Chapter Twelve
BloodClan
The little cat saw my glance. "Of course, you will get to leave behind the burden of the red tabby."
My snarl drowned out Fox's. "If you want me, you want Fox. I am staying with him."
"My cats don't stay together," the little cat meowed. "BloodClan cats have only loyalty to their leader. They have no friends, no partners."
"I'm not a BloodClan cat," I pointed out with a hiss.
The little cat flicked his tail at two cats. "Ice, Snake, help the Silver Fighter with his decision and kill the red one." The two cats, one white and one brown, stalked towards us. Before they had even attacked, I had the tabby one pinned to the ground. He struggled for a moment, then stopped when I dug my claws into his shoulder.
The white cat froze. "Scourge-?"
The little cat hissed. "I said kill the red one."
"I'll kill any cat who touches Fox," I warned.
"I'm quite capable of defending myself," Fox meowed.
"Ice!" the little cat yowled suddenly. In response, the white cat flung himself at Fox. Fox stepped to the side just in time. Then he attacked.
I hadn't seen Fox fight since Wren died. Whereas I had become more temperamental and violent with the loss of my sister, Fox had become quieter. Now I saw all his anger flow out onto the white cat. After what seemed like only a few breaths, the white cat had backed away from Fox. The tabby squirmed out from under my paws to join him.
The little cat glared at his two toms. "Pathetic," he muttered. "But you've shown me one thing." he turned his eyes back on me and Fox. "The red one can fight."
"Oh, you are observant, aren't you?" I meowed. The huge cat, Bone, took a warning step towards me. I simply stared at him.
"I will extend my offer to join BloodClan to the tabby," the little cat meowed.
"I have a name," Fox pointed out. "And I'd prefer being called Fox as opposed to 'the red one'."
"Shatter," I added. "Not the silver fighter."
"Scourge will call you what he-"
"No," the little cat cut Bone off mid-sentence. "No, Bone. Names are good. Shatter, Fox, welcome to the Testing."
"The Testing?" I questioned.
"You can't just join BloodClan." the little cat meowed. "You need to prove yourself."
(***)
I must have been born to join BloodClan. I finished the Testing – which consisted mainly of showing off fighting skills – that very day. I even, at one point, leapt on the little cat and almost managed to beat him before his big bodyguard Bone pulled me away. Surprisingly, that only made the little cat – Scourge – like me more. It took Fox a little longer to complete the fighting component to the Testing, but he aced the hunting part.
The task for the hunting part was to bring enough food back to the alley to give Scourge, Bone, and another important cat named Brick a full meal. Whereas most cats found old twoleg food or crowfood, Fox and I brought back freshkill. Fox caught enough that he needed to bribe a younger BloodClan cat into helping him carry it all back to Scourge and his two enforcers.
So, having finished the Testing so quickly, Fox and I had already made names for ourselves on our first day as BloodClan cats.
(***)
I decided very quickly that I didn't like the way BloodClan was run. Such a small cat, ordering us around? I knew that if Fox and I had the chance to fight Scourge alone, we could beat him. Then what? Would Bone and Brick start to obey us? Would we lead BloodClan? I was almost tempted to find out.
But I made do with simply being annoying. Cats weren't allowed to have friends, so Fox and I made a point of sticking together. Cats were supposed to do whatever Scourge said – and therefore whatever Bone and Brick said, so Fox and I ignored them. Cats were supposed to make sure Scourge and his closest cats were fed the best food available, so Fox and I caught out own fresh kill and ate it all ourselves.
Scourge didn't like me, but he wanted me. I saw cats punished for lesser offenses than what Fox and I did, even though we were never touched. I took advantage of that fact, but I didn't understand it.
Not until moons after we had joined the clan.
For anyone reading this who is also reading Shattered Five, Star's chapter is up. ~Capitaine Jaf