Down underground where light never reaches, a cat with fur white as snow emerges from the shadows. His clear blue eyes only reflect the darkest thoughts, uglier than the scar that slices through his right eye. Causing his vision to remain disoriented, one sided, permanently immorally twisted.

A small silver tabby with leaf green eyes approached him with a sly look. " Nutmeg left. Looks like the pressure was too much for her." She said. Her uncle only grinned. "You see Shard, only the strongest survives. Those who are weak never get a chance at life, their only choice is to fight and defeat the strong so they will reign. Now with Walnut's kit gone, the alleys will nothing more a buffet for me to go picking. Soon the alleys will know they made a grave mistake letting me live. An new era has began, where fear roams the alleys and me as the leader. "

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Scout's POV

The sun was shining when I woke up. I was alarmed when I noticed my sister was not be side her but I noticed her scent and found her on a branch outside the tree house and my beating heart subsided. Nutmeg was also waking up. Her eyes blinked while she yawned and slid into a full body stretch.

"Hey Scout, had a goodnight sleep?" She asked me. I nodded frowning, noticing how sleepy she looked. Her eyes were still droopy and there was strange look to her as if she had been up all night. "Yeah, but what about you? Are you tired? You look like you didn't seep at all." I observed. Nutmeg shook herself to look awake. "I'm fine Scout, did Yarrow wake yet?"

"You know you gotta learn that you can't be so defensive all the time, eventually you gotta trust someone." I say. Nutmeg gave me a little nudge to the shoulder before following me inside. Yarrow and her sister Poppy were awake and were cleaning their fur with quick strokes of their tongues.

"So Nutmeg, where do you plan on finding a new home?" Yarrow ask her. My sister's ears twitched. "Well, I have been told that the farmlands are a good place for a group of cats, specifically since it has a lot of food. " She explained. Poppy frowned. "The farmlands? That quite a long journey."

Nutmeg's ears perked. "You have been there?"

Poppy shook her head. "No, but I know someone who has. His name is Jake, I could introduce you to him if you want." my sister's tail shot into the air. "That would be great." I heard her say.

Poppy gave her a stern look. "I may not know why you think that the alley cats need to move, but if you think it is important I will help you, but don't expect me not to trust you. You could be trying to run away for all I know." My sister's shoulder's tensed.

"Thanks for your honesty. " I heard her meow. The two cats stared at each other immensely. Yarrow cut the uncomfortable silence with a force laugh. "Well then! Lets grab something to eat and find Jake." I head her say. With Yarrow in the lead, I trailed after my sister, clambered down the tree and stalked out for prey.

Nutmeg easily caught two mice for us to eat. We chow down our food quickly and kept up with the two sisters who also found food to eat and were leading us to a little bit out of the city into a small town. The terrain was different than the city. There was more space between the buildings and less tall skyscrapers where seen. There were also more vegetation than the city were the park was the only patch of green space in the filth of the city. It was also a lot quieter, the constant hum of life from the city drain away into silence with each step.

"Where are we?" I asked Nutmeg in a hush whisper, afraid that the silence would be broken and the normal noise will return. Yarrow answered me instead with a small chuckle. "We are in the sub herbs. Less people live here than the city." She explained. The sudden faint bark of a dog to my right startles me and I duck behind my sister. I take a peek but I don't see any dog. Yarrow laughed. 'It is okay, the dog is locked up inside." She comforts me.

That's good to know.

We come up to a blue house and Poppy comes up to the fence and climbs over it and lands on the other side. I climb up with Nutmeg behind me, preventing me from falling.

We drop down into the backyard where a skinny grey tabby with blue eyes looks up from his tanning spot on the chair. Poppy approached him with a purr. " Hey Jake." She greeted. Jake gave her a friendly lick and sat up to get a good look at us. "So how do I get the honor on seeing you again Poppy?" The grey tabby asked. Poppy pointed with her tail to us. "These two are trying to go to the farmlands, I was wondering if you could show them the way." Jake squinted at us. "You wanna go to the farmlands huh?" We nodded.

"It is gonna take awhile by foot, but you're in luck. My owners and I are going through there tomorrow. So I can take you there." Nutmeg let out a purr of thanks and we left. Much later, back at the tree house Nutmeg and I were sharing a fresh squirrel.

"Are you okay?" I heard my sister ask me. I snuggle against her warm body. "I miss mama." I admitted. Nutmeg gave me a sympathetic lick to the forehead. "I know, but after we do this, we will go home and everything will be the same like before." She promised.

I nodded, even though I was not convinced.

Everything looks like nothing will be the same after this.

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Back in the city, chaos has been unleashed. They came swiftly and silently. Frost's cats attacked the alley cats. Old streets ran red. The attacks were unprecedented, unpredictable and were finish just as quickly as they came. Without a real leader the alley cats were vulnerable. They were flanked on all sides. Despite this, Frost wanted them to live, not go on a full on killing spree. He wanted to install fear into their minds.

Inside the shelter, Scout's litter mates Rings and Ginger stayed indoors, in fear of the ever present danger that roam outside the shelter's walls.

"What is Frost doing Pepper?" Jay asked her one day. Frost had just attacked three days ago and they were recovering. Peper, eyes dull with pain after witnessing innocent cats harmed. She tuned to him. "He trying to get back me, killing everything I ever love slowly so it stings."

Jay frowned. "But his attacks, they are not killing anyone just injuring us. " he observed.

"Yes, his way of sending fear."

"So we need to fight him head on right?"

"No. We need to save our energy. We will play defensive for now. We don't know where his base is exactly. He keeps moving somewhere else underground." Pepper explained to him.

Jay stared at his paws. He wanted to kill that nuisance but he knew she was right." They sat on the roof watching the sunset sink into the west. Then he thought of Nutmeg. He missed his fiery friend, though she left him broken in places he never knew he missed her and it would be great to have her back especially now. Every cat counted, especially when so many were injured.

Please come back Nut.

................................................................................................................................................................A/N

Hey y'all!

Sorry for the wait!

I hope this chapter was a good read.

Right now after two weeks of no activity I am a bit nervous that my stories do end up dry that i would need to scratch them! That would really make me sad!

So forgive me if things seem a bit off!

I will fix them in the future.

Have a good afternoon!