The Return Of Scourge

Chapter 5 Part 3 - Rulers are Real

I asked some of my friends and I finally settled on one name for Ravenpaw. His warrior name is Ravenflight, thank you guys for participating in this mini event! <3

Another day, another day of seeing evergreen trees reaching towards the sky. Scourge jumped from the top of his tree to a branch close by, carefully scanning the ground for any signs of prey. Strangely enough there was nothing on the forest floor, weird.. usually some prey would be out by now, he thought, "Caw!" A crow swooped into view, gliding across the treetops. Scourge crouched close to the branch, his eyes watched every move the crow made. As it drew closer and closer, Scourge launched himself at it, his claws caught onto the crow's wing and he brought it to his snout, finishing it off with a final bite. Air hit his back as Scourge plummeted to his death, just as he was about to smash into the ground, he spread his wings and turned right-side up, zooming through the trunks of the evergreens. Slowly, the tom floated in the air, letting his paws touch the soft grass. Scourge layed his catch under some roots near his tree and closed his eyes, listening...

SNAP

What was that?, He whipped around, his ice-blue eyes met amber ones. I-is that a legendary cat??, Scourge stepped closer to his prey, is that one of the rulers of these lands?, A.. Terge... No wait.., the eyes stared the black cat down, a growl erupted from its jaws. Leaves cracked and crumbled as if the large ruler wanted to sever their spines from their flesh. Out of the sudden, the ruler launched itself at Scourge, batting him with its stripes paw, Scourge jumped back, hissed in pain. The ruler was now in the sunlight, it's pelt glowed in the morning gleam, It's a Tiger!, Scourge realised with a jolt, The ruler of rainforests!, Wait... This is bad! Can they climb?, The striped beast smacked the cat harshly and ranked its large claws across his shoulder, "Gah!" Scourge yelped and limped quickly to his prey, swiping it up in his jaws and clawing his way up a tree. The fur around the wound was stained crimson as blood gushed out of it, "Ouch..." Scourge licked it, the metallic taste lingered in his mouth as he swallowed the red liquid, "That stung like a rabbit scratching your eyes out". The roar of the tiger reached Scourge's ears, and he climbed up higher, jumping into another tree. Tail trembling, Scourge spread his wings and crouched, the branch he was on gave out an audible CRACK as the Tiger rammed the tree. The tree shook again, and the branch broke off and fell to the forest floor, Scourge flapped his wings and steadied his form as he flew away from the ruler and back to the Bloodclan tree.

A quiet thud followed the Bloodclan leader's arrival and he folded his wings, tail swishing just above the leaf-coated weaving. Brick approach him and took the fresh-kill to the pile. Scourge leaned towards Crow and nudged her, "Tell the other clan leaders to meet me on the top of this tree" he told her, the grey warrior nodded and scurried down the ladder. Brick came back and looked at Scourge weirdly, "what was that about?" She asks "do you... Know the rulers of the different regions?" The tom asked his own question, "you mean that old Startale?" She answered unsurely, "yes, do you know the part about the striped ruler called Tiger?" Scourge looked down at the ground to check if Tiger followed him, "yes.. but what does that have to do with the meeting?" Brick exclaimed, "It's only a Startale! Are you s-" "Tiger is real!" Scourge cut the she cat off, "It-.. How the-, When did- Wait... WHAT!?" Brick stuttered, tripping over her words, "The... Tiger is real..." Scourge repeated more slowly, "It wasn't a Startale.." Brick sighed, "Well you have to something about it soon.."

Scourge tapped his paw anxiously as the other three leader came into view, "What is this all about?" Mistystar questioned, "come.. take a seat, all of you" the black leader beckoned with his tail, Firestar sat down opposite of Scourge, "explain this sudden meeting" he asked. Scourge curled his tail around his paws, "you.. have heard of the ancient rulers that roamed the sacred lands r-right?" His voice quivered as the words spilled out of his mouth, "You mean that Startale?" Tallstar meowed, "yes.. except it's now a Startale" Scourge answered quietly, "What do you mean "It's not a Startale"?" Tallstar narrowed his eyes at the small cat, "it's exactly what I meant" Scourge snapped "one of the rulers are real, Tiger" "haha, that's very funny Scourge" Tallstar chuckled "A Startale stays a Startale. That's why it's called a Startale" The spotted cat walked forwards, head high with certainty. Firestar stopped him with his tail, shooting Tallstar an angry glare before opening his mouth to speak. "What if we--" "RROOAAAR!!!" An ear-piercing shrill interrupted the flame leader, and Ravenpaw's black paw scraped the bark beneath it. Audible gasps followed as a shape with purple eyes trembled on the flat surface, "T-t-t-t-t-Tiger!!" It yelped "Ravenflight!" Firestar ran to his friends aid, "Ravenflight what do you mean Tiger?" Mistystar asked, walking towards the shaking body, "Tiger!, O-one of the- the rulers!" Ravenflight answered shakily, another roar erupted from outside, "Tallstar! We need to fight Tiger off!" A cat with one whisker appeared into view, "I second that!" Greystripe meowed from below, "EEK!" The sound of claws scraping against wood made Scourge flatten his ears, "Well?" He started, "let's do it"...

Scourge jumped down from the top of the tree, landing on a lower branch. From this view, Scourge could see Tiger snarling angrily and trying to claw at the cats on the lowest branches. A loud crack was heard as the huge paw of the Tiger slammed down onto an unlucky cat, which in return shrieked in pain before the life in his eyes faded away. Scourge cringed at the sound and jumped from the branch, outstretching his claws and parting his jaws for an attack. Landing, quite harshly, on the back of Tiger, the impact made it stumble abit. While it was regaining it's balance, Scourge took the chance to claw at it's thick hide, scratching off pieces of fur and skin. Blood gushed out of the scratches and Tiger twisted around, grabbing a hold of Scourge's scruff. Tiger lifted the small cat off it's back and threw him across the clearing, towards a tree. Turning in mid air, Scourge grabbed a hold on the dirt below him to land safely. Chunks of rock and grass sprung away as Scourge's claws slid between them, his ice blue eyes glared daggers at Tiger, who was crouched near the earth, hissing. A soft thud was heard next to him, Brick was looking at Tiger warily, her tail flicked, and a few more cats jumped down, some from the other clans. Tiger took a small step forwards, a threatening growl rumbled I'm its throat. "Strike" Scourge hissed, multiple cats zipped around Tiger and jumped its back. Tiger let out a shriek of pain and started to go in circles, snapping at the cats on its back, Scourge waited for a second as cats were thrown in all directions. The striped ruler faced the black cat and charged, Scourge imitated the beast and thundered towards it. Scourge jumped, and as the tiger shot it's head upwards to snap at him, Scourge dug his claws into the ground and pushed himself through the arms of Tiger. Sharp claws ran through the hard flesh of Tiger and emerged on the other side. Scourge skidded to a stop, looking as the ruler crumbled to the ground. Crimson blood made a small puddle around Tiger and the scent of infected organs filled Scourge's nostrils, "ugh.." the leader gagged and started digging a giant hole to bury the dead body. Ravenflight padded over and helped throw the dirt out, "That was s-scary" the purple eyed cat thought aloud, "indeed, I suppose you knew Rulers were real, Ravenp-Flight?" Scourge asked, Ravenflight just nodded solemnly...