LAMBASTE of THE ALLIANCE

On a dark, dreary night tucked beneath a dormant metal beast on a forgotten patch of tarmac Ravage gave birth one last time. Their nest was made out of assorted knickknacks gathered by the crow. In it Tingle, Boop, and Tickle grew. But three became two when Tingle's listless eyes proved to be blind. Knowing such weakness meant sure death Ravage didn't hesitate to kick the kitten out.

During their kithood their father, Plague, tricked his friend into entering a dog-ridden alley on their own. The foolishly unsuspecting female guard managed to escape the trap, but Plague met her the moment her paws reached freedom. Instead of love she found only his claws. He was promoted to guard.

Determined not to let their kits, their legacy, fall into the lowest ranks the family pulled together to train them in the art of deception and murder.  They were also keen on boasting that any cat who dared to consider challenging the kits, once of age, would immediately be taken down by any means. 

And so they passed their eighth moon in relative safety, never leaving without an escort of siblings and parents.For some family units such a situation would have been impossible, but the matriarch of Ravage's lineage had been a cunning old devil. She knew that their loyalty would secure her old age while in turn assuring their own rank safety come eight moons. So she had trained her kittens, and theirs in turn, towards such an end.  

Lambaste, as he was now known, may have felt safe enough in his rank, but he was not scott-free. For a young cat, born crow and half-starved, had somehow managed to climb to  lesser-cat through their wits, and were obviously looking for a clever way to reach fierce-cat. After thoroughly insulting this ingrate, Lambaste had made himself their target. The two bickered constantly, and began an elaborate game of cat and mouse. 

A gang of lesser-cats, all around Lambaste's age, quickly attached themselves to the self-proclaimed future Ruler. He promised each places in his guard, and assured them all that he'd help them gain fierce-cat. His charisma had them all wrapped around his paws, and it didn't hurt that he did, on occupation, manage to pull through for those who were the most useful. It was a small operation, but one his grandmother would have been proud of. Whenever one lost a rank the others would be there immediately to destroy the victor and toss them to the crows. 

On one occasion this impressive set-up was not enough. His nemesis had managed to swap out his meal with a poisoned mouse. The sick creature had, thankfully, not been rabies (as was expected) but it had sent Lambaste into three days of stomach flu. During which his nemesis publicly challenged him. Weakened and cut off-guard, he lost the fight immediately -giving in before receiving any wounds. But before any other cat could challenge him, sending him from lesser to crow, one of his lesser-cat friends challenged the nemesis and, at Lambaste's guiding and threats, threw the fight. Now heavily injured, the nemesis was no match for even a sickly Lambaste. He defeated him immediately, and then threw him to the crows. 

At some point during his earlier days his aging father had lost his rank of guard. Lambaste and his littermates had failed to retake the rank. Instead, Lambaste focused on building his loyal allies and flirting up all sorts of charming young cats. While his eyes are still set on leadership, his heart is patient.