(A/N: Okay, so I totally meant to write a chapter or two of Safe Haven, but I'm home on break and time just got away from me. Oops. Oh well, I did get a special Thanksgiving story written for Nightcloud and Scourge, so at least that's something.)
Thanksgiving with Nightcloud and Scourge
Scourge pulled a large roast turkey out of the oven, heaving it up to place it on the counter. Sighing heavily, he pulled Nightcloud's hot pink oven mits off of his paws and set them beside the turkey, wondering how he was going to carve the giant bird.
"Nightcloud," he called, "could you help me please? I still have to carve the turkey, make the sweet potato casserole, the mashed potatoes, the green beans, the cranberry sauce, the pumpkin pie, and the dinner rolls."
"Can you bring me a Kitty-Cola?" the she-cat called back from her place on the living room sofa.
The black tom clenched his paws, wishing his mate would just help him. "Please, Nighty? I can't do this all on my own!"
"The Thanksgiving Day Parade is on! You cannot expect me to cook when there is a parade to watch!" she mewed as her mate padded into the room bearing a can of soda. "Besides, who paid $12,000 to bail you out prison so you could be home for the holidays?"
"But you want me to cook all the food, set the table, and clean the entire den!" Scourge cried. "That's too much work for one cat to do!"
Nightcloud shrugged, popping the tab on her soda can. "You should have thought of that before you got arrested last week. I want a big Thanksgiving dinner."
Her mate narrowed his eyes, trying not to lose his temper. "Why do we need so much food anyway? The kits won't eat that much."
The she-cat twisted her soda tab nervously, letting out a quiet laugh. "Don't be angry with me, Scurgy."
"Why would I be mad?"
"Oh…no reason," she mewed, not meeting his gaze.
Scourge glared at her, realizing she had done something very bad. "What did you do?" he growled.
Nightcloud took a long sip from her can. "Oh…nothing much. Just invited some of your buddies from Brokenstar's House of Villains over for Thanksgiving dinner."
"You did WHAT?" Scourge gasped. "You invited evil cats over without telling me?"
'Well, they didn't have anywhere to go!" the she-cat cried. "Their families didn't want them."
The tom unsheathed his claws, desperately trying not to get too mad. "Nightcloud," he began quietly, "you need to tell me when you invite guests over, especially if they're from where I work!"
"Whatever," she shrugged. "What's done is done. You should just be thankful you aren't spending Thanksgiving in a tiny prison cell. Now get back in the kitchen and get that meal cooked!"
Sighing, Scourge realized there was no point in arguing. "Yes, dear," he grumbled, turning back toward the kitchen. "Anything you say, dear."
"I want turkey!" Lollipop cried, banging her silverware on the table loudly.
"I want turkey!" Brokenstar yowled, banging his silverware on the table loudly.
"I want pie!" Shredtail howled.
"I want more rolls!" Snowtuft snarled.
"I want everything!" Mapleshade hissed.
Sparkle and Shimmer watched the guests and their hungry sister with horror brimming in their amber eyes.
"It's not lady-like to demand food!" Shimmer scolded.
"It's not lady-like to bang your silverware!" Sparkle wailed.
"May I please have a little bit of green beans, please?" Misery asked sweetly.
Scourge banged his head on the table. "I want this to end!" he growled.
Nightcloud shoved a piece of turkey into her mouth. "Isn't this the best Thanksgiving dinner ever?"
"It would be better if I had more meat!" Brokenstar grumbled, ripping apart one of the turkey legs. Hashtag, who had the other turkey leg, tried to mimic the evil tom's eating habits, throwing bits of food everywhere.
Lollipop grabbed the bowl of mashed potatoes and took a big spoonful, eating right out of the bowl. "Yummy!" she mumbled with her mouthful.
Snowtuft tore at the white linen tablecloth with his claws. "This is too fancy!" he hissed. "And who likes white? Black is the way to go!"
"But you are white, Mr. Snowtuft," Sparkle mewed, taking a dainty bite of casserole.
Mapleshade hissed at everyone, guarding the pie and not letting anyone even look at it. "My pie!"
"Yes…well," Nightcloud mewed nervously, eyeing the deranged tortoiseshell, "I think we should go around the table and say what we're thankful for!"
"That's a wonderful idea, Mama!" Misery mewed adorably.
"That's a horrible idea," Shredtail hissed.
The black she-cat narrowed her eyes unhappily. "This dinner is not going as well as I thought it would," she murmured. "Anyway, I'll start. I am thankful for tutus and Starbucks coffee! Scourge, you go next!"
The tom cast a grumpy glance at his mate. "Oh, okay," he sighed. "I'm thankful for not being in prison and for my mate who so kindly bailed me out. I'm also thankful for Hashtag- the only one of my children to not be a complete failure."
"Yay me!" Hashtag cheered, clapping her paws. The other kits glared at their father angrily.
Brokenstar took a large bite of a roll. "I'm thankful for Hollyleaf, my amazing girlfriend," he mumbled with a full mouth, "and I'm also thankful for my House of Evil, which has more members than ever before! Evil is really in fashion right now."
"I'm thankful for war," Snowtuft hissed, digging his claws into the table. "I can murder so many cats then!"
"I'm thankful that I didn't go to StarClan!" Shredtail growled. "They're a bunch of good-for-nothing goody-two-shoes!"
"I'm thankful for death and evil!" Mapleshade snarled, glaring at Lollipop for staring at the pie. "And I'm thankful for pie and will hurt anyone who tries to take any!"
Lollipop shrugged and took another scoop of potatoes. "I'm thankful for food! I have to be strong to beat up all the toms on my football team who think she-cats can't play sports!"
Shimmer shoved her food into nice, neat little piles on her plate. "I am thankful for my quilting circle and Earl Grey tea."
"I am thankful for claw polish and little sparkly tiaras!" Sparkled meowed, showing everyone her fabulously painted purple claws."
"I am thankful for evil!" Hashtag announced, grabbing the bowl of mashed potatoes and dumping it on Shimmer's head. "I am not thankful for goody-two-shoes sisters!"
Tutu glared at her identical twin and handed Shimmer a napkin. "I am thankful for books, school, learning, the Science Bowl, the Math Bowl, college, my sparkly green reading glasses, bigger books-"
"Okay, that's enough!" Scourge hissed at his daughter. "No one cares that you're a big nerd!"
"I'm thankful for my Daddy!" Misery announced, wrapping her little gray paws around the black tom. "I love you, Daddy!"
"Awww," Brokenstar, Shredtail, and Snowtuft sighed, watching the kit hug her father. Mapleshade growled and hugged her pie.
Nightcloud clapped her paws. "Yay! We're all thankful for things! Let's eat the pie now."
Mapleshade glared at the black she-cat. "No one is eating my pie!"
"Um…where did Hashtag go?" Sparkle asked, staring at the empty chair.
"Where did Brokenstar go?" Shimmer added, wiping the last bit of mashed potatoes out of her fur.
The cats glanced around, not seeing either cat. Confused, they got up to look for the missing cats, sure that they were getting into some kind of mischief. Just when they had pushed their chairs in, the fire alarm went off.
"Fire!" Tutu screamed. "Everyone, get out! If you get burned, stop, drop, and roll!"
"Crawl under the smoke so you don't breathe it in!" Misery yowled.
The group, however, ignored the two kits and raced into the living room. Hashtag and Brokenstar were standing by the stair case, holding lit matches and spinning around happily. Luckily, nothing had caught fire yet.
"What are you doing?" Nightcloud hissed, rushing forward and grabbing the match from her daughter's paws. "You could have burnt the house down!"
"I did not start a fire!" Hashtag mewed, giving her mother an innocent look.
Scourge glared at the ragged brown to standing beside her. "Did you put her up to this?" he hissed.
"What?" Brokenstar gasped. "Of course not! I only came out here to tell her not to play with fire!" The tom quickly shoved a box of matches as the kit and turned around, racing out of the den.
Hashtag started laughing hysterically, dropping to the floor and rolling around. "We scared you so good!" she cried between laughs. "It was soooo funny!"
"Fire is not funny!" Nightcloud hissed.
"It kind of is," Mapleshade meowed. Snowtuft and Shredtail nodded.
The black she-cat gave the evil trio an upset look. "Thanksgiving is ruined!"
"Well, that's what you get for inviting evil to dinner!" Scourge informed her smugly. For once, Nightcloud had paid for her bad decision. In Scourge's opinion, this had been a pretty successful Thanksgiving.