Book One: Dog Borne

Chapter Seven - Runs in the Family

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The tom pounced at him and he squeaked, leaning away, when a blur of fiery orange knocked into the first tom.

"Soot, what did we say?!" cried a familiar voice. Firecloud had the rogue pinned on the wall. Soot sighed.

"Yea, yea. 'No messing with kits called Goosekit', or whatever." Soot moaned.

Firecloud nodded. Then he turned to Goosekit. "Hello again Goosekit? Where's your coyote friend?"

Goosekit's smile faded. "She ... I don't really know, honestly." he answered truthfully.

Firecloud sighed. "I'm sorry Goosekit." he looked at Soot. "Anyways. This is my brother Soot, that I told you about. Say hello Soot!"

"Get off of me first, I can't breathe!" he demanded, and Firecloud backed off of him. Soot inhaled, then lowered to his paws. "Ah. Hello Goose--"

He stopped, staring at him. "Haven't we ... met before?"

"I don't think so." Goosekit started.

"I told you about him a lot," Firecloud offered and Soot rolled his eyes.

"I know that, but I thought he seemed familiar, from real-life experiences." he looked at the gray kit again, narrowing his eyes in wonder. "And I swear I have seen him..."

Goosekit flicked his ear awkwardly. He surely didn't recognize the tom the way he did. He blinked, trying to change the subject. "So... do you guys wanna hunt?"

Firecloud smiled. "Wouldn't hurt."

Soot blinked. He shifted his shoulders and got up. "Sure, heck with it."

Soon the three of them were digging in a few dumpsters. Soot threw out some weirdly-shaped Two-leg food. "Jackpot," he grinned, hopping down. Firecloud chirped happily, but Goosekit furrowed his brow.

"Not exactly what I meant by hunting, but this will do..."

Soot's thin-ish shape pushed the food towards the others. "A half-eaten burger, some bread, and popcorn. This is what I call hunting!"

Goosekit raised a brow. He was so confused, but so hungry. He sniffing the puffy white things that smelled like burnt corn. He took one and ate it. It was alright, but nothing like the craving for mouse he had right then.

They three finished their 'kills' and relaxed back in the alleyway that Soot owned. "Wanna know a trick Goosey?" he asked, smirking.

"Uhm.." he looked at Firecloud, who nodded. "Uh, sure?"

Soot beckoned him. "Follow me."

The thin tomcat hopped onto the fence. Goosekit followed, barely making the jump. Then Soot hopped onto a sideways metal branch-like thing that held a colorful cloth. He scrabbled up the branch, clawing the cloth to help him. When he made it, he then leapt to a shelf that held a window.

Goosekit tried to follow, leaping to the branch but missing and hooking his claws onto the cloth. He scrambled up in fear, pulling himself up and catching his breath. He crouched and proceeded to the window, landing the jump easier than the branch.

Firecloud followed, jumping and hooking his arms over the metal branch, and rapidly kicking the cloth with his back legs, failing to pull himself up.

Suddenly they heard a jingle and looked over as an old Two-leg exited his den and saw the cats. "Hey!" he yelled. "Mangy little - " he grumbled and grabbed a stick with a bushy end.

"Fox-dung, he grabbed the broom!" Soot cried. "Hurry!"

"Get off my resteraunt banner crazy cats!" the Two-leg kept hollering. Soot ignored it and hopped from window ledge to window ledge. Goosekit followed. The Two-leg swiped his 'broom' at Firecloud. He yowled and reared up to dodge it, then gave a jolt and hopped off the branch onto the ledge. He hopped along the windows as well. The Two-leg took something out of the pouch in his clothes and started to poke it. It made funny noises and he spoke into it furiously.

"C'mon," Soot urged and climbed around the den corner onto a floating pot of dirt and plants. Goosekit kept following, the plants hooked to the window reminding him of his forest home ... and his family .. and Cocoa.

The three cats kept climbing pots until they reached the top of the den, the 'roof' Soot said.

"Now we can see everything," he explained. Goosekit kind of liked it, until around dusk time when a Two-leg monster with flashy lights and mean Two-legs with scary weapons came. They started shooting things at the cats on the roof. Goosekit squealed and ran off, Soot and Firecloud following.

Later - after the struggle of getting off the roof - Soot had led them to a certain trash can outside the fence. He moved aside the lid and crawled in. There were stacked up papers with Two-leg words all over them, half-opened cans and foul-smelling fishes, and a small platter of tiny leaves. Catnip! he thought cheerily as he smelled the leaves.

"Make yourselves at home, you are welcome here." Soot said kindly.

"Thank you Soot, Firecloud." Goosekit smiled at them both, but Firecloud shook his head.

"I go by my rogue name again," he said. "Call me Burn."

The sun had set completely. Burn was asleep in the trashcan and Goosekit accompanied Soot on the fence. They stared at the stars.

"Goosekit," Soot said finally. "I know I've seen you somewhere before.."

"You mean other than earlier, when you attacked me?" he laughed.

"Yes, sorry about that," Soot apologized with a sad smile. "But ... do ... do you recognize me?"

Soot looked at him and he looked back. Finally he shook his head. "If at all, it's vague."

Soot sighed. "You remind me of someone," he said. "Someone very special to me. You see, I once met this cat, long ago. I had moved into the forest with my mother before she died of greencough. Burn and my sister Ember already ran away, for StarClan knows why. And I was wandering through the forest when I came too close to a clan territory.

"A she-cat was out on patrol and she saw me, but instead of attacking she greeted me kindly and gave me a fish. We've been friends since then.

"But one day she confessed to me that she had feelings for me, and I returned that confession. Soon we became mates.

"She had a few kits. One came stillborn and the other a healthy young tom. But the little kit was a demon, I swear to you. He was terrible, always running off, spitting at his mother's paws and back-talking to me and her. Finally I had enough and - although I kind of regret it - I attacked my own son.

"He was still a kit then and my mate hated that I'd done that. She got infuriated and left me. But she also left her kit when he gave her a scar when wrestling away from her.

"She faked her death.. but later I saw her again. It was soon after our first kit became a guardian in his clan. I saw her in the forest and - surprisingly - she welcomed me.

"She explained that I was the father of another litter of kits. I didn't really like the sound of that but I saw them as newborns anyways. There were four -"

He was cut off by a hiccup from Goosekit. "Um, you alright Goosey?"

"No, no, I don't think so..." Goosekit admitted. Soot gave him a funny look.

"Soot, um... I had a lost father, a rogue - or loner, I dont know - who mated my mother. My mother had four kits." he paused. "I'm one of them. Duh."

Soot's eyes widened. "Goosekit, who is your mother?"

"My mother... is Littleminnow."

Soot stopped breathing for a second. He grabbed Goosekit and turned him towards his face.

"Goosekit..."

"... I think I'm your father."

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