Fall of the Clans Novella: Burning Scars

Prologue
Charlotte looked over her white fence, her violet collar jingling in the silence. She waited every night for him. Suddenly, she saw a streak of dark ginger fur. "Coppertail!" she called into the night.
The ginger tom looked up with an amber gaze and grinned when he saw the pretty gray she-cat. He paced over to her and beckoned to her. She leaped over and together they ran into the alleyway. Their alleyway. They had been planning for months. 
Coppertail looked over his shoulder to see Charlotte still following, still grinning, deep in love. "Charlotte, are you sure about this?" he asked. "You'll be leaving your Two-Legs, forever. You understand that right? Some nights, I won't even be able to come here and feed you and provide for all of you."
Charlotte smiled and bopped him on the nose. "Stop worrying you silly goose, you've been teaching me how to take care of myself for moons. I can do this! You saw me chase down that hawk!"
Coppertail chuckled. "How could I forget, you kept nagging into my ear about it for the next decade!"
"Psht!" Charlotte scoffed. "I only bragged for maybe a few moons."
Coppertail sighed before twining his tail with hers. "I'll be back, and if you ever desperately need me, come to the forest, ask for Coppertail. I'll come to find you."
"Well, how will I know that I'm in SkyClan?" Charlotte asked. 
"They smell like me. I bear the scent of SkyClan, just try to sniff me out, ok?"
Charlotte nodded. "Ok, be back soon."
He nuzzled her, and whispered into her ear, "I will, I promise. I'll be back before you can say 'Mouse-Brain.'"
Coppertail then ran off, and he never saw Charlotte again. 
Chapter One
It had been nearly two hours before Charlotte came back from her usual scavenge. Scarlet was starving, but she didn't complain. She knew how hard it was on her mother, living out in the alley's alone. She still had her collar on from the two-legs so she couldn't hunt very well. All they could ever hope for was a lucky shot with a rat or pigeon, or some trash is thrown outback.
Charlotte came back with the typical morsels, a bit of chicken from Chinese takeout and a few other scraps she could find. 
She laid it down in front of her and allowed Scarlet to dig in. Scarlet always slowed down halfway so that her mother would have something to eat as well. Lately, she hadn't been feeling too good.
It didn't help that her father was in trouble. Ok, maybe it was better to try not to assume the worst, but about five months ago, Charlotte was pregnant with Scarlet and had moved into the alleyway for a new life as a feral cat with Scarlet's father, Coppertail. 
Since then though, he's shown no trace of even existing. Charlotte was constantly worried that something bad happened but was too scared to leave Scarlet or take Scarlet with her to try to find Coppertail. So every day, they sit and wait. Charlotte refuses to go back to the two-legs, afraid that Coppertail would show up and find them gone. 
Scarlet snarfed down her chicken while her mother ate the rest of the scraps. After their bellies were halfway full, they stored it under the cooling vents two-legs use for their homes for emergencies. It was well hidden so no other animal would get in and was able to keep the food good.
Scarlet and Charlotte climbed into their little laid down trashcan onto their nest of newspaper, an old dog mattress and a bit of cardboard. 
This was the one time of day Charlotte ever smiled because right before Scarlet goes to sleep, Charlotte tells her a story. Normally, it's a story about her father and how great of a hero and warrior he was, and how he toughed it out in the forest with other wild cats.
Tonight though, Charlotte had a different story to tell. Something Coppertail had told her. A legend. 
"They were known to the world as 'Flame Tamers,'" she began. "For they had the power to bend and shift the flames and fires of, well anywhere, to their will. It was a gift from the stars, their ancestors. Once, a hero was born, and the stars gifted him the power of fire. With this, he was born with bright ginger pads."
"Just like mine!" Scarlet squealed, holding one of her paws up to prove it to her mother. 
"Yes, just like yours," Charlotte purred. "With this power, the hero did many great deeds. Though many cats in the forest feared his power, for fire brought destruction and death, he showed the good of fire. During the cold winter months, he brought warmth to his clanmates. When it was dark, he lit their way with the light of his power. And, being true to fire, he burned down and destroyed the enemies with intents of harm to his clan. He had many mates for he lived a long life. With these mates, he had many kits. Some were born with his gift of fire, others weren't. To symbolize their power, all of his descendants who had this power had bright orange pads. With the power of fire, they expanded beyond their clan and brought peace and good to all. To the world, they were forever known as Flame Tamers." 
Scarlet brought on a yawn that sent a shiver through her dark ginger pelt. "Do you think I'm a Flame Tamer mama?" 
"Perhaps," Charlotte chuckled. "Then you would be my little Flame Tamer, even if you're already the light of my life." 
Scarlet giggled as her mother nuzzled her muzzle into the soft dark ginger fur of her neck and back. "Time for bed my little Flame Tamer," Charlotte said. 
Scarlet cuddled closer into the warm, thick fur of her mother's gray belly. "Goodnight." 
Chapter Two
 It was nearly midnight when Charlotte was awoken by something. She desperately hoped that it wasn't the huge raccoon that had attempted to steal their stash of food. The sound came from behind the dumpster. Charlotte was tempted to take a peak, but as she was moving, she felt the small body of her daughter nuzzle up closer to her belly. 
No. If only for Scarlet, she would stay put. Until the noise became an immediate threat. But soon, there was a loud crash and the sound of yowling cats. They were fighting and losing. A loud slash was heard before the night fell silent but not still. Someone was approaching. 
Charlotte immediately jumped up and as quietly as possible, snuck out from the trash can. The noise came from behind an alleyway corner. She poked her head around to find two dead cats bathed in blood. Who had done this? 
Charlotte padded closer to get a better look at the bodies before a tall figure leaped in front of her. It was a tom. A tall, dark gray tom with thick and sleek fur towered over her. He had piercing amber eyes and the most cunning grin. 
He purred, "My my my, what pretty blue eyes I see." 
Charlotte tensed. She immediately recognized what he was trying to do. Plenty of the kittypet toms had attempted to woo her before. Albeit, none of them were this intimidating nor handsome. She noticed that he had a twisting and long scar that extended from his upper lip all the way up and through his left eye. This made him seem less handsome and more terrifying. 
His tail draped over her shoulders and he paced around her slender body. "What's a pretty she-cat like you doing out here in the dumps?" 
Charlotte swallowed. "I could ask you the same thing." 
The tom chuckled. "Oh, so I'm a pretty she-cat? How flattering." 
He circled her, like a crow circling a carcass. "Leave me alone," she hissed. She crouched into the Warrior pouncing position like Coppertail had taught her, but the tom simply laughed. 
"Trying to fight like those crazed wild cats now aren't ya?" 
"I know more than you think," she growled, her fur on the edge and her tail swishing above her head, back and forth. 
The tom was unfazed and used his tail to lift the tag on her collar. "A pretty kittypet out in the alleyways, now that's something I haven't seen before. I'll make this easy for you, you can be my mate, have my kits, just give me this part of the alley and it can be as simple as that." 
"Never, my heart belongs to someone else, and I will never submit to a low life rat like you!" 
The tom growled. "You'll regret that." He yowled and at least five other cats lined up behind him, their cold eyes glowing in the dark. Then, Charlotte heard barking. Loud, ferocious dogs followed the tom and pushed her back and back into her alley. 
Suddenly, she heard a voice. "Mama? Where are you?" 
No. Charlotte froze in cold fear. Scarlet came around and smiled. "There you are!" she squealed as she brushed up against her legs. 
Scarlet looked up at the toms and dogs, confused. "Mama, who are they?" 
The tom looked Charlotte in the eye. "No wonder you refused my offer. I'll sweeten the deal, your daughter can come to live with us, just be my mate." 
"No!" Charlotte yowled before leaping towards the leader and clawing at his face. He screamed in surprise and immediately the others came rushing towards her and pinned her down. 
Blood was streaming down his face now from the open wound in his scarred eye. He put a paw up to the gash and licked the blood. He turned to Charlotte with a murderous glare on his face. "I change my mind," he said. "Kill them both." 
He turned to leave as the dogs and cats followed suit. The ones pinning down Charlotte tried to get to her throat, but she leaped up and fought back. The dogs were on her too. 
Some of the other cats surrounded Scarlet, backing her up against a wall. She whimpered as the tried to make a move on her. 
The minute one of them came close to attacking her, she screamed and ducked. Heat waved around her, but she refused to look up. 
The other cats screamed, "FIRE, FIRE, RETREAT RETREAT!!' and ran away. Scarlet took a peek to see that there were no longer cats attacking her, but a wall of fire surrounding her mother and her attackers. 
"MOM!!" she screamed. She wanted to save her mother, but she couldn't do anything. It was almost like her paws were glued to the ground. 
Horrendous screams arose from the flames as they caved in on the trapped cats. Occasionally, Scarlet could see the occasional cat try to run out of the fire, but their bodies came out charred and dead. 
"Stop it, STOP IT!!" she screamed as she recognized her own mother's cry of terror, breaking her out of her trance. The fire obeyed, but it was too late. Scarlet could no longer see her mother. All that she saw was a charred, burned body with a blackened collar tag laying on the ground. 
Scarlet cried. She killed her own mother!! She couldn't stand to be in this alleyway any longer. She rushed back to her bed, crying, sobbing for her mother to come back. She convinced herself that her mother was just out for a late night hunt and that she would be back by morning. 
She curled up in her tears and fell asleep to the silence that never used to be there. 
Chapter Three 
Category:Original Stories
Category:Fiction
Category:Warrior Cats