Warriors Into The Wild: Part One.

This is a book that I wanted to start with for my reading blog, because of how much power it holds over me.

It really was a book, and then a series of books worth living for back when I read them, and after reaching around page 60 so far in, with around 271 pages in total, it definitely is a very fulfilling book to me still.

So far, this is what is going on.

Rusty, a house cat, has always felt like there was more to life than the simple pleasures of a house cat life, although Rusty as far as I'm concerned is still a kitten, he wants to see what is beyond his fence.

One of his friends a neighbor cat, Smudge, warns Rusty of the dangerous wild cats that live out in the wilderness and recommends he does not cross the fence to explore the wild forest.

Rusty has had dreams of catching a mouse, and goes into the forest despite the warning's of his friend, and while chasing a mouse in the forest, he is ambushed.

An intense fight occurs between him and another cat his age.

Rusty initially flees, but realizes he has no choice to protect his life, but to face his assassin.

The entire situation ends up being a set up, where the kitten who ambushed Rusty, was sent by the kitten Greypaw's mentor, along with the leader of one of the wild cat clans of Thunderclan.

So the leader of ThunderClan realized that the clan needed more warriors to fight to protect there territory from the other clans seeking to take there food, she had noticed Rusty sitting on his fence gazing out to the wilderness for a long time, and sensed something within him, so she keeping an eye on him noticed when he finally left his safe haven to enter the wild, sent Greypaw to dually prove Greypaw another kitten apprentice learning to become a warrior, to fight Rusty, and see if Rusty has any constitution in battle.

Rusty because he faced his assassin, and also was observed close to catching his own mouse before attacked, had shown he was a worthy feline, and is invited to give up all of his 'kittypet' ways to join the wild cats, in Thunderclan.

So this is what he dreamed of his whole life, so with only mild reservations decides to take up the deal to give up his old life, and leaves the next mourning.

What happens next is him telling his tale to Smudge, and having to say goodbye, which to me was something I had to write out, because it struck me so hard then, and now, in just thinking again about the scene, which I wrote about in my other blog already.

It's actually a very shot scene and is pushed under the rug, rushed into the main arc of the story of Rusty becoming a warrior, but regardless it holds a lot of impact, even without establishing Rusty and Smudges relationship too much, you can tell for yourself, this is a sad parting ways scene, and is certainly meant to be.

So, Rusty is taken to the clan, they're not having it, but Bluestar the clan leader stands by her decesion to take him in, when challenged in front of the whole clan, Rusty fights a cat who insults him for being a weak house cat, and in this fight both loses his collar, and gains the respect of the majority of the clan, and from there is taken on as an apprentice, to train and live and eat with the other apprentices.

In skimming over a few things for today, the clan deputy is killed and a new deputy is chosen in Lionheart a weathered warrior.

Rusty is shown the borders of the 3 other clans and learns more about how the clans work, and how the clans meet to speak politics every month.

So basically that's the setup for the entire series, Rusty, now called Firepaw because of his Garfield colored pelt, is accepted as a clan cat, and the reader journies beside him as he learns first hand of the violence cats are willing to go to when short on food, how alliance, and borders mean nothing when prey is scarce, as well as learning about tradition and all the concepts he did not grow up with as a kitty pet.