Chapter 3: Aleco
There were more cats, spread out, some eating, others talking. Some of them nodded greetings to Ajax, Spade, and Athena, others just stared at him. One cat caught his attention, though, and started to walk over. He recognized him as the tan tom who fought off one of his attackers.
"Oh, hello, Lioss." Athena said, sitting down.
"So, you found him." The cat said, looking at him with an intense curiosity.
"Yeah, made away from us for a moment. Says he's a pet, it all checks out." Spade said.
"A pet- seems about right." Lioss said, still looking at him.
"Well, figured we could just take him back to the edge of the cross, then- but he spoke of a white cat." Ajax licked a paw.
"Sure, he was attacked by him. He'd know Laimo."
"You missed him." He said suddenly.
"What?" Lioss said, looking at him again.
"They were out, looking for me. I was in a tree- they just missed this- Laimo. He was through the bushes." Lioss looked up at the cats. They looked confused.
"Well- we'll surely check it out after we take you back to the neighborhood of human dens." Spade said.
"No- I'm not going back. Can you take me somewhere else? Please?" He said, looking at them hopefully.
"What do you mean? You don't want to go home?" Athena asked, tilting her head.
"No- I ran away. I didn't like it there." The moon was getting higher now, and Lioss looked up.
"Well- we need to talk to him anyways. Why don't you take him to the elders den for the night, they'll watch him. Ajax, you get on that. Athena, Spade, I expect you're on watch." Lioss said, looking to the two. Ajax stood and began walking away, so the kitten hurriedly stood and followed him.
"What was it like?" Ajax asked suddenly as they walked.
"What?"
"The human den." The kitten was confused.
"Well- I had an annoying human. You know how they are."
"No- really, I don't. I was born here, in Aleco."
"Aleco?"
"That's what this place is called. There's more of them- colonies. The cats who went after you were Hallick cats- they shouldn't have been in the cross. It's our territory."
"There's more?"
"Of course. All of us live here, hunt for our food, really a nice place. Wouldn't live anywhere else." The kitten looked around, and his eyes fell on a pile of dead mice, birds, and the occasional squirrel.
"What's that?"
"Food- oh, reminds me. You hungry? Go ahead and pick something- and grab another thing, I bet the elders are hungry." Ajax said, taking two sparrows in his mouth. The kitten carefully took a mouse and a shrew and followed Ajax obediently. He already admired the strength and intelligence of these cats, but their confidence was also impressive.
They came to the rim, where someone had dug out a big hole in the wall. Ajax put down the two sparrows, winked at him, and called out.
"Russ? Quinn? Lyla?" Inside there was stirring, and he was confused. There was nobody in there- so he thought. A white tom, splotched with brown, slowly came around the edge. It was now the kitten realized there was more to the side.
"Oh- Ajax," The cat said, kindly peering up at Ajax.
"Hello, Quinn. Have you all eaten?"
"No- the trainees were busy and we didn't want to intrude-"
"Nonsense! Here, we brought you a meal."
"Oh- thank you! Right in, right in," He said, stepping back and disappearing back into the small den. Ajax picked up the sparrows again and nodded from him to follow.
Inside, Quinn was curling back up on a bed in the middle of the wall, made of moss and worn grass. On his left and right, there were two other cats, one being a white and orange she-cat, with bold amber eyes that looked directly onto him. The other cat, a grey tom, only had one eye, and was very shaggy.
"They brought dinner, Russ, Lyla," Quinn said.
"Oh, great! Is this a new kit?" Lyla asked, looking at him. Ajax chuckled.
"No, actually, he's just something we picked up in the woods, we're taking him home soon. We were just hoping he could rest with you all tonight." The kitten tensed up and wanted to melt into the ground, but to his surprise, Lyla perked up immediately.
"Right then. He can sleep on my edge. Come on, let's eat, if there's a kit we need a curfew." Lyla said. And with that, Ajax gave him a firm nod and left him with the elders. They all ate and talked, while he huddled against the wall on the edge of the bed, chewing on his mouse. Even though Lyla had given him plenty of space, he didn't want to make anyone angry.
He finished and pushed the rest away, then slowly and silently curled up into a ball and forced himself to sleep.
"Hey- time to get up, you," The kitten jolted awake. Ajax was leaning over him. "There you are," he chuckled. "Come. The leader wants to see you."
When Ajax led him into the rounding tunnel, he was more than afraid. They climbed up into a large open den through the tunnel, one that looked out over the whole place. Ajax respectfully dipped his head the second they emerged, and the kitten stared. In front of him was a black tom, his underbelly as white as snow. He looked up and stood, then flicked his tail approvingly. Ajax strode forwards.
"This is the kitten from the woods." He said, and turned away, immediately disappearing back into the tunnel, leaving the kitten frozen in fear. Who was this cat?
"I am Haxle, the leader of Aleco," He said, as if reading his mind. "I won't hurt you, I just need to know about what happened to you out there."
"With- the cat?"
"No- everything. From the point you ran away to now." Haxle fell silent, so the kitten took this as his cue to speak.
"The human who lived with me- a young one, was messing with me. I was scared and he started hurting me, so I clawed him." Haxle nodded, so he continued. "I was thrown outside and took it as my chance and climbed a tree and hopped the fence. I ran away, then found myself in the woods, and I was hungry, so I went after a mouse.
"A white cat attacked me, and others. Then Lioss- I recognize him- fought him off. He had two younger cats with him, they helped fight the other. I ran away- I was scared." He paused. He didn't want to seem too scared, but he didn't want to lie, either.
"So I climbed a tree and slept there. I caught a bird the next morning and made my way through the forest again, and then climbed another tree for the night, where Spade, Athena and Ajax came along. They were looking for someone- and they were next to some bushes. The white cat and another were on the other side. They smelled them, but missed them. I ran off again.
"They found me and brought me here, and I slept with the elders. That's it." He finished and lost all confidence, and immediately looked at his paws, trying to lose himself in his brown fur.
"You don't plan on going back, do you?" Haxle said, looking out over the clearing.
"Er- no,"
"Right. Then you can stay with us."
"What?" The kitten looked up excitedly.
"That is, if you'd like. The cat who attacked you, Laimo, would spare no time in killing you if he found you again. Besides, you sound much more content in the forest. I never liked humans anyways."
"Oh-"
"Would you like to? We need more trainees." Haxle looked at him with stone grey eyes.
"Okay," He said immediately. He wasn't sure if he wanted to, but he planned on never going back.
"Right then. Come with me." He said, and led the way to the tunnel leading down from his den. They went down and came out at the bottom, from where Haxle led him to a smaller den underneath.
"Raven! Do you know where Claxon is?" He called into the den. A black she-cat with a cleft lip peered around the edge.
"I would think the training den, Haxle. I haven't seen him all day, haven't needed him. Is that the kitten?" She looked at him.
"Oh- yes. Actually, do you mind taking a look at him? I was thinking of putting him right into training."
"So he's staying? Excellent." Raven gave a polite wink, then beckoned them inside with a swish of her tail. She inspected him, occasionally muttering, and then looked up to Haxle. "I would expect something of this one. I'd say he's ready for training with the others." She concluded, sitting down.
"Well, thank you. We'll be off then." Haxle stood again and led him back out. They were walking silently when suddenly, he stopped walking and turned towards him. The kitten, confused, stared back, only to panic when Haxle launched himself at him.
Out of instinct and fear, he shot forwards, under Haxle's belly, and tripped onto his side. He heard Haxle laughing.
"Arrow." He said simply.
"Er- what?"
"Your Hero name. It's Arrow."
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone