Bobtail's Fury (Warriors Fanfiction)

Chapter 4

"What is going on here?" Butch growled as he jumped down from the dumpster. Pine hid behind Aspen as his fur spiked up. Butch stepped in front of the three battered up toms.

A white tom with a black chest meowed, "There was-"

His voice cut off as a small tabby tom yowled, "dogs!"

"Three of them!" Hissed the gray tom.

"Silence!" Butch yowled, "Where are they now? Did they follow you?"

"I don't think so..." the small tabby stammered as he flashed glances at the other two toms.

"Well just in case, stay here, don't go wandering off like a bunch of clueless birds," Butch rolled his eyes and with a flick of his tail the three cats followed him and they disappeared behind the dumpster. Tiger sat on the top and looked around, eyes shining.

"See... this is what can happen, and if that happened to a poor kit like you..." Aspen meowed worriedly as he rested her gentle paw on Pine's spine.

"I'm not a kit!" Pine snapped as he batted Aspen's paw away. How dare she call me a kit... kits are scardy cats.

"Well you're definitely not old enough to go wandering about chasing dogs," Aspen suddenly sounded like a mother and she wrapped her tail around Pine. Mom! It was almost completely dark out. She is probably so worried about me... She never told me when I should be home.

"I have to go," Pine meowed backing away from Aspen.

"Why?" Aspen meowed as she rose to all four paws.

"My mother is probably worried about me, I should've been home by now," he meowed and looked at the opening to the alleyway.

"Wait, you shouldn't go out on your own. Those dogs could still be lurking around," Aspen meowed stepping in front of Pine.

Pine looked at Aspen, a pleading look in her emerald eyes. Aspen seemed like the kindest cat there, "Okay, come with me." Pine twitched his small whiskers and then looked around.

"What's the matter?" Aspen asked leaning down to meet Pine's height.

"I don't know how to get home," Pine admitted staring at Aspen. There was a pause until Butch came padding over to the two cats.

"What are you two doing out here? The dogs could scent us," Butch hissed at Aspen, she growled but stayed sitting near Pine.

"I want to go home," Pine blurted out and looked into Butch's sharp, amber eyes. He itched to be in the safety in his home instead of be out in the open when the dogs could find them.

"Why? Don't you want to stay here for a little while?" Butch asked as he licked the top of Pine's small head. "Stay the night, you are probably exhausted."

"No Butch, let the kit go home to his mother," Aspen meowed sternly as she stepped in between them. Pine looked at his father from under Aspen's legs, Butch's eyes narrowed.

Butch turned his hard gaze on Aspen, his ear twitched in frustration. "Why do all of you act like you don't have a leader, I am your leader, and you do as I say." 

Aspen held her ground, "He is just a kit, he doesn't need to live in such a.." Aspen's voice quivered as Butch raised a paw at her, his sharp claws unsheathed. Pine's heart stopped as he remembered what Butch had done to Lizzy. This time though, Butch's expression was much more angry than before.

"Okay Butch, fine," Aspen stammered as she ducked down, "just keep an eye on him." 

Butch slowly put his paw down and his claws sheathed, the frustration in his face was still there as he stared at Aspen. "I'll watch him like a hawk, he is my son after all. I couldn't let anything happen to him."

Aspen nodded and looked at Pine, he couldn't read her expression. As Aspen turned to leave Butch gave her a hard stare. Pine watched her leave, he felt like he should've said something but he was too scared. Butch then stepped up to Pine and leaned down, his expression had softened.

"You haven't slept all day, come on, let's go get some rest," Butch meowed and picked Pine up by his scruff. Pine eased and he felt comforted in his father's grasp.

"Okay..." Pine breathed, he admitted that his paws were a little sore. Butch ducked under the bland colored blanket that was draped from the side of the dumpster to the cement wall and inside was a spacious area. The three cats that had come in earlier were in there, licking their wounds. It was a pretty big space, enough to fit the five cats. There was two dirty cushions on both sides of the shelter, they were battered and dirty, stuffing was coming out of the old things. In Pine's twoleg home he had seen them before, but much nicer and better looking, probably comfier too. Butch lightly set Pine on one of the cushions and turned to the three cats.

"Go outside, me and my son are going to sleep, tell Tiger to keep a close eye on things," Butch growled as the three cats nodded and padded out. "This is where you're going sleep, make yourself at home."

Pine nodded as he kneaded the soft cushion with his thorn sharp claws. It feels just like mother's bed! He purred and laid down, curling himself up. Pine breathed a sigh of relief and looked toward Butch, his father laid down on the cushion beside him. Pine waited a few heartbeats and got up, he slowly walked over to Butch's cushion and sniffed. Butch didn't stir as Pine stepped onto it, he then curled himself against his father's belly. The warmth of Butch's fur felt so comforting like he had been sleeping next to him for moons. Pine never understood why Lizzy had kept him away from his father, he wasn't so bad. Pine was starting to like Bloodclan from that moment, the warmth of his father, and all the nice, new cats. Lizzy probably wouldn't mind if he stayed here with his father, Pine liked getting to know him more. Pine yawned and curled tighter towards his father's dark brown fur, he began to drift into sleep when Butch curled his tail around his son's tiny body. Maybe this place isn't so bad after all...