The Rise of Venomstar

Chapter 15: Two Person Game

The forest floor was checkered black and white, the moon casting dapples on the forest floor. Venom followed the guidance of Bracken's silent and confident paws, behind both Myriad and Bird. Venom was comfortable being last. He knew the position had its own duties- to protect the hinds of his party. 
Traveling through the shadows, Venom wondered if the cats before him trusted him yet. He did seem intimidating, with his golden eyes and dark fur, and his sharp features. Plus, his previous attitude used to be very abrasive. Tongue in cheek, Venom sought to fix that.

Venom did not want to leave Koi alone with her kits, but this adventure he was on at this moment was too promising to pass up. Bracken knew where a group of the Strong were stationed, back at his old turf, and he knew that they were creating a discord between nearby families. Bracken wanted them out, and Venom wanted the Strong destroyed. It was perfect.

"Venom," Bracken suddenly whispered, paws crunching softly against the grass, "do you think you can fight like last time? Like how you killed Heather?"
Venom remembered slicing that cat's guts open. He shuddered at the thought of it happening to him, by the claws of the Strong. It makes no difference whose claws spill the blood. 
Guts kind of belong inside the body.

"I fight from the heart." Venom stated.

Myriad, "Don't we all?"
Venom lashed his tail. My heart tells me no.

By the light of the moon and Bracken's knowing pawsteps, they must have made it to their destination because Bracken stopped.  He led them into a crouch and they peeked through thick brambles. The clearing beyond was bathed with moonlight. There were clear silhouettes of several cats in the clearing. Their eyes were also clearly visible, and of different colors, making them easy to identify.
"Blue eyed cat... green.. brown, hazel.... and amber. That's five, and we are four." Bracken whispered.

Bird's own vibrant green eyes flashed. Her hunches were gently swaying back and forth, "Well? It's dark. Maybe if we can look intimidating enough, we can ambush them from the dark. Bracken? You're the largest one here. Why don't you... um- make some noise and get on your hind-legs?"

"And get my stomach raked?" Bracken scoffed.

Venom didn't want them arguing. He hated arguing, and he knew they'd end up getting louder and blow their cover. He lashed his tail against Bracken and Bird's legs and whispered, "I think we just fight. We're outnumbered by one, but so what? We're ambushing them- we have the advantage."

Bird and Myriad nodded and Bracken flicked his tails for them to go, seemingly annoyed. Venom unsheathed his long, sharp claws and dropped to the shadows. He slipped over to the side of the clearing among the cover of the brambles, away from the others. Bird had already vanished and Myriad was ready to slip past the thorns and surprise the enemy. 
Once Bracken flicked his tail, he slipped through the thorns. Myriad did the same, and Venom vaulted over the brambles. Bird was still gone, but something told Venom she had a plan.

Finally Venom spotted Bird, falling from the air and slamming into one of the larger members of The Strong, urging a cry from them. Bracken slammed into another cat, Myriad lashed at another, and Venom pelted towards an enemy and lunged. The ambush succeeded!

When Venom shot himself at his foe and when his body blotted the moon for a split moment, victory surged through him. Then a searing pain sent his body back to earth. He gasped and saw a bright, silver pair of claws flying towards him. He quickly dodged, out of breath already.

Venom, the skilled fighter that he was, did not let this deter him. He lunged again, biting into his enemy's pelt. He was quickly thrown off.
Now he was doubting himself- just a little. Hissing he tried again, but the large cat swung him aside with surprising power. Venom skidded on his dark paws. 

In the corner of his golden gaze he saw a dark figure fleeing, leaving droplets of blood behind. 

Venom's opponent glared at the smaller, lithe tom with hatred in his searing eyes. Suddenly he lunged but teeth grabbed his scruff and yanked him back.

He looked around to see the friendly eyes of his companions, and the dark pelt of the enemy fleeing into the night.

"He's fleeing. There's no reason to keep fighting. We have his friend here-"
Myriad's paws were holding them to the dirt. She snapped, "What are you doing here?"

"Living! We live here, this is our home." the pinned cat snarled, "For now. It was the home of some families but we kicked them out." and her head turned painfully to see Bracken approach, "There's one of 'em!"
Bracken snarled and the member of Strong laughed, strained, "And what's next? 'Who am I?' I'm none of your-," and she leaned upwards and mewed, "business," before falling back down, laughing as if they were funny. A wound in her shoulder was lapping the ground with blood.

Venom began to approach quietly. The cat on the ground glared over at Venom with piercing blue eyes, a smirk spreading across her face, "Oh my savior!" she squealed, kicking at air, "There he is! You should all run now!"

"Who, Venom?" Myriad mewed.

The she-cat laughed and then her face fell. "Venom? I thought that was... Anion..." her voice became very small and her words trailed into defeated silence.

Venom's pelt felt prickly and hot and ashamed to be confused for his father, even if it was dark.  Myriad almost let the prisoner go, but met gazes with Bracken first who nodded. Myriad stepped back and the she-cat fled, stumbling into the brambles.

"Who's Anion?" Bird blurted.

"My father." Venom hissed, "My father, who's in The Strong, and who murdered my mother and probably my sister." He glanced away, amber eyes sharp and studying something that wasn't actually there. His breathing picked up pace but he soon calmed himself down.
He wasn't his father.

Myriad shook out her fur. "We make a great team. We can keep fighting groups of The Strong that size... and maybe we should. We should do this more! We can always find more cats to join us."

"We can liberate those in need!" Bird mewed, her small body prancing itself victoriously in a small circle.

Venom smiled softly and glanced at his paws, "Yeah. Help families and kits in need. We can be like a big old family, huh?" he sighed, "We'll need a group, won't we? Are we going to name ourselves? I guess it'll have to be something better than 'The Strong'- I mean- choosing between a name we make and something called The Strong it'd have to..." he stopped. He didn't know what to say. Venom was hardly good at expressing himself with words.

Bird filled the empty space anyway, "Let's make a group. It's a good idea." Half her face was dark and the other half was illuminated by the small light of the moon. Her green eyes were bright and filled with a fiery ambition. "We need to take back our home. It's an idea on a whim but... what else do we have left?"