Fire In His Eyes

Rusty felt the wind stir his whiskers, savoring the scents of the forest as they billowed around him. He opened his mouth and could taste the pungent scent of the rotting leaf litter, the fresh leaves, and the tempting smell of the prey beyond. The blue twilight was fading quickly into night, and Rusty had to fluff up his bright ginger coat against the cold wind pressing persistently into his pelt. “What are you doing up there?” came the high-pitched mew from the opposite side of the fence. Rusty turned, his green gaze meeting that of the plump black and white cat who lived in the territory next to his. “Nothing, Smudge, don’t worry about it.” Smudge put his two front paws on the fence, gazing up at where Rusty was perched precariously on the wooden fence, “You ought to go inside before your housefolk lock up, or else you’ll be here all night.” Rusty curled his lip, sickened by the soft life he was leading, so routine and clear cut. He turned, trying to smooth his fierce expression “So? What’s so terrible about staying outside?” Smudge dropped back onto all fours, cocking his head to the side, “It’s awfully cold…besides, aren’t you hungry?” “Not really,” Rusty sighed, the idea of eating more dry pellets making his stomach churn. “Oh, yeah? Well, I’m starving.” Rusty purred in amusement, there was hardly a moment when Smudge wasn’t starved, even though his thick black and white coat covered a remarkably plump build. “So…you’re just going to stay out here? Won’t…” Rusty turned back to his friend, the black and white tom’s whiskers were drooped and his ears were pinned to his broad head. “Won’t what?” Rusty asked. “Won’t the wild cats get you?” Rusty purred loud, and threw his head, “Smudge, those are just kit stories.” Smudge sighed, “All right…but…be careful.” “Don’t worry about me.” Smudge gave Rusty one last look, filled with worry, before darting towards his housefolk’s call from somewhere in the shadows of the towering nests. Rusty sighed, he could hear his own housefolk calling, and with the cold beginning to penetrate his soft coat, he was beginning to think Smudge was right. He gazed into the forest once more, wishing with all his heart that the stories were true, wishing he had something more to look forward to than a nap in the sun or a saucer of cream. “There has to be more to life than this,” he sighed, staring at the eerie shadows of the billowing trees in the distance. There was fire in his eyes that night, a fire that would never burn out, a fire that would rage deep into the forest, the only hope for an ailing clan.

Felt like doing some fan art for the amazing Warriors series. Here's Firestar back when he was the kittypet Rusty, on top of the fence around the house were he lives, looking out into the forest. I wrote the story above, it’s meant to take place a few days before Rusty ventures into the forest for the first time. Yes, there is actually fire in his eyes if you look hard enough.

Cat reference by looking at this photo [link] by RidesWind44

Fence made with stock by paintresseye [link]

Ivy brush by Cisticola [link]

House silhouette made with stock by JensStockCollection [link]

Tree brush by JavierZhX translated to GIMP by getfirefox [link]

Fire brush by redheadstock [link] converted to GIMP by Project-GimpBC [link]

Rusty/Firestar, Smudge, and the Warriors series (c) Erin Hunter.

Despite using a lot of stock, this was not easy, finding the stock was hard in itself. Turning the house into a silhouette and the fence into something that looked like a drawing was hard too. Rusty was no doubt the hardest part, I only referenced a photo to stylize it while still keeping the anatomy correct. Anyway, this was hard to make, so do not steal, copy, trace, or otherwise redistribute in any way.