[gs29513]

 

It was almost evening on the final day, and Huckleberry had yet to crack. Scratch watched as she gritted her teeth and stayed silent and Three launched himself at her with increasingly desperate blows. Her body was covered in bleeding wounds, and it seemed as though they had tried to completely destroy one of her hind legs, leaving it a bloodied, shredded mass. He was slicing at her head now, hoping it would be the right, vulnerable part to get the words he needed. Scratch couldn't hear his words, but after a moment he raised his claws and sliced at her eye, clearly damaging it irreparably.

He was trying, trying very hard, but the sun was setting quickly and she still hadn't cracked. The sun sank, and she was silent. Three, angry and bitter lashed out again and again, trying to take her other eye, her other ear, anything, anything. Scratch dropped to the ground, almost squishing them both but spreading his legs at the final moment to avoid crushing them. Seizing Three unceremoniously by the scruff he padded to the river, One and Two trailing nervously behind him. With a huff of dismay, he flung him squealing into the current, watching his small body tumble downstream towards the waterfall and rocks that were intended to be his demise.

Now to deal with the others. He left Huckleberry alone for now, if she bled out in the time it took him to do this it didn't matter to him. It took a while, getting close enough to the twoleg place to find one of their fire-cans, but he found one. Once the twolegs had drunken deeply from their sourbottles he tossed each kitten into it, and they leaped out in an instant, squealing and crying in pain. Weaklings. He spat, seizing them both in his jaws and bounding back to camp. They could figure out what to do from here on their own.

 

Huckleberry had done better than he expected, but she wasn't out of the woods, not by a long shot. She and her mother were both very injured, and he had no medical knowledge sufficient to fix them. He certainly wasn't going to keep them around if they were useless, which they very well could end up being. Still, he wasn't going to do nothing, so he wrapped the young she-cat completely in cobwebs before placing her in the stump beside her equally immobile mother. They could have a bit of bonding time there. As a bit of an afterthought he dropped a mouse in the stump, figuring if they were that hungry they would move enough tot get to it.

 

Scratch wasn't sure what he ought to do next, he had two possibly useless cats and two kits who also might not do well. After a moment of thought he decided what he was going to do. Once Itzel and Holly had their kits, they were both pregnant now, he would give One, Two, Itzel, Holly and Huckleberry a test. A fox den was a bit away, and if they could make it into it and out again they were good enough to stick around. If they got killed, oh well! They were dead and were to useless for him to bother with anyway.

 

Scratch woke up, and had a bit of a nasty start. Itzel was gone. Had she been playing him all along, hoping that bringing him Holly and Huckleberry would mean he would let her go? If she had, she was very, very wrong. She had kits too, he wasn't going to lose them. Dashing after her scent he regretted his trust. She was far away now, it might take all day to track her down. He had to though.

It was almost night when he reached her, his still-superior fitness allowing him to catch up as she neared the twoleg place. STOP! he commanded, bearing down on her as she did indeed skid to a stop. I had hoped you had seen the error in your ways. Realized that I was the one you should owe your allegiance. But it seems I was wrong. And so the fate you gave, which I did admire I must admit, will be yours as well. That was all the information needed really. Leaping forward he sliced along the backs of her ankles before smashing her into unconsciousness. Then back to the den he took her.