Chapter 9

I woke up late in the night, the stars still shone when I opened my eyes. My mind was still whirring, and I hadn't slept much at all.

Giving up, I stood and washed my fur. I didn't bother to wonder why I had excactly, I still had images of the white cat dead on the stone floor of Twolegplace, and Scourge grinning down at his lifeless body. I shivered, and started walking down the alleyway I had seen Scourge disapear down a few times.

His scent ws still fresh, and I was suddenly jolted with fear as I heard a cat's paw steps. Too late, I realized they were Scourge's. He looked tired and bored when he appraoched me.

Those strangely beautiful blue eyes lit with anger when he saw me, and he meowed, "What are you doing out here? You can't go out there, it's dangerous. As I've told you several times."

I felt numb when I said, "But you can go and kill cats whenever you feel like it?"

His eyes widened. "You saw that?"

I nodded and dropped my gaze to the floor. His eyes narrowed in thought for a moment, then he mewed, "Follow me."

I didn't hesitate to follow him into a clearing, he seemed to be in charge here. I sniffed the air instinctivley, and realized we were walking accross a Thunderpath. We reached the other side quickly, before I could embarrass myself and run accross in utter fear.

One thought crashed into another when I saw several other cats walking near us, looking weary and on guard. A few gave me strange looks, while others swerved entirley out of their path to avoid me.

Or just Scourge.

He looked wary and nervous, I could see it in his eyes, his beautifuly icy cold eyes. They seemed to tell everything he was feeling, always. Even when he held his head high, and glared when any cat came near, I could just look and know what he was feeling. I felt kind of special, like I was the only cat who may ever know that this cat wasn't just some bloodthirsty killer.

We walked past another alley way, like the one I'm staying in, but smaller. Scourge stopped and pointed with his tail, indicating I should look.

What I saw at first didn't suprise me, two cats seemed to be talking together, a single peice of fresh kill was dropped at the other cat's paws. I looked to Scourge, curious as to why he was showing me this, but his gaze remained on the two strangers.

I looked again, and focused, tying to see what he saw. This time, I noticed the cat with the mouse seemed to be scared, his expression worried and his fur bushed up. He was a scrawny little tabby, and his companion was a huge light brown tom.

Suddenly, so suddenly even I flinched, the larger cat attacked the smaller one. His claws slashed everywhere at once, but the tom had already slipped away, and his fur brushed mine as he sped past, his breath coming in gasps.

I turned my gaze to Scourge, and asked, "Why didn't you help him, he could've been killed!"

Scourge shook his head, "That cat was better off with a few scratches. Did you see how quickly he ran away? That tom didn't leave any terribly bad wounds."

"So?"

"So," He looked at me this time, his voice raised ever-so-slightly in agitation, "if we had helped him, he would've made become an enemy. That cat over there,"

He pointed his tail at the lighter-brown tom, "would keep coming back for revenge. Not just on that scrawny cat who he stole fresh kill from, but us, too."

I thought for a moment, and concluded that he was right. What's a few scratches compared to lives? My heart was still fluttering in my chest, though, I wanted to retreat to the safety of the alleyway I was currently calling home. But I wouldn't have shown Scourge that.

He turned to leave, but another surprise came running around the corner. A well-fed she-cat accidentally crashed into him, her eyes wide and scared. I leapt back in disbelief when yet another cat bowled the two over. I almost laughed, Scourge's eyes seemed to bulge out of his head with all this weight sitting on his chest.

But I didn't have much time to, because once the kitty-pet righted herself, she hid behind me. I could feel he whiskers tremble as she shuddered in fear, and hear her breaths shallow and weak. I wondered for a moment how long she had been running.

Scourge sat up and glowered at the tom, who was glowering at the kitty-pet, who was hiding her eyes with her paws. I looked over the tom, who's flea ridden fur smelled of crow food, and was a cream color. The cat cowering behind me had a white pelt and a pink color, pink like I've seen before in sunrises.

She hissed under her breath and leapt from behind me to run again, but Scourge was suddenly in front of her, blocking any escape.

He was furious, probably from embarrassment, and he meowed, " What exactly are you doing? Your a kittypet, you don't belong here."

His warning went straight over here head, and she sat up and mewed, "I was just looking for a drink, behind my housefolk's nest, when his cat came out of nowhere and attacked me. So I ran here, and I was just about to die of exhaustion, when you came along. So, are you going to tell him to go away? Beat him up? Something?"

Her words were met with silence as Scourge's glare went back and forth. The tom was stiff and scared, I could smell his fear. I had to give him credit though, he stood tall and kept his tail high above the ground.

Scourge bent his head closer to the kitty pet's ear, and whispered something inaudible. After a moment, she nodded, and flashed him a grateful glance before running away, until she was no longer in sight.

The stranger's jaw dropped, and he hissed, "W-what? You let her get away! She was trespassing, you should've killed her!"