Post by wolfhowl on Feb 8, 2017 19:03:20 GMT
Author Notes: Feel free to comment I'll be putting links to the other chapters!
Chapter 1: Friends and Foes
Chapter 1: Friends and Foes
"Either you'll show me respect, or you'll leave, runt."
Claws flexed against her neck, but she glared up at the arrogant tom. It had only been a few sunrises since her twolegs had left, but that was normal. Echo didn't mind being left alone in their nest, especially since she could eat through as much of the food as she wished. "But this is different, isn't it?" She sighed in her head. Her twolegs had left a lot of their belongings behind, and didn't even leave out her water when she yowled for a new bowl. The pit that formed in her stomach grew a little wider. "They can't leave me like Oreo's twolegs did...r-right?"
She shoved that thought right out of her head. She had a much bigger problem to worry about. Orange eyes glared right back up at the smug tabby. "Brute, get off of me! This is my home. You can't order me around!" Brute had always been a huge bully since he came to this part of the city, but he had stayed far from her home until now. His eyes held a hint of anger as he threw the kit farther from him.
"Wrong answer, kit." Echo felt his claws right along her back, and she froze. She could hear his voice right in her ear. "I'll give you one more chance. If you admit how much of a pathetic flea you are, I'll consider letting you stay." His claws dug into her spine, causing her to yelp. "Maybe if you give me some of your food, I won't let you starve either. How's about that-"
Brute hissed in surprise when the kit wriggled out of his grip. Echo's eyes held an anger she had yet to feel. Not even when she was forced away from her mother and brother did she ever feel such an anger. "How dare you! No way! My housefolk would never let you come around here!" She hissed, unsheathing her tiny claws right into the cracks of the stone. "Why don't you crawl back to those worthless cats you've been terrorizing and leave me alone! Bully them to your tiny heart's content!"
She felt her blood freeze when his anger turned from bewilderment to fury. A claw clashed against her cheek and threw her once more away from her home. "Am I bleeding..?" She thought, waves of shock ebbing and flowing through her body at the thought. She didn't have much time to dwell back on it when Brute prowled towards her, eyes gleaming with anger.
"Let me tell you something, flea. They're not here, and they're not going to stop me." His claws swished through the air, barely hitting Echo's ear. "And you know what? They'll never see you again. Because if you set a paw on here again, I'll kill you." Another swipe of his paw, and she could feel a sting in her ear. "Now get out of here."
The shock continued to pulse at her heart, and she wasted no time running as far away from there as her little legs could take her. Rational thought wouldn't save her this time. Brute threatened her. Brute was going to kill her like she was a bird on the grass! "But I have to get home! What am I going to do? Where can I stay? Oh dear no, I'm too young to be a traveling cat!" Her paws slowed next to a bush, releasing the air that was threatening to strangle her. "What am I going to do..? I'd need to find somewhere, anywhere to stay, but how am I going to get rid of Bru-"
"Psst! Echo!"
She looked up the red wall at the noise, relief cutting through her like claws through a feather. "Mikan! Oh my goodness, Mikan, I need your help!"
The ginger tabby bounced down towards the ground with his usual enthusiasm, grinning from eye to eye. "I saw what happened. You're either crazy or brave to stand up to Brute!"
"Wait..you saw that?" Echo asked, her ears flattening against her head. "And you didn't do anything to help me? He was chasing me out of my home, and my twolegs are gonna come back!"
Mikan's ears flattened as he took a step backward, looking down at a particularly long blade of grass. "What could I have done, Echo? He's big, he's brutal, and worst of all, he's not alone. Him and his gang are already taking over the other houses. It's only a matter of time before they have the entire place under their control."
Echo looked down at her paws, trying to keep her composure in front of her most trusted friend as he spoke, but he didn't stop there. "You..You should have begged for mercy. They don't treat you too badly if you do what they want. And..And you won't end up like Oreo either."
Echo's head shot up, and she could feel her anger rise again. "How can you let them humiliate you, Mikan! They're only going to get worse, and your housefolk can barely get any food at all for you! Are you really going to let them starve you, bully you?!"
"It's better than being dead, Echo!" Mikan shot back, something akin to annoyance in his voice. "Where are you going to go now? Once Brute goes back to his gang about what you did, they're not going to let you back in here."
"They can't guard it forever. I'll sneak-"
"Don't be stupid." Mikan glared down at her. "They'll find you sooner or later in that house. And," He said as Echo opened her mouth. "my twolegs aren't going to support having another cat. Not after April tried the same thing. No one else is going to hide you. You're not going to be safe here, Echo. It's...the truth. So long as you're here, you're going to be in danger and a danger to everyone else here."
"But..." The black she-cat whimpered, curling her tail over her bright white paws. It couldn't be true. Mikan was going to abandon her like everyone else? After everything they had been through? "I thought we were friends, Mikan. You...You said you'd protect me. You promised that you wouldn't let anything harm me! What am I going to do, Mikan! I can't go back home now, and I can't live out there and let a fox have me for dinner!"
"Well..listen. You must have heard about those cats that live by the lake, right?"
Echo looked back up at her friend- "Or are you a former friend?" -and snorted. "Those feral cats? Don't they call themselves fighters or something? Why-" She stopped. "Oh no. No no no. Aren't they dangerous? Don't you remember the tales the other cats told us about them?"
"I never met them, and neither have you." He flattened an ear. "I remember those stories. I heard they murder cats for fun and sharpen their claws on their victims' bones." His eyes locked onto hers. "But you remember Lily? That old gray tabby? She told me once that they have helped her a long time ago. They can't be that bad. Maybe they can help you." He sighed. "Maybe they can help us all..."
"Maybe, but-"
The sound of loud pawsteps interrupted them both. "It has to be Brute, or one of his gang." Mikan hissed. He pushed Echo away from him. "I have to go. They would make an example of me if they saw me helping you." He scrabbled up the stone, sitting down on the edge as he looked at her one last time. "Good luck, Echo."
She watched his tail disappear behind the stone, despair returning like a thunderstorm in her head. But at least she had a plan now. She turned to face the forest behind her and felt a shiver run down her back. Once the forest felt so looming and terrifying, but her only hope, no, all of the housecats hope might rest with them. Her paws inched closer to the trees and tall grasses as her mind cleared.
"I hope this works.."