"My father!?" Storm shouted in disbelief. I said, "I'm going to explain it to Hero tonight. You can come if you want." I didn't wait for a reply. I just left the medicine den, and went into mine. I cleaned my leg up, and then I fell asleep.
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That night, I was being as quiet as possible so Bandit won't wake up. When I got to the entrance, Storm was there. Together, we walked to the battlefield. No one was there yet, so we sat under the moon. It was full, and it lit up the forest. Storm said, "It's really pretty out here." I looked up and said, "Yeah..." Then we heard rustling in the bushes.
I stayed relaxed, but Storm was slightly irritated. Then Hero came out, and his orange fur shone like fire in the moonlight. Hero said, "So you did get captured. I thought you decided to stay with the Night Cats." Storm snorted, and I said, "Glad you came, Hero." He smiled widely, and Storm said, "Someone followed you out here."
Hero looked around, and he said, "I-It's Eclipse!" A tortishell jumped from a tree and said, "You got me. Now who is this cat? Isn't he part of the rouges?" Hero said, "Y-Yeah... but hear me out! This is the mysterious cat!" She glanced at me with a protective stare similar to Ash's and Jet's. I said, "So she's Eclipse."
She tilted her head, and Hero said, "He's our older brother! From mom's first litter!" Eclipse glared at me and said, "Oh really? Then who's our father?" I looked at Storm, and he said, "She doesn't know." I sighed and said, "King Jet was your father." Eclipse blurted, "Wrong! Sir Molotov is our dad!" I wanted to laugh. Sure, Molotov respects women and cats with kits, but this is too much.
Hero turned to Eclipse and said, "That's not true. Rudy told me himself." This surprised both of his littermates. "What are you talking about? Mom never talks to you!" Hero said, "He does too, and if you still think Molotov is your dad, then leave!" I didn't want her to go, but she wouldn't understand what's going on if she doesn't know that Jet is her father as well.
She started sobbing, and then she ran away. Storm said, "She'll get over it. She always does." Then I said, "Okay, first, let me tell you about Rudy's first litter. Six cats were born in a house under a tree. Unfortunately, two died because of a human that wanted to enslave cats like Rudy. A year later, one of them transformed into what we call, "pets"."
Eclipse was slowly walking back, but she stayed out of Storm's sight. I continued on. "Later on, Rudy and two of the cats got captured, and one of the cats got shot protecting his sibling." Everyone's eyes were wide with curiosity, worry, or sadness. Then Hero asked, "Who are these cats?" I said, "I'll get to that at the end."
"The father of these cats, and Rudy's mate, Jet, and two others saved Rudy and the cat. Jet decided that all of the cats should have a meeting to move into the forest, but before that happened, Rudy's only female kit got blown up and killed. They went on with the meeting, and they all agreed to move here. Before we got to the forest, Rudy did a heroic act, and saved us from the humans."
When I finished, Storm asked, "What were the names of these cats?" Hero and Eclipse got closer, excited to hear the names of my siblings. I said, "The first two who died were named Sapphire and Milo, the third was Ash, and the fourth was Blossom. The two survivors are named Ace and Birch." Eclipse said, "You and... King Ace!?"
I nodded, and Hero said, "So cool! I'm related to a King!" I said, "No. You're related to a murderer. He killed King Jet." Hero lowered his head, and Eclipse said, "What? That's not true! Why would Ace kill his own father?" "For power..." Storm said grimly. Eclipse quieted down. I said, "Okay. There's a war going on because Crow found out that Ace was finding and killing his cats, right?"
Hero nodded, and Storm said, "Wait what? That's horrible!" I said, "Yes it is. But this war needs to stop so they can join hands to stop the humans from invading the forest and to stop them from capturing us all." Then there was rustling in the bushes behind me. I whispered to everyone, "Scatter!" Hero and Eclipse ran together, and Storm rushed back to camp.
I turned around, and I said, "Come out, whoever you are." Then Bandit came out of the bushes with an emotion that I couldn't understand glazed over his eyes. He said, "You were going to tell all of us too, right?" I said, "Not my backstory, but yes, I was going to tell you all about the war and the humans." Bandit sighed in relief and pain.
I asked him, "You heard the story, didn't you?" He slowly nodded, and then he started crying. He said, "It's so sad... you watched your siblings die, even before you knew what death was. I couldn't survive a day without knowing that Smoke is alive." I walked up to him and licked his forehead saying, "You shouldn't have to watch anyone die. You're still a kid after all."
He cried into my shoulder, and I silently cried with him.