Challenge Name: Misfit
Word Count (min. 600): 1928
Rating: T for mention of blood and death
A Mysterious Black Cat
The small patrol of cats padded back to camp slowly. All of them had their claws unsheathed and ready for anything.
In the middle of the small group was another cat, quite unlike the others. Her black pelt was matted with both dry and running blood and her ribs were showing through her small and thin frame. Despite that, a spirited glint shone in her eyes.
They brushed through the leafy entrance and walked into an open area filled with cats sunning themselves or sharing tongues.
The black she-cat lifted her head in interest at the sight of all of the cats, before she seemingly changed her mind. She quickly dropped her head and let out a whimper of fright and pain.
A white she-cat, followed by a small ginger tabby tom walked towards them. She faced the blue-grey she-cat in front of her and growled, "What is going on, Mistyheart? Who is this?"
Mistyheart turned back to face the black captive. "She claims that her name is Magic, a rogue who wishes to join PebbleClan."
Magic lifted her head proudly. "What she says is true. I've been chased out of my own territory." She let out a dramatic sniff. "They took my kits and attacked me, threatening me to never come back or they'd kill my kits. I wish to live here to learn the ways of battle and being a wild cat now."
A small group of cats slowly surrounded the patrol. A golden she-cat sympathetically put her tail to Magic's back.
But the white she-cat did not seem convinced. Her amber eyes flashed with indignation. "That's not how it works. You can't just come here expecting us to let you in. You have to earn our trust— you have to earn my trust." She paused thoughtfully. "And who is 'they'?"
"The Rogue Clan," Magic whispered, letting out a shudder.
A collective gasp rippled around the entire camp. Every cat in the forest knew of The Rogue Clan— a ruthless and bloodthirsty group— or rather, 'Clan'— of rogues who had chased off StormClan, who had originally shared their borders with PebbleClan and the Twolegplace.
"I barely escaped with my life," Magic meowed softly.
"I don't believe you," Icestar growled. "Go back to whatever carrion-infested home you had. You are of no concern to me."
"Icestar!" the golden she-cat gasped. "We can't let this poor cat live in the streets of Twolegplace knowing that she could be killed for returning! You can't do this to her!"
With a huff, Icestar stormed off, into her own den covered in lichen. The tabby tom followed her.
Icestar paced around her den, hissing and fighting with her conscience. She noticed her deputy staring at her with disbelief. "What?" she growled. "Do you also disagree with me?"
"Disagree with you?" he purred, "I don't even know what's wrong with you. You've never stopped kittypets from entering the Clan. You let Goldenfrost in without even blinking. Why the sudden change of heart?"
"She is no kittypet, Foxtail!" Icestar growled. "She is a rogue! How can I trust her? How do I know what she is saying is actually true?"
"Why do you not trust her?" Foxtail asked. "The Clan seems to trust her. She has done nothing wrong; she has not been hostile to us. She only begs to learn the ways of the Warrior Code. Is that so wrong?"
Icestar stopped pacing and stepped forwards to peek through the lichen. She gestured for Foxtail to do the same.
"Don't you find it a tiny bit suspicious?" Icestar whispered. "She looks exactly like The Rogue Clan's leader, Mystique."
"Because she is a black cat…?" Foxtail asked with disbelief. "So you're saying that Nightpetal could be plotting against us at this very moment—and you'd have her exiled— because she's a black cat?"
"Well… no…" Icestar meowed, "But it's different! Magic is a rogue! Not a Clanborn warrior. She's a misfit!"
Foxtail let out a sigh and shook his head. "You're paranoid."
"Well, maybe I should be!" Icestar retorted. Her amber eyes glinted with anger and worry. "The Rogue Clan has already chased out StormClan; we'll probably be next!"
"You need to stop eating squirrels at moon-high," Foxtail purred gently, "It's made you go insane with worry." He glanced at Magic. She was being surrounded by cats wanting to know every single detail of her escape. He looked back at Icestar. "Just give her a chance…" he meowed, "Let her learn our ways and then, who knows, maybe she'll help us get rid of The Rogue Clan once and for all."
He padded out, headed towards Magic.
Icestar watched the black rogue. She was trying to tell her story to a group of apprentices while they gave her fresh-kill. Larkstep, the medicine cat, was trying to heal Magic's wounds while trying to dodge the excited apprentices jumping around.
Maybe Foxtail is right, she thought to herself, maybe all Magic needs is a chance to prove herself…
Clearing her throat, Icestar stepped out of her den, ready to tell the Clan of her decision.
—4 Moons Later—
"Let all cats old enough to swim, join me under the stars for a Clan meeting!" Icestar yowled.
Cats of all ages joined her, knowing what this ceremony was for. A certain black she-cat stood proudly to the left of Icestar. Her wounds had all healed and she had slowly put on enough weight that cats could no longer see her ribs. The entire Clan had grown quite fond of her, and despite Icestar's earlier beliefs, she had not done anything to harm the Clan.
"Even though we mourn the mysterious losses of Goldenfrost and Puddlepaw, they would be thrilled to know that their best friend, Magic, would be joining the Clan today," Icestar meowed to her Clan. She turned to the black she-cat.
Magic proudly stared back at Icestar.
"Magic," Icestar meowed. "Do you promise to serve and protect your Clanmates even at the cost of your own life?"
Magic dipped her head solemnly. "I do."
"Then, from this day forth, you are stripped of your rogue past and you will no longer be known as Magic, but as Ebonyfang, warrior of PebbleClan!" Icestar yowled.
"Ebonyfang! Ebonyfang!" the Clan cheered.
"Before your vigil, you must catch prey for the cats of our Clan to celebrate a new warrior joining our ranks," Icestar meowed. She noticed the funny glance Ebonyfang sent her. "It's tradition," she explained.
"Can I hunt near the old StormClan border?" Ebonyfang asked. "There was lots of prey there last time I was there."
"Sure…" Icestar meowed.
She narrowed her large, amber eyes. Ebonyfang seems to spend a lot of time near that border. Is she waiting for her kits to escape from The Rogue Clan or something?
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Ebonyfang bounded out of camp, lightly. The border wasn't far from the camp; it wouldn't take her long to get there.
A mouse darted in front of her and she jumped for it, killing it with one swift bite. Burying it under a large tree, she continued on her way.
The strong scent of PebbleClan attacked her senses as she reached a small clearing. The border!
She glanced behind her, before scenting a small bird. Silently, she crept up to the sparrow. She let out a loud growl and the bird flew away in shock, but she was ready. With one swift and powerful push from her strong back legs, she grabbed the bird from the sky.
She bit its neck and it lay limp in her jaws.
Ebonyfang let out a content purr. She had taught herself that move while she was young, roaming the streets. After all, she needed to jump onto bins and ledges when running from other rogues.
A rustle in a nearby bush caught her attention. Crouching down, Ebonyfang let out a small throaty growl.
Expecting a mouse to run out of it, she prepared herself to leap at it.
But, to her surprise, a large, dark brown tom arose from the bush growling.
"Ah," he growled menacingly, "We finally meet again, Magic. I told you I'd come for you."
Ebonyfang leapt up and prepared herself to fight. She let out a warning growl. "Doom!" She glanced around, noticing that no cat had come to her rescue. "My name's not Magic anymore!" she added with a hiss.
"What is it?" he asked.
"I am Ebonyfang!" she growled. With a stifled purr, she added, mimicking Icestar, "Warrior of PebbleClan!"
Doom sat down on his haunches. "So many names," he teased. "I just don't know what to call you anymore."
"Just call me Mystique," she purred, "Like you always have, papa."
The brown tom let out a purr of approval.
She sat down in front of him. 'So!" she meowed, "How are Yip, Growl and Kit?"
"They have already started training," Doom answered. "And their names are Kivuli, Kanu and Paka; just like you asked. Kanu and Kivuli are doing excellently in their training, but Paka is a little bit slower. She'll get it eventually though."
"Wow…" Mystique purred. "Have I really been gone for four moons already?"
"Yes," Doom growled. "And I'm a little disappointed to see that you are not already leader of their Clan. Are you at least second-in-command?"
"It takes time, papa!" she sighed, annoyed. "I've already killed Goldenfrost and Puddlepaw. And I even put orange fur in their claws so they think that it was Foxtail, but those flea-brained idiots don't look—they just bury the cats!" She breathed in so she could continue her rant without dying because she hadn't taken a breath. "I've even hinted and said, 'Did you see the orange fur in their claws? That must mean that a cat with orange fur killed them!' but they just say, 'I hope that fox got a few scratches to remember them by…' It's infuriating!"
She put her head down in defeat. "I should probably try harder."
"You should have been 'trying harder' as soon as you got there!" Doom growled. "I hope you know that this took a lot of planning! You're the leader of our group, so you had to be the one to go undercover. It hurt me to starve you and nearly scratch you to death for days, but it was all part of the plan!"
"I know!" Mystique growled. "Just give me a couple more moons. Then, I'll be deputy— even if I have to kill Foxtail myself. Once I am deputy, it's only a matter of time before I kill Icestar and gain nine lives. No cat will be able to stop us once I have nine lives!"
Doom nuzzled up to his daughter. "That's my girl."
She purred. "I'm not a kit anymore; you don't have to say that. I'm a leader."
"You'll always be my kit," Doom answered.
A rustle in the nearby bushes broke the father and daughter apart. Mystique let out a low growl before remembering the prey she had buried.
"I have to go," she meowed quickly.
"I'll be waiting here for you. At this time, at this place in one moon's time," Doom meowed. "Do not blow your cover. Otherwise our whole plan will be ruined."
The black she-cat rolled her eyes.
"I mean it, Mystique!" Doom growled.
"Who's Mystique?" she purred. "I am Ebonyfang."
With a flick of her tail, she stood up and started to trot back towards the camp…
But, unbeknownst to her, a pair of narrowed amber eyes followed her back, glinting with vengeance.
She was right all along…!
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A/N: I'll just give you a bit of an explanation on some of the names.
Mystique means "a quality of mystery, glamour, or power associated with someone or something." Synonyms for Mystique include Spell, Charm and Magic.
Kanu, Kivuli and Paka are all Swahili names.
Kanu means Wild Cat
Kivuli means Shadow
Paka means Kitten
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You're welcome. ;3