed at his enemies. He thought he had killed his adversary, he could have sworn he saw him stop breathing, but then his enemy had returned as if defying death itself.

His hind legs gave way and he collapsed to his haunches. Realization soaked into his mind and he suddenly remembered his own name. The word slipped off his tongue like a slab of meat as he spat out the sound.

"My name is Scourge."

o.o

Pain... Darkness... Silence...

Am I dead? No, still breathing. I hope I die soon, everything hurts so damn much.

His body felt like it was in pieces. His skin burned under his pelt and his head roared with agony. He tried to open his eyes, but his face was so caked with blood that his eyelids were fixed in place. He was broken. All he could do was wait for death to claim him.

The moments slowly crawled by and he could still hear is heart beating steadily. How long have I been lying here? The last thing he remembered was falling in battle against the forest cats. He had just killed an older white warrior when a swarm of smaller enemies had swamped him and brought him down under a barrage of scratches and bites. I'd give an eyeball to have another shot at killing those savages and make them pay for what they did to me.

He lifted a paw and felt the soft blades of grass tickle his pads. The tiniest island of comfort in his sea of unhappiness. He moved his shoulder and instantly felt the tender skin around his wounds stretch and pinch. He let out a gasp and stopped, breathing hard.

Actually, forget about getting revenge. I'd give anything to just be dead and have all this pain go away.

He pricked his ears, hoping to hear anything that would suggest the rest of BloodClan was near. Even in his crippled state, his dignity wouldn't allow him to cry for help like a mewling kit. He became aware that he couldn't feel anything in the tip of one of his ears so concluded that it must have been ripped off.

The only sound was the wind rustling the trees above his head. He was laying where he had fallen in the shadows of the huge oak trees. Assuming Scourge had won the battle without him, he was safely nestled in a new patch of BloodClan territory. There will be so much fresh-kill that we'll never go hungry again.

Just the thought of victory gave him a surge of strength. With a grunt of effort he shifted his paws and forced himself into a sitting position. The pain was still just as intense but everything would be better once he found Scourge. He could feel blood trickling down his sides from where his wounds had reopened. Once I'm back in the houseplace I'll find someone to patch me up.

He still couldn't see because of the dried and sticky blood encasing his eyes and muzzle so he licked a paw and swiped it over his face. Immediately, he noticed something else was horribly wrong. Even after he scraped the blood from his eyes, he still couldn't see anything on his left side. He tenderly touched his damaged eye with a paw and was shocked by the pain. His body compulsively went into a spasm as fire ripped down his spine once more. He was almost knocked to the ground again but he braced his legs against the dirt and curled his lips into a snarl. I'm not going to try that again.

Once the burning had subsided Bone used his good eye to get a better look at his situation. As he suspected, he was still in the forest. The sunset was casting the bloodstained grass in a deep violet and a chilly breeze swept through what remained of his tattered pelt. He shivered, the large holes in his normally thick fur offered little protection against the wind. His body was shaky and weak from so much blood-loss but he rose to his full height, gritting his teeth whenever his skin flared up in pain. He couldn't stay there any longer. He needed to find his guards and rest his aching body somewhere warm and safe.

His own blood wasn't the only thing to stain the earth around him. Glittering under the last reflections of sunlight he could see more sprawled and hunched figures lying in the grass. To his shock, all of the carcasses he could see belonged to BloodClan cats; the toothed collars were unmistakable. Even the white warrior he had slain in battle was nowhere to be seen.

"Wow, you actually survived."

Bone spun his head around to face the voice. The rapid movement cause his injuries to shriek in protest. A tortoiseshell she-cat with one eye was staring at him from a nearby mossy stump covered in toadstools. Her head was completely shredded on one side yet she held herself with poise and elegance. He recognized her as a high-ranking BloodClan member named Lost. She was one of Scourge's closest advisors.

"You really are the toughest thug I've ever met," she meowed coolly. The corner of her lip quivered but her voice was steady. "I really thought you were dead like the others."

"I don't have time for small talk. What happened here?" he demanded. "Where is Scourge?"

The she-cat's good eye widened at his curtness and a flicker of hostility lit in her face. "Darling, you look even uglier than me. I reckon you can barely move under that many fresh wounds."

Bone bared his teeth and took a menacing step towards her. "Where is Scourge!"

The she-cat didn't flinch at his threat. Instead, her eye returned to a cold blank glare and her twitching lip curled into a grimace. "If you want to see Scourge so badly I'll take you to him. Then you can ask him all the stupid questions your black heart desires." She leapt down from her stump and marched across the grass.

He tried to keep up but she was right that his tender wounds demanded he move slowly and carefully.

"There." The she-cat pointed with her tail at a small torn up clearing in the shadows of one of the four huge oak trees. "Tell him that Tatters is leaving BloodClan and never wants to see him again." With that, she turned and raced away in the direction of the houseplace.

Tatters? That was her name when she was a feral. He wanted to roll his eyes but he knew that would only bring more excruciating pain. Instead, he limped across the grass in the direction Tatters had pointed. "Scourge, are you there? It's Bone." He spotted a black shape in the darkness. It looked like Scourge was asleep. "You can enjoy your nap later, first tell me what-"

Bone padded up to the tiny curled up body and what he saw almost made his heart stop. The BloodClan leader's body was slathered in blood. Under normal circumstances, that would have been expected, but there was also a deep gash in his throat that no cat could have survived. Many more cuts laced his chest and head and his eyes were partially open.

"No, no, no, no," Bone muttered, nudging the cold body with his paw. "No, this can't be right." But there was no mistaking it; Scourge, the leader of BloodClan, was dead.

Bone stood over the tiny pile of black fur. He tried to rationalize the situation in his head. When both me and Scourge fell in battle, BloodClan would have retreated. In fact, they wouldn't even be BloodClan anymore since Scourge kept them all together by fear. Now they are just the scattered remains of what used to be BloodClan. They are the Blood Rout.

Another cool breeze rustled through the grass. The sun had almost set and it would be dark soon. Bone stooped down and closed his leader's eyes with a gentle paw. He used his powerful jaws to grab Scourge by the scruff of the neck, careful to avoid the array of dog teeth that still studded his collar, and lifted him into the air. The tiny cat was lighter than he expected but that might have been because a lot of his dark blood was seeping into the dirt. Does that make me the new leader since I was ranked second highest? I never wanted to be in charge, I was only loyal to him.

He turned and headed back in the direction of the houseplace. There was an urgency in his movements since now he knew he was still in enemy territory and he was in no condition to fight a patrol of forest savages. His body still ached and he was tempted to ditch the body and save himself but the BloodClan leader deserved to be laid to rest in his own territory.

To his relief, no cat challenged him as he made his way through the darkening forest. Perhaps they were all tending to their wounds after the Great Battle, celebrating how they had defied all odds and vanquished such a mighty enemy. Just thinking about their hubris makes me want to vomit.

He could hear the housefolk's cars ahead and the familiar sound made him relax slightly. He had almost made it to the road.

"Halt!"

He froze, fear chilling his heart. He really didn't want to fight in his sorry state. He looked up. In the shadows he could see a dark brown tabby tom glaring at him a few dog-lengths away, blocking his path. He remembered him as one of the cats that had brought him down in battle. If I absolutely have to fight, I can probably beat him. They aren't so strong when there is just one of them.

"Bone!" the smaller cat gasped, instantly recognizing him. "You were Scourge's deputy! I thought we killed you!"

"Clearly not," Bone growled, lowering Scourge's body into the grass. "Let me pass, I just want to go home."

The tabby composed himself and straightened up. "I'm afraid I can't do that. BloodClan is a threat to us all and I can't just let you get away. We were guarding the border to make sure you had all left. If you try to attack me, I'll yowl and more warriors will come and take you down."

Bone considered his options. He could attack and try to silence the creature before it had a chance to call for help, but he didn't trust he would be fast enough. He could also surrender, but they might just kill him anyways. His only viable move was to talk. "The war is over and Scourge is dead. You have no reason to worry about me anymore since we all followed him. After today you will never see us again."

"You killed Whitestorm," the cat hissed, puffing out his fur. Even though his voice was riddled with anger, he was clearly inexperienced and unsure of what to do. "You have to pay for your crime."

"Is it a crime to obey your leader?" Bone pointed out. "If your precious Firestar ordered you to attack, wouldn't you? Sometimes cats die in battle, Scourge did and so did many more of my cats. Is that not justice enough? All I want to do is take my leader back to where he belongs and never return. Do you forest cats know nothing of honor?"

"Uh," the little cat took a moment to process the BloodClan cat's words.

Bone grit his teeth but didn't let any of his fear or anger show on his face. If the forest cat sounded the alarm, he would leave Scourge behind and make a break for the street. The forest cats wouldn't follow him there.

"Fine, you can pass," the forest cat muttered, stepping to the side so his enemy could continue.. "It's not because we forgive you, it's because every cat deserves to be buried with honor in their homeland. Just make sure to never come back into the forest."

Bone was surprised by how easily he had convinced the savage to let him go. Maybe they did have some amount of honor after all. Or maybe this individual is just really stupid. He picked Scourge off the ground and padded forward. The tiny savage eyed him suspiciously and they came within a tail-length of each other, ready to fight if either made a move to attack. He looks like a smaller version of Tigerstar. Were they related?

Nothing happened as the two enemies went their separate ways. Bone grunted his appreciation and the smaller cat gave a tiny nod.

Bone let out a relieved breath. He could finally leave the forest and all of its miserable inhabitants behind him. As much as he would have enjoyed taking over the forest with Scourge, that dream was as dead as the BloodClan leader.

The trees opened up and Bone stepped onto the street. The windows of the houses on the other side were lit and he could see the housefolk inside. He was finally home. He waited for a gap in the cars passing and scurried across, Scourge's body swinging in his jaws. He knew it would be the deep of night before he reached Scourge's old hideout. He looked over his shoulder one last time at the forest bathed in shadows.

Good riddance.

This chapter was really fun to write. I started the original Bone Survived in 2012 and I know my writing has come a long way since. Of course, since I edit and grammar check my own work, there are bound to be ttons of spelling and continuity errors so just stick with me here. Feel free to point out all my mistakes in the comments. Also, I don't have a schedule for chapters even though I have the plot mapped out. Expect waits between a week and a year, haha.