The Lost Kits

Chapter 11

Ella looked out at the cats surrounding her, all of them waiting for her to speak, to give them a plan.
The problem was, she had no idea what to say.
She had been expecting to come here and ask for help. She hadn't been expecting to fight her sister and then lead the cats. She wasn't a leader- She was a kittypet who ran away because she was scared. For a heartbeat she wondered if everything would have been had she and her littermates been brave enough to face their fate, but she quickly pushed the thought away. Now wasn't the time to reminisce over what could have been.
Her whiskers twitched as she gathered the courage to speak. She could see the impatience in the eyes of the cats around her.
"I'm Ella... One of the daughters of Scourge." She could see a few cats whispering to each other, but she couldn't make out hat they were meowing.
"I'm here to ask for help in rescuing my brother. He's been captured by a cat named Ice." More whispers. One cat called out, "Why should we help you and betray our leaders?"
A few heads bobbed in agreement, though some people were letting out growls and hisses. "Ice and Snake were never our real leaders!" Someone meowed in protest.
"Scourge was never our rightful rulers either!"
"We're street cats! We don't need leaders!"
"It's not right for us to stand together like this!"
"Quiet!" The cat with the ripped collar, Stone, who had made Ella and Alice fight, stepped forward. He was the one who had told her about Ice and Snake, along with how her father, Scourge, had died.
"We need to focus. We must reach a decision before Snake returns."
"I believe.... That is, if you'll stand with me.... I think...." She paused, wishing someone else could do this.
"I think we should organize into patrols. One patrol will be sent first to distract the guards, then another will hold off any other cats while me and Ella get Ace to safety." A new voice spoke. Sootpaw.
Ella was surprised. She never would have thought Sootpaw a leader. Maybe he had learned something useful in ThunderClan. There were murmurs of surprise as the rest of the cat watched Ella for her reaction.
"Well.... I think that could work." She looked to Stone. "Could you organize the patrols? If there are enough cats, maybe we could have a back up patrol as well...." She said thoughtfully.
"Hold on! We haven't agreed to this yet." A brown and white tabby at the front of the crowd meowed. This sparked even more discussion that Ella struggled to follow.
"What if we don't want to fight?"
"Why should we listen to you instead of Ice and Snake?"
"What do we get out of this?"
"Everyone calm down!" Ella demanded. The last question seemed the most important, so she addressed that first. "If you agree to help me, then I promise to...." She paused, wondering what she could offer this ragtag group of cats. "I promise to give you freedom. When Ice and Snake are gone, I will leave you in peace, and you can go back to making your own decisions on how you live."
She could see the excitement at such an offer, but also the uneasiness.
"How about you lead us?" A cat spoke up. "How about you agree to lead us in a structured group with us having a say in decisions instead of a dictatorship?"
Ella, slightly confused, looked to Stone for help. He looked to be pondering the cats words. She could see that she wasn't going to get help from him at the moment, and looked back out to the cats in front of her. Confused as she was, she did understand the general idea- She was being asked to lead them better than Ice and Snake.
"I can't. I'm not a real leader. I'm just a cat who wants to rescue her brother and leave in peace. I think that how you live is something that you need to decide on your own, and I can't help you with it. But you can still help me."
A long pause followed her words. She ducked her head and stared at her paws. What would they say?
"I'll help." The brown and white tabby, who had been doubtful at first, stepped forward.
Ella looked up, hopeful now. Soon, a few more cats followed the tabby's lead, and then Stone was going forward and organizing them into groups. Only a few cats moved away, slipping into the shadows as the stars came out overhead.
"Good job. You're a pretty good leader." Sootpaw padded over to her.
"Thanks." Ella paused, tilting her head. "Aren't you going to join one of the groups?" She asked.
"No. I need to get back to my clan." He answered.
"Oh." Was Ella's only reply. She had just assumed he would help. She should have expected that he would go back. He had a family and friends back in his clan, after all.
"Well.... Good luck." She meowed. She felt a pang of sadness. Only one day, and she had already gotten quite used to his company.
"Yeah.... You too. May StarClan light your path." Before Ella could ask what StarClan was, he was racing away.
Ella turned back to watch the cats head off to sleep, knowing their groups for the next sunrise. I can't believe that only one day ago, I was leaving the Twoleg den. It seems like forever ago.
"You should get some rest." Stone's voice interrupted her thoughts. He dipped his head before turning and padding away. Elle sighed and tilted her head to the stars.
We're coming to save you, Ace.