By the time the first rays of sunlight descended upon the forest, Greysight was already awake. She sat alone in the clearing, enjoying the moment of peace while she waited for the other cats to wake up. Lostheart was the only cat she had yet to notice, the deputy's nest had already been empty when she awoke.
Thistle and Ragged had, in fact, stayed the night. She had scented the two toms in the warriors den and could feel their sleeping forms on the far side of the den. Greysight snorted at the thought, it seemed ridiculous. DarkClan hospitality, taking in rogues and loners of all types. All cats welcome!
She scoffed and stretched her legs, yawning loudly. It couldn't be long now, Darkpelt was on a strict internal schedule. The tom woke up at the same exact time every day, honestly it was a little much.
Out in the forest, a lone figure walked through the forest, their pawsteps fading silently away. Lostheart had been out for most of the night, both hunting and spending some time at her tree. She honestly didn't feel like sleeping, and she felt like it was her responsibility to make sure the rogues didn't try to sneak away.
Hopefully, after a bit of persuasion, they might be able to convince the toms to stay. It wasn't exactly the nicest place, and prey was scarce, but it was worth a try. Even if they did stay, getting two rogues adjusted to clan life could prove to be a challenging task.
Such cats weren't used to respecting boundaries and following rules. Lostheart sighed lightly and allowed her shoulders to fall. It was easy to relax when she was alone, and no one was around to watch her. At times like these, she felt like an apprentice again.
She padded on through the forest until she came to Blue Hole. Lostheart walked through the small clearing, passing the pool as she prepared to dig up her buried kill. However, the movement from her side caught her eye and she stopped.
After a quiet moment, she turned and padded up to the water's edge, peering down into it's clear blue depths. She blinked at the image staring back at her, the she-cat's eyes looked cold and distant.
'That's me.'
Lostheart's eyes fell as she stared down, the water's surface shimmered lightly in the breeze. Almost immediately, her vision was drawn to her own eyes, and her reflection did the same, staring back at her. The long scar across her face still stood out sharply on her face, a permanent scar that would never heal.
'I'm no beauty.'
Lostheart's eyes narrowed slightly at her reflection, and she found herself hating the deep red eye and cloudy blank stare glaring back at her. After a moment, she gave in and sighed.
No cat... had ever said anything like that to her before. It had been completely unexpected and had managed to catch the she-cat completely off guard. Lostheart had retreated, feeling extremely embarrassed and uncomfortable. However, now as she sat before the pool she only felt emotionless and cold. 'Real funny, make fun of the ugly cat.' It reminded her of her childhood and the cruel words the other kits used to say to her.
Lostheart stood up, leaving her reflection behind and padded away from the clearing. Once again on her way to find her kill. The words still bothered her, and she found herself being haunted by them for the rest of the day.
"Lostheart, you're back, and you have fresh kill! Great, I'm starving!" Roseclaw bounded over to her sister as the black she-cat lay down the prey. Greysight padded up behind her, and Lostheart could see the toms making their way over as well.
"There's not enough for everybody, but I don't need any. Here, take these mice to Mintpaw and Longtail, the thrush is for Sunstar. Give the rabbit to the rogues." she meowed quickly. "We can hunt for the rest of us later."
Roseclaw was still in awe of the large catch Lostheart had managed to bring in. "Were you out all night?" she meowed, a hint of worry in her voice.
"Not really." Lostheart replied.
Roseclaw frowned lightly, but leaned down to pick up the mice and padded away to see Mintpaw and Longtail. Once the white she-cat had disappeared from view, Darkpelt and Browneyes came over, escorting Thistle and Ragged.
"Sweet! Another rabbit, you guys are too kind!" Thistle meowed loudly, grabbing hold of the furry creature and placing it in front of him and his brother. Moonfur sat quietly beside Lostheart, and glanced to the side to examine the dark she-cat.
It was already morning, if Lostheart was going to do something, it would have to be now.
Lostheart waited until Darkpelt padded away to deliver Sunstar's fresh kill before turning to the two rogues. "I have a proposition for you." she meowed bluntly.
Thistle's ear twitched and he looked up, vaguely surprised with a mouth full of food. Ragged merely stood up a little straighter and eyed the she-cats suspiciously.
"If you have nowhere else to go, you're welcome to stay in the clan with us."
Thistle swallowed his mouthful and stood up beside his brother. The tom blinked for a moment then laughed. "My brother and I go where we please. That's the way it's always been."
Moonfur felt a twinge of anxiety watching the exchange, so far it wasn't looking too good. She had thought Ragged appeared suspicious of them the day he entered the camp, and she could only wonder what he was thinking.
"What about a family?" Moonfur asked.
Ragged 's eerie yellow eyes glanced to her briefly, but it was Thistle who replied. The white tortoiseshell leaned back, shrugging. "Don't have any."
"Well," Moonfur began, "Life will be much easier here. We have plenty of space, and you'll be kept safe from the cold and rain. And there's plenty of food to go around."
Ragged had now turned completely to look at the pale she-cat, as her strange eyes danced between the brothers. "I was a rogue too, but DarkClan took me in."
"It's nice...Everyone works to protect and help each other, with food, care, and protection against predators."
Thistle was quiet for a moment, then shrugged. "Yeah well, this place is kind of a dump."
A low growl emitted from Greysight, causing Thistle to grin impishly at the blind she-cat.
"Won't you at least consider it?" Moonfur continued, stepping in front of Greysight.
The two toms glanced at each other and turned around so that their backs faced the she-cats. They huddled together and several quiet whispers could be heard. Moonfur and Lostheart both blinked at their strange behavior.
Thistle was the first to whirl around, his viridian eyes gleaming mischievously. "We'll stay, IF that cat," Thistle meowed, turning and flicking his spotted tail towards Darkpelt outside the leader's den, " Can beat me and Ragged in a fight."
Moonfur and Lostheart both looked around the toms to see the cat Thistle was referring to.
"Deal."
Lostheart and Moonfur both turned and stepped to the side as Greysight stepped through them. Moonfur's eyes flashed to the blind she-cat with a worried expression, and as always, Lostheart retained her calm demeanor.
"Sweet, so we gonna fight in here?" Thistle meowed, looking around the camp..
"Don't be stupid, we have a training hollow where you guys can fight. We can go as soon as you're ready. Unless you want to back down?" Greysight replied.
"Tsk, tsk. Such a sharp tongue, Greysight. You know, some of us toms like that in a she-cat." Thistle continued.
"Don't. Call me that." Greysight hissed, lashing her tail from side to side.
Thistle didn't seem to be affected by the blind she-cat's threatening tone. "Why? It's your name isn't it?" he replied smartly.
"You haven't earned the right." she growled. "Moonfur, will you take these two to the training hollow with Browneyes?" 'And I'll deal with Darkpelt.'
Moonfur nodded, "Sure. Follow me." The pale she-cat began to pad away, closely followed by the two tortoiseshell brothers. Greysight let out an irritated sigh, knowing that Darkpelt would only end up making her angry.
Moonfur was glad when Browneyes caught up to them after Lostheart told him what was happening. The tom wasn't too happy with the idea, but he complied nonetheless. She felt a lot better having one of her new clanmates by her side rather than being alone with the two unfamiliar rogues.
Ragged paused as Thistle suddenly stopped abruptly in the clearing. Moonfur and Browneyes continued on, oblivious to their stop. Ragged followed his brother's gaze curiously until he caught sight of what the tom had spotted.
Across the clearing, a white she-cat lay outside of a stone den, speaking with another smaller she-cat. Thistle began to reach out for Ragged, pawing blankly through open space until he felt his brother.
Ragged rolled his eyes, "Come on." he meowed, gently pushing Thistle forward in an attempt to catch up with the two DarkClan warriors. Thistle complied, but the tom couldn't help peering over his shoulder as he and Ragged stepped into the tree tunnel.
"I don't understand why you want that idiot to stay in the first place."
"Sunstar has already agreed Darkpelt, and they may be rogues," 'And an idiot.' Greysight added silently, "But their help might be worth it in the long run. Don't you want DarkClan to be safe?"
Darkpelt snorted, "Of course." The large tom flexed lightly, snapping the bones in his powerful legs. "This won't take long."
He stepped past her and began to make his way out of the clearing. Greysight followed suit, hoping that Darkpelt would be right.
The tom was a formidable warrior to be sure, but could he handle both of those rogues on his own? They fought extremely in synch, and she had never witnessed a move like what they had done before. Vaguely, she wondered why they had chosen Darkpelt in the first place, and why they agreed so easily.
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I apologize for any errors in this chapter, unlike most of my chapters, I didn't go back over and edit this one. : Both Ragged and Thistle have very different character personalities than my other cats, and I wanted to make them really different. Especially since they were born/raised/lived in sich a different area. I really enjoy their character development and general characters, and I hope you will too.
Lost Out
P.S. Any thoughts/ questions leave em' in reviews. :)
P.P.S Added after a review I got for this chapter. EHERM, NO THERE IS NO FORBIDDEN LOVE. I actually strongly dislike that theme, and it is pretty overused not bad, just no...not my style. You'll just have to see what happens. :P