The three of us instantly rushed into the clearing to look for any cats at all. Then Bandit shouted, "I can hear them! Follow me!" We followed Bandit through the forest, and we saw the leader that attacked us before, and this time, with a lot more cats. Every cat, including Grace and two newborns, were out here.
A cat was about to attack Grace, but I rushed in and pushed the cat off of his paws. Smoke and Bandit joined the fight, and Grace asked me, "Where were you three?" I said, "That's not important right now! Are you okay?" She nodded, and the cat that tried to attack Grace shouted, "Hey! There he is!" Most of the cats that were fighting the others were coming after me, but Jay, Bell, and Rooster came over to back me up.
One cat almost scratched my eye out, but Jay kicked dirt in his face, and I was able to push him away. When I was able to, I asked Jay, "What is this about?" He replied, "They're after you!" Another cat attacked Grace, but I couldn't move. Then I saw blood gush into the air. I pushed the cat that I was fighting away, and I looked at Grace once more.
Claw marks were raked across her body, all the way down to her flank. Blood was oozing out, and so was my rage. I turned to the ginger cat that did this to her, and he took a step back. I ran at him. Other cats tried to stop me, but I was too fast. When I got to the cat, a familiar scent washed over my nose. It smelled a little bit like Rudy, so I stopped.
The cat stopped moving as well, and then his eyes widened saying, "I remember your scent! You're that mysterious cat!" No one stopped fighting, and other cats tried to attack me, but I knocked them away. The cat said, "My name is Hero! Son of the great Rudy!" I watched as Lu pulled Grace and the kits out of the battlefield, and I whispered, "Hero... meet me out here tonight. I need to speak with you."
He was unsure, but he eventually replied, "Alright." I pushed him away, pretending to fight with him, and then he ran away. He was that kitten I saw a long time ago. He is almost a young adult, and he's small for his age. A cat yowled in pain, "Retreat! Retreat!" Then all of the cats ran away. We rushed back to camp, and we saw Grace in the middle of the clearing.
Smoke led Salt to the medicine den, and Rooster and his gang went back to digging. Bell, Yuna, and Echo sat at the entrance of their den, and Jay sat with me. Quinn was keeping a lookout, and Lu was with Grace. I asked, "Is she going to be okay?" Lu said, "She'll be fine. She might have a nasty scar though." I sighed in relief, and then I felt a sudden pain in one of my haunches.
I look at it, and there was blood all over my leg. I said, "How come no one told me about my leg?" Jay looked at me in surprise, and he said, "I thought you noticed?" I sighed, and I limped away into the medicine den. When I walked in, Salt was in a corner, resting, and the cat we captured was staring outside. I walked over to him and said, "Hello."
He flinched and quickly turned around, but then he started to relax when he saw me. He said, "Hi..." I sat down, and asked, "Hey, what's your name?" The cat was silent for a while. Then he said, "My n-name is Storm. And you're that mysterious cat I saw at Molotov's camp with my siblings." I smiled and said, "So you too are a son of Rudy."
He turned away, and I said, "There's no need to be embarrassed about it. Besides, I'm Rudy's son as well." He looked up at me with gleaming eyes and said, "Really? So you're my brother?" I nodded, and said, "The wounded cat outside with her kits is your sister. We're not from the same litter though." Then Storm sat up and asked, "Well what litter are you from?"
I replied, "The first one. There used to be six of us." Storm was reeled into the story. He wanted to know what happened. I asked, "Did Rudy not tell you about his first litter?" Storm shook his head, and I said, "Well... alright. As I said, there used to be six of us. Two died before they could get a chance to breathe. When we grew up, one of my brothers died to what humans use. It's called a gun, and you should hide when you see one."
Storm said, "I've heard Rudy talk about guns once. He said they're loud boomsticks." I nodded and continued. "Then my sister died because something called firecrackers were thrown at her. I, and the one known to you as King Ace, are the only ones left of the first litter." I snapped myself back into reality, and I saw Storm quivering.
He said, "My brother is a King? That's amazing... but I have heard that he murdered the former King Jet." I flattened my ears and said, "You are correct, and King Jet was your father."