Wolf's last howl

"You'll scare off all the young'uns if you keep that up!" Wolfscar meowed, his voice harsh as he addressed Trapjaw. The story of a blind she-cat named Nutmeg had obviously frightened more than just one of the tiny kittens gathered at the Elders' feet.

"Here, kids. I'll tell you a fun story. Do you want to hear about the time that I first joined the Clans?"

The kittens nodded, some still shaking from the earlier story.

"Well....back when I was just a young tomcat...

~~~

"Star, your eyes are like two crystal-clear pools!"

"My eyes are amber," Starfire, the gray-and-white she-cat snapped, obviously unamused by the compliment.

"Pools of...honey!" Wolfie quickly righted himself, silently cursing himself that he didn't notice before. To avoid showing his embarrassment, he lifted a leg and began scratching himself behind the ear.

"Why do you do that?" Charlie asked, his powerful muscles rippling under his firey pelt as he padded up to the other two cats.

Wolfie's hindleg paused mid-scratch. "What do you mean?"

"Your leg. Why do you scratch yourself like a dog?" Charlie licked a paw as if to prove he was more cat-like than Wolfie.

"Because I was raised with them."

"I know that, idiot." Charlie hissed. "Your 'living' with them -- as in, living in the same alleyway and copying everything they do -- was a looong time ago. You live with us now. We're cats. You should act more like a cat."

"Yeah, yeah..." Wolfie continued to scratch his ear anyway. "So did you just come around to tell me to change myself, or was there another reason?"

Charlie sat down next to Starfire, who put her head affectionately on his shoulder. Wolfie knew they were kind of a thing, though he still flirted with Starfire anyway--that was just his way. The flame-colored tomcat spoke, "Yes, actually, there was. Are you familiar with a thing called a 'Clan'?"

"No. Never heard of it." Wolfie looked to Starfire, who shrugged.

Charlie nodded, "Apparently, a little farther from this human neighborhood, there's a group of cats who all live together and take care of each other. They call themselves a Clan. SkyClan, I think."

"How do you know this?" Starfire wondered, her amber eyes curious.

Charlie looked at his dear friend, "because I met their leader, Leafstar."

"Leafstar?" Wolfie chuckled at the ridiculous name.

Charlie shot the brown tom a stern look. "Yes, Leafstar. She's very powerful and very respected. She was telling me about her Clan, how they all take care of each other and hunt together and learn how to fight."

Wolfie's ears -- even the floppy one -- perked up at the sound of a fight. "Fight, huh?"

"They call themselves warriors."

"So what, are you suggesting that we join them?" Wolfie wondered.

"Yes, that's exactly what I'm suggesting. Leafstar offered for me to join. I told her that I had two friends that may want to join too...so I came to talk to you guys."

"'Too'?" Starfire repeated. "So, you've already made up your mind?"

Charlie nodded. "I have."

Wolfie shrugged, "Well, hell, I'll go learn how to fight."

Starfire stood up. "I'll follow you two wherever you want to go."

~~

The three arrived at SkyClan's camp, greeted with looks of curiosity. There were a good number of cats around -- more than Wolfie was expecting. Charlie noticed the cat he was looking for and made his way to her, Starfire and Wolfie in tow.

"Ah, Charlie, you're back." the brown tabby she-cat mewed, amber eyes gleaming. "Are these your friends?"

Charlie nodded. "This is Wolfie," he pointed to the brown tom, "and Starfire." the gray-and-white she-cat smiled.

"Greetings to you both. I am Leafstar, the leader of SkyClan."

~~

Wolfscar could tell that the kittens were falling asleep at such a dreary story, but it was better than them being scared. He coughed a few times to get them to wake up, and it worked, but for some reason he couldn't stop coughing.

"Are...you okay?" Mothkit squeaked, voice low.

"I'm fine," Wolfscar said as the coughing subsided. "Where was I...ah,  I'll just skip ahead to when SkyClan split--" another round of coughing overtook the tom, and Flower put her tail delicately on his back.