Thanx to those that reviewed. This one's just a filler chapter, really, for the action that starts in chapter 3. I'll try to get it out soon!
I suppose they are," meowed Tigerstar, staring at her with brilliant amber eyes. Their intensity took Sasha's breath away. Now here was a cat that knew what he was doing! She thought with a bit of scorn at her own mate, Caesar. She had been enticed by his good fighting abilities, but she had come to find that he was about as interesting as a piece of Twoleg rubbish.
"Scourge will be angry if we go anywhere," Aurora commented, all business. "We'll have to stay in the alley. He'll have spies watching us, for sure."
"Us?" Sasha queried. "He isn't worried about you and me, and he's hardly interested in Boulder. No, he's watching him." She jabbed her tail at Tigerstar, and wondered whether he would take her remark as complimentary.
The big tabby swiveled his head about. "I don't see or smell any cats."
Aurora hacked out a laugh. "It isn't about seeing or smelling around here. It's about knowing."
Tigerstar looked around with renewed cautiousness, and Aurora shook her head. "Shall we eat?"
"Come now, Aurora," mewed Sasha, her blue eyes not missing the shudder that ran through Tigerstar's massive frame, "Surely the rubbish we eat isn't well enough for the leader of a forest Clan!"
Tigerstar relaxed, and Aurora narrowed her eyes at Boulder. "You two sleep, then," she meowed. "We'll hold guard."
Boulder and Tigerstar made themselves as comfortable as possible in the grubby alley, while Sasha and Aurora stood near the mouth of the alley, looking around. Once she was sure the big tabby wasn't listening, Sasha asked her friend, "What do you think of Tigerstar?"
"What do you mean, what do I think of him? He seems like Scourge to me, only a lot bigger." Aurora's orange eyes widened. "No, Sasha, you aren't thinking...what about Caesar?"
"What about him?" demanded Sasha. "I'm sick of him. All he's interested in is showing off his battle scars."
"And what makes you think that the forest rat will be any different?" asked Aurora.
"Did you hear him talk? He's got plans, Aurora. Great ones. I'm sure of it. And look at him. He's huge, and he's a leader! What more could a she-cat want?"
"Maybe a cat that they've known more than a heartbeat! Maybe he has a mate already!"
Sasha's eyes narrowed. "Well, even if he does," she meowed, "He'll soon forget her once he meets me."
Aurora shook her head, and she crept closer to where Tigerstar slept, far away from Boulder. Sasha followed, and she looked down at the massive tabby, staring at his rippling muscles and old scars. What had he done in his lifetime? What had he yet to do?
Tigerstar stirred in his sleep, a vicious growl rising from his throat. "Fireheart," he grumbled unconsciously. "Fireheart, I'm going to rip you into crowfood, unless the dogs beat me to it!"
"Who's Fireheart?" asked Aurora curiously.
"I don't know," admitted Sasha. "But whoever he is, he must have done something really bad..."