Chapter 2
Disclaimer: I don't own warriors if I did I would have changed many things don't sue me I have no money.
It had been almost two moons since Scourge had come to live with Rusty and Moss. He was very pleased with how Rusty was coming along. He had been teaching Rusty some of the fighting moves and techniques he had learned while out on the street under Moss' close supervision. Scourge noticed that while Rusty's muscles were still a little soft, he had lost most of his kitten plumpness and was starting to slim out nicely. His fiery ginger coat was sleek and his emerald green eyes flickered with intelligence. He watched as Rusty practiced his moves on Smudge during one of their play fighting sessions and saw just how quickly he was able to get the better of the slightly bigger kitten. Scourge's mind began to wander to the day he told Rusty the truth.
~ Flash back~
"Well done Rusty." Scourge purred with satisfaction. Rusty had just completed a belly-rake move with excellent speed and grace.
"Thank you, Scourge" Rusty meowed. His face brighten up at Scourge's praise. He sat down beside Scourge. Now 5 moons old he was starting to lose his kitten softness.
"Yes you did very well, I'm proud to call you my brother." Scourge meowed softy. He had thought Rusty hadn't heard him, but Rusty's ears were sharp enough to pick up what he had said.
"Your brother?" Rusty meowed. He looked hard at Scourge, who watched Rusty and blinked slowly. Moss' eyes widened in shock as she looked between Scourge and Rusty.
"Yes I'm your brother, My mother was a she-cat named Quince and my father was a large ginger tom." Scourge meowed softly. "She told me that my father like to go into the forest."
"Your mother's name was Quince?" asked Rusty with wide eyes. " That's the name of the she-cat who had my half-siblings."
"I know, I figured that we might be siblings the day I first arrive here." meowed Scourge. "I just wasn't sure how to tell you." Rusty purred and touched noses with Scourge . Moss looking on with a shimmer of affection in her eyes.
~ End Flashback~
Scourge allowed a small smile to creep across his face as he let the memory pass over him. Although Scourge hated to admit it he was fond of the ginger ball of fluff. Even Moss had begun to grow on him, though he wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. He allowed himself a quick glance at Moss who was curled up on the windowsill beside him.
'perhaps we will start on his hunting next.' thought Scourge as he turned his attention back over to Rusty from his perch on the windowsill. He was now able to use the cat door just like Rusty and Moss, but preferred to stay inside away from Smudge. About an hour later, Rusty jumped up on the windowsill, the bell of his collar ringing softly as he landed beside Scourge and gave him a quick lick on the ear. The housefolk hadn't given Scourge a collar since he still wore the one from his old home, but it's bell was gone, replaced by a pale tooth. Moss' wore a light pink collar with a bow on it.
"Hello Scourge, are we doing anything today?" asked Rusty as he bent his head to give himself a quick wash.
"I was thinking we could start working on your hunting," replied Scourge. He gave a look at Moss who nodded in acceptance. She made little fuss now that Rusty was six moons old. "We'll start right now, do you see that ball over there?" Scourge asked as he gestured to a bright red ball with his tail.
"Yes, I see it." Rusty meowed.
"Good," meowed Scourge. " I want you to sneak up on it as if it were a mouse."
Rusty jumped down from the window sill and began to creep up on the red squishy ball.
"No, not so fast and move lightly." growled Scourge. Watching from is perch on the window sill. Moss brushed her tail over Scourge's ears, her eyes flashing in amusement.
"It's only his first try you can't possibly expect him to get it right the very first time he tries." She purred softly.
"It's just a silly ball, I doubt it even knows I'm sneaking up on it," grumbled Rusty. "I bet I could catch a mouse just fine my first try." Scourge narrowed his eyes at Rusty. He stood up, bunching his muscles together and jumped down from the sill landing not far from where Rusty was sitting.
"Oh yes?" hissed Scourge "well than I think you should prove this to me, tomorrow I will
take you somewhere for you to hunt." meowed Scourge. Moss looked at Scourge with surprise on her face.
"Tomorrow? I was going to show him the home I grew up in. He is old enough now " meowed Moss.
"How about the day after?" Scourge meowed.
"Very well." she sighed knowing that Rusty would be very eager to prove himself a good hunter.
Scourge stretched out his body and flexed his claws. He padded over to the basket they shared and settled down to sleep. Moss came over and curled up beside him.
'I don't need to wait for tomorrow' thought Rusty. ' I'll go to the forest and catch a mouse, just like I do in my dreams.' Rusty climbed into the basket and got comfortable. Rusty settled down to rest in the basket.
Moss was sleeping peacefully in the basket dreaming of a fat plump mouse getting crushed by her paws. She awoke after awhile noticing that Rusty wasn't in the basket with them anymore, in fact Scourge was gone too. 'Where could they have gone' she thought curiously. She stretched to her paws and padded into the kitchen. She picked up the faint scent of Scourge lingering around the food dish and a fainter scent of Rusty. She lapped up a bit of water and sniffed around the kitchen trying to figure out where they had wandered off to. She noticed the window, above the counter, was open and she leaped up and out the window into the garden.
Moss raced toward the fence in the garden. She leaped upon the fence and let her gaze sweep across the area. 'There that has to be Rusty' She had spotted a ginger ball of fluff in the distance and bounded off toward it. She was almost to Rusty when a set of teeth snagged her collar and a paw covered her mouth preventing her from yelping allowed. She relaxed when she realized it was only Scourge. She began to move toward Rusty when Scourge stopped her and motioned for her to follow him.
Scourge stopped a quite a distance away and Moss saw that Rusty was in the process of hunting and understood now why Scourge prevented her from reaching Rusty. They hid behind a gorse bush peering around to see Rusty get distracted by something, and to see his prey slip away from him. Scourge let an amused look cross his face Moss assumed he was remembering how cocky Rusty had acted earlier.
Suddenly a flash of gray fur barrels into Rusty pinning him beneath it. Moss started toward him, but was once again stopped by Scourge who gave her a pointed look. Just as she was about to claw Scourge's ears off, Rusty broke free of the lump of gray fur and started heading back for the house, but she noticed the gray fur ball was gaining on Rusty. Moss figured Rusty must of knew it too for he spun around and faced the creature. It was a kitten about Rusty's age with strong shoulders, powerful legs and a thick gray shaggy coat. The kitten rushed toward Rusty who spun around quickly kicking the gray kitten in the chest and sending the kitten a few tail lengths away. The impact of the attack cause Rusty to stagger a bit, but he quickly got his footing back and crouched low waiting to see if the kitten would attack again. Moss saw a flash of pride cross Scourge's face. She also couldn't help but be proud of Rusty for quickly getting the advantage over the gray kitten. She watched the gray kitten sit up and scratch his ear with his hind leg non threateningly and began to speak to Rusty. They weren't close enough to make out all of what they were saying, but from what She gathered from their conversation she found that the kitten was a clan cat and that there were more cats and clans that lived out in the woods. Moss's eyes widened in surprise ' I wonder if he is from my mother's Clan?' Moss thought as she studied the kitten.
Suddenly the kitten started to mewl frantically and nudged Rusty, when a bigger blue-gray cat appeared. The gray kitten lowered his body to the ground. Nearly a heartbeat later a big golden cat appeared right behind the gray cat. Moss watched as Rusty mimicked the gray kitten by lowering himself to the ground. Scourge jumped from behind the gorse bush and rushed over to Rusty's side. Moss moved just as quickly to stand on Rusty's other side. She now had a better look at the two new cats. The golden cat was a tom with golden fur that wrapped around his neck like a lion's mane. The blue-gray cat was a she-cat with vibrant blue eyes.
Scourge narrowed his eyes at the blue-gray she-cat as she stepped forward and let her gaze fall on him.
'She looks familiar' thought Scourge. 'Where have I seen her before?'
"What's going on here?" meowed the blue-gray she-cat, keeping her gaze fixed on Scourge. Her gaze was hard and thoughtful as if he was familiar to her.
"Graypaw, who are these cats and why are you so close to the twolegs?" growled the golden tabby
"I'm sorry Lionheart," meowed Graypaw. "I didn't mean to get so close to the twoleg's territory, I smelt this kittypet in our territory so I thought that I should drive him out. I don't know who the other kittypets are."
"He's my brother." mewled Rusty pointing to Scourge with his tail "And she is my friend." flicking his tail in Moss' direction. Scourge looked down at Rusty who was still crouched low in a submissive position. Scourge had almost forgotten that Rusty was right beside him. He gave a glance at Moss who was staring closely at the blue-gray she-cat.
"This is Bluestar she is the leader of Thunderclan the clan I'm from." meowed Graypaw "And that's my mentor Lionheart, he is training me to be a warrior."
"Stand up, both of you." meowed Bluestar. Rusty rose to his paws and glanced at Scourge. Scourge watched Bluestar carefully as she swept her eyes over all of them. She held Moss' gaze and for a moment Scourge thought she looked a little startled.
"You fought well kittypet, you faced Graypaw bravely." meowed Bluestar letting her eyes fall on Rusty. "I think you would have caught that mouse if you had not been distracted."
"Bluestar these are kittypets they shouldn't be hunting in our territory. We should be sending them back to their twolegs" meowed Lionheart respectfully. 'Let them try' thought Scourge flexing his claws slightly already sizing up Lionheart and Bluestar. Moss had fluffed out her pelt in defiance her own claws flexing slightly digging up the soil beneath her claws. Rusty looked at everyone with a confused expression on his face.
"Why must we leave we only came to hunt a few mice. Surely there are enough to go around.?" meowed Rusty. Scourge snapped his head toward Rusty and growled low under his breath. Moss gave Rusty a sharp stare. At the same moment Bluestar and Lionheart also fixed their sharp gazes on him. Graypaw looked nervously from his clanmates toward the three kittypets.
"There isn't enough to go around" spat Bluestar. Her eyes were cold as she fixed them on Rusty. Scourge huffed and looked exasperatedly at his brother.
"Don't you remember anything I taught you about living away from housefolk and their nests? " meowed Scourge as he fixed his ice blue gaze on Rusty. "Cats who don't live with housefolk don't always have enough to eat, they must rely on their territory to feed them." Scourge turned his head back toward Bluestar and Lionheart. Lionheart watched him with a look of surprise on his face, while Bluestar looked at him with a pleased look on her face.
"Yes you are quite right ," meowed Bluestar "Tell me what are your names?"
"I am Scourge"
"My name is Moss"
"My name is Rusty" meowed Rusty "I'm sorry about the comment I made earlier I didn't think about the other cats who live in the forest, we will not hunt here anymore."
"You three very unusual kittypets." meowed Bluestar. "Any other kittypets would have run away back to their nest long ago." Rusty's ear twitched happily at the approval in her voice. Moss' eyes brighten considerably and Scourge didn't show it but he was also pleased by Bluestar's praise. Scourge noticed that Bluestar was once again looking intensely at Moss.
"Is your Clan very big?" asked Rusty curiously.
"How about the three of you come and see for yourselves" Bluestar said carefully "Would all of you like to join Thunderclan?" Graypaw's eyes widened in shock and he sputtered to speak to his leader.
"But they are kittypets." Graypaw meowed "They don't have our warrior blood"
"A lot of that blood has been spilt lately." mewled Bluestar sadly. Lionheart watched his leader for a moment before he turned to look at Rusty, Moss and Scourge.
"Bluestar is offering you three training. Although it might be too much for you since you must be use to a comfortable life." meowed Lionheart. Rusty looked hurt by Lionheart's words, Moss spat crossly, while the fur on Scourge's neck began to rise and he let out a hiss.
"I had to live most of my life so far as a rogue" spat Scourge. His ice blue eyes flashed coldly " I know what it is like to live without the care of housefolk."
"And my adoptive mother taught me to respect territory and how to hunt sufficiently for myself." growled Moss fixing Lionheart with a harsh stare.
Lionheart let his bright green eyes move from Scourge to Moss. Bluestar took a step forward causing them to move their eyes back on her.
"He did not mean to insult you, just that the offer I have made to you is not one to be taken lightly " soothed Bluestar. "You three will come to our Clan and you will learn our ways but if you cannot live by our code you will have to go back to your twolegs and not return." Bluestar watched the two for a reaction. Rusty looked a little unsure but determined. Scourge had a thoughtful expression on his face. Moss had an unreadable look on her face.
"If you join, you will have to be willing to give your life for the clan, but you'll know what is like to be a true cat." Bluestar meowed. She look at Rusty and Scourge. " and you both will remain toms." . Rusty and Scourge exchanged looks with each other.
"What do you mean remain a tom?" Scourge asked calmly.
"There is a place where twolegs take cats and when they return they are no longer able to mate." Bluestar sighed. Rusty's eyes widen in terror. Scourge looked unsure of what to think. Moss had an amused look on her face.
"May we be given time to think about our decision?" asked Scourge. Bluestar gave him a nod.
"Very well Lionheart will be waiting here tomorrow at sunhigh." meowed Bluestar "You may give him your answer." Bluestar flicked her tail in a silent command and led her clanmates back into the forest. Moss, Scourge and Rusty stood side by side and watched them go until they were out of sight.
( Phew, that may have been longer than the last chapter. They will meet the clan next. Hopefully, who knows where I will go with this. There are going to be similarities between Scourge's life in Thunderclan and Rusty's but there will also be plenty of differences between them. Also Scourge trained Rusty responsively. He had his claws sheathed unlike Brokenstar and didn't push him too hard. Moss is going to start piecing things together )
