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Her pawsteps echo behind her as she wanders the alleyway, unheard to the living creatures she comes across. The stars in her pelt are dull, a reflection of her self-imposed exile. Inside her head, however, she's furious. She had thought Tigerclaw - no traitor would be granted with the name of a leader, not even in her own mind - was a cat to be trusted. She could still remember his fangs sinking deep into her neck as she herself froze, not realising what had happened until she had already lost a life.
He hadn't waited for her to recover, swiftly attacking her again and again until her body went completely still, the light gone from her eyes.
And as if that betrayal wasn't enough StarClan had apparently decided that a cat who would kill his own deputy and leader purely for his own gain and ambitions should only be 'warned' and then rewarded with nine lives.
Even Redtail, who had met his own end at the tom's claws, did not seem to understand her point of view. He had seemed strangely nervous when she spoke to him but she dismissed it for now, trying to focus on the world around her and not her swirling emotions, pushing them far into the back of her mind.
She had never really been in Twolegplace before, at least not this far in. She'd helped to gather catnip for the medicine cat but had never really taken a thorough look around.
There were so many monsters just sitting still and she wondered how the kittypets could live here with such dangers right around the corner, perhaps they could command them like the Twolegs could?
It felt strange to wander here, with no cat able to see or hear her they would sometimes go right through her, shivering as they passed through her spirit. She saw cats who wore their collars adorned with dog teeth and chose to give them a wide berth, an anxious knot forming in her gut as she watched them yowl at a kittypet resting on a monster's front, who growled back at them.
As she weaved through the streets she found a seemingly dead-end, Twoleg dens rising up around her. But before she could turn around and look for another path, a cat pushed themselves through an opening she hadn't spotted before.
It was a young ginger tom, around apprentice age, clearly a kittypet if the collar around his neck was any indication. He was quickly followed by four more cats. A light brown tabby she-cat, a light ginger tabby tom, a brown tom and a brown and ginger she-cat. It was likely that the five were siblings, littermates as they all looked to be around the same age.
Curiousity overtook Bluestar as the kittypets settled in a circle, pushing each other around to get the best spots, namely the sunny ones that weren't covered in shadow. It was true sibling behaviour and she couldn't hold back an amused 'mrrr', remembering when she and Snowfur would do the same thing. The first ginger tom's ear twitched but it didn't really settle in her mind, he must have just heard something else as up to this point no other creature had been able to notice her.
"Filou, stop pushing me," the brown tom growled at the light ginger tabby, though there was no real anger or irritation behind it.
"Stop being so pushable then, Tommy," came the playful response from Filou, but he did settle down, allowing his brother to do the same, who gave a light huff but didn't engage further.
"Before you two start fighting like kittens again," meowed the ginger and brown she-cat, "let's get the gossip out of the way first. Who's turn was it to start this time?"
"I think it was Princess's?" Meowed the ginger tom she had spotted first, his head was turned towards the last of the bunch, the light brown tabby. But his eyes kept flicking in Bluestar's general direction, making her nervous.
Perhaps she should leave, it felt like she was intruding on a conversation not meant for her. Something kept her rooted to the spot however, her paws unwilling to move. She would have panicked if she hadn't spent many seasons tirelessly leading her Clan, used to keeping calm even in the most tumultuous and confusing times.
She stayed as Princess explained that the she-cat didn't really have much news, a new litter had been born in the 'house' - what in the name of Bluestar's ancestors was a 'house'? - next to her but from the glassy look in the other four's eyes she knew that the young cats weren't really interested in that sort of thing.
The brown and ginger she-cat, who Bluestar learned was named 'Luna', kittypets truly had some strange names, was up next.
She had been dealing with something called 'BloodClan', cats who were ruthless and aggressive, causing problems for the cats living in the space they had claimed as theirs. The familiar naming send a shiver through Bluestar's spine but she'd never heard of this Clan before, had StarClan been hiding things? The idea alone scared her, could StarClan really not be trusted with anything? She wondered if this BloodClan and the cats with dog teeth in their collars were connected.
"Those cats again?" Filou meowed as he lashed his tail, "they're the most annoying cats I've ever met, keep trying to sneak through our garden."
"I've told you before, you just need to give them a good smack and they'll leave, no claws or teeth necessary."
Slowly, each cat's head turned to watch Tommy, who kept nonchalantly washing his paw, not reacting to the look on his siblings' faces.
"What? It's true, I've done it before," he was met with more blank stares.
"Please do not tell me you've been antagonizing BloodClan cats," Luna started, a look of fear flashing over her eyes. "They're dangerous, I should know my house is in their territory."
Bluestar winced, after everything she'd heard so far of BloodClan she knew it must not be easy living so close to them.
"I haven't been antagonizing anyone! They're the ones who keep walking into my and Filou's garden, can't a cat defend his own territory?" Anger sparked in Tommy's eyes, the situation clearly upsetting to the tom. "You weren't there Filou, but I've caught them chasing cats away from their home, scaring them so much they're afraid to return to their housefolk. I couldn't just sit and watch it happen so I pushed one of the chasers in the pond and scared him off, never seen that one show up again." A proud expression shone on his face and Bluestar found herself partially agreeing with him, yes it was dangerous to face an opponent without any sort of back-up, especially at their age, but he still had a right to defend his territory.
"I'm going to push you in the pond, reckless furball."
"Try it Filou, I'll drag you with me."
Filou snorted, trying and failing to hide his laughter. "Next time you're thinking of playing hero, let me know and I'll be there."
"Absolutely, they'll never know what hit them."
Princess sighed as Luna shook her head. "You're both hopeless but I think I get it, the amount of times I've thought of confronting one of those cats can't even be counted anymore," the latter meowed.
They quickly drifted away from the topic after that but Bluestar couldn't get it out of her head, perhaps she should go and investigate this 'BloodClan'. After all, they would never see her coming. As her paws finally allowed her to move again, she heard the five littermates saying their goodbyes before heading home, and she finally learned the last cat's name,
Rusty.