Chapter Seven
A Place With Strangers

Flowerkit felt like he had been walking for days when finally he couldn't detect any ThunderClan scents anymore. All along there had always been vague smells of his clanmates, scents that he couldn't recognize or follow with his young nose, but now all those smells of home were gone. He was truly in unfamiliar territory, and ThunderClan was far behind him.

The tiny tomkit was distracted by a painful gurgle from his stomach. He hadn't eaten since. . . When was it that he had last eaten? He couldn't remember. His tummy hurt, his shoulder hurt, all his muscles ached, and he just wanted to fall over right now and sleep. Which, ultimately, was what he did. All his pain came over him in a rush. Flowerkit's legs gave out from under him and he collapsed onto his side, slipping into an uneasy state of unconsciousness.

He drifted through a jumble of fevered dreams. His exhausted mind flipped through all he recent events Flowerkit had gone through, warping them and offering them again to Flowerkit in deranged states. First he was with his mother, and Ashenbird smiled kindly down at him while saying, "these are your brothers, Flowerkit." Flowerkit turned to see Spikekit and Acornkit sprawled out on the ground in front of him, their blank faces to the sky, with horrible bleeding gashes in their shoulders and bellies. Flowerkit stumbled backward, right into Mosskit, who hissed into his ear, "You will pay for this," before shoving Flowerkit to the ground, her claws digging into his shoulder. Flowerkit peered up to see Ashenbird walking away from him. He opened his mouth to choke out her name, to beg her to stay and help him, but he made no sound, and the gray queen just kept walking until Flowerkit couldn't see her anymore. Then he was staring into Thicketstar's burning amber eyes, first from close up and then they got smaller and smaller as Flowerkit moved away, and he realized that he was falling, faster and faster, while all the cats he knew stared down at him from the top of the hollow. He landed with a thud that left him screaming in pain.

His eyes blinked open drearily, and once more he had no idea how much time had elapsed while he was asleep, but the sky was black now. Just black. The cloud cover from that morning remained, and Flowerkit couldn't see a single star.

He shifted slowly, wincing as his muscles painfully reminded him of his injuries. More insistent than that, though, were the contortions his empty stomach was doing. He needed to get food, and fast. The kit got to his feet.

"Well, well, well. Lookit who's awake."

Flowerkit jumped at the unfamiliar gruff voice and spun, his orange eyes wide as he searched for the source. A large cat dropped down in front of him from the branches above.

For a panicked moment Flowerkit thought it was Thicketstar. The large tom had a similar build, but while Thicketstar's white underfur and light brown overcoat just gave his pelt a dirty appearance, this cat's pale fur was actually covered in a layer of grime. The tom leered down at the kit, and Flowerkit recoiled when he saw that one of the strange cat's eyes was sealed shut with what looked like dried blood and some other infected gunk. The tom laughed at his expression.

"What's the matter, you never seen a cat like me?" he meowed with a weird grin. Flowerkit noticed that another scar ran down his jawline, twisting his expressions. He shivered slightly.

"Who... Who are you?" Flowerkit asked meekly.

The cat flicked his tail and blinked his one big yellow eye. "The name's Jake."

"Jake?" Flowerkit repeated, making a face. What kind of a name was that? "Are you a kittypet?"

"Kittypet!" Jake snorted in disgust. "You wouldn't catch me taking anything from Twolegs. Nah, I'm on my own."

"So you're a rogue?" Flowerkit ventured curiously. This cat certainly fit the descriptions he had heard of the lone cats who roamed across territories with no true home, fighting every other soul they met.

"If you must." Jake's tail lashed. "You don't look like one, though. And you've got Clan scent on you." He sniffed dramatically.

Flowerkit tensed up a little. "Yeah, I'm ThunderClan. Or... I was."

The strange tom fixed him with a piercing yellow gaze. "Was, huh? Well, you're still pretty close to their territory. I'd imagine they're looking for you right now, about to jump out at us any second. Especially with that trail of blood you've been leaving."

Flowerkit bristled. "No! I can't go back! Please, you've got to help me get away from here." He hated the pleading edge to his voice, and he definitely didn't trust this rogue, but he couldn't let his clanmates find him and take him back. He just couldn't.

Jake let out a sputtering laugh. "So you are a runaway. Not just some lost kitten, eh?" His chuckles faded. "Well, I guess you're in luck. My hospitality stretches to injured kits, but no further." He pushed something in front of Flowerkit that the young black kitten hadn't noticed earlier. His mouth started watering.

"You can have that, but after this you're on your own. I ain't no babysitter." Jake nodded to the vole.

Flowerkit didn't need to be told twice. He fell upon the prey, vaguely noticing that it was still fresh as he took huge bites.

The dirty rogue watched in silence while Flowerkit devoured the meal, his neutral expression and single eye giving away none of his thoughts. Flowerkit thought it was a little creepy how the big tom was staring at him, but he had given him food, so he couldn't be a bad cat. Finally Flowerkit finished the vole and sat up, running a paw along his whiskers.

"Thanks," Flowerkit mewed after a few moments of silence.

Jake snorted and flicked an ear dismissively. "What's your name, shorty?"

"Flowerkit." He narrowed his eyes, waiting the rogue's reaction.

The huge cat burst out laughing, his voice echoing loudly through the trees. "Those Clan cats sure know how to pick 'em."

Flowerkit felt his dark fur bristling along his spine. "What do you know of the Clans?" he demanded.

Jake waved his tail. "I've lived near your kind long enough to know a thing or two about them." He wasn't laughing anymore. "Nearly got chased off a few times, too. You guys are way too protective of your borders."

"Borders define our Clans and they help us defend what is ours," Flowerkit snapped, repeating what he'd been told a few times by the queens in the nursery. He didn't know why he was defending the Clans to this rogue, though. After all, he wasn't really part of them anymore.

"Ease up. I'm not trying to insult your precious way of life." Jake slowly rose to his paws, giving Flowerkit a weird look. Though it was probably just his disfigured face that made it look strange. "Well, like I said, you're on your own now, kit." He turned around, starting to walk away.

"Wait," Flowerkit called in a panicky voice. "I- I- Can you help me with my wounds?"

Jake paused. "Your wounds? What do you want me to do with them?"

"Well, in the Clans, they use plants and stuff to heal injuries." Flowerkit gave his shoulder a gentle lick.

The white tom snorted. "I ain't no medic cat. I can't help you."

"At least help me find some spiderwebs, then?" Flowerkit pleaded.

"Spiders? What do you want with them?"

Flowerkit stifled a hiss. "It's not the spiders, it's their webs. They help stop bleeding."

Jake sniggered. "So not only are you a pampered little Clan kitten, you're a healer in training, too?"

"Am not!" Flowerkit snapped, his ears swiveling back in anger. He would never have given up the life of a warrior to be a medicine cat. He just knew a few things from being in Sunheart's den so much. Ashenbird would always take him to his den whenever he got the slightest cut in his pad. "Every cat knows about cobwebs," he told the rogue.

"If you say so," Jake drawled. "I suppose I could find a spiderweb or two for you. Just don't expect anything more from me." With that he padded off into the trees, quickly disappearing from sight and leaving Flowerkit alone once more.

The black kit sat down and worked on grooming his matted fur while he waited. The gross tang of dried blood filled his mouth as he rasped his tongue over his multiple scratches. Most of them were small and had stopped bleeding a while ago, so it was really only the gash in his shoulder that worried him. Pure fury coursed through him when he thought of Mosskit's claws digging into his shoulders as he choked on Acornkit's golden fur, and his claws scratched against the dirt. He believed he had made the right choice in leaving ThunderClan.

Eventually Jake came back, awkwardly carrying a few cobwebs on the back of his paw. He scowled in disgust as he offered them to Flowerkit. "I think there's still a spider of two clinging to them," he informed the kit.

Flowerkit rolled his eyes and took the webs from Jake's paw, pressing them onto his shoulder. "It doesn't matter, as long as it doesn't get infected," he muttered.

Jake nodded. "Alright, I did what you asked. Now I'm going before those Clan cats come looking for you. See you around, kit." Before Flowerkit could protest, the rogue had turned tail and disappeared again.

The lone kitten stood still for a few long heartbeats, wondering what in StarClan he would do. He had nowhere to go, no way to get food unless he could teach himself to hunt, and no Ashenbird to take care of him. Perhaps this hadn't been the best idea after all. Eventually though, Flowerkit started walking in the direction Jake had gone, thinking that even if he didn't see the rogue again he could probably still get farther away from Clan territory.

It wasn't long before Flowerkit felt a presence watching him wander, and he froze when a gruff voice sounded from behind him.

"Why're you following me?" Jake snapped.

Flowerkit spun around and blinked up at the huge tomcat, cringing when he saw the rogue's single yellow eye narrowed accusingly. He started stammering excuses, but they sounded pathetic even to his ears.

Jake just scowled and turned his back. "Quit following me."

"Wait," Flowerkit mewed, scampering up to him. "I don't have anywhere to go. Please, can I stay with you?"

"No." Jake didn't look at him.

"Please?"

Jake just growled and started walking again. Flowerkit hurried to keep pace with the adult cat, wincing when his shoulder protested. "I just want a place to stay."

"I ain't got one. If you're sticking with me, shorty, you're gonna be spending your days wandering." The dirty-furred rogue still wouldn't meet Flowerkit's gaze.

"I'm okay with that," Flowerkit interjected quickly. "I just don't want to have to go back to the Clans."

Jake said nothing, however his brisk pace slowed the tiniest bit.

Flowerkit happily took that as a yes.