Chapter 29: A Story Can Be A Threat

It had scarcely been two days into this moon before I realized I needed to give Tigerclaw a warning. His behavior since becoming the deputy was somewhat hostile to Fireheart, and I could not stand for it. He thought he was above my reach, that he was unassailable. I thought it was time to tell him a little story. In fact, it was time to tell a story to many cats. Sometimes it takes a reminder for cats to remember just how big of a threat I am.

Tigerclaw had just berated Fireheart for dipping out of a patrol as it came back, and I decided to make my move. He'd been belittling Fireheart for too long, likely because Fireheart was as subtle as a brick when it came to hating someone. Despite Fireheart needing some tact, Tigerclaw was still betraying our deal.

"I think its time to tell you a story." I mewed loud enough for the camp to hear.

Fireheart and Tigerclaw looked back at me bewildered. Fireheart mainly because I never told stories, Tigerclaw because it seemed to have come out of nowhere. They both turned to face me as I patiently waited for them to settle in. Apparently, what I was doing was interesting enough for Bluestar to come out and listen in as well. A few warriors sat down to listen as well.

"Fireheart, do you remember Mr. Tinkles?" I asked slowly.

"Mr. Tinkles? Oh yeah. I remember him. He was nice in a creepy way. One day he just disappeared. I never knew what happened to him." He replied reminiscing.

"Well, I kept that answer from you for a long time. You see, Mr. Tinkles wasn't a very nice cat. He wasn't even a decent one. He was a cat with desires most foul. I'd just set up my network in the Twoleg Place. I was roughly five moons old. I was coming to be well known. It was then that I met him. I'd been warned about him, that he had a better than you attitude and had a habit of treating other cats as lesser. This was due to his, quote, 'superior breeding.' What made him all the worse was when I actually met him. At first he set off no alarms, but the way he talked just set me on edge. He gave honeyed words wanting to be friends. Then he'd try and bring me gifts. It was then that I knew what he was. He was a pedophile." I paused to allow the collective gasps ring through the camp.

"Of course, I wasn't going to let that slide. I gave him a warning. Either he'd cut that out or I'd reveal to every cat in the Twoleg Place what he was. Even among rogues and kittypets, those who seek kits like that are shunned. He gave me one look of incredulousness before laughing in my face. Well, I didn't go back on my word. Soon he was an outcast. No cat would give him the time of day. It annoyed him, but he wasn't hurt too bad by what I did. I left him be, assuming that his status as an outcast would be enough to teach him a lesson. I was wrong.

Fireheart, being the ever adventurous kit he was, decided to explore the Twoleg Place without me. He ran into Mr. Tinkles. I'd caught Fireheart's scent and tracked him to a garden with a fence that obstructed viewing inside. When I caught Mr. Tinkles scent as well, I felt my blood freeze. Fireheart got lucky that I got to him in time. Mr. Tinkles knew my control of the Twoleg Place and let us leave unharrassed. If I'd come any later, Fireheart might have been given a very traumatizing experience.

Mr. Tinkles had earned my wrath. He'd ignored my warning. He'd attempted to do something untoward to me. The most grievous of his errors was trying to hurt one under my protection. I rounded rogues from all over, especially those with a hatred for kit herding. We waited by Mr. Tinkles garden for his daily walk. We ambushed him. With the rogues pinning him down, I committed an act that would forever ruin his life. You see, Mr. Tinkles was a show cat, specifically raised to be as pretty and unmarred as possible. Twolegs would fight to ensure any kits he sired would go to them for the same career. Thus I chose something that would get him cast to the streets.

I gave him the mark. The mark is something Twolegs do to cats to show they've been taken to the cutter. A mark means the cat cannot have kits any longer. It is a cut in the cat's ear. Rogues also use the mark to show a cat is infertile or that they're already in a permanent relationship. When I gave Mr. Tinkles the mark, I both ruined his unmarred looks and forever branded him as a cat not worth loving. Then I let the rogues do as they wished. They chased him away to an older lady we all avoided. He bore scars and scratches from every rogue there. I ruined his life ensuring he'd never get the chance to live quietly in the Twoleg Place again.

This is why you don't mess with the wrong cat. You never know how much influence they actually have. Be careful of making enemies because they can always come back to bite you." I finished with a theatric growl.

While most cats took my story as a lesson on being morally upstanding, the look I gave Tigerclaw confirmed to him that it was a threat.

"You really did that, and Mr. Tinkles really tried to do that to me? Ew!" Mewed Fireheart in both wonder and disgust.

"You know I'd never willingly let another cat hurt you. That's why I always vetted cats before you could meet them." I replied.

Bluestar made an unexpected request of me. "Do you mind if we adapt this story? I think it'd do well for a story to tell the kits as long as we cut out the more disturbing parts."

"Do what you want. I told this story for a purpose and now its fulfilled."