Username: Chanceuxcat
Cat Name: Tanzanite (Tanzy for short)
Gender: demi-girl (she/her)
Rank: SAR/Guard
Clan: ScorchclanAge: 17 moons
Prompt: Tanzanite's ears flick and her eyes snap open. Nearby smoke stings her nose, strong and black, uncontrolled and wild, and she grins reflexively. They're finally here, finally here to rescue her!
She leaps onto her paws, dashing out of the nursery den. It's not like it was that comfy anyway, having a permanent place to lay her head at night. No, not nice in anyway. This isn't her home. The sandy stretches of beach are with her crew... they're her real group anyway. Not these clan cats that opened their home to her, the rouge they found alone on the shore. Not these cats that washed away the sand dried in her wounds, fed her, helped her feel a warm feeling in her chest that lasted longer than any burst of happiness she had felt before. No, they certainly aren't her crew.
Yes, her crew had left her, likely thought her dead when she tripped in the sand while racing back to the meeting point, and a large wave caught her and tossed her about. But they couldn't be blamed for not looking back. They are here now, to reclaim her.
She glances around the camp, the camp she hadn't been allowed to leave alone for a whole two moons. The grass surrounding it is burning, bright green being swallowed and spit out into grey ash. Fire creeps up along the trees, and the kits are being led past her to hide in the parts of the forest not currently on fire.
Why is she feeling so guilty? Tanzanite has watched villages be destroyed before, but not in this way. She had never watched the residents fleeing, fighting to save their homes. Raiding the towns and stealing anything of value had been her primary line of sight, and she had lost sight of anything else along the way.
"Tanzanite!" a familiar voice shouts, a scarred face tossing aside one of the clan cats to get to her. "Nice to see you survived, we didn't think you made it! You been staying here for long? Oh!! Do you know where they keep their valuables?"
The cat's eyes glitter and Tanzanite takes a step back. This excitement used to be intoxicating but she just feels disgusted.
A brown and white blur streaks through the air with a yowl, tumbling into the scarred pirate cat.
Inkrip leaves a mark that'll surely scar, shoving the cat away from Tanzanite as she does so.
"Did they hurt you? Just- get out of here Tanzy!" Inkrip says between pants, red scratchmarks on her cheek.
She's worried about me, Tanzanite realizes with a jolt. The young warrior, the cat closest in age to her, is worried for her. Inkrip is fighting like mad for
her. And Tanzanite finally gets it.
The crew aren't here for her. It is just another raid by the ones who left her behind. That was their code after all, but what about these clan cats' code? To search for their lost? To welcome in outsiders? The clan cats would never leave her behind. Inkrip would never leave her behind.
Inkrip's worried eyes flash back to the crew cat, who has risen to their paws with a grin.
"Tanzy? That's what these fools call you? Are you going soft on us,
Tanzy?"
The cat is quick, leaping at Inkrip and getting in a hit before she could even move. The taunt in their eyes is for Tanzanite, playfully daring her to correct her name and join them in the fight. Inkrip's eyes sharpen in anger, and though she tries to hide it, Tanzanite knows her well enough to see the pain she's trying to conceal. Tanzanite's paws move of their own accord, propelling her body forward to shield Inkrip. Only Inkrip can call her that name, not this... this...
creature. She finally sees the crew for what they are. And that's not the kind of life she wants to live, not the kind of cats she wants to call friends.
"Stay away from her!" she growls, slamming the surprised crew cat to the ground. They roll, before she finds her footing again and grabs the cat's scruff. With a fluid motion, she flings the cat out of the camp's center. They run away of course, turning tail at any real challenge like they've been taught to do. But Tanzanite won't be doing that any longer. Now, it's time for the others.
With Inkrip by her side, a silent nod shared between them, they help chase the crew out of the camp. The fires die down, thanks to the help of the Flame Tamers, and when the last of the crew race away from defeat, Tanzanite watches as the kits are brought back. She will fight for this clan now, the friendly faces who rejoice in their victory. She finally faces the decision head on that she had been secretly contemplating since she arrived at the clan. Yes, she will stay here. These cats, they are her real home. And maybe they could even be a family.
Tanzanite is more than the brawls on slow days that left nicks in her ears. She is the one who tells scary stories to kits, who helped pull an apprentice out of a fire, who will fight her heart out for those who earn her love.