| Author | Erin Hunter, Dan Jolley |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Bettina M. Kurkoski |
| Series | Warriors |
| Genre | Science Fiction, Fantasy and Magic; Manga |
| Publisher | Tokyopop |
| Pages | 81 |
The Rise of Scourge is one of seven manga books based on the best-selling series Warriors by Erin Hunter. The Rise of Scourge was published by Tokyopop and released June 28, 2008. Although the series was created by Erin Hunter, this book was actually written by Dan Jolley, and the artwork is by Bettina M. Kurkoski.[1] This particular manga depicts how sinister BloodClan ruler Scourge (formerly Tiny due to his small size) grew up, brought together the desperate Twolegplace cats to create BloodClan, came to the forest, and eventually killed the mighty Tigerstar.
Plot Summary
editThe son of kittypet (housecat) Quince and Firestar's father, Tiny is a small black tom with ice-blue eyes. He is the runt of his litter of three; his sister's name is Ruby, and his brother’s name is Socks. Being so small, poor Tiny is fussed over by his mother persistently and his littermates constantly tease and harass him. This annoys him tremendously, and one day he looks through a hole at the base of his fence. He sees the forest, and decides to do something brave to prove that he is big enough to play with his siblings.[2]
He squeezes through the hole and wanders into the forest. Once there, he "hunts" a leaf and climbs a "tower", which is actually a tree stump, and a large bird (probably a hawk) almost carries him off. When Quince calls Tiny back home, he tells of his adventures to her and his littermates (exaggerating of course), but they don't believe a word of it. After Tiny tells his story, Quince announces to the kittens that some new Twolegs (humans) will be coming to adopt them. [3]
When a little girl comes to look at them, Tiny hides under the coffee table while Socks and Ruby play with a ball of yarn and impress the girl. Ruby walks over to Tiny and says, "You know what happens to unwanted kittens? They get thrown in the river." Tiny, frightened by this concept, decides to run away to the forest. Unfortunately, he runs into a ThunderClan border patrol, consisting of Thistleclaw, his apprentice, Tigerpaw, and Bluefur. Thistleclaw and Bluefur argue over what to do with the scrawny kittypet, so Thistleclaw decides to ask Tigerpaw. Tigerpaw lunges at Tiny, almost killing him when Bluefur tells him to stop. Tigerpaw departs with these chilling words to Tiny: "You'll never forget me." Tiny can’t go back into the forest, or the Clan cats will finish him off; he can’t return home, or they'll supposedly throw them in the river; Tiny's only choice is to venture into Twolegplace (the city).[4]
Once there, Tiny discovers the cats in Twolegplace are worse than the forest, and much worse than his kithood tormentors Socks and Ruby. He finally stumbles upon a kind old she-cat who “can’t resist kittens down on their luck” shares her chicken with Tiny. She assumes he’s a housecat, as he still has his collar. Tiny tries to pry it off, but to no avail; instead, he gets all of the Twolegplace cats laughing at him. He wanders around, looking for something to help him, and he finds a ‘‘very’’ old dog that dropped a tooth. When he tries to use it to cut his collar off, he just gets it stuck on the collar. [5]
The next day, Tiny uses the tooth to bluff his way into his next meal with this story: he fought a huge dog, killed it, and took a tooth from the dog as a trophy. If not respect, this guarantees him food, but also brings a job that comes to him soon after. When Bone and Brick hear of the tiny ex-kittypet that supposedly fights dogs, they go straight to him. They tell him to get rid of the dog that was guarding a main souurce of food, or leave by midnight. Tiny decides to fight, even if it kills him, but when he arrives, the dog is afraid of his shadow and runs away. As the awesrtuck cats gather around him, one asks what his name is. Remembering what his mother said when he was a kitten about the forest cats being a "scourge on the name of all good cats", he answers proudy, "My name is Scourge."[6]
Although he should be happy with his new position of power, Scourge's murderous hunger for revenge against the cruel tabby warrior consumes him. The morning after the "fight" with the dog, he finds food outside his den, and when he walks down the streets, he sees that everyone else respects and fears him. Pretty soon, all of the Twolegplace cats come to him for help and advice.[7]
A couple of weeks later, three forest cats are causing trouble in the city, and Scourge is called to deal with it. When one of the cats asked to speak to the "leader of this ramshackle lot", and Scourge identifies himself as such, they laughed. Scourge, frustrated at the forest cats' reaction, lunges at one of them, killing the unrespectful warrior. After the other two leave, Scourge, with "ice in his veins", kicks dirt over the fallen cat's body; he "expects the ice to melt", but it doesn't, and he welcomes the sinister feeling.[8]
One day, Socks and Ruby show up in Scourge's lair, asking for food and shelter. Scourge, probably remembering everything these cats had done to him in his early life, pauses for a long time, then asks, "Why should I?" Ruby protests, saying, "Doesn't blood mean anything?" Scourge responds, lecturing: "Oh, yes. Blood is everything. But the only blood I'm interested in flows from my enemies. Look around you! These cats are bathed in blood. It soaks their fur and laps at their paws. This is why we survive! We are BloodClan!" He then lets them eat, and afterwards banishes them from BloodClan.[9]
Many months later, the thing Scourge "hoped for, waited for, longed for the most", arrives: Tigerstar (formerly Tigerpaw), along with Boulder, a former BloodClan member that joined ShadowClan, is in BloodClan territory, and looking for Scourge, no less.[10]
Tigerstar has a propasal for Scourge: if Scourge brings his forces to the forest to defeat Tigerstar's enemies (namely Firestar and Tallstar), Tigerstar will give Scourge and his cats control over part of the territory in the forest. Scourge accepts, knowing that the time is not right for vengence. Instead, with his army and the Clan cats watching, Scourge lunges at Tigerstar, shredding him and takes all nine lives at once from the recent leader with one blow. Finally, Scourge has his revenge.[11]
"My littermates said I was to 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!" -Scourge[12]
Setting
editThe beginning of this book was obviously set a few years before Rusty joined ThunderClan[13], and the conclusion was at the same time as Chapter 22 of The Darkest Hour.[14] Furthermore, the time when Tigerstar and Boulder visited Scourge corresponds to the prologue of The Darkest Hour.[15]
In the first few months of his life, Tiny lived in a Twoleg nest (human house) on the edge of the forest, probably very close to Firestar's old home, since they are half-brothers and both live right next to the forest.[16][17][18] The place where the ThunderClan patrol found Tiny was on the border between Twolegplace and ThunderClan,[19] but the heart of Twolegplace is where Scourge spent most of his life.[20] Scourge killed Tigerstar at Fourtrees, the usual gathering place for the four original Clans.[21][22]
The city's real name is Chelford, United Kingdom, and the neighboring forest is called White Hart Woods. Fourtrees is actually called Druid's Hollow, and the whole area is named the New Forest[23][24]
Characters
editFor more information about these characters (especially things not mentioned in The Rise of Scourge), click on the link.
Scourge (or Tiny)-small black tom with blue eyes and one white paw, the runt of his litter, born with the name of Tiny, son of Quince, brother of Ruby and Socks, half-brother of Firestar and Princess
Socks-black-and-white tom, son of Quince, brother of Ruby and Scourge/Tiny, half-brother of Firestar and Pricess
Ruby-daughter of Quince, sister of Socks and Scourge/Tiny, half-sister of Firestar and Princess
Quince-mother of Socks, Ruby, and Scourge/Tiny, mate of Princess and Firestar's father
Bluefur (later Bluestar)-blue-gray she-cat with blue eyes, future leader of ThunderClan
Thistleclaw-ThunderClan warrior, mentor to Tigerpaw/Tigerstar
Tigerstar (Tigerpaw)-large dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes, was Thistleclaw's apprentice
Bone-large black-and-white tom with green eyes, BloodClan's "deputy"
Brick-Bone's friend
Boulder-silver tabby tom with blue eyes, former BloodClan warrior that joined ShadowClan
References
edit- ^ The Rise of Scourge, front page
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 3-16
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 16-23
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 24-36
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 36-41
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 43-58
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 59-62
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 63-71
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 73, 74
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 75-78
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 78-82
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pg 82
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 30-34
- ^ The Darkest Hour, ch 22
- ^ The Darkest Hour, prologue
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pg 7
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pg 13
- ^ Into the Wild, ch 1
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 30-34
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pgs 36-78
- ^ The Rise of Scourge, pg 79
- ^ The Darkest Hour, ch 22
- ^ Into the Wild, pgs XIV-XV
- ^ http://www.warriorcats.com/warriorshell, Ask Erin Hunter, FAQ, Q#7
External links
edit[1] The official Warriors website, where the warrior cats rule the wild!
[2] Places to buy The Rise of Scourge
[3] TOKYOPOP's website
[4] Browse inside: Warriors: The Rise of Scourge, by Erin Hunter, Dan Jolley, Bettina M. Kurkoski