Chapter 73: The Evil You Know
I was lounging with my many kits and my mates, letting them tell me about their days when I felt a pulse. This one had only been matched once in the twisted one. Starclan was moving things below. The target did not reside in the forest. The first hero of prophecy had been born. The final prophecy was on the horizon. It was time to set some things into motion.
My first goal involved Scourge and Bloodclan. I'd pulled from the obelisk the prophecy. Scourge was fated to die, but that did not mean his death would be meaningless. I would not hide his fate from him. If he defied it was not up to me. I just knew that someday the clans would need a grand unifier via a common enemy. I'd leave it up to him if he wanted the role.
I dashed towards the reflection pool to let Scourge know what had changed. I caught him in a dream. Apparently, another ability had awakened within me, because instead of pulling Scourge into the Darkforest, I followed him into his dream.
Where I found myself was inside one of those twoleg dens. The walls were high, covered in likenesses of Scourge. A couple were him as a kit, his siblings cruelly tormenting him. Others showed him sitting alone, some fake dusty mouse resting at his paws. These ones of the past also depicted a silhouette of another cat faintly. It never looked at Scourge straight on. I could only guess it was his neglectful mother.
There were other depictions scattering the unnaturally smooth barriers. Three showed Tigerclaw's attack. Those amber hateful eyes seemed burned into the depictions while the rest of the form was fuzzy or blurry. The claws looked far longer than I knew they actually were. Finally, there were the newer depictions. One was the old dog, my shadow hunched over it filling it with fear. Another was the Darkforest. This one somehow felt warm to be near. A third was the first cat he killed. This one felt like leafbare's chill to be near. Finally, was a depiction of Scourge in his alley with Bone sitting beside him. From above was another pale form watching maternally over his cats. It was a depiction of me.
I finally felt the will to continue. I found him looking at another place for depictions, but they were blank and white. The closest one seemed to be faintly darker than the rest with splotches of color making something approximating a depiction but utterly incomprehensible.
"Isn't it strange to find ourselves here?" Scourge asked before continuing. "I always dream of here, my first home. It wasn't much of one. It was like one of those catcher traps us rogues always have to be wary of, tantalizing yet dangerous. We all know it is a trap, but what lies within always haunts us. How would that bait that taunted us so sweetly taste? Was it worth the price? I escaped this life, but it never stops tempting me. I could forget all the responsibility and cruelty, but I'd never have a choice again. I guess that is the same temptation dying offers." He mused.
"I am sorry you feel this way?" I mewed. "I know the consequences of giving into temptation. Letting your mind run rampant and doing what is most pleasurable do not make for a good cat. I've let my claws dig through a fool's neck because he made a bad choice. I've given into my own temptations and conspired for the deaths of ones who were once close to me. The foulest part is I succeeded. I gave into the voices that led me astray, fully well knowing that was not within my own moral code. It was wrong, but I did it anyway because I felt good. My greatest regret was giving in. I hope you don't make the same mistake."
Scourge's eyes looked heavy with fatigue, not the physical variety. They were weighted with a responsibility he never desired. I laid down next to him, allowing him to snuggle into my fur. He was far to young to be this mature. He knew a weight only leaders like I know. Only a fool does not feel its weight when given.
I let the silence draw out before Scourge, no Tiny asked me a question. "What are you doing here mother? You do not usually visit so often."
I let out a sigh before responding. "I do not come bearing good news. I can tell you the prophecy I've been fighting is starting into motion. The first cat of prophecy, a cat of fire, has just been born. Unfortunately, his fate intertwines yours. More specifically, he is fated to kill you. I won't lie to you. I do not wish this fate upon you, but without you, I know something far worse will befall the cats of the forest. I will not ask you to go the way of the martyr. If you do decide that is your desire, I can only advise you to make your death more meaningful than Starclan's twisted prophecy. They do not guide your paws. You do."
Scourge lay silently, absorbing the news. A fate to die at another's paws was a heavy one to know. Fortunately, or rather unfortunately, Scourge was a sacrificial sort.
"What is a martyr?" He asked softly.
"Death is an inevitability. Every cat dies someday. Some cats just make theirs more meaningful. To die protecting another or to make things better makes a martyr. There are far more martyrs in the afterlife than we could ever count. Most of them were forgotten in a generation. Some give far more than others. Skystar, the leader of the lost Skyclan, gave up his very soul for the purpose of resisting Starclan's blind devotion to the obelisk. He was hidden from the world, awaiting the day he'd meet the cat to finally break the obelisk. I now carry his legacy." I mewed.
"If… If I'm fated to die. What will be my legacy? As soon as I'm gone, the streets will devolve back into the same anarchy they once were. How can I avoid that end?" Scourge asked. I had no answer, but he seemed to have come up with one of his own. "What if I erase the past, hiding their foul history. I can be the greatest evil they've ever known. If I become the culmination of what they believe to be evil, they will never do worse than me. I will be the monster of their nightmares so they never know the nightmares I have known. I will convince the older generation to take the secret to their ends so that the younger generations may never know. That will be my legacy." He mewed with conviction, his eyes hardened to a fierce determination. I would not deny my kit his desires. I would walk by his side until his end. Then he'd join me in our skies.