Welcome back! This is a rewrite of Blood Ties. It's changed. A lot. But hey, it'll probably be better this time! :D But I set up a poll on my profile and 100% voted for it. I mean I only got one vote, but still. Enjoy.
"Oh, come on, Leafkit! It'll be funn!" Squirrelkit wailed pleadingly. Leafkit shook her head.
"Sandstorm said we should stay in camp! And besides, if we go now, we might not be back by the time Firestar visits! He said he would teach us some hunting moves before we became apprentices!"
Squirrelkit groaned dramatically.
"Guess i'll have to go alone, then!" She said, bounding towards the forest, knowing that her sister wouldn't let her leave alone. A small sigh came from behind her, then tabby brown fur flashed in the corner of her vision.
"I'll go. But if we're not back by the time Firestar comes to the nursery, I'm telling mom everything." She declared. Squirrelkit cheered.
"Yay! C'mon then, snailpaws!" She scampered off, her fluffy tail buffeted by the warm newleaf wind. Leafkit chased after her, carefully avoiding crushing the tiny plants that were popping up out of the ground.
"Race ya to the Twolegplace border!" Squirrelkit squealed, speeding up. Her sister sped up too, their tiny paws slamming into the ground as they ran. Finally, Squirrelkit slid to a halt, panting, staring in awe at the large twoleg dens.
"Leafkit, look!" She gasped as a monster roared past.
"Leafkit?" She asked, turning around. Her sister was sitting down, panting hard, her tiny chest heaving.
"Don't. Ever. Make me. Do that. Again." She wheezed. Squirrelkit giggled.
"Well we'll have to get back somehow." She purred, amused. Leafkit whacked her on the head with her thin brown tail.
"Oww!" Squirrelkit squealed dramatically, falling over onto her back. Leafkit leaned forwards and sniffed her, mildly concerned. Seizing her opportunity, Squirrelkit wrapped her paws around her sister's neck and pulled her down.
"Hey!" Leafkit giggled.
"I have struck down a mighty badger!" The fluffy ginger kit declared. Leafkit roared,
"The badger has been healed by the power of StarClan!" as she leapt up onto her sister's back. Rolling around in the grass, suddenly, Leafkit stiffened.
"Do you smell that?"
"Smell what? Are you just trying to distract me?" Squirrelkit froze as well.
"I don't believe she was." Said a deep, honey-like voice from the shadows.
The kits whipped around to find the owner of the voice, to see a large black and white tom, a scar along his muzzle and one on his shoulder. A purple collar, studded with claws and teeth, hung loosely around his neck.
"What are you two kits doing so far from home? Clans, I assume?"
Squirrelkit stepped in front of her cowering sister, her expression defiant, although she was shaking in fear.
"That's right! Our parents will be here any second, and you'll be in trouble!"
"Oh?" The tom-cat said, his expression faintly amused, "And why's that?"
"Because you're on our territory, and my father is the leader of ThunderClan!"
The tom-cat's eyes lit up as if he saw a juicy rabbit in the middle of leafbare.
"My name is Bone. Adder, why don't you get the brown one?" A thin, scarred, cream and tan tom rushed forwards out of the bush and grabbed Leafkit's scruff, lifting her like a piece of prey.
"Hey!" Squirrelkit squealed as Bone did the same to her.
"Firestar's going to come save us. And he's going to bring the whole clan." Squirrelkit warned earnestly. Bone laughed.
"We'll be ready. But first, let's make this a challenge."
"Kits?" A ginger tom asked in disbelief, "Bone, please tell me they aren't yours."
"Of course not!" Bone narrowed his eyes. "They are the kits of the cat who killed Scourge."
The tom's green eyes lit up excitedly.
"Are we going to kill them?"
Bone shook his head.
"Even better, Blaze."
"Use them to lure their clan here and slaughter them?"
"Nope. We're going to turn these here kits into loyal BloodClan soldiers. But first, get Torrent and Shadow to go to the fox's den and lure it into ThunderClan territory, but make sure they're careful. Tell them to leave behind some prey blood. Ooh, and this." Bone pinned Squirrelkit down and ripped a small chunk of her ginger hair out. Squirrelkit squealed, and Leafkit lurched forwards, only to be held back by Adder.
Blaze nodded.
"Yes sir. Would you like me to set up a guard for the kits at the abandoned twoleg den?"
Bone shook his head, his paw still on a wriggling Squirrelkit.
"I can do that myself. Convey the message." Bone said firmly. Blaze nodded.
After watching Blaze leave, Bone bent down and picked up Squirrelkit, while Adder did the same to her sister.
"You're going to be sorry." Squirrelkit declared. Bone shrugged.
"Doubtful."
"Blizzard, Stick. You're going to guard these kits. Don't let them have any food. They can have water, but do not let them outside. Bring them water in a rag." He called to two of the cats, one a brown tom and the other a white and gray she-cat. Both nodded soundlessly and came over, the tom-cat taking Squirrelkit out of Bone's jaws while the she-cat did the same for the brown tabby kit.
Leafkit whimpered softly.
"When do we get to go home?" She asked quietly. The tom sent her a sympathetic look, Squirrelkit dangling from his jaws, but said nothing as they headed towards a small twoleg den, kind of like the one on the edge of ThunderClan territory that was in Dappletail's story, but much bigger. The BloodClan cats, most of them lounging boredly in the sun or arguing over scraps of crowfood, ignored them for the most part. A few sent them looks ranging from pity to outrage.
Finally, they came to the broken, open door, and Blizzard and Stick slipped inside. They leapt up the stairs, finally coming to another area inside the den, walled off except for a cracked door they entered through.
Blizzard closed the door, and they set down the kits. Squirrelkit looked around. It was a relatively small room, with a twoleg structure that looked soft and springy, but was covered with a thin layer of dust. Light filtered through a hole in the wall, but no wind came through, and there was no difference in the temperature. Squirrelkit made a mental note that that would be a good place to escape through, if they managed to get rid of Stick.
"You can sleep on the bed. Stick, stay in here with them, I'm going to guard the outside of the door." Blizzard slipped out the door again, leaving the two kits alone with the other BloodClan cat.
"So this is called a bed?" Squirrelkit asked, scrambling up onto the twoleg structure, sneezing as the dust filled her nose. With an amused smile, Stick replied,
"Yes. What are your names?"
Leafkit stayed quiet, and this time, Squirrelkit did too, wary of saying too much again.
"You're already being held captive, it can't get any worse, can it?" Stick prodded. With a relenting sigh, Leafkit answered,
"I'm Leafkit. This is Squirrelkit."
Squirrelkit glanced at her sister before giving Stick a challenging glare.
"Why does it matter to you?" She asked cockily. Stick purred.
"You're certainly feisty, Squirrelkit. Channeled correctly, that will be a real asset for you here, if you channel it correctly." Squirrelkit stared at him, dumbfounded. Sadly, Leafkit said,
"Firestar was going to teach us hunting moves today. Now he won't." Her voice full of sorrow, she lay down beside her sister on the bed, and Squirrelkit wrapped her fluffy tail around her. Stick glanced at the doorway, and whispered quietly to the kits,
"I can teach you a move or two. Just don't tell Blizzard or Bone." Squirrelkit glared at him, but Leafkit glanced up slowly.
"I'd like that." Surprised, Stick nodded.
"Hop on down."The kits did as they were told, and Stick turned so he was parallel to them.
"This is a basic move that can be used for both hunting and fighting." Stick swiped his paw to the side in front of him. Leafkit and Squirrelkit mirrored him, and he nodded.
"Good job. That's called a front paw slash. Next, this one might be helpful to you two. Press your back up against each other." He watched as the kits attempted this, and pushed Leafkit back farther until they were leaning on each other.
"Good. Front paw swipe!" Both kits did this while still in this position, Squirrelkit doing it with zeal. The tom nodded.
"I'm going to attack you, using relatively simple moves, and you're going to counter them."
Without another word, he lunged forwards towards Squirrelkit, his claws unsheathed. Squirrelkit whacked his muzzle, her claws sheathed.
"Claws unsheathed!" He ordered. Leafkit felt a small jolt of terror. This was nothing like training with the apprentices!
The BloodClan cat lunged for Leafkit next, swiping at her. She let out a screech as his sharp claws tore her shoulder, and Squirrelkit broke form, jumping over her and digging her claws into Stick's back. Shocked, Stick reared back, and Squirrelkit quickly leapt down and ran over to Leafkit, sniffing her small would anxiously. The kits started grooming the scratch, while Stick watched, amused.
"I didn't teach you that move, Squirrel. You could have gotten to my ears, and swiped at my forehead. That would blind me temporarily." Squirrelkit glared at him.
"My name is Squirrelkit." She growled.
"Okay, okay. Leafkit, Squirrelkit. This time you can fight against each other. Make up moves you think will work well, alright?" The two kits turned towards each other and shook their heads.
The guard sighed.
"Fine. I'll just sit in the corner then." Squirrelkit suddenly said quietly,
"Actually, could I have some water? My throat's a little dry."
Stick shrugged.
"Sure, i'll go get some." He padded outside, and the kits could hear him telling Blizzard what was going on in hushed meows.
"Leafkit, we need to get up there. If we get up there, we can get out and go home!" Squirrelkit whispered, flicking her tail towards the odd hole. Leafkit, excited, purred.
"How though?"
Squirrelkit paused, looking for an answer.
"We could jump off the bed!" She finally declared, leaping up.
"You'll never make i-" Leafkit fell silent as Squirrelkit leapt, looking like the creature she was named after, then burst out laughing as her sister crashed to the ground, inches from the ridge along the hole.
"We could move something." Leafkit suggested. Squirrelkit shrugged, her pride wounded.
"What would we move?" She asked, staring up at the little ledge that would lead to their escape.
Leafkit glanced around the room.
"Maybe.. That?" She padded over to a tiny cushioned thing in the corner, about as tall as Stick and a kit-length long, with a soft top much like the bed. Squirrelkit's eyes lit up, her fall forgotten.
She raced over to the object and started pushing it. Leafkit soon joined her, but winced as her scratched shoulder rammed into its side. Finally, they got it positioned just so, and Leafkit pushed Squirrelkit onto the sill. Once the fluffy ginger kit was up, she reached down and helped her sister up. Squirrelkit looked happily at Leafkit, then outside. Imagine Firestar's face when they told them what had happened! She surged forwards, and crashed into something. Annoyed, she stretched out her paw, and was stopped by the same thing. Looking closely, she noticed it was just a hard, clear surface, cold to the touch. Firestar had told her stories with these in them. These were windows.
"No…" Leafkit moaned softly.
When Stick came in with a wet rag, he saw two heartbroken kits laying next to each other on the windowsill.
Stick yawned, his sharp teeth and light pink gums being shown off.
"Someone will probably come along to replace me soon for guarding you." He said, grooming his paws. Squirrelkit and Leafkit nodded, trying to ignore their . He glanced up at them thoughtfully.
"I enjoyed watching you two. Maybe I could be one of you guys' Trainer." Suddenly, the door burst open, and Bone walked in.
"Out." He ordered the dark brown tom. Stick dipped his head respectfully and exited, giving the kits a hopeful look.
"What now? Are you going to let us go?" Squirrelkit asked. Without warning, the black and white tom lunged forwards and whacked her, hard, across the skull. The kit collapsed in a fluffy pile of dark ginger fur, and didn't rise to her feet. Leafkit scampered forwards, only to be held back by a threatening white paw, its claws unsheathed.
"She will get up. If she does not, so be it. We have no use for weak cats here, nor traitorous ones." Leafkit held her breath as her sister struggled to her paws, falling once. Then twice. Finally, she got to her paws, glaring defiantly at Bone, her head still spinning.
"Hrmph." He said, begrudging respect in his eyes.
"What about you?" He turned towards the smaller kit, and raised his paw. Leafkit braced herself for the blow, standing strong, but it never came. She peeked open her eyes to see Squirrelkit standing in front of her, back arched and hackles raised, hissing softly. Bone shrugged.
"Very well." He lunged forwards and grabbed Squirrelkit's scruff roughly.
"Blizzard! Get the other one." He ordered, walking out the door. The silvery she-cat quickly obeyed. Squirrelkit swung from side to side, squirming ferociously, whereas Leafkit simply lay limp in Blizzard's jaws, resigned.
"BloodClan! Gather!" He yowled, leaping onto the twoleg bin and dropping Squirrelkit in front of him, holding her down with a paw on her tail. Cats seemed to flood out of everywhere, about double the size of ThunderClan. Only about half of them had the collar studded with teeth, although all had collars and all had at least one slash in their ear. Leafkit winced as she noticed a stain of fresh blood one one of the cats' collars, surrounding a tooth that was dug into the fabric of the collar.
"BloodClan! As some of you may know, we have captured ThunderClan kits!" Cheers met his words, and he waited for them to die down before continuing.
"But not just any ThunderClan kits! The kits of Firestar himself, the cat who killed Scourge!" Bone choked, quietly enough that only Squirrelkit could hear him.
"Kill them!" A voice yowled from the back of the crowd. Several other cats chimed in with their agreement.
"Ah, but you see! That is not the best way to harm the clans. We will keep them alive, train them as we would any other new recruit. And when they are fully BloodClan, loyal only to us, we will use them to destroy the clans."
Leafkit and Squirrelkit both whimpered softly at this from their respective positions under Blizzard's and Bone's paws.
"Our clan will be here soon. They're better than you! They could beat every single one of you!" Squirrelkit shouted. Amused murmurs broke out through the crowd and a dark brown she-cat in the crowd laughed.
"They will never find you. Because to them, you are dead." Bone grinned at the she-cat.
"Torrent, I assume our plan worked?"
The she-cat, Torrent, nodded.
"Shadow and I watched from a tree outside their territory. I'm surprised you didn't hear the tan she-cat's yowl!"
"And what of Firestar?" Bone asked, an excited gleam in his eyes. The gray she-cat beside Torrent laughed.
"Oh, he was heartbroken. He just leaned on the tan she-cat's shoulder and wailed. I'd assume the she-cat was his mate?" She looked curiously at Bone, who nodded.
"His mate, Sandstorm. Ah, but this is good news indeed! They bought the ploy. Good job, Torrent & Shadow. Tonight, you may have any trespassers that foolishly enter." Squirrelkit quietly wondered what he meant, and Torrent's eyes lit up. The gray she-cat, Shadow, however, simply nodded. Bone purred, his purr deep and raspy like his speech.
"Now, we must get rid of these foolish clan names. You, the ginger." He stepped back from Squirrelpaw, who glanced around, hoping for an easy escape route. Then she realized her sister was still pinned.
"My name is Squirrelkit." She said defiantly, meeting his gaze. He unsheathed his claws subtly, not far enough that the cats gathered down below could see, but enough to make Squirrelkit gulp.
"I now name you Flame. You will be trained by Fang." He was smaller than Bone, and the newly named Flame knew that it would be harder for him to pick her up. Maybe she could escape when they went to the forest to train. 'Wait, did BloodClan cats train in the forest?' She wondered. She glanced up at Leafkit and Bone, as Blizzard had set her sister beside the leader.
"This kit shall be known as Rain. Blaze, you will train her."
Murmurs of surprise swept through the crowd like the wind through the reeds, but the ginger tom stepped forwards confidently on the lid of the dumpster and scooped Rain closer to him.
"One last thing." Bone said, nodding to Blaze. The ginger she-cat quickly unsheathed his claws and slit Rain's ear. The kit let out a hiss of shock and pain, and Flame struggled to get to her sister. Fang leapt up beside his leader and beta, and quickly did the same to Flame, leaving a rip in her ear. Flame winced slightly, but stood strong, having known what to expect. Both kits had scarlet blood dripping down the side of their heads.
"I hate you all." Flame snarled.
"Delightful." Bone retorted.
"Eat crowfood, you piece of fox-dung. Oh wait, you already do."
I had sent out 3 search parties. The clan knew it was useless, I knew it was useless. But I couldn't help trying to hold on to that last shred of hope. I hadn't left my nest since I had sent out patrols, I was just sobbing, sobbing away in my nest of stale moss. A figure appeared in the entrance to my den, and I glanced up wearily. It was my mate, Sandstorm.
"Oh Firestar." She said softly. Suddenly, she burst into tears as well, and we leaned on each other, grieving for our lost kits who had barely begun to live.
Rain watched as Squir- Flame padded off with her mentor, Fang, out of the camp and into the ally. Her sister had been punished for her comment, and claw marks striped her pelt like a tabby cat. The brown and white she-kit waited patiently for her own mentor. Despite the fact she had been ripped from her clan, she could make the best of this. How different could it be being a trainee instead of an apprentice, after all? She touched her ear tenderly, it was still sore from earlier, although it had stopped bleeding. She realized she knew the answer. It would be very different.
"Come on." Came a hiss from behind her. She turned to see Blaze standing behind her.
"Yes sir." She said respectfully, following behind, not wanting to end up like her sister. Passing the guards, they padded through the alley of hard black stone, and Rain carefully side-stepped the shards of window that lay on the ground.
"Where are we going?"
"We're going to find food. Most rogues won't challenge us, since I bear the mark of BloodClan, but if any do, I want you to hide in the trash, burrow down." Blaze said, turning back to look at her. She nodded, slightly disgusted by the thought of hiding in twoleg garbage. But the thought of fresh-kill made her mouth water. They arrived at a large dumpster like the one that Bone named her from.
"Oh, are we hunting rats?" She asked, surprised. According to Sandstorm, only ShadowClan ate rats, and only in the depths of leaf-bare when there were few other sources of food. He shot her a non-amused look.
"The rats are our competition. But if you see one, kill it. The less competition, the more food we have, and they can kill cats with their bites, full of infection. If you really want to catch one, go ahead."
"So… What are we eating?" Rain asked, confused.
The tom leapt onto the rim of the overflowing dumpster, and pulled a black sack off of the top, dropping it in front of the trainee.
"Dig in." He said, a smirk on his face. Rain backed away from the stench, and glanced up at the tom, wondering if he was kidding.
"Tear open the bag." He ordered, his face dead serious. Swallowing, Rain grabbed the bag delicately in her teeth and tore at the casing. Twoleg waste spilled out onto her paws, and she leapt back. Blaze dropped another bag out of the bin and leapt down beside her. He ripped his open as well, and started pawing through the trash. Suddenly, he bent down and picked up a small brown bag and showed it to his Trainee. Rain sniffed it, and a greasy, kinda like prey, scent drifted out to her.
"What is it?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. He smiled.
"Chicken, twolegs call it. It's very good. Sometimes it comes with these little sticks called, 'fries.'" He replied, shaking the contents onto the ground. A piece of browned "chicken" fell onto the pavement, and about three of the little sticks.
"Would you like some?" He asked, splitting the piece of chicken in half. She nodded hesitantly, and he pushed it towards her. Rain bent down and tasted the twoleg food, her nibble quickly changing to gulping it down. Blaze watched, amused.
"Good, isn't it? Normally you'd have to find your own, but we can share this one." Rain glanced at him sheepishly, and he laughed. Suddenly, a small skittering noise came from behind the dumpster, and Blaze moved protectively in front of Rain. Two rats came out, and, seeing the cats, raced away. Rain shouldered her trainer aside, thinking this was her chance to prove herself. Chasing after it, her tail streaming out behind her. One of the rats was lagging behind, and she seized that chance. She leapt for the fat rodent, and tackled it to the ground, wrestling it until it lay limp.
"Rain!" Blaze growled behind her. She turned around, holding the rodent in her jaws, beaming. Blaze's gaze softened slightly at the sight of the rat hanging in her jaws, but his voice remained firm.
"You can't run off like that. You're not allowed to go back to your clan, and we have to enforce that. I should give you a clawing for that."
Rain backed up against the brick of a twoleg den, fear-scent wafting off of her. He hesitated, before padding forwards threateningly, and he quickly slashed her chest. Immediately, he licked the wound closed. She stared at him, confused.
"You have been punished. Those are the rules. Had I not punished you, we both would be punished severely. Now we can continue."
Rain nodded.
"You can do better than that!" Fang jeered from down below. Flame continued climbing, her sharp claws digging tightly into the wooden fence. Maybe this would get him off her tail. Since they had left camp, he had done nothing but order her around, making her do all sorts of mousebrained activities. So far, she had climbed and dropped down from a fence three times, chased a kittypet home, and dug through trash looking for a large leaf that Fang had hidden. She just wanted to claw that smug smile off of his face. When she got to the top, she paused, thinking about racing away, going back home. But Leafk- Rain. Rain was still here, and the cats here would take their anger out on her.
"Come back down!" Fang hissed. Flame leapt, and landed squarely on Fang's back, leaping off as he collapsed.
"Whoops!" She said innocently. Fang rose to his paws silently, then leapt forwards and pinned her, tearing with reinforced claws at her back. Flame screeched in pain. It felt like her pelt was being torn off! And maybe it was. After he had done his damage, he backed away, no trace of anger in his features.
"We'll go back now. And next time you think of rebelling, remember this." He slashed her forehead, then held her up as she collapsed on him as they headed back to camp.
Did you like it? But um, I have some things to explain:
1. I took some creative liberty and did the ear slash thing.
2. The reason Blaze was concerned the kits were Bone's is because, in this version of BloodClan, kits of the leader are considered elite, and are highly likely to be chosen to be second in command. Blaze's position can be ended easily, and he knows it.
3. Rain's mentor, Blaze, actually isn't that nice a cat. He's just nice to her for a reason that will be disclosed in the next few chapters.
4. I know we didn't see much of ThunderClan in this. That's because the blasted kits are born in a novella - I think Firestar's Quest? I'll try and get my hands on it and we can see more of them in the next chapter or something.
5. BREAK HERRRRRRR
Yeah that's it. Happy.. uh... Idk I think the next holiday is St. Patrick's day here in the US. Oh, and here are questions and stuff. Sorry, i'm just tired.
1. Favorite BloodClan cat in this story?
2. Favorite canon BloodClan cat?
3. Favorite song?
That's all, bye guys.