Socks and Ruby's Journey [Crazystarthunderclan's Contest 1]

Chapter 4 [Socks]

I woke up, groggy. At first I wondered where I was, but then it all came back at me. The fake friendly cat, everything. I sat up and gasped as I stared at my reflection. Only, it wasn’t my reflection. The cat looked like me, but he was smaller. And he had a purple collar, embedded with dog and cat teeth. The wicked sharp edges winked at me. Gulping, I looked at his claws. They were reinforced with dog teeth! “Tiny?” Ruby stammered.

The cat hissed, “It’s Scourge now, littermates.” He spat out the last word, as if it was poison. “Now why would you leave your cozy twolegs to join us, Socks?” Scourge spat.

I told him our problem. He smiled wilily and said, “Oh, why should we help you? We can barely feed ourselves!” There was a mumble of agreement. Only then did I notice other cats. Scourge saw my look and said, “See them? The ones without dog teeth claws and the teeth of our enemies are our cats. They live here, and in return for food, they obey my every command. Their offspring, if they’re strong, I take them and make my warriors.” He gestured toward a group of cats with sharp teeth on their collars. “They help me ensure peace in my clan. You doubted me before, but now I rule the whole city! And soon, I will take over the forest and my clan will never starve, again.” 

Ruby gulped loudly, “But will you help us? We are after all, your blood. And blood means everything, right?”

Tiny, or Scourge, or whatever he was called stared coolly at us and hissed, “Yes, blood means everything to me. BUT ONLY THE BLOOD OF MY ENEMIES!” “WHY ELSE DO YOU THINK I CALLED THIS ‘BLOODCLAN?’ BUT OBVIOUSLY BLOOD MEANS NOTHING TO YOU!” He spat.

I inquired, “What do you mean brother?”

Scourge screamed, “OH, DON’T REMEMBER WHAT HAPPENED WHEN WE WERE LITTLE? YOU SHUNNED ME, MADE OUR MOTHER HATE ME! YOU REFUSED TO TEACH ME ANYTHING JUST BECAUSE I WAS RUNT!!!!!! YOU TEASED ME, AND MADE MY LIFE MISERABLE.” Then his voice softened into a deadly tone and he asked, “I am ruler of the whole city, and a strong, ruthless, and powerful clan. I will soon have the forest under my control and my clan will never be hungry, ever, again. Yet, I am not content. Do you know, what, would, make me, content?”

I shrugged, getting scared at this version of my formally stupid and weak littermate.

Scourge’s voice rose, “OH, THEN I’LL TELL YOU! ALL THOSE YEARS YOU WERE LEAVING COMFTERBLY IN A TWOLEG DEN, I WAS SUFFERING! MAKING MY LIVING THROUGH HARD WORK! BUT, WHEN YOU TOLD I WOULD BE THROWN INTO A RIVER, WELL I RAN AWAY IN FRIGHT!”

At that time, my sister dumbly chuckled. Scourge’s head whipped around, and his eyes glared at her, “What are you laughing about?”

Ruby stifled her laughs and tried to appear innocent. “Nothing.”

Scourge leaped off his mound of garbage and landed close to Ruby. He glared at her with eyes filled with hate. He raised a dog teeth reinforced claw and pointed at her. “Don’t make me use my claws, they’re, as you can see, quite special,” he threatened.

Ruby quivered with fear, “Well, I was laughing because I lied about being thrown in the river, and I thought it was kind of funny…” she mumbled.

Scourge’s eyes filled with rage, you could see the flames dancing in his eyes. “OH YEAH?! WELL BECAUSE OF YOUR STUPID TRICK, I FLEED TO THE FOREST, AND GOT MAULED, AND ALMOST KILLED! LAUGH ALL YOU WANT NOW, WHEN I KILL YOU!”

Scourge swiped at my sister, but she ducked. Before he could kill her, as calmly as I could manage, I croaked out, “Now wait a second. Let’s work something out. Besides, you were um… telling us what would make you happy?”

Scourge smiled coldly, “Oh yes… what would make me happy is revenge. All the cats that have angered me, are now dead.” He gestured toward his collar. “All the cats that is. Dogs, well simply intruding or meeting one my cats got them killed.” He showed us again the dog teeth claws, and the teeth on his collar. “Guess where they went when they died,” he sneered. “But three cats, have evaded my wrath. Namely, my littermates Socks, and Ruby.” He paused, eyeing me hatefully. With a cold feeling in my stomach, I realized coming here and seeking Scourge was the worst idea I ever had. Then, it hit me… I might not survive.