Chapter 1: Saber

He was surrounded by the sound of jeers and jibes.

"Oh no, he is awake!" one mocked. "What ever will we do?"

Another voice snickered. "Finally decide to wake up from your nightmares, little kit?"

The cat, certainly not a kit, even if he was a bit small, blinked open his amber eyes. He glared silently at them, not saying a word as he sat up. Straight from one into another, he thought. No thanks to you.

One of the older cats padded menacingly forward.

Saber woke with a start. He growled, his sleep disturbed by a noise, and pulled his legs into a crouch, fangs bared. He scented a couple of cats, and it took him a moment to realize who they were, but he relaxed when he did. Just the kits, he sighed with relief.

Three small cats stumbled into the clearing that the entrance to his den looked out to. The his den was artfully constructed from the boughs of the tall pine trees that grew endlessly in every direction, and its floor was covered with a thick layer of springy mosses topping a layer of grass and pine needles for insulation. A small brook ran through the woods behind it, so small it could scarcely be heard. It was the dividing line between the endless pine forests with the occasional mountain range and the flat plains covered with dry grasses, huge prey animals, and other animals.

Sitting up with a grunt, he watched the small cats pulling a carcass towards him. He slipped out of his den, the entrance low to the ground so that taller animals wouldn't notice it, and trotted over to the trio of younglings. They were not kits exactly; two were closer to kithood than the age when they could fully live on their own, and the third was halfway in between.

"What's this?" Saber asked, a little surprised.

The smallest, and only she-cat, a light gray tabby with blue eyes, chirped, "We wanted to surprise you! You said you were born in leaf-fall, right? Well," she continued, bursting with pride, "it's leaf-fall, and we've got you food!"

Saber let out a rare purr. "Thank you, Caeli," he meowed to her. Turning to the other two cats, a jet-black tom with eyes to match his ginger tail tip and a red-brown tabby with eyes of brilliant green, he purred again. "And thank you, Huracan and Hakan."

The red-brown tom grinned, flicking Caeli's ear. "She caught it," he admitted. "I only scented it."

Snorting, the jet-black tom twitched the tip of his unusual long tail. "That's half the battle, Hakan," he praised. "The other half," he added, glancing at Caeli, "Is the chase and the catch."

"Why'd you look at me?" Caeli tilted her head. "You're the one who chased it into my paws."

Huracan ducked his head, proud of the recognition.

"You all did very well," Saber praised. He paused to study the kill; it was a young male elk, its antlers only just budded. The thick fur was hardly ruffled except its neck, where there was a clean bite. "You did well to scent it in this weather, Hakan," Saber mewed. "The snow and pines often muffle sound and smell. The fur is hardly ruffled from the chase, which means that you pursued it quickly, Huracan," he nodded to the black tom, then turned to Caeli, "Right into Caeli's jaws. The wound is neat, and there is hardly any blood. Keep practicing your strength, Caeli, and you'll soon surpass your brothers."

The three looked about ready to burst with pride. Though they weren't related by blood, they might as well have been, with Saber as their father figure. Whilst Saber had been hunting one day, he had stumbled upon Huracan trying to care for the two orphaned kits. Though Huracan was older than Caeli and Hakan, who were about the same age, he too was no older than a kit, and couldn't properly hunt for them. When he did make a rare kill, he gave it to the two younger cats. Saber had found them all starving and weak, so he let them eat off his kills and taught them how to hunt as best he could.

Huracan had been reluctant at first, but soon gave in when he saw fresh-kill. Hakan, however, seemed to have imprinted on Huracan, even though Saber fed him more, and would mewl if ever Huracan left his sight. Hakan's first word was his own name; he was trying to call for his adopted big brother Huracan, but stuttered out "Hakan" instead. Saber decided to call him that. When Caeli wanted a name, Huracan and Saber helped her decide on one. She had wanted a name to do with the sky, and Huracan had suggested Caelum, which his mother had heard the two-leggeds say when looking upwards at the sky. Caeli, however, had said that the ending didn't sound quite right, and so changed it to Caeli.

As for Huracan himself, he had been named by his mother and scarce could remember his father, for he had left his family soon after his kits' birth. That was all Saber, Hakan, or Caeli knew of him; they knew not how he had come to be on his own, or if his remaining family was still alive.

The four of them sat down to eat, and were soon quite stuffed. Saber retired to his den for a quick nap while the kits curled up together to doze off.

Saber woke, groggy and hot from his nap. He squinted against the midday sun, flattening his ears. The heat meant that the top layer of snow would melt, making either slush or a thin sheet of ice on top of the snow, too thin to support any weight. Noting that the kits were still sleeping, he stretched and padded away from his clearing and the den toward the stream.

Stumbling, he caught himself quickly, adrenaline pounding through his veins from the scare. That could have been really bad, he thought, shaking out his fur.

He heard snickering. "Well, well, well, if it isn't a lost little freak," three cats slunk out of the dry brush on the other side of the brook. The one who had spoken was a solid silver tom, eyes shining with bloodlust. The two flanking him were she-cats, both as golden as the grass. Their forms were nearly identical, with the exception of multiple scars parting their fur. Saber recognized them- they were all siblings; the tom was all growl and no claw. His sisters, on the other hand...

The fur along Saber's spine prickled, and he bared his white fangs. "You needn't assume that because you have strayed too far from home everyone else has," he growled, dipping his head to drink from the brook.

The gray tom wrinkled his nose, baring his fangs as well. "I wasn't finished," he hissed.

Saber let out a growl, raising his head and flexing his muscles. He bared his unusually long fangs and let them catch the glinting sunlight.

One of the she-cats, Saber decided her name was Scar, after the many scars mauling her face, hit her brother with a well-aimed, well-timed strike at his shoulder, sending him sprawling into the small stream. Saber flicked an ear.

The other she-cat, maliciously dubbed Twist, Saber remembered, on account of a maliciously twisted leg, nodded at her sister. She glanced at Saber, assessing him, and ignoring her furious brother. "We have a proposition for you," she meowed, shooting a glare at her brother, who was taking a deep breath to howl indignantly. The brother hesitated, and Scar sent him a lethal stare. He silenced himself.

Saber waited for them to go on, his face expressionless.

"We're sick of this system," Twist snarled.

"All the different groups always fighting," Scar added.

"The Pounce, Leap, Pride, Streak, and Coalition," Twist hissed.

"The leaders of these groups grow hungry for power," explained Scar.

"And they're willing to slant their own cats to keep it," sniffed Twist, glancing at Scar. "Well, at least in the Coalition."

The Coalition was one of the many groups of cats, but the only one to live solely on the plains and grassland; The Streak lived partly on the plains, partly in the forests. The Pride lived relatively far from the other groups, and were situated in a gorge at the base of a mountain. The Pounce lived in the pine forests, and the Leap resided in a bog. There were other groups, but they were all too far to be of any relevance.

"So?" Saber flicked an ear, wondering what this had to do with him. "What do you want me to do about it?"

"You're a symbol of freedom," Scar narrowed her eyes. "At least in The Coalition."

"What?" Saber snapped. "I'm anything but that. I'm an outcast."

"Yes," Twist hissed. "But you're an outcast of your own choice. There are many leaders who would welcome you for your…" her gaze flickered to his fangs. "Warrior-like capabilities."

Saber narrowed his eyes. "Are you suggesting," he meowed slowly, "That I join one clan of cats- specifically, The Coalition- on the ostensible grounds of helping the leaders keep their cats in line, when in reality I would be a double agent of sorts? For the cats being abused by said leaders?"

Scar looked pleased. "Yes," she nodded affirmatively. "And you'll do twice as well as we thought you would, if you've got the brains and brawn you've shown."

"You don't have to decide now," Twist added, when she saw Saber looking dubious. "Meet us here tomorrow at sunhigh with your answer. In the meantime, we'll alert Moss and Breeze that there's a powerful new ally who may wish to assist their leadership."

Without another word, the two sisters slipped noiselessly into the tall golden grass, disappearing. Their brother, after a hateful glance in their direction and at Saber, slunk after them.

A/N: Finally got the first chappie up! I need to make more characters before I put up an Allegiances page. Sorry if the ending seemed rushed; I had a time limit. DX