The Cats and The Badgers-COMPLETED

Chapter 1

Empress

I sat patiently in the center of the Warren, listening to Seth ramble to hell and back for the millionth time on the exact reason and excuse for why the Badgers could order us around like robots. ''Us'', being Cats. Over and over, he tells the same story, about how the Badgers saved Cats from being annihilated by Humans, and therefore we owe them something. To be clear, I don't think Seth even enjoys telling the story, it's just a nonsense excuse to ''Sooth'' the angry Cats. As I sat there, my train of thought was abruptly cut off by a noisy yawn.

"Echo!"

Seth stared with a gleeful look at the young Molly who had yawned.

"That's your third strike this week! You know what that means!"

Echo scowled at him, and rolled her blue eyes. 

"No. Nope! No way I'm going back to that Hellhole of a gathering cave."

To most cats living in the warren, an invitation to the Badgers cave would be something straight out of a fairytale. But to a Cat that's planning rebellion against the oppressors who run that very cave, it was a personal summons to Satan's palace.

Echo is a fairly sharp Cat, although she rarely shows it. She and I have the same ideals, but we often showcase them in..vastly different ways. Echo prefers to jump headfirst into a situation, no plans, yowling for revolution like a lost soul yearning for peace. I keep telling her that to forge a rebellion, we must be stealthy. Oh, but who listens to me anyway, I'm just some old Queen who yammers on about how things were back in my day, and blah blah blah- oh wait, everything was exactly the same when I was a kit. Yet still, need there be revolt before rebellion. On top of all of that-

"Psst! Hey Empress? Are you awake? You fell into your old lady trance again! Were you listening to what Seth said?"

Poppy snapped me back to reality, just in time for me to hear Seth say:

" Oh well, I guess it's 2 days with no food or water for you!"

Every Cat and even some of the other Badgers in the crowd gasped in horror. I merely glared at Seth. I've lived in the warren for around the same time he has, and I've experienced his utter ruthlessness. Murmeres rippled through the cluster of animals,

"But she could starve!"

A Tom yowled from the crowd.

"More the reason to keep her there! It would be a load off the warren if this nuisance was out of the way! Cats should know their place, and this is the only way to show it!"

Seth cackled at the pale faces of the animals watching.

"He's a monster!"

Poppy muttered.

"Perhaps. But Poppy, dear, you must understand that peace and order are essential to a working Warren!"

Poppy glances down, her eyes narrowed in disgust.

Echo, of course answered for her.

"Even so, Seth, your hierarchy is fundamentally flawed!"

Echo's pride often got in the way of her succeeding in the task she had crafted for herself. In most cases, the look of pure glee that marinates on Seth's face only comes from an opportunity of pushing Echo around. But as I said before, Echo's pride also plays a large role in this, if she knew her limits, we wouldn't be in this situation, and we could continue planning our rebellion, in hopes that the tyrannical ideals of the Badgers will be brought down.

Echo sneered maliciously at Seth, despite already knowing the potential cost. Seth's eyes narrowed with passive power. The look said it all. ''Try me, I dare you.''

"Echo!"

I whispered from the crowd.

"Echo, back off."

Echo hissed softly at Seth and leaped off the stage.