An orange tom with soft blue eyes growled softly under his breath. Vex had made sure he was punished for coming back scratched and without much prey. Flame had been demoted by two; Wren and Pop were now ahead of him. Plus, he was starving, but he couldn't eat because he had to wait for everyone else in front of him.
It had been four days since he and Fall had spoken. Flame was surprisingly excited to meet him that night. He had always thought that his life was fine in the rogue group. It wasn't great, of course, because of his constant injuries, but it wasn't bad. He was fed, and he even had some friends; Flash and Bark, who were only trainees, but Flame enjoyed spending time with them. He had always wanted kits, and Flash and Bark filled that role, at least for now.
But Fall made something inside him long for something more. Flame had felt differently when he was around Fall. Even though it had only been for a few moments, Flame couldn't help but feeling free when he had met Fall. He couldn't wait to see him again.
"Flame!" a tom hissed and Flame turned. A brown tabby tom had spoken. He had amber eyes that looked dull and his white ears were almost completely shredded. When Flame stood up, the brown tabby was only as tall as his nose. "It's your turn to eat."
Flame only nodded and Pop lashed his tail and padded away. Flame padded to the prey pile, which was entirely too small. All that was left was a tiny shrew and a fish. Flame had never particularly liked fish, but it wasn't his least favorite prey. He ate the fish in its entirety and then padded off to find Tiger, the next cat in line to eat.
After Flame had spoken with the dark brown tabby, he headed outside of the camp, where he had made his nest. Vex only allowed his most trusted guardians to live inside the camp. Those cats included Fetch, Yarrow, Peck, Fish, and of course Vex himself. Every other cat had to fend for themselves. At least it made it easier for Flame to sneak away at night.
...
The orange tabby woke up a little after dusk, just as he was planning for. He stood up and stretched. It would be a long trip to the Twolegplace.
Flame didn't do much on his trip. He hadn't thought about doing anything. He mostly stared ahead and at the moon to see how much time he had. The orange tom blocked out the sounds around him so he wouldn't be distracted.
It felt like a short time later when he arrived at the Twolegplace.
Flame couldn't see much of Twolegplace from where he was, but he did see a Thunderpath, which he had to cross to get to the Twolegplace. Flame couldn't see or hear any monsters going by. There were hardly any trees around there, which Flame didn't like. He didn't like being out in the open. There was just one tree, but it didn't give Flame nearly enough coverage as he wanted.
Where did we say we would meet? Somewhere around Twolegplace? That's very specific, Fall, thank you. Flame sighed. He would probably want to meet by the cypress tree, but I am pretty early, and I've never gone in to Twolegplace before... Flame decided it couldn't hurt to just check it out a little. He would be back before Fall arrived.
And so, the orange tabby tom crossed the Thunderpath with ease, as no monsters were passing by. As soon as Flame had reached the other side, his nose was bombarded with many new and unknown scents. Some he recognized, such as the scent of kittypets and twolegs. Other scents smelled burnt and charred, and others smelled like monsters, but slightly different. Flame was amazed.
"Wow," he couldn't help but murmur aloud. It was different than anything he had ever seen.
"It certainly is," Flame whipped around as he heard a soft voice behind him. A very fluffy tan tabby she-cat was standing behind him. She was a tannish brown with much darker brown tabby stripes. She had completely white paws and her eyes were a shimmery emerald green. She had a kittypet collar that was covered in dirt, but underneath the dirt it looked like it was pink. A silver bell was attached to the collar. "For a newcomer, anyway."
Flame bristled on instinct. "What do you mean, newcomer?"
The she-cat laughed and Flame was shocked. "You clearly aren't a housecat. And... you look too well fed to be a scavenging loner from around here. So, you must be a wild cat," the brown tabby meowed, as if this was obvious.
"What are you doing here? What's it like, living in the forest? I've heard of a rogue group out there that's pretty horrible, is that true? Oh, and what's your name?" the she-cat couldn't stop asking questions. Flame couldn't believe it. Why isn't she scared? I thought all kittypets were lazy and had no interest in doing anything other than sleeping!
"Before I tell you anything, you answer me some questions. First, who are you, and why are you here at night?" Flame meowed out of curiosity. He had to know who this she-cat was and what she was doing here, in the middle of the night.
"Oh, my name is Fresh. I was bored and couldn't sleep, so I was finally going to cross the Thunderpath over there and see the wild, but—" she paused, pondering for a second. "But then I ran into you." Fresh stared at him with something in her eyes that Flame couldn't identify. Flame felt his ears grow warm and he had to look away. "So, will you answer my questions now?"
Flame sighed and shrugged. What harm could a kittypet cause?
"My name is Flame, uh, the rogue group does exist, but... not all the cats in it are bad," Flame wasn't sure what to say. "Living in the forest can be hard at times, but it's freeing. And I came here to..." the orange tabby tom looked at the sky, remembering Fall. The moon was at its highest point. He saw Fresh look at the sky as well, and she cocked her head.
"I'm sorry, Fresh. I have to leave. I'm going to be late for a meeting with a... friend," Flame was disappointed that he had to leave this interesting she-cat behind, but he couldn't keep Fall waiting.
"Can I come with you? I've never met a wild cat before, and I promise to behave. I'm very good at staying quiet," Fresh asked. Flame wanted to say no, but he couldn't decline this pretty she-cat. He just shrugged and turned in the direction of where the Thunderpath was and ran, hoping he wouldn't be too late. Flame heard the drumming of paw-steps behind him, which he assumed were Fresh's. Soon enough, they made it to the Thunderpath. On the other side of it, Flame could see two cats standing by the cypress tree. That's Fall! And someone else...
Flame turned to see how Fresh was holding up. She looked determined, surprisingly without fear. Flame was impressed.
Still no monsters were around, so Flame and Fresh ran across the Thunderpath together. They slowed as they approached the cypress tree, Fresh's bell ringing. That's not annoying at all.
"Flame, you're here! I was worried you wouldn't show. This is Maple, my mate," Fall intertwined his tail with a tortoiseshell she-cat, who's mint green eyes glowed with excitement.
"You must be Flame. Who's this?" Maple's head turned to Fresh, who Flame had momentarily forgotten about.
"My name is Fresh. I just met Flame in the Twolegplace," Fresh replied politely.
"She's a kittypet?" Fall hissed at Flame. Flame turned to see Fresh's reaction, but she didn't seem at all perturbed.
"Don't worry about it, Fall," the orange tabby sighed. "What did you want to talk about?"
Before Fall could respond, a gray tabby she-cat appeared from the roots of the cypress tree. A sandy-brown tom followed. Both of them looked annoyed.
"What are you doing? We were trying to sleep!" the gray tabby hissed in annoyance, her blue eyes cold. The sandy-brown tom was lashing his tail.
"Who are you?" Fall hissed.
"None of your business. Who are you?" the gray tabby she-cat hissed back, taking a step forward.
Flame flattened his ears and stepped between the two gray cats. "Calm down, you two. Don't worry, we didn't come here to bother you. We'll be on our way now," Flame meowed, trying to keep a fight from happening. Fall stared at him, confusion in his gray eyes. Flame was unsure why, but he would ask later.
"Now, wait," the gray tabby stopped them, and Flame turned back to her. What now?
The gray tabby she-cat turned to her sandy-brown companion. Neither of them said anything, but after a moment the she-cat turned back to them, seeming to have come to a decision.
"We're already awake. We want to know why you're out here. It's the least you could do to let us join you in whatever you came here to do," the gray tabby she-cat reasoned. Flame noticed Fall about to decline, but before he could say anything, Fresh intervened.
"Of course, you can join us," Fresh meowed. When she saw Fall begin to argue, she spoke her defense. "You let me come. Why not these cats?"
This quieted the gray tabby tom. The orange tabby decided to speak.
"My name is Flame, this is Fall, Maple, and Fresh," he meowed, indicating with his tail. "Fall invited me here to speak with him about the rogue group."
The tabby she-cat's eyes widened. "I'm Far, and this is my friend. He's mute, so I don't know his name."
Mute? How did he survive kithood? Flame was shocked. He noticed Fall and Maple looking equally surprised. Fresh, however, had a look of realization in her green eyes. Flame was confused, but moved on quickly.
"Should we get to our conversation?" Flame asked Fall. The gray tabby tom nodded, and gave an uneasy glance at Far and the sandy-brown tom.
"We'll tag along," Far meowed. Flame gave an awkward nod and sat down next to the cypress tree. It was as comfortable a spot as he could think. Everyone copied him, and Flame began.
"So, what did you want to know?"
"Well, I—" Fall was interrupted before he could say anything.
"I want to know something. Why are you with Vex and his rogues?" Maple cut in. Fresh stared at him, something he couldn't decipher in her eyes. Flame felt guilty for not telling her that he was with the rogue group. He turned away and faced the tortoiseshell she-cat.
"I'm with the rogues because..." Why was he with the rogues? He had been with them for most of his life, he could hardly remember before. But suddenly, he had a thought.
"I think I'm with the rogues because I have been for as long as I can remember. I never knew there was anything else," the orange tabby replied, as honestly as he could.
"You must be pretty ignorant then," Fresh meowed, but not in a hurtful way, just bluntly honest. Flame smiled.
"Yeah, I guess so," the orange tabby tom stared into the light brown tabby's beautiful green eyes. Fresh smiled back, and Flame looked away, turning back to Maple.
So, she's not mad. That's good. Flame mentally shook himself. That would be good, if I cared about her opinion. Or if I would see her again. But I won't, because Vex doesn't allow that. Flame felt a physical hurt at not being able to see Fresh again, but ignored it.
"Huh. I guess you can't help that. You really don't seem all that bad, Flame, except that you're horribly oblivious," Maple chuckled under her breath, her mint green eyes amused. Fall, however, still had the smallest glint of suspicion in his gray eyes. Flame felt slightly hurt that the gray tabby tom couldn't trust him. How else could he prove himself trustworthy?
"I have a question. How does the rogue group work? I've heard things, but I arrived fairly recently, so I don't have a clue," Far questioned. Flame paused a moment before responding.
"Well, we all have ranks, with Vex's being the highest and the queens' being the lowest. If you do something that angers Vex, you get demoted," Flame cringed as he remembered how he had been demoted only a few days ago. "The cat with the lowest rank has to eat last.
"The cats who aren't adults, but aren't being fed by their mothers, are called trainees. They are taught by the whole group on how to hunt, and when they are adults, they are given a rank based on how they performed as a trainee.
"Cats are only allowed to have mates that Vex approves. That way Vex knows everything that is going on in the group. He likes to know what's going on, and he hates liars," Flame finished, flattening his ears and looking away.
"Wow," Fresh meowed, looking astonished. When Field gave her a disgusted glance, she explained. "I mean, this 'Vex' is clearly horrible, but I think it's impressive that he formed this whole group. I wonder how it all began."
"That is unfortunate, that all those cats are being somewhat brainwashed. I'm lucky to have been born a loner. I would never have met Fall, and that would be horrible," the tortoiseshell she-cat nuzzled her mate, and Fall began purring.
"Yeah. I mean, I don't remember my kithood either, so I don't know about a family, but this guy here is good company," Far turned around to look at the sandy-brown tom, who smiled with a sad look in his green eyes.
"I've always been a kittypet, but despite the stereotypes and prejudice, I wouldn't give up meeting my friends for the world," Fresh stared at her white paws and smiled to herself.
Flame looked up and smiled, but then he noticed the moon. Oh no! If I don't leave now, I won't get back early enough to sneak back in my nest. But... I don't want to leave Fresh and the others. Flame was conflicted, but he knew he had to go back.
"I'm sorry to be a downer, but I have to leave, or else I might be punished. I'm not really supposed to be here," Flame smiled hesitantly. "Fresh, can you get home by yourself?"
The light tabby nodded, her green eyes shining. "It'll be an adventure."
"I hope to see you soon, Flame," Maple meowed politely.
"Us too. I didn't realize that not all the rogues could be bad until you, Flame. Thank you," Far meowed her goodbye for herself and Field. Fall begrudgingly mewed his goodbye, but Flame would miss the gray tabby tom.
After he had finished his goodbyes, Flame turned tail and began to run back to his nest.
It's really interesting, how different all of our lives are. If only I didn't get stuck with the rogues. I wonder how different my life would be? A lot better than my life now. I guess I never realized how horrible the rogues were. But they are, and I am. Flame thought of Fresh, of how even though she knew that the rogues were bad, she didn't think Flame was bad. I'll improve myself for the better. I need to, for Fresh.