Flame Of Betrayal

Flame Of Betrayal - Chapter One

Spark padded forward, her paws making no sound on the dirty tarmac. As she reached the marketplace, she tensed, and her hazel eyes became wary. Walking out onto the cobbled square, she looked around at all the human activity. A nearby fishmonger caught her attention, and she trotted over to him and sat down near the stall, from which delicious scents wafted in her direction. Spark opened her mouth, and let out a mew so pitiful that she might have been starving to death. The fishmonger looked at her, laughed, and threw her some pieces of freshly caught haddock. Once she had finished wolfing them down, she trotted down to the river and took a quick drink of the cool, clear water. Yawning, she slipped down another alley, back towards where the Kin lived. Then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash of pale brown. Turning to look into the gutter at the edge of the path, she saw three large brown rats, scurrying towards the body of another cat. Spark snarled as ferociously as she could, and the rats took a hint, running away. Bending her head to the other cats muzzle, she sniffed. The cat smelt... strange. Rather than the usual smell of a city cat, or a home cat, this cat had a sort of sharp, stinging scent. Spark noticed that there was some odd yellowy-brown grit stuck in the other cats fur. Stepping back, Spark took in all the details of the newcomer. This cat was slim and long-bodied, with pale brown fur. It was very short. Didn't she know that you needed thick fur to suvive in the winter? Other than that, Spark guessed that they were about the same age, Spark was maybe a little younger.

* * *

Dusk awoke in a warm, dark place. She could feel strange, springy stuff underneath her, and there were so many scents! In the desert, there was only the scent of the sand, prey and other cats. Here there were a million more odd sounds and smells. Hating the feel of the soft stuff underneath her, she got up and paced around her... Cell? What if it was Spite who had found her? A mad panic seized her, and she leapt around, yowling, "Let me out! Let me out NOW!" when, suddenly, a beam of sunlight peirced her cell, and, for the first time, she realised that is was [i]not[/i] a cell. It was, in fact, a den. Dusk saw that her bedding had been odd, springy green stuff, mixed with feathers. She now saw the exit-a hole in the wall. Sliding out of it, Dusk began to wander around. She recieved several odd looks from other cats walking around, and was beginning to feel dejected, when a voice called, "Hey, you! Wait up!" Turning, Dusk saw a pale ginger cat, about her age, running towards her. "Heya!" panted the other cat, catching up with her. "I'm Spark. What's your name?"
"Dusk." replied Dusk.

* * *

Soon after, they were sitting on the low brick wall in the park, where Spark was teaching Dusk all about the city, and in return, Dusk was telling Spark about the desert. She didn't want to tell her new friend why she had left though. Spark sensed this, and didn't ask. At that moment, there was a loud bark, and a handsome, jet black tom came round the corner, in a distinctive, loping, ground-covering run. He didn't seem at all fussed at the massive dog hot on his heels, and didn't bother to speed up. Then, casually, he leapt, seemingly with no effort, onto a high branch of a nearby cherry tree, where he sat staring coldly down at the dog. Once it had got bored and run off, he leapt onto the wall and padded toward them. Dusk noticed that his eyes were peircing, crystal blue, and his fur was sleek, and gleaming. He was slimly built, with lean muscles built for speed rather than brute strength. Glancing at Spark, she asked, "Who's that?"
"His name's Binjax." repiled Spark. Dusk noticed that the ginger cat had tensed, and her hazel eyes held a gleam. Dusk grinned to herself. 'She must like him' she thought. "Heya, Binjax," mewed Spark. "This is Dusk. She comes from the desert! What are you doing right now?"
The black tom gave Dusk a measuring look, which she returned, her amber eyes locked onto his blue ones. Then he turned to Spark, and said, "Hunting."
"But you don't need to hunt! You can just get food more easily from the market!" Spark seemed to find the idea of hunting weird. Binjax shrugged, turned and ran off in persuit of a rabbit that had hopped out of the undergrowth. "He's a kind of loner." Spark told Dusk. "He's not really very social."

That evening, Dusk went hunting, despite Spark's protests. She prefered freshly-caught food to scraps scavenged from the marketplace. However, she found this difficult, since prey in the desert was very different to city prey. Eventually, Dusk admitted defeat and grabbed the remains of a chinese takeaway. In the silence afterwards, she reflected on what she had learnt that day. These cats lived in an abandoned warehouse, relying on the humans to feed them. Instead of a clan, they called it a kin, and, rather than having a traditional family of leaders, the strongest would take control. There was an awful lot of killing, Dusk realised. Then she fell into deep, dreamless sleep...