Warriors: The Hidden Clans

Chapter One

     "GET OUT OF HERE DAMN CAT!"

Spencer jumped, immediately panicking. He hastily clambered out of the trash can and made a ruckus. The calico ran off, a piece of meat clamped tightly in his jaws. He continued sprinting away, the piece of meat flailing limply around as he jumped over a wall and into the safety of the forest. Spencer sat down, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
He dropped his pathetic excuse for a meal, prepared to eat. The young toms ribs were visible and he was in poor condition. He bit at the piece of meat before gagging. He sighed, burying it. Spencer decided he wasn't hungry after all. He shook his dirty coat and began to pad away from the buried piece of meat.
"All that for nothing..." He thought bitterly.
 
       Spencer decided he'd go visit his mother. He began his trek towards the human village and towards the nest of his kin.

He was his mother's first-born kitten and he was sold to a family when he was only a few months old. He'd been loved dearly, until his owner had screamed at the oldest man in the household. She'd been struck, soon after that, she left. Eventually the man had shouted at Spencer to get out, which he was used to now, but back then it was shocking. Spencer had left and never returned.

"Tanya! Tanya are you home?" The calico shouted, hopping onto the fence and into her garden.
"Oh Spencer!"
The two cats quickly padded towards each other, exchanging comforting licks to one another's ear.

"Hello mom, glad to see you're faring well, hm?" Spencer remarked, smiling and sitting next to his mother.
"Oh yes! But you Spencer... Well, I'm not sure how to put it I guess well... I'm worried about you. You're so skinny... Have you eaten at all lately? You look like you're on the verge of starvation! You're still a kitten Spencer... you can't be living like this!" Tanya blurted out. She noticed a few scars along his unusually muscular shoulders and a tear on his left ear. "I'm glad you visited Spencer... but if I may ask, have you been fighting with other cats recently?" She asked, her tail flicking nervously.

Spencer gingerly nodded, his ears lowering in guilt. Tanya didn't respond, she just frowned and thought for a minute. They both sat in silence, lost in their thoughts.
"Spencer..."
"Yes mom?"
"I think you should move in with me..."
Spencer's ears twitched in annoyance. As much as he loved his mother, he'd never move in with her. He couldn't be seen by his past enemies; eating out of a bowl with a collar and bell tied tightly across the shiny clean scruff of his neck. Doing tricks for his humans and being stroked gently... "like a pet" He thought, grimacing.
Tanya noticed his obvious annoyance and added quickly, "Of course you don't have to! But... it'd be better for your health and I would enjoy the company", she purred affectionately.
Spencer shook his head, guilt-ridden. His mothers eyes filled with sadness.

"You know I can't do that Tanya. Not again". Spencer replied, ashamedly giving his mom's coat a quick lick. She nodded, silently understanding. She smiled at him sadly, but genuinely.
"Well... I must be off, goodbye" Spencer spoke, standing up. Tanya glanced at him, still envisioning the tiny kitten he used to be... Play wrestling with his littermates and happily suckling her milk before plopping down to nap.
He's changed.
Of course he was still a kitten, but it seemed as if he was some sort of an adult now. It brought tears to her baby-blue eyes as she nodded and pressed her head to his flank.
"Take care Spencer." She murmured to him, staying pressed against him until Spencer stepped away and jumped back over the wall without muttering another word.
A tear fell from Tanya's eye, and then another.
He was gone. He'd never be the same happy kitten that she remembered him to be.