It seemed a moon before Scourge found Bone sitting in the Twoleg park, though it was just barely past sunrise. The black and white cat was practicing his climbing skills on a sturdy tree, scrambling up the branches even faster than Leech had. Scourge watched him for awhile, then meowed, "That's great, Bone!"

Bone turned and leapt down from the tree, his eyes shining happily. "I'm really fast now!" he purred. "Faster than any other cat!" He paused. "What is it?"

Scourge sank onto the grass, and told the warrior everything. "I can't go back now," he complained.

Bone looked thoughtful. "You could come stay with the other cats in the main part of BloodClan."

"What?"

The black and white cat shrugged. "If you can't go back then you could live where most of the cats live. As long as you don't mind Mint telling old stories about Clans in the sky.

Scourge blinked. "Really?"

"Sure," meowed Bone. "Leaf will understand. Any cat should be able to live somewhere where he won't have his pelt clawed off. Although," he added, "That might happen if you get on Razor's nerves."

Scourge looked around nervously. "Who's Razor?"

Bone closed his eyes. "He follows Hawkfeather. You'll be able to recognize him. He stands out." The cat stood. "We'd better go soon."

The two cats walked along the streets of Twolegplace. "I've never been to the main part of the Clan," Scourge admitted.

"It's fine," meowed Bone. "As long as you don't bother any cat too much."

"What's Hawkfeather like?" Scourge asked.

"Oh, he's small, but not as small as you," meowed Bone. "He's usually okay, except when he is angry. Then watch out."

Scourge nodded, grateful for this advice.

Then Bone turned down a dark alley, and Scourge saw the heart of BloodClan for the first time.

There were cats everywhere; on Twoleg cans, in boxes, fighting for a scrap of Twoleg junk to eat. All of the cats were scrawny and starved, with a cruel look in their eyes. They kept their claws unsheathed, and almost all of them had countless teeth hanging down from worn collars. Scourge saw dog's teeth, and… cat's teeth? Scourge gasped. He needed to have cat's teeth on his collar?

Bone flicked him with his tail uneasily. "Come on. It's better than this, really." He padded quickly away and Scourge followed, watched steadily by cold, hard eyes.

The alley opened up into a clearing between abandoned Twoleg caves and a brick wall. Scourge gasped. It was almost as large as the Twoleg trash area. Cats were clustered around certain points of the open space, sharing tongues and eating fresh-kill or Twoleg leftovers. Scourge wrinkled his nose. The scent of crow-food was everywhere.

"Stop it," muttered Bone. "Try not to offend any cat yet." He looked up suddenly as a huge golden-brown tom with icy eyes lumbered over. "Razor," he hissed quietly.

"Hello there, Bone," growled the tom. "Bring a new friend? Or is he fresh-kill?" The tom spat the last words at Scourge.

"I brought him because his brother tried to kill him!" protested Bone.

Razor narrowed his ice blue eyes. "He couldn't fight him?"

"I slashed him," meowed Scourge angrily. At the moment he didn't care if any cat would attack him for hurting his own brother; he just wanted to belong somewhere. "That's how I got enough time to escape."

Razor glared at him. "So you are useful for something, at least, then."

Scourge bent into a fighting stance, anger clouding what Bone had told him about Razor. "More than you are, you stupid furball!"

The golden-brown warrior's eyes widened and he furiously unsheathed his claws. "Why, you-!"

"What's this?"

Scourge turned to see a dark brown tom and white tortoiseshell she-cat padding over. Razor hissed at them, crouching down. "Nothing!"

The tortoiseshell blinked at the new black warrior standing uncomfortably between the angry cats. "Who are you?"

"Um, Scourge. Bone brought me here." Scourge's tail lashed the air anxiously as the she-cat looked at Bone.

"Not another mouth to feed!" she mewed.

The brown tom stepped forward. "Don't mind Leaf. She would be upset even if there were enough fresh-kill for every cat."

"Psst!" spat Leaf. For a heartbeat Scourge wasn't sure if Bone was correct when he told him that Leaf would understand his need for a home.

"My name is Mint," meowed the tom, ignoring Leaf's response. "I'm the kind-of-medicine cat and storyteller, and a good one if I may say so myself." Scourge heard Bone sigh and twitched his ears. "This is Mint?"

"Yes," meowed Razor, cutting Bone's reply off with a hiss. "Mint, the lazy old cat who can barely catch his own prey and instead sits in the sun telling kit's tales." His voice had more then a hint of disgust.

Mint seemed indifferent. "So Bone brought you, eh?" he asked, taking no notice of Razor's smoldering eyes. "And he told you about me?"

Scourge blinked. "Yes."

"Interesting," said the old tom, and he padded away with Leaf right behind him, her fur bristling. Razor growled and followed the two cats with his tail high in the air.

Bone let out his breath in a hiss. "That was close." He stared sternly at Scourge. "You're lucky Mint came along. You would have been crow-food!"

Scourge looked down at his paws. "I couldn't just sit there," he protested.

Bone blinked thoughtfully. "Well," he meowed. "At least you showed that you don't have to listen to mouse-brains. That will bring respect – and trouble." He gestured with his tail at the surrounding cats. Some seemed excited that some cat had actually stood up to Razor, but others glared at him with a cold fury. Scourge met their eyes without cringing and they turned away in distain, tails lashing the air. "You know," he meowed after a moment. "I think I'll like it here."

Bone let out a mrrow of laughter. "Maybe you should go hunting. If you bring back good fresh-kill, then maybe the Clan will except you more."

"Why don't they hunt for themselves?" asked Scourge.

Bone shrugged. "Some don't catch anything except greencough, and others can't hunt worth a mouse-tail. It doesn't really matter to any cat who hunts or not as long as they all get some food at the end of the day, except for the ones who actually catch the food. They think that any cat who can't hunt can just starve."

Scourge nodded. "I guess I will try to get some fresh-kill." He started to pad away.

"Wait – Scourge?" meowed Bone.

Scourge turned. "What?"

Bone looked around nervously. "Try to avoid Razor."

The small black cat twitched his ears in acknowledgement and stepped away.