Recruit/Story

  Recruit

 i am a recruit, and i am going to do what it takes 

 By Miststream

Chapter One
“Fight!”

The massive tabby tom snarled at me. We circled each other warily. His hackles raised as he stared straight into my gaze. I knew he would be unsuspecting. I rammed straight into him without a moment’s thought. The cat collapsed, shrieking, as I raked my claws against his belly.

He flipped over in the struggle and faced me again, leaping into me, snapping jaws heading straight for my throat. I sidestepped just in time, and his scrabbling claws caught deep into my leg instead. Blood spattered onto the dusty ground, catching the light.

I flattened myself to the ground as he tried to take the breath out of me by roughly dragging me by the scruff. With a screech, I pummeled my hind legs into him. He let go with a snarl, but came back for the kill.

He is not stopping.

Blood coursed through my veins, setting my heart in a racing fury. My vision turned red.

This cat meant to kill.

I yowled and flung my claws down his flank. Three deep channels ran down it. The tom screeched in agony and collapsed on the ground.

With a final gasp, I slashed through his throat. Blood flowed thickly from it, and then stopped

The tom didn’t flinch. He was dead.

“Freeze!” Three massive cats, soldiers of the Major, circled in on me. “Step away from the body,” one cat growled. I stepped back. One wrong move, and these cats would tear me apart.

The largest cat by far stepped forward. Scars crisscrossed on his flank, his face a huge wound. Muscles rippled underneath his fur, and his stride spilled with authority. “Stop.” He faced me. “Eradico, you are accepted within the Majors. Good luck to you.” The speaking cat retreated and the officials stepped back.

I looked around at all of the cats. They were all large, well-built figures, with wounds showing of many a battle and muscles packed under the bodies.

So these were the Majors.

The Major was the leading force of the Twolegplace. Their power extended over all of the Twolegplace, and controlled all of the cats within. Every rogue, loner, and kittypet feared the presence of a Major soldier, for if they were doing anything other than the Commander’s bidding, they were either put to death or given a punishment...which was usually never pleasant.

My family had been targeted by all of the top lieutenants of the Majors, for we held a great history – my father had began the Central Force, which opposed the Majors and all of its foul regulation and actions. He recruited many of the bravest, strong willed and minded cats to oppose the evil and bring justice to the Twolegplace.

The Central Force had grown and swelled in number, and though they laid low, every cat knew about its presence just as much as the Majors. The Commander of the Major sought out every cat associated with the Central Force and put them to death – if any Force soldiers were caught, there was no chance of escape.

My father, the Force leader, and my mother urged my only brother and sister to join forces with the Majors, since they were still unknown to the Commander. If it came to knowledge to the Major that the leader of the Central Force had kits, they would be the main targets. My brother, Shard, proved his worth by working hard among the Majors. He was raised to Head lieutenant, and my sister, Sky, was the lead Offensive range.

And then I was born. Just when my mother and father thought Shard and Sky were safe, I came and they were ceaselessly shifting homes, moving around, trying to keep me alive and well until I was of age to trial for the Testing ceremony. That day is today. I was now part of the Majors.

Chapter Two
I retired to the Recruit den, a place for the newest members still in training for combat and the ways of the Major.

My mother and father were somewhere out there. My mother would be the lead Trainer of the Central Force, teaching cats to fight with mercy, to never kill unless necessary. My father would lead the Force, looking upon the cats, making sure they were all well, and overlooking the progress of the Major’s power. For all I knew, they were alive no longer, dead under a Major’s bloody claws.

If only I knew where Sky and Shard were. We would never interact in our days, because Recruits were of the lowest rank and were looked down upon. A Head lieutenant would be among the senior soldiers, talking with the Commander himself. Sky was at a prestigious position, and as lead Offensive range commanded the Offensive troops on the attacks, and was even more important than Defensive range. And Sky and Shard were not even aware of my existence. My father could not give word to them within the Major without alerting the Commander too. If I did meet them, I would not know what they looked like without names. And how would I find them in the hundreds of cats who were in arms with the Majors?

My body writhing with tension, I closed my eyes and fell into an uneasy, unsettled sleep. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Morning light filtered through the woven stems of the den. Many cats were stirring beside me in the Recruit den, ready for another session of training.

Who is my mentor? I wondered curiously. I wanted to know who I would be learning under. Peeking out of the den, I looked at the central clearing.

The Majors headquarters resided in a huge crater into the ground, with soaring sandstone walls. Slopes ran around the walls for access higher on the wall. Gaps in the walls opened into small meeting rooms and dens. Many hundreds of gaps littered the wall like a beehive. Hundreds of cats were already crowded into the central clearing, but with these numbers the floor space still looked sparse. There were many, many more cats in the Major.

“Ah, Recruits,” a voice sounded behind me. It was loud and harsh. A she-cat stood tall beside me, her thick gray and white fur ruffled a bit. “Get yourselves out and ready.”

Quickly the cats shuffled out. There were forty or so recruits, all as small as me and looking scared and nervous.

“I am Ephixa,” the cat hissed quietly. “I am a second-Stance Corporal. Should any of you show disrespect toward me in any way, you will hear of it. I expect all of you to show up on time to training sessions and practice on your own time. For after all, on the tenth moon of your Recruit training, we will hold a gathering and you will be placed to the appropriate combat rank.”

I gulped. If I didn’t work hard enough, I felt as if my secrets would be spilled. I needed to work enough to make up for my roots.

Ephixa shot a glance at me suddenly, her eyes narrowed. “You must be Eradico, our new Recruit. You have joined within a moon of our training sessions’ beginning, so you will be expected to make it up on your own time.” I nodded quickly.

Ephixa looked around once more, and then continued, “I shall take my leave and bring...overlooks for your training. In the meantime, you can stay here and practice.” I looked around in the silence. None of the other Recruits were speaking or moving, just standing there nervously. I couldn’t even do as much – my heart was pounding. When would I be found out?