Outcasts

Chapter nineteen

Gale watched from the top of the valley as one of Fox’s sorry excuses of a cat, died. She wore a wide grin as that stuck up Storm killed him out of mercy. They were now down one of their biggest assets and that made life much easy for her. Her thoughts were interrupted by a small grey and white cat sitting next to her. He stared at her for a few seconds then followed her line of sight to the hoard of cats in the valley.

                  “They won’t give up easily you know.” He said.

                  “That’s what makes it interesting.” Gale said.

                  “When you asked me to join, you happened to leave out the fact that I would be fighting against Bandit.” He said angrily. “We were basically litter mates!”

                  “I didn’t ask for your problems.” Gale growled refusing to take her eyes off the cats below.

                  “Why exactly did you ask for me Gale?” He retaliated. “I told you not to come looking for me after my father’s accident. It was too much for me to handle, yet you still did. And why? Because you have a problem with your new mate’s brother.” He spat. Gale’s head whipped around to the small cat.

                  “It was not my fault he got hit by that car! You were not the only person that was affected by his death. Bandit lost his father as well, but you don’t see him whingeing. As for Fox, he was the reason this began. If he hadn’t have been the hero, Pumpkin would still be here.” Gale said on the brink of shouting.

                  “It was your claws that killed him.” He hissed.

                  “Back off now before I leave you like Bandit.” She warned him. He glared at her for a moment longer before slinking off. She went back to watching her enemies. Fox had now returned with that renegade Monica. It looked like he was taking the news of his teammates death well. Her thoughts were yet again interrupted.

                  “Gale?” A quiet voice asked. She spun around to see an extremely tired Daisy. Gale expected nothing more than that from her. She didn’t know why she asked her to join her in the first place.

                  “What?” Gale snarled. Daisy flinched at her harsh tone, but continued.

                  “I think you should be looking after him.” She said.

                  “Why should I? It has weak blood in its veins.” Gale said.

                  “He needs you. His eyes haven’t even opened yet!” Daisy said.

                  “I don’t care, dump it in the bracken if you can’t look after it.”

                  “Gale, he is not an ‘it’.” Daisy said.

                  “I can’t take this anymore.” Gale said to herself. She found a rock to sit on and called her hoard to attention. “I am starting to worry about the loyalty of this group.” She said. “The reason we joined is obvious. To live in a human free home away from danger. But we all know that someone stands in front of that dream and many of you seem to be reconsidering staying with me. So how about I tell you a little bit about the ‘oh so’ glorious leader, Fox. You have probably heard rumours that I was the one to kill Pumpkin. Let me inform you of something.” She began and leaned in to the hoard of cats as if telling them a secret. “It wasn’t me.” Several voices of surprise were heard but Gale ignored it and continued. “You may be surprised, but ask yourself this, why would I kill my own mate? He had more of a reason than I did. I loved him!” With that she heard yowls of agreement, but this wasn’t enough. “He was my life! He only kept Fox around because he was family. In fact he was considering leaving him to be with me.”

                  “Maybe that’s why Fox killed him!” Suggested a scarred brown cat.

“Wait, Fox killed him?” The small grey and white tom asked. Gale smiled, she had planted an idea in their minds and now it was growing.

                  “It makes sense.” Said a sleek black cat.

                  “But why would he do that?” Petal asked. The young cat had deteriorated drastically since she had joined Gale, but she didn’t care. Her glossy white fur was a dirty grey colour and her orange patches were dull. The life that used to be in her eyes was gone ever since her brother was abandoned to die in that hole. Gale glared at the young cat, but she didn’t back down.

                  “Isn’t it obvious?” Snarled the scarred cat.

                  “But I lived with him and I don’t think he would be capable of hurting his family like that. He was very protective of our group.” Petal said.

                  “Well apparently he can.” The scarred cat spat and looked up at Gale with admiring eyes. “I got your back.”

                  “Thank you Sal.” Gale said.

                  “Same.” Called out the black cat and with that everyone else joined in. Gale smirked as she watched Petal’s confidence shrink. Except for her the only cat that didn’t join in was the small grey and white tom, who simply looked up at Gale with hateful eyes. She would have to deal with him later, but she just enjoyed the support she thought she deserved.

                  “Now onto phase one.” Gale yelled above the cheers.