The Rise of Scourge/Cliffnotes

These notes are brief, noting major events and minor events in The Rise of Scourge that will be of consequence later. They are intended to be used as a reference for those looking for specific events for re-reading and the book discussions.


 * The book opens with the kittypet, Tiny, introducing his siblings and mother. His mother's name is Quince, his sister is Ruby, and his brother is Socks. Tiny is the runt of his litter, and is kicked against the side of their bed when Ruby plays with Socks.


 * Quince calls Socks and Ruby over, and tells them not to play so rough with Tiny.


 * They say that Tiny is no fun to play with since he is so small and weak, and Tiny thinks to himself "All I want is for my brother and sister to like me. I'd grow if I could".


 * Quince is taking the kits outside for the first time, and they are excited.


 * Their Twoleg puts collars around their necks, and Tiny remarks that he likes the sound that the bell makes.


 * They explore the yard, and see lots of different things that they have never seen before, and Tiny realizes that there is even more to see on the other side of the fence.


 * The Twolegs are playing with the kits using a fluffy thing attached to a stick.


 * Tiny sees them batting at it, and wonders why they don't just grab it.


 * He asks if he can play, and Ruby grudgingly agrees.


 * He grabs the toy, and runs away with it, and is scolded by Ruby, who says that he is no fun, and can't play right, while Socks snatches the toy away from him.


 * Later, back inside, Tiny asks his mother about the forest.


 * She tells him that it didn't scare his father as much as it did her, and that he had explored it a few times, and told her about it.


 * She tells him that it is a dark and dangerous place, with cats that have to fight every day to survive.


 * Tiny asks if they will ever go into the forest, and his mother says "No, Tiny. Forest cats have fleas." and adds " I mean it, those cats are a scourge on the name of all good cats", and that he is safer here.


 * While the kits sleep, Quince leaps onto a chair, and looks at a picture of her mate.


 * She mentions that he would have been proud of his kits, and that it is strange that none of the kits inherited his ginger fur, but that she sees his spirit in them anyway.


 * Tiny says that, later, they go into the garden a few more times, but Socks and Ruby won't let him play with them anymore. He also states that, though she doesn't mention it, he thinks his mother likes Socks and Ruby more than she likes him.


 * While they are play-fighting, Tiny asks if he can join in. They say no, and run into the bushes.
 * Their mother tells them to get out of the bushes and reminds them to not be harsh to Tiny. But Socks and Ruby complain that he was too runty and that they didn't like him.


 * Tiny waits until the others are asleep, and goes to the hole in the fence. He scrapes it until it is large enough for him to fit through, and goes into the forest.


 * He plays with a beetle, knocks a leaf into the air, and climbs onto a tree-stump.


 * A bird (possibly a crow) twice his size swoops down, narrowly missing him.


 * He goes back to his home, where his family is looking for him.


 * He tries to tell his family about his adventures, but they don't believe him, and are even more disbelieving when he says that "I built a house out of twigs and leaves, and lived in it! And then I caught a fox, and I ate it!"
 * While Quince seemed to believe him when she really didn't, Socks and Ruy tell him that he was nothing but a little liar.


 * While Tiny is in bed, Quince tells Socks and Ruby that soon, they will be going to a new home, and they say that they don't want to go.


 * Tiny, with an evil look on his face, remarks "Well, I'll show them. When I get big enough......They'll all see."


 * Tiny says that, a few days later, they hear strange voices. The voices turn out to be the new Twolegs.


 * Quince gives Socks and Ruby a ball of yarn and tells them to "play with this ball. And act adorable...!"


 * Tiny knows that they are just acting cute, and doesn't join in.


 * Ruby runs over and tells him that the "housefolk cub" only wants them, not Tiny, and that unwanted kits were thrown in the river, scaring Tiny.


 * Tiny spends the rest of that night dreading being thrown into the river.


 * When the housefolk cub come the next day, Tiny tries to act cute instead of scared, but the housefolk cub walks right past him.


 * Tiny walks outside, telling himself "They're not gonna throw me in the river".


 * He slips through the hole in the fence, and runs alongside it for a while, until two kittypets stop him, asking him if he is running away. They tell him not to go into the forest, because a forest cat would eat him in one gulp.


 * Tiny then catches the scent of something inside the forest, and heads towards it.


 * He runs into three forest cats, who refer to themselves as Thistleclaw, Bluefur, and Tigerpaw.


 * Thistleclaw wants to attack the kit to teach him a lesson, but Bluefur defends him, saying he is only a kit.


 * Thistleclaw asks his apprentice what he thinks they should do, and Tigerpaw says that "I think the kittypet should be taught a lesson. One he'll remember."


 * Tigerpaw viciously attacks Tiny, and slices the bell off of Tiny's collar, but is stopped by Bluefur.


 * Tigerpaw tells Tiny that "You'll never forget me."


 * Tiny limps away, and falls asleep against the fence.


 * When he wakes up, his body hurts everywhere, and he limps back toward his home.


 * When he gets there, he remembers that if he goes inside, he'll be thrown in the river.


 * He makes his way into the Twolegplace, and is almost hit by a monster, and sees a dog chasing a cat.


 * He sees some Twoleg food on the ground, and is about to eat it, but is stopped by two rogues.


 * They start to eat, and he remarks that they are just like Socks and Ruby, but worse.


 * As he is walking away, an old she-cat asks him if he would like some food, and gives him some chicken, calling him a kittypet.


 * He asks what the word "kittypet" means, and she tells him its definition, and that his collar gives it away.


 * He looks in a broken mirror, and sees the collar.


 * He struggles to remove the collar, but fails, and the surrounding rogues and loners laugh at him.


 * He angrily walks away from the cats, and almost walks into a dog many times his size.


 * He is startled, but then the dog's Twoleg calls him away, and Tiny sees how old the dog is.


 * The dog leaves behind a tooth, and Tiny tries to use it to break his collar. Instead, the tooth sticks through the material in his collar, and becomes stuck.


 * Tiny has a nightmare about Tigerpaw, where Tigerpaw says again, "You'll never forget me...Will you?".


 * Tiny wakes up, and, remembering his dream, replies to the dream- "No. I'll never forget."


 * The next day, when he cannot find the old she-cat, so he asks a group of kits that are about his size if he can have some of their food.


 * They don't answer, but instead ask where the tooth in his collar came from. He tells them that he ripped it out of a dogs head. He says that the dog was trying to steal some of his food, so he killed it.


 * Tiny doesn't know if the cats believe him, but they let him eat anyway.


 * One night, two cats, later known as Bone and Brick, come to speak to him.


 * They ask him if he really fights dogs.


 * He replies that he does, and they lead him away.


 * The two cats lead him into an alley behind a deli.


 * A large dog is keeping the cats from a lot of food, and they are slowly starving to death. Brick asks Tiny if he will fight the dog for them.


 * Tiny says nothing, and Bone remarks "Maybe he was lying the whole time. Maybe he's never fought anything before.", and Brick tells Tiny that he has until moonhigh to give them his answer, and if he is not going to fight "...It would be best for you to leave this place for good."


 * Tiny climbs to the top of a building, and sees how the cats really live.


 * There are cats fighting for food, ganging up on other cats to steal from them.


 * Tiny walks over and looks at the dog clearly for the first time.


 * The dog is huge, and Tiny is even more scared now.


 * Tiny does not want to fight the dog, but he thinks about it, and realizes that there is nowhere else for him to run. He says that "I have to fight. Even if it kills me".


 * Later, he is walking through the alley, telling himself to stay calm. He sees the dog again, and thinks once again that he is too small.


 * The dog looks his way, and starts growling fiercely.


 * All of a sudden, the dog starts to whimper, and Tiny realizes that it is scared of his shadow.


 * It runs away, and Tiny makes it seem like he drove the dog away by scratching at its tail as it ran away.


 * The cats gather around him, amazed, and ask him what his name is.


 * He remembers his mother telling him "Those savages are a scourge on the name of all good cats", and decides that his name is no longer "Tiny"


 * He replies simply, "My name is Scourge"


 * After the fight, Scourge lies down under a dumpster, thinking that, since things are finally going his way, he should be happy.


 * He has a flashback to when he was attacked by Tigerpaw, and realizes that he cannot be happy yet.


 * He wakes up the next morning, about to scavenge for food.


 * Scourge notices that the cats he helped have decided to help him by leaving him chicken


 * He goes for a walk, and notices that every cat is watching him, though they try to be subtle about it.


 * He climbs to the top of a building, looking down on the cats. He realizes that "These cats don't like me. But they fear me."


 * He mentions that if Socks and Ruby could see him now, they would know just how wrong about him they were.


 * He becomes more well known, and cats begin coming from all around to get him to help them with their problems.


 * Brick and Bone tell Scourge that there is a group of rogues behind a Twoleg food place, and that they are causing a lot of trouble, and might eventually kill someone.


 * When Scourge, Bone, and Brick get closer to the Twoleg food place, Scourge smells the scent of the forest, and becomes hopeful that the tabby forest cat has finally appeared.


 * The cat is not Tigerpaw, and is attacking a smaller she-cat, telling her to bring him something to eat.


 * Scourge tells the rogue to leave her alone and leave, and the group laughs at him.


 * The rogue says that if he talks to anyone, it'll only be the leader of the group, and Scourge replies that he is the leader.


 * They continue laughing, and one of the rogues tells Scourge that he can be his personal assistant, and to fetch him some water.


 * They continue laughing, and Scourge notices that even his own cats are beginning to doubt him.


 * Furious, he viciously slashes the rogue's throat out, killing him, and the cats leave as he scrapes dirt over the dead rogue.


 * Later, Brick and Bone tell Scourge that he has visitors, who turn out to be Ruby and Socks, looking very thin and ragged.


 * They ask him to help them find food, and he asks why he should help them, after all they did to him.


 * They reply that they are his littermates, and ask if blood means anything to him.


 * He replies "Oh yes. Blood is everything. But the only blood I'm interested in flows from my enemies."


 * He then calls his group "BloodClan" for the first time in the book.


 * They barely listen to his words, and he lets them eat.


 * He then tells Brick and Bone to get the two cats out of his sight, and that they are not welcome on BloodClan territory.


 * Many moons later, the moment he had been waiting for has finally arrived.


 * A former BloodClan member named Boulder, is bring the tabby forest cat to Scourge with a proposition.


 * The tabby introduces himself as "Tigerstar. The leader of ShadowClan."


 * The tabby tells Scourge that, in return for his help, he will give BloodClan territory in the forest.


 * Scourge agrees, and gathers BloodClan to travel into the forest.


 * Scourge and Tigerstar are then in fighting positions, and Tigerstar leaps at Scourge, only to be slice open, falling dead.


 * Scourge thinks "My littermates said I was too small...Too weak, but I've proven them wrong. I've learned how to be strong. How to live for blood. Because that's the key. The only answer. I am leader of BloodClan. I am Scourge. And I have won!"