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CREDIT - I was inspired to do this by Arti's fanfic series Firefly. How? Well, I was not interested in writing about cats other than the clan cats, but once I read Perfect Story (So They Say), and then Afraid, I thought, Maybe writing about cats other than clan cats is not a bad idea. Maybe I should write a fanfic about them too. So, special thanks to Arti and her fanfic series Firefly.
By the way everyone, you might notice that I am fond of tortoiseshells XD Catnip ∗ a.k.a Jay ∗ 04:12, January 29, 2011 (UTC)
Many moons ago, the cats of the twolegplace lived independent lives. They did not necessarily interact with each other, thus, living in peace and harmony. That is, until one cat came... The evil tyrant, Scorpio.
"There's a hero
If you look inside your heart
You don't have to be afraid
Of what you are
There's an answer
If you reach into your sould
And the sorrow that you know
Will melt away
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
It's a long road
When you face the world alone
No one reaches out a hand
For you to hold
You can find love
If you search within yourself
And the emptiness you felt
Will disappear
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you
Lord knows
Dreams are hard to follow
But don't let anyone
Tear them away
Hold on
There will be tomorrow
In time
You'll find the way
And then a hero comes along
With the strength to carry on
And you cast your fears aside
And you know you can survive
So when you feel like hope is gone
Look inside you and be strong
And you'll finally see the truth
That a hero lies in you"
Song By Mariah Carey - Hero
CHAPTER 1
It was a stormy, particularly cold, day. She was sleeping - well, trying to - under a dumpster. It had been raining for days, and she was really irritated by it. Earlier in the day she had managed to catch a pitifully skinny rat. Her stomach grumbled.
It was not the fact that it was raining that made the prey scarce though. She could not remember the last time she ate a decent meal. Two moons ago? Four moons ago? It was all Scorpio's, the ruler of the twolegplace, fault. He did not allow any cat to hunt in the hunting grounds of the twolegplace. The only place that they were allowed to get food from was...The dumpsters, which did not have much to offer. Cats were starving to death, dying from diseases and the number of kits born was reduced to zero, but Scorpio did not seemed to care.
There was no escape from the twolegplace either. Scorpio had his most trusted guards all around the territory. Escape was impossible. Hunting was impossible. Their only choice was to die. This was the destiny of the cats who lived in the twolegplace.
She was still young. She was almost thirteen moons old. Her mother died giving birth to her, and her father... Scorpio killed him because he was a rebel. She shivered as she remembered how he killed him.
-Flashback-
They were in a clearing. All the cats had gathered around Scorpio and her father. Scorpio had a satisfied expression on his face because all the cats came, as he requested, without delaying. She tried to call out to her father, but the noise was too much for her father to hear her.
"My cats," Scorpio began, "as you all know, we are here for the judgment of a rebel! He has went against me. He refuses to be under my leadership. Well, if that is what he wants, I will give it to him." There was frightened glances exchaged in the crowd.
Scorpio looked at her father before continuing to speak, "Too bad for his kit. She is only five moons. She will be all alone and defenseless with no mother or father to protect her."
"If you dare touch my daughter..." her father growled.
"What?" Scorpio hissed. "Are you going to kill me? Well too bad because I am going to kill you now," he growled mockingly. Before her father could say anything else, Scorpio sliced his belly open. He was dead.
-End of Flashback-
She wriggled out of the dumpster. It was still raining heavily, but she just ignored it and walked towards a twoleg nest that could be seen at the distance. That place was a special place for her.
-Flashback-
"Where are we going Dad?" she asked in her squeaky kit voice, as she followed her father out of the dumpster, which they lived in. "Are we going to look for food? 'Cause I am very hungry."
"It is a surprise," her father answered. "Now, come on Psyche. The sooner we get there, the sooner you will see it."
"But get where?" she complained. She never liked surprises. She liked to find out about the things right away instead of waiting to find it out. Her father looked down at her and smiled. She looked up at him and smiled too. She padded closed to him, and nuzzled his foreleg.
Soon, they were in front of a fence of a twoleg nest.Her father helped her climb the nest, and from there to the roof. She sat down to catch her breath and looked up. Her eyes widened in amazement.
"What do you think?" her father meowed, grinning.
"I never knew there was a forest and a big water puddle beyond here!" she squeaked out.
"That big water puddle is called a lake, my dear one," his father explained. "It is especially pretty when the sun sets."
"Can we one day go there?" she asked, looking at her father.
"Maybe," he murmured, although he sounded doubtful. "Maybe..." he then turned to her. "Do you know why I named you Psyche?" he asked. She shook her head. "Because my mother once told me that a great ancestor of ours was named Psyche, and when she died she became a star. From up above she watches constantly although we cannot see her at daytime."
"Really?" she asked. That was weird. Do cats become a star when they die?
"Yes." He continued looking at the forest. '"Remember, my dear one, no matter what happens, I will always be there for you, okay?" he said without looking at her. She nodded. "I love you, my daughter."
"I love you too Dad."
-End of Flashback-
CHAPTER 2
Psyche climbed the roof and sat down. This was were she would go whenever she remembered her father. He said he would be always there for me, she thought bitterly. But it was not true. She sighed. It was no use getting angry at him now. She missed him so much. Why did he have to die? Well it wasn't his fault, she thought bitterly again, it was all Scorpio's fault. He is no leader; he is a tyrant.
She looked at the forest far away. She would have went there if she could, but escape was impossible. She was disgusted by Scorpio, and not only because he was evil, but he was also a... Cannibal. Only a few cats knew about him being a cannibal. She was one of them. She knew he was because she saw him secretly feeding on one of the rebels after killing him. It was a terrible sight. Purely terrible.
"What are you doing up there? a voice called out from the fence bellow. It was a dark calico cat with pale blue eyes.
"Just watching the scenery," she answered. What she was doing was none of his business!
"Sure..." he said and snorted with disbelief. 'Probably you are making escape plans," he meowed.
"If only..." she muttered under her breath. "Anyway, why would you care?" she called out. The cat climbed the fence, then the roof, and sat two tail lengths away from her.
"I wouldn't," he meowed. "My name is Phonoi, by the way."
"He probably named you," she muttered.
"Yes, my father named me as he is my father," Phonoi meowed. Psyche flicked her ear. She was just trying to be sarcastic. But he actually is Scorpio's son, she thought. "What is your name?" Phonoi meowed.
Why does he want to know? "My name is Psyche," she meowed.
"Nice to meet you then," he said, then he narrowed his eyes. "So what are you doing here?" he asked.
"I already told that I was watching the scenery," she mumbled. Phonoi rolled his eyes in exasperation.
"You really think, I would believe that?" he meowed. Psyche snorted.
"It was worth a shot," she muttered. "Anyway, why would you want to talk with me? Scorpio does not allow other cats to talk with rebels or their kin."
"Well, he won't know about me talking to you, if you don't tell him," he meowed. He got up and padded a bit closer to her, and sat down again. "I saw you a few times sitting here before. Really, why do you come here?"
She sighed. There was no escaping from this question, by the look of it. "I come here whenever I remember my father," she meowed quietly. "He was everything I ever had."
"And my father took him from you," Phonoi murmured. He shook his pelt, spraying water at her.
"Watch out!" she protested. Phonoi grinned.
"It is raining and we are already soaked. You shouldn't mind it really," he meowed teasingly.
"Yeah, whatever," she meowed.
"Well, where do you live?" Phonoi asked. She pointed with her tail at the dumpster that could be seen a little bit at the distance. He nodded. Just then Psyche's stomach grumbled. She ducked her head in embarrasment as the well fed tom chuckled. "You must be hungry," he said. He looked around and climbed down the roof, and disappeared.
Where is he? she thought. Ignore him. Psyche continued to watch the shimmering lake at the distance.
"Hey!" a voice shouted into her ear. She spun around, her tail fluffed up in bewilderment, and she unsheated her claws. Then she saw who it was and managed to relax, although she glared at him.
"You had to see your face," Phonoi purred. "You were terrified!"
"Don't do that ever again!" she hissed. She sat down, and licked her chest self-consciously. That was when she saw the squirrel in his paws. He nudged it towards her.
"Eat it," he meowed. She looked at him weirdly. "Well, come on," he urged. "I will share it with you." With that he bent down and took a bite. She shrugged, and bent down as well. She was not about to reject a nice meal.
"I suppose we can be friends?" Phonoi asked. She looked up at him for a moment, and nodded. He smiled. "Thanks," he meowed.
CHAPTER 3
She walked towards the park. As she entered the park, and padded up to a bramble bush, she called out, "Willow!"
She expected her best friend to come out of the bramble bush, which she used as a den. Instead, a large tom came black tom came out. "Who are you?"
The tom looked at her with distaste. "None of your business weakling." He looked back at the bramble bush. "Are you looking for Willow?" When she nodded, the tom meowed, "Then you haven't heard that she was murdered by a rebel."
"A rebel?" Wasn't Wilow her best friend? How can a rebel, who most likely had to be on Willow's and her side, kill her best friend?
"Yes, a rebel," the tom said with a nod. "She was responsible of telling Scorpio who are the rebels around here. One of them found out about it, and killed her. Scorpio is going to give his punishment tommorrow, which is executing him," he explained.
Psyche's head was spinning. The cat that I thought as my friend was a traitor? she thought. She had to consider herself lucky that Willow had not found any real proof that she was a rebel. I could have been killed by now. She turned to the black tom. "I am Psyche, the daughter of the rebel, Falcon," she meowed as it was required when you were a rebel's kin, and were introducing yourself.
"What!" The cat said with outrage. "You are the daughter of a rebel?"
"Yes, but I am under Scorpio's rule. I always helped Willow at spotting rebels," she said quickly. She dearly hoped that this cat believed it. The cat nodded.
"Okay then," he growled. "I am Killer. One of Scorpio's lieutenants. If I were you, I would stand out of my way."
Psyche ran to her den (if it was a proper den at all). She wriggled under the dumpster, and when she was as comfortable as she could get, she closed her eyes and waited for sleep to come.
"Hey, anyone in there?" a voice called out from outside of the dumpster. Psyche opened her eyes, she looked around with sleepy eyes for a moment and yawned. "Who is it?" she called back.
"Come on! I thought you wouldn't forget my voice after all the chattering I did!" the voice exclaimed. She rolled her eyes, and wriggled out. As she expected, it was Phonoi. What does he want? she thought. She was pretty tired. It had been a week since she ran into Killer, and during that time, Phonoi still came everyday to visit her. She did not really mind seeing the muscular tom, who always wanted to have walk with her, talk about her life. However, he was still uncomfortable around him
"What do you want, now?" she asked.
"No need to get bossy," he meowed. "I thought we could go around and have some fun." She snorted. Fun? After her father's death, there was no such a word as 'fun' in her case.
"What is it that is going to be fun?" she meowed, stressing the word. Phonoi purred, and flicked her ear with his tail.
He winked. "It is a surprise," he meowed, imitating her. She grumbled. "Grumpy badger!" he meowed.
"Not so."
"Are so!"
"Not so."
"Are so!"
"Not so!"
Are so!"
"NOT SO!" she yowled. Phonoi started to roll in the ground. She tipped her head to one side, and looked. He was laughing! And at her! "You'll see!" she called out, and leaped on him. They started to wrestle playfully.
"So you don't hate fun after all," Phonoi purred. She ducked her head, then looked up again.
"Uh, I gotta go," she stammered, and started to walk away, but he catched up and padded beside her.
"I am coming too," he meowed. What do you want? she thought for probabaly the thousandth time, since they met.
"Okay, then," she said. "But I am going to place, you are not allowed to go," she added. Phonoi tipped his head to one side.
"And what is this place?"
"It is the place, where the cats who are not Scorpio's kin, closest adivsors, guards or anything like that, can go," she meowed. "And if you come, I don't think they will like it."
"I am coming," he announced. She looked at him, surprised.
"Are you sure?" she asked. When he nodded, she said, "But where I am going is very smelly and creepy."
"So," he said with less certainity. He probably never went near such a place, she thought. "I still coming."
"Okay," she said. They started to pad towards the place she was talking about.
CHAPTER 4
"Here we are!" she announced. They were at a dark street, and the smell of rotten food and rats were all around. Phonoi wrinkled his nose.
"You actually come here sometimes?" he asked, darting his eyes from one side to another. She shrugged in response.
"This is nothing," she meowed, and before she could stop herself, she blurted out, "espeically compared to Scorpio's cannibalism." Phonoi looked at her with wide-eyes.
"Tha-that's not true," he stammered. "My father doesn't eat cats."
"I saw it myself."
"You're lying," he meowed. "I know it because you never liked him. I bet you probaby hate me too because of him. Even though all I did was trying to be your friend."
"I am not lying," she growled with anger. "How dare you accuse me of such a thing. I saw it with my own eyes!" she yowled, but Phonoi had already started to walk away, his chin and his tail high. She hissed. The stuck-up furball! How dare he accuse her of lying!
"Well, he can think whatever he wants," she muttered to herself. "I don't care."
Psyche watched the stars reflecting on the lake from her perch on the roof of the twoleg's house. Can there be way to get there? she thought. "Every star above us is the spirit of a long-dead cat," she murmured remembering the times, when she came here with her father, and he'd talk about the stars. "They are all there watching over us. And one day we willjoin there ranks and watch over our fellow cats." She blinked, and looked up at the sky. Are you there father? she thought. Are you watching over me too?
She sighed. It was just too hard to think that her father was up above, instead of being under the ground his flesh rotting. She flexed her claws, imagining Scorpio to be under them. Maybe even Phonoi!
She shook her head. She was being unfair to Phonoi. Scorpio was his father after all. How would he know that Scorpio was such a cat. If they said the same thing for her father, she would not have believe in it either. But wasn't it obvious what kind of cat Scorpio was! Phonoi was just being a thick-skulled mouse-brain.
It was morning. Psysche blinked her eyes open. She yawned and stretched as she padded out of the dumpster. As he sat down to give herself a wash, she heard her stomach grumbling. I might be able to find something to eat today, she thought as she looked up at the cloudlees sky. At least a skinny mouse.
As she got up to her feet. She heard a sound. She turned around, expecting to see Phonoi, but it was just a twoleg passing by. She sighed and headed towards the street.
She had not seen Phonoi for days. She really did not mind it, since she did not know for sure if she could trust him or not. But she had enjoy spending her time with a care-free companion, instead of all on her own. Her heart ached as she remembered their fight. Phonoi was a very nice cat. He, too, grew up withut a mother. He probably did not want to think that the only cat left in his life - the one that reared him to become a strong cat - was a cannibal, eating his own kind.
You are lying! I know it because you never liked him. I bet you probaby hate me too because of him. Even though all I did was trying to be your friend.
She winced as she remembered the words. I don't hate him. I care about who he is, not who his father is, she thought. But a small voice inside her said, Are you sure?
CHAPTER 5
Phonoi rested his head on his paws, and sighed. He knew his father did not like him lying around, doing nothing. He had ordered him to go hunting, but he had refused. His father did not know, but Phonoi did not want to encounter Psyche. He did not like her accusation about his father. His father was no cannibal!
Of course, he had missed Psyche. She was so nice, and he felt sorry for her being so lonely. Yes, his father had killed hers, but that was it. He killed only the rebels, and no one else.