The Rogue Within

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Prologue

Hissing, Claw, a russet-brown-furred tom with a darker brown underbelly, and muzzle, along with a darker brown tuft of fur on his forehead and dark bright green eyes, leaped forward and tackled the nearest cat, a dark grey tom, pinning him to the ground but not before swiftly scratching the left side of his face.

Claw viciously thrust his head forward and clamped his jaws on the dark grey tom's shoulder, ripping and tearing at the flesh and fur.

The tom yowled with pain and struggled beneath the Rogue, blood splashing onto the light green ferns and staining them crimson-red in the undergrowth around them.

Angrilly, Claw swiftly released the tom's shoulder, which was now just ripped flesh, before raking his claws along the dark grey tom's side. The tom let out a pained screech as the blood splashed onto the floor and at the claws ripped thru the flesh and fur of his side, leaving him trembling and on the verge of death as a pool of crimson-red blood formed around the tom and as Claw leaped off of him and shook out his pelt like a dog, hissing softly.

After he straightened up, Claw grinned sinisterly at the dying tom, who trembled and gasped a tail-lenght away from him.

"No cat messes with Claw and lives to tell the tale." Claw hissed, flattening his ears and lashing his tail.

"Yeah? Well, no cat messes with ThunderClan and lives to walk off the border with all four legs!"

The yowl sounded ever so suddenly from behind Claw, and before the russet-brown-furred tom could react, a pair of black paws weighed down his shoulders, pushing him into the ground, seconds before a silver-claw-tipped black paw pressed down dangerously hard on his exposed throat.

"Beg for your life."

The hiss sounded close to Claw's ear, and the Rogue gritted his teeth, letting out a sharp hiss.

"I never beg." Claw hissed, only to stiffen as he felt the silver claws digging into fur.

"Scorchingwind! Scorchingwind!"

The sound of a pair of thudding pawsteps rushed past Claw and the cat that pinned him strongly down, and out of the corner of his eyes, Claw could see a dark grey she-cat with black paws, a black right ear, a black tail tip, and a rather large tuft of black fur on her forehead, along with a darker grey muzzle, a left dark brown ear, and golden-yellow eyes, padding up to the dark grey tom that Claw had attacked.

"Oh, StarClan help him! He's half-dead. Scorchingwind will die if we don't get him back to the ThunderClan camp in time." Meowed the dark grey she-cat, eats flattened and her golden-yellow eyes bright with worry, fear, and shock as she looked down upon the dying dark grey tom, Scorchingwind.

"It was this one! This was the filthly Rogue that attacked him Scorchingwind, Yellowbird. Shall I dispatch him for you?" Growled the cat that pinned Claw down, a black tom with a dark grey chest and underbelly, tail tip, and a dark grey tuft of fur on his fourhead, along with frightening and piercing, blood-red eyes.

Claw hissed and struggled underneath the tom, gritting his teeth and flattening his ears.

"No, Darkheart. Remember the Warrior Code-killing is considered dishonorable unless you truly must. Leave him to me and let the him up while you take Scorchingwind back to camp." Meowed the dark grey she-cat, Yellowbird, calmly as she turned to glance at Claw and the vicious, black-furred and red-eyed tom, Darkheart.

The black tom hissed softly and lashed his tail before reluctantly released Claw; he kicked him in the side before walking to Scorchingwind's side, making the vicious, russet-furred tom leap to his feet and hiss, his fur bristling angrilly.

"Hey! Your attention will be directed at me from this point forward, not to Darkheart, alright?" Yellowbird suddenly snapped, leaping in front of Claw with her tail lashing and her claws unsheathed as she glared at Claw.

Meanwhile, Darkheart was nudging the dying Scorchingwind up and staggering onto his feet, blood spilling out of his side; moments later, the two cats dissapeared into the undergrowth ahead. Claw glared fiercly at Yellowbird for a moment longer before growling and sitting down, slouching slightly with his ears flattened. He didn't even seem to care about the annoyed and slightly disgusted she-cat watching him as he lifted his back left leg and scratched three times at the back of his left ear.

"That's digusting! Don't do that when I'm talking to you!" Hissed Yellowbird, lifting a paw up and then wrinkling her light pink nose in digust as she lashed her tail once and flicked her right ear in annoyance.

Claw growled and lowered his back left leg before unsheathing his claws and glaring at Yellowbird.

"I'm surprised you haven't started a fight yet, she-cat." Claw hissed, flattening his ears.

"Well, excuse me for deciding to leave the fighting for later and just saving your life from my sadistic Clanmate, Darkheart. And don't you dare talk back to me. I happen to be Yellowbird, the Deputy of ThunderClan!" Yellowbird growled, glaring at Claw and flattening her ears as well.

"Like I'd give a mousetail about-wait what? Deputy? ThunderClan? Okay, you're confusing me when usually, during these moments, you'd be fighting me." A look of confusion crossed Claw's face, and the russet-furred tom flicked his right ear as he spoke.

"I know you're doing that to catch me off guard, Rogue. Only Kittypets have no clue what ThunderClan is. Loners and Rogues should know better and know way more about us than a newborn Clan kit. Like you never knew who I was." Yellowbird scoffed, flicking her left ear.

"Uh, no, I didn't know about you. And if I were to catch you off guard, I'd have already stalled and distracted you long enough, you know." Claw meowed, a sly grin stretching across his face as he unsheathed his claws.

"Well, you-wait. What-ah!"

Yellowbird let out a startled yowl as Claw suddenly leapt at her and wrestled her to the ground, digging his claws into her fur and flesh.

"Let me go!" Yellowbird sceeched, struggling and thrashing and she unsheathed her claws and, in her flurry of startled panic, raked them along the side of Claw's face. Claw hissed and jerked back, the side of his face dripping with blood, but made no hesitation in suddenly lunging forward with a vicious hiss and toward Yellowbird's exposed throat.

But before his teeth and fangs to pierce thru flesh, a yowl sounded, followed by a sharp, painful hit on the back of Claw's head.

Then, everything went dark.

 Chapter 1 

Claw's bright green eyes flickered open-but as he did so, the Rogue let out a startled yowl and leapt to his feet, his fur on end and his claws unsheathed. For, a black-furred tortoiseshell tom with ginger-red and silvery-grey splotches, a white muzzle and tail tip, and strange, but friendly blood-red eyes sat a few feet away from him in what looked like a tunnel of bracken. "Oh, hello. I can see you're up." The chuckled the tortoiseshell tom with a flick of his white-tipped tail. Claw flattened his ears and crouched in response, ready to spring at the tom. "Hey! Hey! There'll be no roughousing while I'm guarding you, mouse-brain!" The tom suddenly spat, his blood-red eyes flashing dangerously. Claw flinched, taken back at the tom's sudden act of bravery and fierness, but wasn't too troubled by him. He could easily kill this tome off in less than a short matter of seconds. "Don't underestimate me, you filthy Rogue! You nearly killed one of our Warriors and that deserves imprisionment until further notice!" The tom hissed, glaring at Claw as he flexed his claws. "Where am I? I demand to know!" Claw yowled, flattening his ears and baring his fangs and teeth as he lashed his tail back and forth in anger. The tortoiseshell tom, after a moment, let his fur lie flat as he sat down, ears flattened. "You're in ThunderClan. Our Leader, Daystar, had us keep you in the ThunderClan camp entrance as to not disturb our Clanmates. Every single cat is in camp and knows that you're here." The tom growled. "And, by the way, not that I'd care if I told you or not, I'm Ravenfeather."