Scourge's Second Chance

Chapter 11 - Splintering Shards

It was midnight. After Scourge's outburst, he and Firepaw had been mad at each other, but Scourge didn't have anywhere to go, so he had to stay with his brother.

Thoughts floated through his head, everything from, how could Bluestar's spirit forsake me to I hate the Clans, they're disloyal cats without a speck of honor. But he knew that Bluestar's spirit was gone. His only believer, gone. At least he still had his memories - and his skills.

Scourge smiled as he remembered the feeling of unsheathing his claws, remembered the way it had felt to get his revenge on Tigerstar and Bluestar. But now it was over, just a dream that fluttered away the more you tried to chase it, like feathers floating on the wind. Scourge had always hated kit's toys. He stretched in his nest. But then he thought of Bluestar... spirit Bluestar. Spirit Bluestar is dead now, he told himself. Nobody believes in me anymore, not even my own "brother". Now that nobody cared, he could do whatever he wanted. That was the thing. He then remembered what had made everybody fear him - his collar. Studded with dog teeth, it had been a source of pride for him as he'd formed BloodClan. Why did I admire the Clans so much? He asked himself. I named my group BloodClan. Why? What did I see in them? Scourge sighed. But then a plan came to mind. Tonight, he would make himself a collar. He knew where the dog's corpse was. He supposed its claws might still be laying around.

"Tiny?" Firepaw asked. "What are you doing?"

Quickly Scourge remembered an excuse Graypaw had told him about when they entered ThunderClan. They say "I'm going to the dirt-place" and everyone believes them, Graypaw had said about Darkstripe and Longtail. I say they're plotting something. Scourge had known what, but he hadn't said anything.

"Tinyyyyyyy?" Firepaw prompted.

"I'm going to dirt-place," Scourge said. "And my name is Scourge, not Tiny."

Firepaw nodded, showing no signs of their earlier fight. "Why?" he asked.

"Like you said," Scourge noted curtly, "I'm a scourge to your destiny, Firestar."

"Are you trying to mock me?" Firepaw asked.

He'd slipped up, called his brother by his future name. "N-No," he murmured. He slipped out of their makeshift camp.

Scourge raised his nose to the air and opened his mouth slightly, letting the smells flood his senses. His razor-sharp abilities had been dulled by his months as a kittypet and a kitten, but they worked just fine.

Twolegplace was north. Silently, Scourge slipped away into the darkness.

---

Scourge woke just as the sun was slipping above the horizon. He hadn't travelled far into the mess of Thunderpaths and Twoleg nests quite yet. He remembered how he'd found the teeth to stick into his collar. But his had snapped off back in ThunderClan, the Clan of stuck-up, arrogant wildcats. Now he needed a collar.