time to re-do [closed]

Magpiewing's life as leader was all too stressful for the tom to handle. It was dropped on his shoulders too suddenly, and with the rising tension between clans with RiverClan and ThunderClan's war, he couldn't take it. Anxiety and pressure broke him, causing him to step down rather unceremoniously. Regret filled his life. Regret over his failures as leader, regret over his inability to cope, regret over all of the things that caused his fears. While the clan was supportive, his guilt pushed him to often leave camp, spending all day and night hunting or patrolling to limit his encounters with ShadowClan. He felt as if he betrayed them. As if he was too weak to even be a warrior for them. Perhaps they would be better off without him.

Unfortunately for him, StarClan had granted his wish to be whisked away from any leftover responsibilities. But StarClan worked in mysterious ways. They either had a cruel sense of humour, or had planned for him to suffer for his decisions. Whatever it was, his carriage away came in the form of his worst nightmare. Twolegs.

He was quickly sold off to a young family, a caring pair and their youngling. The tom was devastated, the trauma from his first capture resurfacing within the night. He needed to go home. He wanted to go home. It didn't matter how much his clanmates looked down on him, anything was better than this. But he couldn't escape. He was what they called "an indoor cat". And all of his fears from long ago came back, consuming his heart and mind. He became afraid. He became complacent. He became a kittypet.

His memories of the forest faded away. They were locked in the deepest part of his heart, seemingly becoming a distant dream rather than his reality. Magpiewing was gone, and Jude had taken his place.

Jude's life was comfortable, to say the least. He was kept locked away from the forest, forced to explore the crooks and crannies of the twoleg nest instead. It was warm, his bed was soft and plump, and there was always food, albeit disgusting mush. He ate it anyway, growing plump within the span of a few weeks. Despite the foggy "dreams" of scampering about in the marshes of his true home, the new kittypet never felt inclined to leave. He was captive, a prisoner in their nest, but with his true personality locked away, he would never know the reality of his pain. He was curious about his history from time to time. It was a mystery to none but him. Yet it did not bother the tom. His current life was comfortable.

Comfortable.

This is uncomfortable.

The carrier was bashed around in the back of his twoleg's carriage. Nothing but a few strings held him in place, keeping his cage bound to the monster but not well enough to keep the large bumps of the Thunderpath from knocking Jude around. He let out a suffering yowl, hoping his owners would hear from their cabin. His vision was blocked by the hard walls that confined him, only the entrance letting him see anything of interest. His golden eyes peered around curiously, watching the various colours pass by. Dark blue, green, brown. Colours he could see while watching the world outside his nest. The world he was only inches from. The world he would only know through the sweet aromas that wafted into his cage.

Was this what the outside smelled like? A plethora of sweet and sultry scents that almost felt... nostalgic. Despite the trauma that was going to be the bumps and bruises that dotted his skin, he couldn't help but enjoy the scenery around him. White dots filled the night sky, illuminating the woods, adding to the aesthetics that Jude was growing more and more attached to.

As he took a deep breath inward, entranced by the smells of the forest, the vehicle swerved, jerking him to the side and interrupting his momentary serenity.

Everything happened so fast it was hard for him to ascertain what had happened. One minute, the black tom was dwelling on the more enjoyable aspects of his trip, the next his cage was tossed from its binding. Ripped away and tossed into the ditch, Jude's cage rolled to a stop, soft, long grass peeking through the grated door. The kittypet inside groaned, his paw twisting slightly in a way he knew it was not meant to twist. His ears rang with a high pitched squeal and his vision blurred. Red filled his left eye as he tried to peer through the tall grass that now surrounded the tiny cage. Behind the ringing in his ears and the hot liquid that pooled into his eye he could see something large and bright. It flickered against the starry sky, almost as if the sun was present, consuming what he discovered was his twoleg's car. With eyes wide and mouth hanging agape, he stared as the burning grew stronger, and a loud explosion filled the air.

The noise itself was fear-inducing. Yet the most frighting thing was the inability to do anything. He was useless as he sat, watching the scene carried out in front of him. Sirens followed closely, blinking lights of red and blue surrounding the fire. Everything was so... loud. Overwhelming.

All the tom could do watch and wait. Wait for his twolegs to find him.

Or something else...

The moorland, often so tranquil and void of the deafening roar often found within the cramped confines of the forest, was quite serene most days. The utmost quietude was what one craved, what one needed when it came to the arduous process of recovery. However, today that was not the case. There was a series of ear-splitting impacts that Brindlestar had never heard before, with the immediate aftermath of the strange noises only being the foul scent of scorched, unnatural materials. Dark plumes of stone grey smoke arose in the air, serving as a sufficient guide for the curious Leader. The faint undertones of blood lingered on the hot breeze, making her belly cramp uneasily. Whatever this was, it didn't seem pleasant. Then again, when had pleasant days come to the forest? The wounds inflicted by Lichenmask and the Exiles were still raw and bloodied, with the faintest hint of disease arising from the hidden depths.

Warily approaching the Thunderpath, she was surprised to witness such a strange scenario unfolding right before her very eyes. It was blatantly obvious that this was some sort of Twoleg-related incident, judging by the way that several scrambled about the smoking carcass of a monster, but what had actually unfolded remained up in the air. The bright flashes of blue and red that sliced through the air made Brindlestar's eyes ache profusely as she ventured closer, but thankfully the Twolegs that were lingering alongside the alien accident didn't take notice of her bemused state. Nothing about this occurrence was natural, nor was it a comforting sight to behold- yet, the nagging curiosity within the pale-furred molly urged her to stay and observe the downright bizarre proceedings. Remaining crouched within the frayed tendrils of decaying grasses that arose unevenly alongside the dark river of the Thunderpath, gaze narrowing as the Twolegs came and went, leaving behind nothing but the smoldering carcass of metal and an odd contraption.

Brindlestar had witnessed what she needed to see, had a minimal amount of her confusion absolved, yet she couldn't help but anxiously pick her way across the abandoned Thunderpath. Even in spite of the terrible past few moons, there was that same irresistible tug of curiosity. Awkwardly bending down ever so slightly to uncertainly peer at whatever was lingering inside of the strange little carrier. It was... a cat? For a moment, the dark-furred tom who was effectively encased within the unbearably small container remained so still that she was certain he had to be dead- why else would they have put him in such a strange contraption? However, after several extended moments of uncomfortable silence, a phosphorescent gaze blinked back from within the gloom.

"Are... you alive in there?" The sharp undercurrent of incredulous disbelief went wholly undisguised.

The tom found himself falling in and out of consciousness until something peculiar filled his ears. With a soft blink, he turned his gaze upwards to see a... cat? A cat? He had only seen a few cats in his lifetime, the ones that passed by his windows with a mocking swish of their tails.

Jude nodded his head, ignoring the dizzy feeling that filled his mind. "Just barely, I think..."

"Where am I? I-Is your nest nearby?" The kittypet shifted in his cage but let out a small hiss as pain filled his paw.

"My nest?" Brindlestar eventually echoed, unsure of the exact context of Jude's words- her camp was nearby, but it was void of nests. Perhaps it was just some strange Kittypet word, StarClan knows they had plenty of bizarre little sentiments. "Ahh... not exactly." She responded after another moments pause, still pressed against the earth in an attempt to properly glimpse at the tom who was huddled within the stifling darkness of the pet carrier. Under any other circumstances, she would've likely only made sure that the Twolegs were gone and simply went about on her way- but the Kittypet contained within the little container seemed rather... hopeless, hardly more than a strange occurrence. "WindClan's territory is just behind us," She mewed after another heartbeat of careful consideration, "You don't seem very capable of handling yourself. Perhaps once we get you out of this thing, you can rest with us and gather your wits for a time."

Truth be told, in spite of her offer, Brindlestar was rather uncertain of how to get the tom out of the container. It was a surprisingly solid little contraption, with an encasing of mesh to seal the pair away from one another.

"W-WindClan?" The name seemed to roll off his tongue despite the foreignness of it in his mind. Squinting his eyes, he tried to take a closer look at the cat that spoke towards him. Her fur looked much less soft and shiny than his own, her belly not plump, and her paws looked hardened, cold, and dirty. Where were her owners?

Maybe this WindClan was the name of her home. Whatever it was, he knew it was much safer with her than it was stuck in this cage. "A-As long as it's safe... Hopefully, after, I can find my owners. I'm sure they'll come looking for me." With his uninjured paw, he batted at the bars. "This was open before they put me in this box. They jiggled around with this," he rested a claw on the lock, "and I found I couldn't push through it anymore." The dark tom wasn't sure what help it would be. The contraptions his owners used were always so complicated and difficult to understand.

The smooth, faultless surface of the lock felt unnaturally cool against Brindlestar's nose, a rustic scent clinging heavily to its surface as she inspected it closely. Jude's lame explanation of the working mechanisms behind the lock wasn't very helpful, but she understand enough- whatever it was, it was the main factor in the Kittypet's imprisonment. "Alright." She merely mused in response, eyeing the strange metal contraption uneasily. Initially using her teeth in an attempt to break it free from the metallic webbing only served to rattle the carrier itself, and nearly wrenching her teeth straight from her skull. Instead, it took several careful tries with the more delicate and favorable surface of her claws to pry the lock open enough to release its previously unyielding stance.

The webbed door of the carrier came crashing open, the culmination of both the strength needed to wrench the lock open and the sudden lacking opposition sent Brindlestar stumbling backwards several paces, fur ruffled.

He couldn't believe his eyes. The she-cat had done it. He tried to force a smile through the pain before pulling himself out of the carrier. With his broken paw close to his chest, he stumbled a few times before gaining his balance and standing tall, free from his confines. "Y-You're rather smart," he mused, admiring the intelligence of the strang cat. Despite her less than perfect appearance, he could tell this tabby carried more wits than he initially thought.

His legs shook as he stood, his mind and body both weak from the fall. Nursing his twisted paw, he hobbled forward, looking towards Brindlestar to lead the way. "Thank you, for everything. I'm Jude, what should I call you?"

As Jude eventually came stumbling out of the likely claustrophobic pet-carrier, the lingering sense of exasperation overcame the momentary bought of triumph. Any hope Brindlestar previously held about merely letting the Kittypet go with a hapless flick of the tail burned away at the realization that the tom was injured- too much so to ever stand a chance at fending for himself without the tending of Twolegs. Smoothing down the fur that was ruffled from the fright of being struck by the webbed door, the molly's left ear twitched at the dark-furred tom's words. How befitting. A strange tom, with a strange name.

"You may call me Brindlestar." She mewed, eyeing the way that his injured forepaw was carefully cradled against the confines of his chest, "We should get moving, I do not wish to stay here any longer than we must- and it's in your best interest to take weight off of that paw as quickly as possible."