"You ready for the journey?" He inquired, the smirk ever present on his scarred face. Hiddenstrike was teasing, his old persona he seemed to have lost along the way. He was glad to have some of it back. "I'm good to go whenever you are."
"Once a MoonClanner, always a MoonClanner. You never really do leave the hivemind," she said softly, a sigh. Mapletail's own anxieties mirrored Hiddenstrike's. Her siblings- all fifty million of them. Would she be welcomed back?
"When should we leave?" she said, the words a challenge sent to the wind. In the background of the scene, a banjo began playing. Adventure music.
The large Tom-cat let his gaze float upward, focusing on the dark sky. He was afraid of what his siblings would think of him, after all this time. He knew in his heart that they needed to go back and find Jupiter- put an end to his murdering ways. He huffed out a sigh and looked at Mapletail.
“Guess you’ve decided for us then.” It was said with an amused edge to his tone, a small smirk appearing on his face.
"I'm sorry," Mapletail said reflexively, "An eye for half your face and neck doesn't sound like a fair trade. When we get back to MoonClan, we can look for him. Two against one is a fairer fight, don't you think?" Mapletail said, already set in resolve that she and Hiddenstrike were returning, even if Hiddenstrike wasn't there yet.
He couldn't tell whether her staring was making him uncomfortable or not. He was glad she was able to finally look at him, with all the ugliness and what not. Hiddenstrike shifted into a sitting position and curled his tails around his paws. Her question had him delving into memories he wished he could keep hidden.
"I was... found by his group after a dog attack. Jupiter was the one who actually saved me- watching that scrawny cat face off against a vicious canine set a fear in my heart that I didn't know possible." He paused for a moment, an image of the Havana brown rogue popping in his head. "I stayed with the group for a little while, not realizing what they were really about. Let's just say it's the darker part of my past I'd prefer not to say. The reason they were hunting me is because I refused order and attacked Jupiter. I ripped out his eye- guess this," He gestured to his face, "Was payback."
Mapletail's face went sour as she thought of the clan- she'd been unhappy there, but she missed her family, and the entire mess of emotions was jumbled and confusing, like a maze of pine trees. She looked up at Hiddenstrike, now unable to look away out of intrigue.
"They must not know what that cat's done, then. What cat sends assassins out? What did you even do to deserve it?" she said with a lash of her tail. In her anger, her coat rippled, and she winced as the simple motion sent pain from the cleft of her belly.
Hiddenstrike tried to ignore Shelly's blatant refusal to look at him and he succeeded somewhat. He knew how bad it looked- before the injury, he hadn't pegged himself to be an attractive looking feline but now. Starclan, it was a sight to behold. It hurt, but he'd learned to get over it. He chuckled at her choice of words.
"Yea- I heard part of their conversation before and it seems the cat who sent them has joined clan life." The fear that tugged at his heart was plain to see on the uninjured part of his face. He wasn't afraid of Jupiter, No. He was afraid for his family.
Shelly had to look away, for Hiddenstrike's hideousness was not to be underestimated. Mapletail, on the other hand, was forced to stare. The crust of scabs on the tom's healing face made a mosaic of oozing plasma- it would take a long time for it to be free of gunk. Mapletail was shocked- her first reaction was one of disgust. Of suddenly finding a fireant's feast at one's paws, she regarded Hiddenstrike with an avenging nausea. But then on second glance, she found something oddly interesting about his one-eyed stare. The scar that stretched down the side of his face was testament . . . to something. Mapletail would figure out what it was later.
She cleared her throat to cover up the silence she'd forged. "Split open," the siamese responded, "Those were the cats chasing you?"
At the mention of his name, whether he heard it or not, Hiddenstrike appeared through the under brush. Most of the minor wounds had healed, but his face had been dealt a great deal of damage. He'd gone to the creek not too far from their little den area and stared at his reflection for a while. He wondered what his siblings would say if they saw him. Would they recoil in disgust? It didn't occur to him about much his appearance bothered him until now. He looked like a monster straight out of a queens horror story. His single yellow eye focused on Mapletail, relief flooding his body at the sight of the she-cat awake. She looked worse for wear, but that's to be expected after almost dying and being unconscious for five days.
"Glad to see you're up." He rumbled, the sound vibrating his chest. "How do you feel?" He tried to ignore the way Shelly looked at him when he approach, willing away the odd pressure in his chest.
When she awoke, Mapletail was laid out in warm sun, on a lush bed of moss. Her head rested on a headdress of feathers. Confusion alighted in her delirium before the she-cat realized standing was painful. The twitches of her paws made her stomach ripple painfully and the she-cat looked down to realize the tabby of her cream stomach was just barely held together in scabs.
A distance away, a small form moved. A black kitten.
"Froggy-" Mapletail said successfully, despite the way her throat rattled with parched thirst. Quite severely she realized her dire situation as the black and white kitten ran off, sending a spray of leaves on top of Mapletail's heaving form. Pain was soon blossoming behind her carved brow, no longer hidden by dreams.
Exposition was desperately needed, and provided when Froggy returned with his mother, Shelly, who likewise looked haggard. A new scratch parted the fur on the queen's chest and her ear was now split in two. A new mark on Lonerclan's coat.
Mapletail realized the she-cat had moss soaked in water and her blue eyes widened- she would kill for it, given the chance. She didn't have to. Shelly placed it by her head on the assembled nest and Mapletail nursed on it like a kitten until there was nothing left. She gasped- Shelly looked on worriedly.
"I don't think I should give you more without Woodleaf- he's gone for more herbs. Vee's hunting."
"Your kittens?"
"Frogtail, Maple, and Hazelday are all back at the den now. Frogtail's been watching you while I've been taking care of Maple- and you, too. W-we were scared to move you, Mapletail. Woodleaf said to build a nest around you- pray it doesn't rain."
Mapletail blinked in comprehension, refusing to understand the grossness of what she'd lost. Her freedom, stripped from her in one fell swoop. She was too busy feeling sorry for herself to remember the friend she mysteriously hadn't seen since she'd lost consciousness.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Five days."
"That explains the hunger pangs."
"Couldn't wake you up to eat."
"Yeah, well, f-" Mapletail remembered seeing blood wash over a terrible wound that wasn't hers- skin laid bare at an expanse of bare rocks, fur attached and not much else. She gasped- "Hiddenstrike!" she said, "Where is he?"
Shelly looked around- "He was here this morning. Woodleaf's been treating you both. I'm sure he wandered off to make dirt-"
The large tom shook his head, a headache poking at his cranium as he stared at the new she-cat. He was confused and in pain, but he knew he would survive. Hiddenstrike was only afraid that Mapletail wouldn't make it. "I don't- give me directions and I can go."
Shelly stared at Hiddenstrike for a moment longer as his face etched into her memory. She realized it was simply wounds causing her distortion of his character and she nodded. "You'll need medical attention- so will she. I know somebody. Her den is nearby. Do you know where it is?" she asked, beginning to stuff leaves at the wound that leaked blood in Mapletail's belly.
Hiddenstrike refrained from stepping any closer, his singular yellow eye focusing on Mapletail. "I'm a friend of hers- please, I just want to help." At no point in his entire life had Hiddenstrike ever been so polite.
Shelly's gray tail whipped around her as she glowered down in front of Mapletail, challenging the bleeding and ugly Hiddenstrike while Mapletail grappled with consciousness. "Who are you!" she called out in anger, smelling strongly of milk. Mapletail groaned on the ground, sucking in precious air through her teeth.
The black furred tom-cat had no time to realize what had happened- one moment Hawk was above him and the next he was staring up at the sky. Disorientated and confused, Hiddenstrike staggered to his paws and turned his head in order to see what was going on. It seemed he missed the rest of the fight, Hawk and his buddy were now bleeding out onto the forest floor. The wound on his face would surely scare any cat in sight.
"Are you two already?" The large tom stepped forward, stumbling slightly over his own feet. A growl erupted from his chest- anger clouding his singular yellow eye. Starclan- couldn't they have taken one of my legs!?
Mapletail gasped out and looked on in shock as Hiddenstrike’s face was ripped from him, crying out but unable to move besides moving forward a half an inch with her forelegs in a vain attempt to help. Hawk had abandoned her to bleed into the ground. She thought she was seeing the end of them both, before a gray streak ripped through the leaves beside her, a scream of war-shout ringing in her ears. The shape rammed right into Hawk. Mapletail was too shocked to recognize it was Shelly- the queen was fierce! Who on Earth could’ve guessed?
She wrought death by a thousand cuts to Hawk as they battled, quick and small enough to avoid his claws while inflicting the tiny cuts. She was like a swarm of bees, contained in a cat. It was the same cat that Mapletail had bitten on the neck- his blood loss was catching up to him. Mapletail cried out as they tumbled closer towards her and realized their advance would not stop. She got to her paws to dodge before realizing she could take her chance- she reached forward instead of backward and buried her teeth into the tom’s throat as Shelly raked her claws down his belly.
The two she-cats’ breath synced as the tom’s faded slowly into nothing. Mapletail dropped him before collapsing herself. Shelly licked the she-cat before turning towards Hiddenstrike, bleeding heavily from her ear and part of her tail hanging limply.
As soon as Hiddenstrike landed on the loner's back, Hawk rolled, effectively squishing Hiddenstrike beneath him. The breath was knocked clean from his lungs, spots blurring his vision as he gasped for air. This gave Hawk the perfect chance to rip into Hiddenstrike's flesh- pain washing over the warrior like a wave crashing into shore. Blood splattered the ground, staining the loner's paws red. The sound of struggle was heard just outside Hiddenstrike's peripheral. A new bout of energy hit him then and he was pushing himself to his feet, claws swiping and teeth barred as he fought Hawk off. The black furred tom-cat turned and barreled into the cat holding Mapletail down.
"Hawk! Forget her- Jupiter wanted this one."
Hiddenstrike had managed to tear into the loner's side, blood spurting- a massive wound left behind by his fangs. But with addition to Hawk- Hiddenstrike was soon overwhelmed. Hawk- being the bigger of the two- pinned Hiddenstrike to the ground while his buddy tore into the tom's face. Half his sight was taken from him, his left side going dark.
Mapletail didn’t have a chance to congratulate or be shocked at Hiddenstrike’s killing of the gang cat; she was too busy saving her own tail. Mapletail was a small cat, with cream fur that darkened to chocolate red at the points. A black half of her face. Piercing blue eyes. Black claws. All beauty, few brains, and mediocre in everything she did except exist. She fought for her life, her training not preparing her in the slightest, as the loner scratched a gash on her shoulder, another on her brow. Mapletail dodged a bite to the neck- barely, a chunk of her fur went flying. She rode back on her haunches, trying to give the tomcat an open place to attack on her underbelly so she could surprise him.Only she wasn’t quick enough to spring her trap. The tomcat was quicker than she thought.
His claws ripped open the cavity in her belly, spilling pleghm and clots over the golden leaves. In the scene of red, nothing was more startling, and Mapletail fell to her side. Her tail went limp. Shock filled her gaze. Her opposer stood over her as the bodies of his two friends fell around him.Mapletail’s mind boiled- she’d never wanted to die. She was a free spirit. She ran from responsibility, from ties, anything concrete she could attach herself to. Her paws twitched as her guts threatened to spill onto the leaf-litter. Desparation clawed at her brain- everything told her to run.She couldn’t.
Not having to worry about a second cat made it so much easier for Hiddenstrike to end the loners life. As soon as he found out only one cat was on his tail, the former Moonclan warrior and spun around and snapped the their cat's neck with a single paw strike. With one cat out of the way- he was off to help Mapletail.. Hawk was the only cat they needed to worry about. Back in the gang territory, Hiddenstrike and Hawk had been on equal playing field. Their skills evenly matched. He jumped, propelling himself upward until he landed on Hawk's back. He ripped the tom-cat away from his friend and bit into the loner's neck.
Mapletail dropped out of her tree like an owl, deadly precise but not deadly in intent. Her claws scraped the flank of a large black tom who brought up the rear of the trio, and the small tabby who was the pseudo-leader turned when he heard his friend scream, leaving the first cat to run towards Hiddenstrike. Mapletail hissed as fur ripped through her claws, but no flesh, and then saw herself facing two opponents. Her blue eyes flashed with defiance.
“I see what you mean now,” the tabby spoke, “She does smell ugly.”“Looks ugly too. What’s wrong with your face, blue-eyes? Dipped in ash as a kitten?” the black one said as he struck out with a paw towards the small she-cat. They were trying to intimidate her- a fact that Mapletail caught onto quickly. Her pride was wounded at their words, though, being quite vain in all she did.
She reached out towards the small one, sensing a lingering weakness, and was greeted with gnashing teeth and claws as the black one intercepted her, the tabby clinging to her back. The three cats began to rip into each-other, unsure of which would get the upper hand. Mapletail was determined to keep them from Shelly.
"You ready for the journey?" He inquired, the smirk ever present on his scarred face. Hiddenstrike was teasing, his old persona he seemed to have lost along the way. He was glad to have some of it back. "I'm good to go whenever you are."
"Once a MoonClanner, always a MoonClanner. You never really do leave the hivemind," she said softly, a sigh. Mapletail's own anxieties mirrored Hiddenstrike's. Her siblings- all fifty million of them. Would she be welcomed back?
"When should we leave?" she said, the words a challenge sent to the wind. In the background of the scene, a banjo began playing. Adventure music.
The large Tom-cat let his gaze float upward, focusing on the dark sky. He was afraid of what his siblings would think of him, after all this time. He knew in his heart that they needed to go back and find Jupiter- put an end to his murdering ways. He huffed out a sigh and looked at Mapletail.
“Guess you’ve decided for us then.” It was said with an amused edge to his tone, a small smirk appearing on his face.
"I'm sorry," Mapletail said reflexively, "An eye for half your face and neck doesn't sound like a fair trade. When we get back to MoonClan, we can look for him. Two against one is a fairer fight, don't you think?" Mapletail said, already set in resolve that she and Hiddenstrike were returning, even if Hiddenstrike wasn't there yet.
He couldn't tell whether her staring was making him uncomfortable or not. He was glad she was able to finally look at him, with all the ugliness and what not. Hiddenstrike shifted into a sitting position and curled his tails around his paws. Her question had him delving into memories he wished he could keep hidden.
"I was... found by his group after a dog attack. Jupiter was the one who actually saved me- watching that scrawny cat face off against a vicious canine set a fear in my heart that I didn't know possible." He paused for a moment, an image of the Havana brown rogue popping in his head. "I stayed with the group for a little while, not realizing what they were really about. Let's just say it's the darker part of my past I'd prefer not to say. The reason they were hunting me is because I refused order and attacked Jupiter. I ripped out his eye- guess this," He gestured to his face, "Was payback."
Mapletail's face went sour as she thought of the clan- she'd been unhappy there, but she missed her family, and the entire mess of emotions was jumbled and confusing, like a maze of pine trees. She looked up at Hiddenstrike, now unable to look away out of intrigue.
"They must not know what that cat's done, then. What cat sends assassins out? What did you even do to deserve it?" she said with a lash of her tail. In her anger, her coat rippled, and she winced as the simple motion sent pain from the cleft of her belly.
Hiddenstrike tried to ignore Shelly's blatant refusal to look at him and he succeeded somewhat. He knew how bad it looked- before the injury, he hadn't pegged himself to be an attractive looking feline but now. Starclan, it was a sight to behold. It hurt, but he'd learned to get over it. He chuckled at her choice of words.
"Yea- I heard part of their conversation before and it seems the cat who sent them has joined clan life." The fear that tugged at his heart was plain to see on the uninjured part of his face. He wasn't afraid of Jupiter, No. He was afraid for his family.
Shelly had to look away, for Hiddenstrike's hideousness was not to be underestimated. Mapletail, on the other hand, was forced to stare. The crust of scabs on the tom's healing face made a mosaic of oozing plasma- it would take a long time for it to be free of gunk. Mapletail was shocked- her first reaction was one of disgust. Of suddenly finding a fireant's feast at one's paws, she regarded Hiddenstrike with an avenging nausea. But then on second glance, she found something oddly interesting about his one-eyed stare. The scar that stretched down the side of his face was testament . . . to something. Mapletail would figure out what it was later.
She cleared her throat to cover up the silence she'd forged. "Split open," the siamese responded, "Those were the cats chasing you?"
At the mention of his name, whether he heard it or not, Hiddenstrike appeared through the under brush. Most of the minor wounds had healed, but his face had been dealt a great deal of damage. He'd gone to the creek not too far from their little den area and stared at his reflection for a while. He wondered what his siblings would say if they saw him. Would they recoil in disgust? It didn't occur to him about much his appearance bothered him until now. He looked like a monster straight out of a queens horror story. His single yellow eye focused on Mapletail, relief flooding his body at the sight of the she-cat awake. She looked worse for wear, but that's to be expected after almost dying and being unconscious for five days.
"Glad to see you're up." He rumbled, the sound vibrating his chest. "How do you feel?" He tried to ignore the way Shelly looked at him when he approach, willing away the odd pressure in his chest.
When she awoke, Mapletail was laid out in warm sun, on a lush bed of moss. Her head rested on a headdress of feathers. Confusion alighted in her delirium before the she-cat realized standing was painful. The twitches of her paws made her stomach ripple painfully and the she-cat looked down to realize the tabby of her cream stomach was just barely held together in scabs.
A distance away, a small form moved. A black kitten.
"Froggy-" Mapletail said successfully, despite the way her throat rattled with parched thirst. Quite severely she realized her dire situation as the black and white kitten ran off, sending a spray of leaves on top of Mapletail's heaving form. Pain was soon blossoming behind her carved brow, no longer hidden by dreams.
Exposition was desperately needed, and provided when Froggy returned with his mother, Shelly, who likewise looked haggard. A new scratch parted the fur on the queen's chest and her ear was now split in two. A new mark on Lonerclan's coat.
Mapletail realized the she-cat had moss soaked in water and her blue eyes widened- she would kill for it, given the chance. She didn't have to. Shelly placed it by her head on the assembled nest and Mapletail nursed on it like a kitten until there was nothing left. She gasped- Shelly looked on worriedly.
"I don't think I should give you more without Woodleaf- he's gone for more herbs. Vee's hunting."
"Your kittens?"
"Frogtail, Maple, and Hazelday are all back at the den now. Frogtail's been watching you while I've been taking care of Maple- and you, too. W-we were scared to move you, Mapletail. Woodleaf said to build a nest around you- pray it doesn't rain."
Mapletail blinked in comprehension, refusing to understand the grossness of what she'd lost. Her freedom, stripped from her in one fell swoop. She was too busy feeling sorry for herself to remember the friend she mysteriously hadn't seen since she'd lost consciousness.
"How long have I been asleep?"
"Five days."
"That explains the hunger pangs."
"Couldn't wake you up to eat."
"Yeah, well, f-" Mapletail remembered seeing blood wash over a terrible wound that wasn't hers- skin laid bare at an expanse of bare rocks, fur attached and not much else. She gasped- "Hiddenstrike!" she said, "Where is he?"
Shelly looked around- "He was here this morning. Woodleaf's been treating you both. I'm sure he wandered off to make dirt-"
The large tom shook his head, a headache poking at his cranium as he stared at the new she-cat. He was confused and in pain, but he knew he would survive. Hiddenstrike was only afraid that Mapletail wouldn't make it. "I don't- give me directions and I can go."
Shelly stared at Hiddenstrike for a moment longer as his face etched into her memory. She realized it was simply wounds causing her distortion of his character and she nodded. "You'll need medical attention- so will she. I know somebody. Her den is nearby. Do you know where it is?" she asked, beginning to stuff leaves at the wound that leaked blood in Mapletail's belly.
Hiddenstrike refrained from stepping any closer, his singular yellow eye focusing on Mapletail. "I'm a friend of hers- please, I just want to help." At no point in his entire life had Hiddenstrike ever been so polite.
Shelly's gray tail whipped around her as she glowered down in front of Mapletail, challenging the bleeding and ugly Hiddenstrike while Mapletail grappled with consciousness. "Who are you!" she called out in anger, smelling strongly of milk. Mapletail groaned on the ground, sucking in precious air through her teeth.
The black furred tom-cat had no time to realize what had happened- one moment Hawk was above him and the next he was staring up at the sky. Disorientated and confused, Hiddenstrike staggered to his paws and turned his head in order to see what was going on. It seemed he missed the rest of the fight, Hawk and his buddy were now bleeding out onto the forest floor. The wound on his face would surely scare any cat in sight.
"Are you two already?" The large tom stepped forward, stumbling slightly over his own feet. A growl erupted from his chest- anger clouding his singular yellow eye. Starclan- couldn't they have taken one of my legs!?
Mapletail gasped out and looked on in shock as Hiddenstrike’s face was ripped from him, crying out but unable to move besides moving forward a half an inch with her forelegs in a vain attempt to help. Hawk had abandoned her to bleed into the ground. She thought she was seeing the end of them both, before a gray streak ripped through the leaves beside her, a scream of war-shout ringing in her ears. The shape rammed right into Hawk. Mapletail was too shocked to recognize it was Shelly- the queen was fierce! Who on Earth could’ve guessed?
She wrought death by a thousand cuts to Hawk as they battled, quick and small enough to avoid his claws while inflicting the tiny cuts. She was like a swarm of bees, contained in a cat. It was the same cat that Mapletail had bitten on the neck- his blood loss was catching up to him. Mapletail cried out as they tumbled closer towards her and realized their advance would not stop. She got to her paws to dodge before realizing she could take her chance- she reached forward instead of backward and buried her teeth into the tom’s throat as Shelly raked her claws down his belly.
The two she-cats’ breath synced as the tom’s faded slowly into nothing. Mapletail dropped him before collapsing herself. Shelly licked the she-cat before turning towards Hiddenstrike, bleeding heavily from her ear and part of her tail hanging limply.
As soon as Hiddenstrike landed on the loner's back, Hawk rolled, effectively squishing Hiddenstrike beneath him. The breath was knocked clean from his lungs, spots blurring his vision as he gasped for air. This gave Hawk the perfect chance to rip into Hiddenstrike's flesh- pain washing over the warrior like a wave crashing into shore. Blood splattered the ground, staining the loner's paws red. The sound of struggle was heard just outside Hiddenstrike's peripheral. A new bout of energy hit him then and he was pushing himself to his feet, claws swiping and teeth barred as he fought Hawk off. The black furred tom-cat turned and barreled into the cat holding Mapletail down.
"Hawk! Forget her- Jupiter wanted this one."
Hiddenstrike had managed to tear into the loner's side, blood spurting- a massive wound left behind by his fangs. But with addition to Hawk- Hiddenstrike was soon overwhelmed. Hawk- being the bigger of the two- pinned Hiddenstrike to the ground while his buddy tore into the tom's face. Half his sight was taken from him, his left side going dark.
(tis bad- my apologies)
Mapletail didn’t have a chance to congratulate or be shocked at Hiddenstrike’s killing of the gang cat; she was too busy saving her own tail. Mapletail was a small cat, with cream fur that darkened to chocolate red at the points. A black half of her face. Piercing blue eyes. Black claws. All beauty, few brains, and mediocre in everything she did except exist. She fought for her life, her training not preparing her in the slightest, as the loner scratched a gash on her shoulder, another on her brow. Mapletail dodged a bite to the neck- barely, a chunk of her fur went flying. She rode back on her haunches, trying to give the tomcat an open place to attack on her underbelly so she could surprise him. Only she wasn’t quick enough to spring her trap. The tomcat was quicker than she thought.
His claws ripped open the cavity in her belly, spilling pleghm and clots over the golden leaves. In the scene of red, nothing was more startling, and Mapletail fell to her side. Her tail went limp. Shock filled her gaze. Her opposer stood over her as the bodies of his two friends fell around him. Mapletail’s mind boiled- she’d never wanted to die. She was a free spirit. She ran from responsibility, from ties, anything concrete she could attach herself to. Her paws twitched as her guts threatened to spill onto the leaf-litter. Desparation clawed at her brain- everything told her to run. She couldn’t.
Mapletail couldn’t run from death.
Not having to worry about a second cat made it so much easier for Hiddenstrike to end the loners life. As soon as he found out only one cat was on his tail, the former Moonclan warrior and spun around and snapped the their cat's neck with a single paw strike. With one cat out of the way- he was off to help Mapletail.. Hawk was the only cat they needed to worry about. Back in the gang territory, Hiddenstrike and Hawk had been on equal playing field. Their skills evenly matched. He jumped, propelling himself upward until he landed on Hawk's back. He ripped the tom-cat away from his friend and bit into the loner's neck.
Mapletail dropped out of her tree like an owl, deadly precise but not deadly in intent. Her claws scraped the flank of a large black tom who brought up the rear of the trio, and the small tabby who was the pseudo-leader turned when he heard his friend scream, leaving the first cat to run towards Hiddenstrike. Mapletail hissed as fur ripped through her claws, but no flesh, and then saw herself facing two opponents. Her blue eyes flashed with defiance.
“I see what you mean now,” the tabby spoke, “She does smell ugly.” “Looks ugly too. What’s wrong with your face, blue-eyes? Dipped in ash as a kitten?” the black one said as he struck out with a paw towards the small she-cat. They were trying to intimidate her- a fact that Mapletail caught onto quickly. Her pride was wounded at their words, though, being quite vain in all she did.
She reached out towards the small one, sensing a lingering weakness, and was greeted with gnashing teeth and claws as the black one intercepted her, the tabby clinging to her back. The three cats began to rip into each-other, unsure of which would get the upper hand. Mapletail was determined to keep them from Shelly.