"Come on, come on. Do you want to be a BloodClan warrior or not?"

Scourge narrowed his eyes at his gray-furred brother who sat calmly underneath the bushes at the edge of a Twoleg cave. Of course he wanted to be a warrior. The hard part was getting the collar and escaping the Twolegs.

"Easy for you to say," he hissed. "You've already got your collar." It was true. Storm, not to be outdone by Shadow, had decided to get his collar the day after his sister had. He came back home wearing it triumphantly, though Shadow had ignored his boasts and pride. Now it was a few days after that, and Scourge was itching to become a warrior as well.

Storm glanced up at the small black cat. "Hey, I had to do this too," he meowed. "It's hard to go into that cave and come back out, but I'm here, aren't I." He gave Scourge's head a quick lick. "Any cat who can steal fresh-kill from Leech and not have his pelt clawed off can easily escape a mere Twoleg."

"He stole it from me!" protested Scourge.

"Sure, Scourge. Now, look. You have to get a collar, or you'll never be a warrior."

"Better not a warrior than a kittypet," the black cat shot back.

Storm sighed. "How many times do I have to tell you? They won't turn you into a kittypet." Scourge was silent. "Unless, of course, you don't want to be a warrior." He stood up and flicked his gray tail across his brother's face.

"All right! All right!" exclaimed Scourge. "I'll do it." Storm gave him a cool look and crouched down.

"When a Twoleg comes along, walk up to it and purr," meowed the warrior. "They'll take you inside. Try not to run until they fasten your collar on. Then bolt like dogs are snapping at your tail."

Scourge shuddered. He had had one encounter with a dog before and didn't want to meet one again in a hurry. "Right, dogs."

"If you get away…"

"If."

"You'll have a collar, and be a warrior of BloodClan."

Scourge eyed his brother's blue collar but said nothing. Soon teeth that signified a skilled warrior would cover the blue color of the rough band. The cold feeling of readiness to kill swept over him as it had after the dispute with Leech and he tensed, shaking the horrible emotion away.

Suddenly a Twoleg kit walked up to the house. "Now!" cried Storm. Scourge was frozen to the spot. "Go, you black-furred idiot!" the gray feline hissed, and brought his teeth together in Scourge's tail.

Scourge yowled and darted out from under the cover of the bush. The Twoleg stopped and turned to look at him, saying something in its crow-like voice. Scourge crept forward towards the kit and tried to purr, though he would have liked to snarl and leap onto his brother. The Twoleg gave a squeal of delight and picked the cat up.

Scourge tried not to struggle as Twoleg scent swallowed him up. The horrible smell was everywhere, and Scourge closed his ice-blue eyes in defeat. Then he was inside the cave. Two older Twolegs looked up at him as the kit carried him happily across the room. Scourge was anything but happy, and twisted free of the little Twoleg's grasp. He landed on the floor and prepared to run, but remembered what Storm had said. Storm will be sorry for biting me, the black cat thought with gritted teeth, and he licked his tail with gentle, slow strokes.

When Scourge glanced up the Twolegs were arguing about something. The kit seemed very persistent, and one of the older Twoleg finally sighed. It walked out of the room, and Scourge could barely believe that the creature could balance on just two legs. After it left, Scourge felt rough hands grip him, and the kit picked him up. It murmured soft words and rubbed Scourge's black pelt. The cat barely resisted the powerful urge to claw its hands to pieces. Suddenly it let him go as another cat stumbled into the room. The cat, a flame colored kit no more than one or two moons old, stared up at Scourge as he padded over. The kit sniffed at the dark cat's black pelt and a bell on its collar jingled.

"What are you doing here?" snarled Scourge. "Why do you live with the Twolegs, when you could be free?"

The kittypet blinked incredulously at him as if he couldn't understand the newcomer. Scourge sighed. This pitiful cat would never know the feeling of tracking down prey or chasing other cats up a tree.

The older Twoleg came back from another room in the cave. It carried a gray strip of Twoleg stuff. A collar. Scourge tried to breathe steadily. He would become a warrior in a few heartbeats! The ginger kit mewed faintly. Scourge stared at it, trying to see the name on its collar. RUSTY, read the piece of metal hanging from the band that was behind the bell. Scourge narrowed his eyes, and then the Twoleg crouched down by him, talking in its raucous voice. This is it, thought Scourge. This is it. Time seemed to slow down as the Twoleg reached around Scourge's neck. Must not bite, the cat hissed in his mind. As the Twoleg fastened the collar, Scourge tensed, ready to leap out of the way. As the band clicked, he yowled and bolted from the Twoleg.

The kit squealed in protest and the one of the older Twolegs yelled. The other seemed to scold the kit. Scourge ignored them and raced into another room, searching for an open window. He ran around a corner, under a table and then a draft hit him. There! The invisible barrier on a window above a counter was pulled open. Scourge hissed triumphantly and leapt onto the counter. He glanced back at the Twolegs just before he scrambled out of the window. The flame colored kit, Rusty, was staring at him, green eyes wide. Scourge turned and jumped onto the rough grass outside. He scurried across the lawn and hastily climbed onto the fence bordering the Twoleg land.

The Twolegs opened a doorway in their cave. The kit ran for him, arms outstretched. Scourge prepared himself to jump down the other side of the fence, but a new scent made him stop.

The forest.

It was sitting behind him, just beyond the fence. Scourge felt every hair on his pelt bristle. Cinder had told him all about the murderous cats in the forest. The tom turned back to the Twolegs just as the kit reached him. With a howl, the black cat jumped and disappeared into the trees.

Scourge crawled under a bush just as the Twoleg kit cried out. The older Twolegs seemed unwilling to give chase; they turned and led the wailing kit back into the house. Scourge took a deep breath and almost jumped at the myriad prey-scents. There was mouse, squirrel, and various smells of other furry creatures. Also bird, and a musky scent that smelled of some type of meat-eater.

Scourge looked into the depths of the forest in front of him. Surely the deceitful cats who lived there wouldn't mind if he just took a mouse or something to eat. The warrior's eyes narrowed. That would be something to show Leech! he thought. I can catch prey in the forest! Forgetting everything Cinder had told him about the treacherous cats in the forest he crept forward.

A movement made Scourge pause. It was a mouse nibbling on a seed, unaware of the ice-blue eyes watching it. Scourge crouched down, and–

The mouse leapt away a heartbeat before Scourge's paws reached it. It scurried into a hole under a tree root and the dark warrior hissed in frustration. These mice were more sensitive than the ones in Twolegplace.

Scourge tasted the air to try to find other prey, but a new scent made him freeze. Cats! Probably four of them, moving steadily his way. Scourge stiffened, struggling to decide

which way to jump.

It was too late. The cats appeared in front of him, and they looked as surprised to see him as he was to see them. But after a brief moment a dark brown tabby jumped at Scourge, claws extended. "Get away, kittypet!" he screeched.

Scourge hissed, and felt his fur bristled. He was no kittypet! But the dark tom was too big for him to fight. Thinking quickly, Scourge whipped to one side just as the cat landed where his paws had been a heartbeat before. The black furred warrior unsheathed his claws and scored them across the cat's back. The forest cat yowled in surprise and swiped at him, but Scourge turned and ran before the tabby's unusually long claws could scratch him.

Scourge heard the cats' meows behind him as he jumped back onto the Twoleg fence that loomed in front of him.

"…not a kittypet, Tigerclaw?" mewed one.

Scourge didn't hear the dark cat's reply; he bolted across the grass behind the Twoleg cave and into the front yard. Racing into the street, the warrior was aware of a gray shape following him: Storm.

After a few more moments Scourge slowed down and turned to face Storm. "You bit me!" he spat, clawing the grass on the ground of the Twoleg yard.

The gray cat sat down and licked a forepaw calmly. "You got a collar, though, and you wouldn't have gone in the cave otherwise."

"Oh, right," meowed Scourge, feeling his anger die down a bit. It was true, he supposed. Twolegs weren't the kind of creature you would willingly go up to and purr at. The black warrior turned around and padded forward, towards home.

"What took you so long?" asked Storm.

Scourge flicked his tail towards the forest. "I went in the forest."

Storm froze. "What?"

Scourge quickly told his brother about the Twolegs and the escape into the forest. "Please don't tell Cinder," he meowed. "She'll never let me out of the Twoleg trash area again."

"I won't tell," promised Storm. "Anyway, it seems like you were fine in the forest."

"Pretty much."

"You went in the forest?"

Scourge turned and saw another cat looking at him, surprised. The dark warrior leapt around as he felt his fur bristle. It was Bone, a black and white cat with green eyes, almost as big as Leech but the same age as Scourge, and with a red collar on his neck. Despite the size difference, Scourge hissed at Bone, unafraid. "What do you want?"

The cat blinked. "You said that you went in the forest. Is that true? It would be something to tell the others, like Leech and Boulder and-."

Scourge growled. "So now you're Leech's minion too, Bone?"

Bone took a step back. "No! I think he's a bully as much as you do. But he would envy you if he found out that you had gone into the forest. It could make some of the other cats respect you."

"Really?" Scourge glanced at Storm.

Bone snorted. "Do you think any of them would ever go in the forest? Leech is a coward."

"Hmm." Scourge felt his fur lie flat again. "Why are you out here in the middle of Twolegplace instead of with the other cats where you live?"

Bone shrugged. "Mint was telling the other cats kit's tales about StarClan again. You know Mint, believing in every other story that comes his way. I mean, clans in the sky? It's all a bit strange if you ask me."

"I don't know," admitted Scourge. He had liked the tales that Cinder had told him when he was young. "It is strange, but what would happen to cats when they die?"

Bone flicked his tail. "They just die. BloodClan is the only real clan, I say."

"Come on, Scourge," meowed Storm. "No StarClan cats helped you get that collar. You did it yourself."

"I guess so." Scourge considered what the two cats had said. Storm was right; he hadn't seen any ghost warriors appear to aid him when he was trying to escape to Twolegs and the wild cats. A flicker a doubt at the stories ran through the black-furred warrior. "Yes, you're probably right."

Bone nodded. "I have to catch some fresh-kill." He turned, his tail lashing the air mischievously. "Leech will go berserk when he hears that you went into the forest."

"And came back out," added Storm as the black and white warrior padded down the street. "Well," he mewed, once Bone was gone. "One more cat who you don't have to worry about them clawing your pelt out."

Scourge dipped his head. His brother looked up at the falling sun. "We should get back home soon."

The small black cat purred. "Fine with me." He stepped forward. "Race you, Storm."

The gray cat's eyes glinted. "You'll never win," he warned.

"We'll see who wins!" Scourge darted forward and raced across the street, Storm at his heels.