Night Alone

Chapter One

The gentle sound of chirping birds awoke a small kittypet. He slowly creaked open his light blue eyes, still partly asleep. He sighed and closed his eyes once more, attempting to fall back asleep. However, the loud footsteps of the house- folk startled him awake, causing him to immediately sit up.

      The housefolk made strange, high pitched noises as he gently pet the kittypet's head.  A few of the sounds were recognizable; breakfast, walk, Tiny.  Tiny hated his name. It made his fur crawl every time he heard it.  He didn't like being named after his size.  He didn't like feeling small and helpless.  He wanted to he big and strong!

      Before he was separated from his litter mates, they'd bullied him a lot for his size, and he'd hated it.  The small kittypet stood up, leaving his bed to go find something exciting to do. He headed towards the sometimes blocked opening of his housefolk's nest. It was blocked, so he pawed at the door and meowed loudly. He didn't claw it, as he'd heard that his housefolk would get mad and take away his claws if he used them too much. He didn't want that, without his claws he'd really be a wimp!  The housefolk lumbered towards the  opening and unblocked it, the blocker almost hitting Tiny as it swung.

      The small, dark furred kittypet ran outside, breathing in the fresh air.  He attempted to leap atop the fence, but didn't jump high enough and missed.  He let out a hiss of frustration.  He'd seen the other kittypets walking on it all the time!  How did they get up here?  He spotted a branch, an idea forming in his mind.  He unsheathed his claws and gripped onto the tree, trying to make his way to the branch.  He had a hard time climbing, as his claws kept slipping.  With a grunt of effort, however, he made it to the branch.

      Tiny hopped off the branch and on top of the fence, the forest now in his sight.  The small kittypet let out a deep breath.  He wanted to explore it, but all the older cats said 'there's dangerous cats there, they eat bones!' He hesitated, contemplating these rumors.  Who would try to eat a bone?  He remembered that he'd found a dead mouse in his lawn, and ate it.  The mouse was juicy and meaty, but he couldn't sink his teeth into the bones!

      Well, if there were dangerous cats, he could take them.  Yes, surely they'd fear him the moment they laid their eyes on him!  The forest can't be so bad!  Plus, I can prove to everyone that I'm tougher then they think! The small tom thought.  He jumped off the fence and padded towards the forest.

      "Where exactly are you going?" A gruff voice called out from behind.  Tiny turned around, surprised to see Bone up this early in the day.  The large tom was certainly no slacker, but he often took his time in the morning.  Tiny lifted his head to meet his friend's gaze.

      "The forest," he replied simply.  He was about to turn towards the trees again when Bone exclaimed,

      "You're going there?  Apparently there's some rough cats there.  I'm not sure if this idea you have right now is the best one!" Tiny rolled his eyes.  He'd heard that so.  Many.  Times. He lashed his tail, and prodded into the forest.

The shadows cast by the trees were breathtaking. He was used to either the constant brightness of his housefolk's nest, and the hot sun in his yard. The shade itself wasn't foreign to him, as his yard did have a tree, but the shade was now everywhere. It was unnerving yet exciting. There were so many little noises that he didn't recognize, and that perked his curiosity. He heard something make a faint crumbling sound, and pounced on it. It was a giant leaf. He picked it up in his mouth, pretending it was his latest piece of prey. He noticed a stump out of the corner of his eye.

He rushed towards it, prepared to climb it. It wasn't as high as the tree he'd climbed earlier, so he felt confident that he could climb it. The kittypet managed to drag himself on top of the stump, his collar jingling.  He heard something scamper away, but he didn't care.  He could see so much from up here!  He felt so big and tall!  He puffed his chest, pride flowing through his body.

      The kittypet stiffened when he heard paw- steps.  His ears pricked, and he looked behind himself.  There was nobody in sight.  He shrugged it off and hopped of the stump. If someone spotted him, so what? It wasn't their problem. He spotted a mouse out of the corner of his eye. He remembered how good the last one he'd eaten had been. The kittypet leapt at the mouse. It noticed his clumsy approach quickly and scampered off, out of sight.

The small tom suddenly felt weight on his back. He yowled in surprise as he was flung over, a gray furred cat pinning him down. He struggled under the tom's weight, and looked him in his yellow eyes. He was surprised to see a friendly looking face.  His attacker didn't even seem angry in the slightest.

      "You're on ThunderClan territory! You aren't allowed to be here," he growled, trying to be intimidating. It wasn't working.  He can't boss me around like this!  Tiny thought, gritting his teeth.  He blindly clawed at the gray tom, but his claws only caught fur.  He bit at the tom's paw, in an attempt to loosen his grip.  It worked too well, as the tom recoiled his paw in surprise.  Tiny rolled away, his fur prickly.

      "Don't tell me wha-"

      "Didn't expect a kittypet to fight back!" The gray tom exclaimed, looking a bit sheepish.

      "A kitty- wha-"

     "That doesn't mean I'm going easy on you, though," he mewed, leaping towards Tiny.  The small tom was too surprised to react.  They fought like this for a few moments, knocking each other around but not actually really hurting each other.  Tiny let out a huff of annoyance.  He'd expected this to be easier!  And his opponent didn't even seem to be trying that hard! It was almost like he was just trying to play with the kittypet, despite his claims that he was doing his duty to 'ThunderClan.'

      "No matter how much you push me around, I'm not leaving until I decide I want to," Tiny mewed, panting.  The gray tom sighed, clearly tired as well.

      "What's going on here?" An authoritative voice called out.  Tiny and the gray tom turned towards it in surprise, and spotted a large, blue gray she cat.

Well, finally got this started.  It's actually surprisingly good.  I thought this would turn out terrible lol.  And yes, Smudge is in Bone's place, and vice versa.  Thought it's be fitting to switch some of the non- clan cats around.