Extra: Red
8
The red she-cat snarled and hissed as claws came from everywhere. Shade! That cowardly tom! He brought all his friends here just because he can't stand me!
Red lash out whenever she could. The alley cat nipped on a she-cat's tail, who retaliate by spinning around only to miss her muzzle. She put a slash to the side of Shade and tore the ear of a brown tom. The red she-cat noticed an opening and clawed another tom's back. The tom yowled in pain. As one Red was quickly cover from all sides of claws, teeth and powerful limbs.
Suddenly, one of Shade's friends was barreled away and two more were caught unaware of an attack behind them.
Red lashed her tail. "Well, Shade, just you and me now. The odds definitely even, coward."
Shade snarled at her taunt and pounced. "I don't need friends to get rid of you!"
Red hopped to the side, turning to face her opponent. Shade was about to slash at her just as he landed when he felt paws digging sharply to his side, forcing him to collapse at the mercy of Red.
"Well, looks like I win this time, Shade. Now, will you leave me alone or what?!" The alley cat panted harshly. The tom glared heatly at her, then grunted.
"Fine, you win this time," Shade snarled. The she-cat got off and the tom raced away.
"This won't be the last of me, she-cat! I can promise you that!"
The alley cat let out a sigh and muttered. "Honestly, that tom always thinks toms are better than she-cats. Why won't he just admit he's just weak?"
A low growl came from the left of her. Red turn to see a small, black tom and a light-colored tabby. So they were the ones who helped her.
"Oh, hi there...um, thank's for saving me. What's your name? Mine's Red," the red she-cat introduced herself sheepishly as the white-pawed tom stalked towards her. Was he trying to scare her? Honestly, being stalked all the time by Shade had stopped the fear.
The black tom stopped and narrowed his eyes. "Nightpaw. My name's Nightpaw. You should leave or I'll have to rip you to shreds."
Is this how they scare the housecats? Seriously?! But well, housecats usually avoid violence, though they sometimes like to cause trouble. And then there were forest cats that sometimes came into the city that were rather...violent. Red twitched her ear curiously and turned to the city. "Nightpaw? What a weird name. I think we'll meet again, forest cat. Good bye, Nightpaw!"
As she raced off, Red thought she could hear a faint 'Goodbye, Red'.
25
Red pace atop the fences, bored. Like always, she had to chase Shade away and hunted for herself. The she-cat decided to meet Hattie, a friend. The cheerful housecat always have her own ways to talk boring things interesting. She remembered the day they first meet, in a pet shop. They had made a promise to be always friends.
Red reached her friend's house, near the forest. The brown kittypet was nowhere to be seen. Looks like she won't be out for now. Red signed and turned to the forest. A certain small, black tom with a white paw appeared in her mind. Red tilted her head. What was the tom's name again? Night...Nightpaw? Yes, it was Nightpaw.
She wonder how that tom is now as she hopped off the fence and padded to one of the trees. For some reason, the forest cats don't bother checking the trees, where an outsider could easily go in. Red sniffed the air and leap from branch to branch, heading to the strongest scent in the forest. In a sandy area, the black tom she was looking for was with a white tom, watching two cats fighting.
The larger she-cat quickly outwitted the younger tom, kicking her back paws into the cat. The black-and-white tom shook his head from the hit. The ginger she-cat took her chance to tackle the tom, forcing him to the ground.
"Ah! I give up! I give!" The tom yowled.
The she-cat lifted her paws off him. The tom shook his head, pale eyes wide with excitement. "That was amazing! What was that move?!"
"That was a back kick. You have judge the distance between you and your opponent properly to lash out of with your hind legs. It is too advanced for you right now," Nightpaw explained, padding towards him. The kit looked chest fallen before looking up. "So, when do I get to learn it?"
"When I decide you are ready."
"Yes, Nightfrost."
"Nightfrost? Isn't his name Nightpaw?"
The kit shook his fur. The large, white tom padded to the ginger she-cat. "We will be going back to camp now, Sandpaw."
Sandpaw dipped her head and followed him out of the Sandy Hollow. Nightpaw flicked his tail to the other kit. Red leap from branch to branch, careful so the forest cats won't notice her. They soon reached a barrier of brambles. The forest cats slipped in one by one. Red jumped to another branch.
From there, she could see the whole camp. In there, she could see the black-and-white kit nodding to Nightpaw and padded to a pile of prey. Nightpaw followed, about to take a thush for himself when he turned quickly the branch she was on. Red ducked behind the leaves, hoping that it would hide her reddish pelt.
The black tom padded away, mewing to a pale tabby at the entrance. Nightpaw headed off, with Red following him. The tom sniffed and dropped into a hunting crouch. Carefully, he stalked though the bushes. Red looked to where Nightpaw was stalked, seeing a large bird pecking at the ground. The black tom skillfully leap at the bird from the bushes, giving it a swift bite to the neck. A screech shocked the two cats. Red looked down to see a pump kittypet with widen scared eyes. The queen ran away. Red looked at Nightpaw, who seem to recognize her.
"Wow, that is a huge bird, and did you know that Twoleg pet?," commented the red she-cat on a tree branch.
Nightpaw removed his jaw from the pheasant. "Red?"
"You remember me!" The rogue said cheerfully and leap off the branch.
Nightpaw rolled his eyes. "Didn't I tell you that I would tear you to pieces if you come back? Why were you following me in the treetops anyway?"
"I just needed to be out of the Twolegplace...and I was bored, Nightpaw. "
"It's Nightfrost now."
Red twitch her ears.'So it's actually Nightfrost...' "Do forest cats always change their names?"
"No, we do not always change our names and I am a clan cat," He said, sighing.
"Clan cat? What is a clan cat?" Red asked curiously. The term was new to her.
"A clan cat is a cat belonging to a clan. A clan is a group of cats living together to help and protect each other. There are four clans in the forest: Thunderclan, Shadowclan, Windclan and Riverclan."
Red nodded. "That sounds nice, though, why did your name change?"
"My name had -paw in it before, right?" Red nodded again.
"I was an apprentice and apprentices had -paw in their names. When they were kits, they have -kit instead of paw in the name. They have to wait six moons to become an apprentice. Apprentices have to train to become a warrior. When an apprentice become a warrior, they get a different name."
"So when I first meet you, you were an apprentice and you are a warrior, right?"
"Yes. And then there is a deputy, a leader and a medicine cat in each clan. The leader is the one who leads and makes decisions for the clan. The deputy is second-in-command after the leader. A medicine cat is a cat that heals the cats in the clan, sometimes outsiders."
"Being in a clan really does seem nice, but...I don't really belong in groups," Red mewed in a low voice, staring at a distance.
Nightfrost crocked his ear curiously towards her. "Why not?"
Red opened her mouth when the bushes rustled, she fled from the spot, heading to the city.
36
Red stalked in the snow. A mouse scurried in front of her. She padded carefully, belly deep in the snow. A tail-length away, she pounced. She gave it a swift death, snapping it's neck. The red she-cat stared at her catch, remember what Nightfrost had told her about the clans...and their belief.
"Thank you Starclan, for the prey."
"I didn't think you would say that, Red." Red turned around, surprise to see him behind her. Nightfrost settled beside her. "You are not a part of the clans."
"Clan or no clan, I just thought it would be nice to have something to believe in, like Starclan." Red replied, staring deeply into his icy-blue eyes. She saw them getting bigger. Red felt enchanted by them, until she felt the wet touch of his nose. Nightfrost look away, the fur on his face fluffed. Red turned away as well, feeling her cheek unusually warm.
"Wou...would you like to be my mate?" Nightfrost asked.
"Yes! Of course! I would love to!" Red mewed, turning to him before looking away again with her red fur even more fluffed. The loner turn back to the sky. "I guess we just became mates?" she mewed sheepishly.
The two went back to staring at each other, eventually doing 'it' right then and there.
Before 50
Red groaned, as she stiffly stood on her paws. Lately she had been feeling the need to hunt more, had been rather clumsy, and found some difficulty moving around. Red jumped on the fence, padded to her friend's place. This time, she choose to wait in the bushes, knowing full well something was wrong with her.
The door-flap opened as a brown tabby padded out, scenting the air. "Hattie! Hattie!" Red called out. Her friend padded to her, meowing.
"Mrrr meow, Red what are you doing under the bush? This is the first time I see you hiding. Mrr eow-ow." Hattie rolled on the grass, laughing.
"Hattie! Stop laughing! This isn't funny!" Red mewed, darting out of the bush. Hattie rolled in laughter a little while longer. The housecat then stared at her stomach. Red flick her ear. "What is it?"
"Aren't you a little pump, Red?" Hattie asked sitting up, poking at it.
"Pump?" Red turned in circles. "I guess..."
"I never thought rogues could get lazy."
"What?! How was I suppose to get a little pump when I keep doing the same things every day?!" Red screeched. "I also get tired, been more hungry, keep missing prey when I shouldn't have and I've been rather clumsy!"
Hattie put her paw under her chin as she glanced at Red, twisting her spine a bit. "So who's the lucky tom then?"
"The-what?! Hattie?!"
"I think you're having kits. So...who's the lucky tom? The Red I know wouldn't fall for a tom so easily," Hattie teased playfully, leaning in.
"H-he's a forest cat..."
The brown she-cat stared, shocked. This time, it was her turn to screech. "A forest cat?! Aren't those cat suppose to eat your bones or something?! Wasn't it dangerous?!"
"Dangerous? Nightfrost was at first, but he was so willing to care about. He was kind and gentle about it too..." Red continued with a moony look on her face.
"Looks like you really love him." Hattie stared at Red's stomach for a bit. "So...Did you two did 'this and that'?"
"This and that?"
"You know. This 'this and that'."
"Oh. Err. Yeah.."
Hattie nodded. "I think you should stay here while you have kits. I can get food for you."
"Food? You mean from your Upwalkers?"
"Yeah, I think they can help."
"Thanks, Hattie. You're a great friend," Red purred.
52
Red licked her tom kit. "He looks just like you, Red," Hattie mewed. Red nodded, watching her kit nursing. It was three days since Ice was born.
"You named him after Nightfrost."
"Yeah, whenever I thought of Nightfrost, I keep thinking he'll have blue eyes like his father." Hattie nodded at her friend's words.
"I guessing you'll be going back to your den, then?"
"Yeah..." Red mewed, staring at her kit.
"You sure? I know the alleys can rather dangerous, especially these days with all the cats fighting. And didn't Bloodclan just come back?"
Hattie mewed, her face full of worry.
"It's fine. I'll stay away from their territory. That's what I did before, Hattie." Red picked up her kit by the scruff. Hattie signed and nodded, knowing how stubborn her friend can be. Red leap on the fence, waving her tail for farewell, her pelt glowing in the sunset. She did not see the expression her friend had.
It was night by the time Red returned to the alley her makeshift den was in. She padded under one of the city lights when a familiar voice rang out.
"You finally returned, Red," Shade mewed evenly. It was a bit hard to see but Red could tell there are silhouettes of cats slowly surrounding her. Ice mewed, squirming in her jaw.
A dark tabby with a lighter muzzle padded beside Shade. "Shade, is this the she-cat that betrayed you?"
Shade smirked and nodded. "Yes, sir."
The tabby narrowed his eyes. "I see. Well then, traitor, I am Willie, leader of Bloodclan. I will be your judgement. Bloodclan, attack her!"
It was chaos. Claws flashing and teeth snapping everywhere at once. Red could see blood and fur flying everywhere. Her blood and fur. Red made sure that her precious Ice didn't get hurt. She was then slammed to the ground. Red let go of Ice out of the sudden impact on her neck.
"Hmm, she seems to be an interesting she-cat. Say...Red, how would you like to join Bloodclan? You could very easily be one of my guards."
Red growled. "I refuse. Bloodclan is nothing more but a group of cats wanting more from others anyway. They offer no protection to anycat."
The pressure on her neck grew stronger. Red flinched, her lips curled. The pressure was suddenly gone and before Red could figure out, her back was clawed from neck to tail in a single slash. Red shrieked in pain. The queen snarled at the dark tabby, who showed no emotions. Red was about the strike the tom when a mew caught her attention. She turned her attention to her kit.
Red darted to her kit, grabbing his scruff. Red ran from the alley, heading for the forest. She ran until she could see the trees in a distance. Running turned to padding as she wobble a bit, feeling light-headed. Red reached into the safety of the trees, her legs giving up on her.
Red lay on her side. She gently placed Ice at her stomach. The queen watched as he nursed, kneading her belly. Red purred and closed her eyes.
-Next Morning
"R...Re...Red!" The red she-cat stirred, feeling pressed by someone. It was hard to breath and she...felt cold.
"Nightfrost...?" she murmured.
"Shhhh, rest now, a friend of mine is bringing help. What happened?" Nightfrost mewed gently.
"Bloodclan has returned, with a new leader." Red widen her amber eyes, realizing that the suckling was gone. Where is Ice? Despite her exhaustion, Red lifted her head and looked around. "Where is our kit?"
"He is in safe paws." Red dropped her head, feeling labored now that she had used most of her strength from that one movement. "What is his name?" Red tried to take deeper breathes, her eyes losing her sight.
"I...Ic..." Red tried to say, before darkness took over her.
The white senior warrior padded into camp. News had already spread in camp about the ginger kit.
"Mousefur just brought in a kit. Who does the kit belong, Whitestorm? Where's Nightfrost?" Fireheart asked.
Cats in camp were listening when Whitestorm answered. "The kit belongs to a close friend of Nightfrost's. Nightfrost stayed behind to bury her."