Lonely Solace

[Flamefur]

A lone red cat stood at the top of the glistening waterfall, his ears filled with nothing but the roar of the falls hitting the hard rocks below. He had just come from Four Trees, where he had run into several other clan cats. He almost attacked, but they outnumbered him, and he didn't stand a chance.

He stood there, contemplating his life in the RogueBand. For now, his amibition was sated by his hatred for the clans, but he could not be happy merely working for another, no matter the independence of the rogues. There was the choice of the clans, but that would be worse, a hundred times worse. No, that option was gone... What else? The obvious was to kill the leader, but that would be a poor way to repay Deathmask. However, killing Shadowedheart wasn't out of the question. But Flamefur had no guarentee he would be chosen. He needed to do something to gain Deathmask's trust before doing something as drastic as killing Shadowedheart, not that it, considering Shadowedheart's skills, would be simple at all.

Slowly, a plan began to form in Flamefur's mind, and the more details he thought of and understood, the more it might just work. "I'm an evil genuis," He said quietly to himself, and he unsheathed his claws. "Just you wait, Clans Of The Forest. The RogueBand with Flamefur and Deathmask at it's head is coming for you." He whispered it so that even he could hardly hear it, but the thought of his plan made his blood rush, made his heart pound, and made him feel on fire. He yowled to the world, and turned away from the falls, his comtemplation complete.

"For now, I am an ordinary member of the RougeBand. But the next dawn's light shall reveal my glory and power. Flamefur is coming for the Clans. Whether anyone else likes it or not."

[moonstar]

Hatredkit stalked through the forest, his fur bristling. A scent washed over his nose, like a twoleg pouring water on a kittypet. He rocongnized the scent of Flamefur. He ran over to the warrior. " I heard you were on clan territory! Was it fun?"

[Flamefur]

((I don't know what that hacker was thinking; you're really good at role-playing. I remember it took me several weeks before I became good like you are. ))

Flamefur noticed the kit, and replied, "Yes, but only a little. I went to Fourtrees. There were some cats there, but they outnumbered me so I had to run." He hoped the kit would ask why he ran; it would be a good chance to teach the kit some self-preservation skills, unlike what he no doubt learned from the other RougeBand warriors.

[moonstar]

Hatredkit shook his head. He couldnt beleive such a brave warrior had run away! " Why did you run away? I bet you could have taken them!" Hatredkit began to knaw on Flamefur's tail.

[Flamefur]

Flamefur began flicking his tail around, and tapped it on Hatredkit's head in teasing. "Because, there's a thing called 'self-preservation'. Do you know what it means? It means that you think of living and not being a prisoner and other things like that. If you take on two or more cats alone, there's a good chance you won't survive, unless it's a relatively new apprentice and you've been training for it. Self-preservation is when you know you won't win, and you do what you need to in order to survive. For instance, me running is self-preservation since taking on two cats and a kit isn't worth it. You kits can scratch and bite like mad when you want to.
"Long story short; run if you're outnumbered, and think before you act."

[moonstar]

Hatredkit stared up at the wise warrior. " How did you learn to be so selfish? Can you teach me?" Hatredkit longed for the talent of being selfish.

[Flamefur]

Flamefur laughed, wondering why he couldn't have been brought up like this kit. The kit learned from all the warriors about the seven deadly sins; he would know them all. Why not teach the kit? He thought.

"Well, I learned first by noticing that a lot of cats around me didn't care for any but themselves. They would've left me in the dust if it got them something like power. That's another good thing; ambition. If a cat has ambition, he can go anywhere. If you want to learn to be selfish, the first thing you have to learn is never to care for someone. If you get attached to anyone, be it friend or lover, you'll never have the same amount of selfishness."

[moonstar]

Hatredkit looked confused. " What about kin? Can you care for kin?" Hatredkit wanted to care for his mother, but he wanted to be selfish also.

[Flamefur]

Flamefur thought for a moment, and replied, "You can care a little, but if a choice is to be made to save yourself or to have a small chance to save kin, you need to save yourself."

[moonstar]

Hatredkit nodde,understanding that he must take care of himself first. He stalked away back to the camp. He turned back to watch the wise warrior for a moment. When he looked ahead he saw a bright future of selfishness.

[Flamefur]

Flamefur walked behind Hatredkit, thinking also of Hatredkit's future. What will a kit brought up among rogues like us be like as a rogue himself? He mused, unconciously darting back and forth among the trees, making no noise as he followed Hatredkit.

[moonstar]

Hatredkit walked forward paying little attention to Flamefur. He was deep in thought. The clan cats get to love and care for others, that sounds like a horrible life! But, then again, what is love? What if it is not what I have been taught? What if its not the prettiest she-cat? What if it is that tingly feeling that I have heard Deathmask saying the clan cats feel... Hatredkit shook away the thoughts.

[Flamefur]

Flamefur looked at Hatredkit, wondering why he shook his head. I wonder what he's thinking? Flamefur thought. He wondered if this had something to do with his mother; Hatredkit mentioned her earlier. Is she sick or something?

"Is anything the matter, Hatredkit?"

[moonstar]

Hatredkit looked up. He was emabarrased to ask the question that was haunting him. He shuffled his paws. " What is love?" He hoped that such a great warrior would understand. He suddnedly regretted asking the question. What if Flamefur told Deathmask?

[Flamefur]

"Love?" Asked the red cat, a little confused by the sudden question. "Well, love is when one cat has a lot of feelings for another cat, and it usually ends up with kittens. Love is the strongest of feelings, but it can be deadly for a rogue or a RogueBand cat. If a rogue has love, even for another rogue, usually that cat is so distracted and thinking of the cat they love all the time that they make a fatal mistake and die. Clan cats have it easier; they grow up with love all around them and are used to dealing with it, because from the moment they are born all the cats around them love them, or at least like them. The oddity in the clans is when cats hate each other; the oddity in the RogueBand or among rogues is when cats love each other. It's not powerful in battle or anything like that, but it's one of the only advantages the clan cats have, because they'll fight to the death for their Clan, because they love their clan. Rogues don't love many things, and if you don't love something you typically won't fight to the death for it.
"Do you understand now?" He finished, realizing he had been rambling.