It had been a few days since I met Viper. I'll tell you, he was actually not that bad of a fighter. His heart was cold and dark -- just like mine. If I kept this up and continued recruiting cats like Viper, then I would have BloodClan up and running again before I even knew it!

"Okay Viper," I whispered to the blaack-pawed tom crouched beside me. "Let's see you give this your best shot." We were in an alleyway with a brown, short-tailed dog eating its late-morning breakfast. I was testing to see if Viper had the skill to kill a dog yet.

"If you kill this one," I murmured to Viper, "you'll earn your second tooth. We can't get revenge on the forest Clans unless we have a Clan of our own. In order to get more members, we have to look powerful."

"Alright, I'm ready," Viper whispered.

"Okay then. Good luck," I whispered as my ally left my side and began sneaking up to the dog.

The huge creature pricked his ears, but it was too stupid to notice Viper sneaking up to it. Once he was close enough, Viper yowled and lunged at the dog. The dog itself was old and slow, so Viper barely managed to cling to the dog's back. The creature snarled viciously and struggled to shake him off. I watched silently as Viper's muscles rippled underneath his snow-white fur. Quickly, the tom sank his teeth into the back of the dog's neck, causing it to howl with pain. I licked my lips as the icy feeling from before returned. I was excited to try its meat. Viper clawed the dog's open wound, and it slowly grew weaker and weaker. Finally, the dog fell to the ground, and Viper quickly finished it. My ally yowled with triumph, and I was proud of him.

"Great job Viper!" I yowled as I padded towards him and the dead body.

"It actually wasn't hard," Viper meowed proudly. "That thing was mouse-brained and old!"

The tom stepped back, and I sank my teeth into the dog's flesh. It was delicious, just like before.

Viper stared at me in shock. "You seriously eat dogs?" he asked, stunned.

"Yeah," I muttered with my mouth full.

Viper shrugged, then crouched down himself and took a bite. "Wow.." he said after swallowing. "This.. this tastes great!"

"I know," I agreed with amusement in my tone, gulping down another mouthful.

We ate for a long time. After a while, half of the dog's body was gone.

"Here," I mewed, pulling out a tooth and giving it to Viper. He took it gratefully and inserted it into one of the holes in his collar.

"Wow..." a small voice said, sounding amazed. Viper and I turned around to see three alley cats watching us. One of them was rather small in size, and she had dark ginger fur.

"Um.. thanks..?" Viper replied. I had a feeling he found her attractive. I didn't blame him, of course. She was rather pretty, even for me -- and the last thing I was interested in was a relationship.

"I'm Rose," the small cat greeted, a peculiar accent laced into her voice. An old pink collar with no tag hung around her neck. The other cats with her were both white in color. One had a blue collar, and the other had a green one. "These two are my brothers," Rose added, flicking her tail to them. "The green-collared one is Ice, and the one with the blue is Scratch. You two seem really strong! Can we join you or something?" Rose's green eyes shone with interest.

Viper and I looked at each other, then back at them.

"You'd have to be a killer," I warned sternly.

"I already am." Rose's eyes narrowed. "Don't judge me because of my size."

"Same for us," Ice meowed quickly and quietly. Scratch nodded in agreement.

"I'm Viper," Viper greeted, trying to keep his cool. "And this is Fang, our leader."

I looked at Rose, Scratch, and Ice. "Have you ever tried dog meat?" I asked.

"Hm? No," Rose replied. The two strong white cats behind her shook their heads in response.

"Well," I said, "try some." I showed the three to the dog's body and encouraged them to try it. They all took one bite each.

"This tastes.. a little tough," Rose commented after swallowing. "It's not bad though." Her brothers nodded in agreement.

I nodded. "Alright, you're in."

"Yes!" Rose exclaimed, her eyes blazing with excitement.

"Welcome to BloodClan!" I said. "This Clan may seem small, but trust me: we will one day thrive!" Rose, Ice, and Scratch nodded their heads and smiled.

These new cats were part of my dream. Waiting for things to come to you was useless. You have to work for your goals nonstop and take every opportunity you can to become powerful!