AN: Sorry for the lateness; my computer's internet decided not to work so I'm uploading this from my mom's laptop. Hope you enjoy! :)
Chapter 4
Late into the night, the traveling pair stopped at a large gray wall, topped with walls of what looked like thorny vines. Heavy-looking doors made of a material Fluffy couldn't name separated the Diamonds' camp from the rest of the city.
"Hello, door guards! It's Jag," the gray tom-cat called, and Fluffy heard signs of moving cats from behind.
"Hello, Jag. What took you do long? Sunset was ages ago. You know it's not safe alone at night." a voice answered, muffled by the thick barrier.
The doors opened a crack, and Jag replied, "I appreciate your concern, but rogues don't attack groups. I've got a guest." He turned to Fluffy with a smile. After a short pause, the yellow-eyed cat laughed. "He's harmless, I promise."
The spiteful comment made Fluffy bristle, but he said nothing as the doors slowly swung open.
"Oh," one of the door guards, yet another wiry tom-cat, remarked with a smirk. "It's just a pet."
Fluffy could have blown up in the arrogant guard's face. And, oh, how he wanted to, though he knew he couldn't.
I've got to keep my cool. I've got to keep my cool, he repeated to himself. I can't blow this now. Who knows how street-cats deal with their enemies.
The door-guard continued, opening the door wider with big front paws. "You'll have to stay in the prisoners' den until Socks decides what to do with you. Jag, you can go in. But Socks will have your tail if you're late for curfew again, she told me."
Again? Fluffy wondered, but remained silent.
The door-guard motioned the white tom-cat inside with his tail, and Fluffy's growling belly and aching paws were more than happy to oblige.
"I guess I should take you on a short little tour," the wiry tom-cat said, looking more bored than anything.
"Um...thanks," Fluffy replied, eyeing a small pile of prey with a strange mix of temptation and disgust.
"Well," the guard started, pointing with a large paw at a large dome looking thing made from scraps of the same material as the door, "that's where nearly all of us Diamonds sleep. All our dens are made of metal, 'cause that's really all that we can find around here."
The words felt strange on Fluffy's tongue as he tried them out silently. He had never heard 'den' or 'metal' in his life.
"Over there is where our healer keeps her supplies, and that's where the kit-mothers stay with their kits. It's kept in the safest part of camp, one of Socks's ideas, because our kits are our future." The tom-cat snorted, "What a load of crow-dung."
Fluffy couldn't help but smile at his guide's openness, and seeing it, the door-guard grinned back.
"You're not so bad. I mean, you're ugly as a rat with that stupid face, but you seem nice enough."
Fluffy, for once, didn't mind the insult at all.
Maybe that's just how city-cats communicate, he reasoned, no longer upset at the constant put-downs.
"Anyways, Socks and Tiger's den is over there under that big heap of scraps. That's where the leaders make their announcements and hold ceremonies and the like. When she dies and a new leader takes over, they always use that den. A lot of cats don't like it, seeing as we've had a lot of bad leaders who have all lived in there, and Socks doesn't really seem to stay there much either. She usually likes to sit up on the scrap heap and watch everyone, but I guess she's not right now."
"Okay, so when do I get to meet this Socks cat?" Fluffy asked, openly curious about the Diamonds' leader.
"When she wants to meet you, that's when. Now let's get you some prey and then get you into the prisoners' den over there to wait," the guard replied with a sly smile and a dismissive flick of his tail, leading Fluffy over to the prey-pile he'd had noticed earlier.
Again, that strange mix of feelings came over the starved tom-cat, his belly rolling in disgust and his mouth watering in want.
They're all already dead, he reasoned. Besides, they're rats; all they do is cause trouble for cats and humans alike. If I ever want to be a Diamond, I need to learn how to eat.
Hesitating, Fluffy slowly reached out a blistering paw, hooking his claws gingerly into its short, coarse fur. Ever so slowly, he pulled it to rest at his paws. He felt eyes watching him from behind, but didn't allow himself to turn around to see who it was.
It doesn't matter if I don't eat it. It's already dead and someone else will have it instead. If I can't eat a stupid rat, I don't deserve to be a Diamond at all.
Steeling his nerves, he nipped at the rodent's flank, tearing off a small piece of meat.
"Oh stars," he whispered, the savory meat melting on his tongue. Swallowing it, he felt the soft lump slide into his empty belly. He couldn't help himself. He tore into the rest of the rat, leaving nothing but bones and fur after what seemed like only a heartbeat. His hunger was far from sated, but it would do for now. The blue-eyed pet was a pet no longer.
"Stars," came a soft voice from behind, "you ate that rat quickly. One would guess it was your first."
Fluffy turned, half-expecting the formal sounding voice to belong to Socks. He was wrong.
"What's it to you?" he hissed at the lithe golden tom-cat sitting calmly.
"Oh, nothing. Just an observation," he replied smoothly, his long tail waving curiously. "That's all I ever do in here," he added with a morose sigh.
Fluffy instantly decided he didn't like this cat. "What do you want from me?" he snarled, his ears flattened.
"I just so happen to be the other prisoner. Your new friend told me to fetch you. It's long past curfew." Despite the golden tom-cat's choice of words, he didn't seem angry at all. Instead, his yellow eyes glittered with amusement.
In fact, the moon had risen and fallen far past its peak, and the eastern sky was tinted a slightly lighter gray.
Thrown off-guard, Fluffy only nodded, allowing himself to be led to a smaller den close to the doors by the unnerving golden tabby.
"What is this one for?" he asked, settling onto the cold, dusty floor.
"This is the prisoners' den," he replied, his long tail sweeping around his paws. "You will be held as a captive here until Socks decides whether or not you are suitable for Diamond life."
"You're different from the rest of them," Fluffy said bluntly, no interest in playing games with the strange tom-cat.
He just smiled. "You could say that. I am not from here," he replied.
The newest prisoner nodded slowly. "So uh...what's your name anyways?" Somehow, he could already hear himself picking up the informal dialect of the city-cats he was now surrounded by, and he wondered why the other captive hadn't.
"Lion," he replied, with an amused grin. "Most of the cats here say it does not fit my demeanor and appearance, but that is the name my mother gave me."
Fluffy let out a soft snort. "I can see why," he purred. Lion's whiskers twitched with irritation.
"Go to sleep," he replied brusquely. "It is nearly dawn."
There was no point in arguing with Lion, so the white tom-cat curled up on the uncomfortable dirt floor and let sleep wash over him.
Fluffy's dreams were filled with rats.