Locust was born to a big family with three parents and an older litter of half-siblings. As the middle child of his own litter, Locust would quickly find attention in short supply. His father, Anteros was stoic and strict, his mother Bobcat was sweet but aloof, and his other mother, Mercury, found herself most often preoccupied with her own litter’s antics. This of course, led to Locust acting out from an early age. If he could not garner attention by behaving, he would have it by biting his siblings and running off to whatever trouble he could find. And he found a lot of trouble, and certainly not by himself. While most of his littermates squabbled amidst themselves or busied themselves with strangers Locust never bothered to learn the name of for their doses of attention, Locust found himself on the heels of one of his older siblings, Cicada.
The two were as thick as thieves despite the small age gap between them. Wherever Cicada went, Locust was fast on his heels. Locust idolized his big brother and Cicada soaked up the attention. They were kindred spirits, both middle children of their litters who were often forgotten about when they weren’t causing trouble.
Locust and Cicada established their reputation in the local community rather quickly as troublemakers. It was small, mostly harmless incidents: Tearing up others' property, stealing treats and toys, and pranks only they found funny. It was always followed up by someone calling their dad and them getting a scolding and grounding, which would always be followed with them making some plans to sneak out in the midst of the night and the cycle would start all over again. It was during this time that Cicada’s disdain of their father would begin to seep into Locust’s own view, his easily malleable mind quick to conform to his idol’s thoughts.
The brothers' antics became more severe. Cicada, now a young adult, started running with a less than savory group of young cats. They were no good, and Anteros made his opinions on the matter very clear. This led to many yelling matches in the middle of the night before Cicada would storm off. Locust, too young to understand and too enamored with his brother to want to, Locust often snuck around still with his brother, much to his father’s chagrin. Things got bad. Bad enough that one night, when Cicada and Anteros were arguing, Anteros swore to disown Cicada if he left their den again for his “friends”. Locust remembers hearing his father swear as he shouted after Cicada’s retreating form that he could never return home.
Locust sobbed, and found comfort in one of his younger sisters, Timema that night. It wasn’t often he spent time with his other siblings, but her company was good. Timema was sweet like their shared mother, but attentive. She had the best intentions for her brother, but perhaps the results weren’t ideal. Later, while she held Locust, after their father and mothers went to bed, Timema suggested Locust go after their brother while his trail was still fresh, and Locust, filled with hate for his father’s seeming cruelty, collected himself and made good on that idea.
This was how Locust followed in Cicada’s steps, right into the gang his older brother had come to call home. Cicada caught Locust following his trail rather quickly, and when his little brother explained his intentions, he was more than happy to introduce him to the rest of the gang. The first time Locust met Brick, the unofficial leader of the group, and his sister Rusty, he was swamped in attention. Affection and praise that made him preen and long for this type of relationship at home. They were brotherly as they jostled him with their shoulders and ruffled the fur at the top of his head and Locust couldn’t possibly imagine why his father would be so adverse to them.
After this, Locust would often sneak out to join the gang, and was fast on his way to being an honorary member. With the divide in place between himself and his family aside from Cicada and Timema, he was quick to buckle down with the group, even when things began to get serious.
Locust found themself amidst the gang, and felt at home, and that became dangerous.
They stole food from other family groups and tussled with other similar gangs. It was because of this, that Cicada and Brick insisted Locust learn to fight. If she was gonna hang around she needed to be able to pitch in. So her training began there. Her days were spent like this, sparring with the other members of the gang and learning to sneak around as was required, and then she’d return home late at night. Despite all her skills, it didn’t stop her father from knowing.
One night, not far from their adulthood, Anteros was waiting for them. He was silent, and imposing as he loomed over his child but he didn’t yell. Locust almost wished he would have. Rather he silently warned them off of the gang. He made to explain why they were so wrong but Locust wasn’t having any of it and taking after their brother, stormed off on him. Strangely, after this interaction, Locust continued her habits, and yet her father never spoke of it again.
When Locust came into their adulthood, Brick decided it was time they proved themself an official member of the gang. At Brick’s behest, Locust was sent to deal with a cat that had been causing the gang problems. Wanting to please his found family, Locust asked no questions. The cat was easy enough to wrestle down. Locust had grown large and broad and was an excellent fighter after all their training with their brother and his friends. Things were going smoothly, until Rusty, who had been observing, told Locust to kill the cat. Locust froze, hesitating at such a weighty call. But the need to please was strong, and with some coaxing words from Rusty, Locust made the call. She remembers what it felt like to this day, what it looked like. She sees it behind her eyes, no matter how much she tried to justify it for the sake of the gang then. This would become a common occurrence.
The older Locust got, the less she began to care about who she was hurting; desensitized by her role in the gang. Where Brick pointed, she lunged. She became a recognized face in the community for more than being one of Anteros’ many kits. They were a frightening force to be reckoned with, and while they were rather passive on their own, they maintained an attitude that deterred other cats. Cicada was proud of them, and that was all that mattered really.
Eventually though, things began to shift. With the gang's penchant for violence, their company became less satisfying for Locust. They were power hungry, and the sense of family was fractured as that became more and more apparent to Locust. The void that formed from this, and the fact that Locust was just tired of being angry is what eventually led Locust back to their father. They weren’t sure what they were expecting, but they met him for a meal one evening to talk. It was awkward at first, but as the night progressed both of them expressed concerns and worries and by the end of their conversation, Locust found themself seeing their father in a different light, as though a fog had been lifted after many long moons. They would not apologize that night, and that would be something that would haunt them for unbeknownst to them, their conversation would prompt Anteros to seek out CIcada. Their talk would not go as well, and would land Anteros on the gang’s radar.
The next time Locust would go to visit Anteros’, Cicada would be there too. His father and brother would be caught in a scuffle. Locust’s unexpected arrival would be enough to give his father pause, but not Cicada. His brother tackled their father down, and Locust could still remember shouting for Cicada to stop, but it was too late; Cicada’s teeth were in Anteros’ throat, and Locust found herself frozen in place as their father struggled and reached out for them. That emptiness within them became all consuming.
For the first time, Cicada and Locust argued. It was ugly, shouting and sheathed claws bats to shoulders and heads. It ended in Locust slumped desperately against Cicada as he sobbed silently. Still, despite the events, with nowhere else to go, Locust and Cicada agreed not to speak on it, and returned to the gang.
The dissent was seeded though, and Locust began to remove themself from the others more and more. There was no satisfaction in serving, or being praised for the things they did. Even so, they stayed. Until they couldn’t stand it, at least.
One night, running Brick, Rusty, and Cicada, what had started as a normal food run became something else when two kits, no older than perhaps 6 moons, refused to give up their scraps. Seeing his youngest sister Timema in them, Locust was fast to suggest they had enough for the night, they could leave the kits be, but it fell on deaf ears. Brick would have none of it, and made to attack the kits. Locust didn’t even question it when he launched himself between them.
She didn’t wait for Brick to scream at her or Rusty to lunge, she reared and slammed all of her weight into Brick and shouted for the pair of kits to run. Another quick jab to throw off Rusty, and he was darting after them on heavy paws. It became a chase, one Locust and the kits had a headstart on. She was fast to direct the both of them to cover before taking the brunt of the attention. She made her way to the nearby gorge. There was a ledge she knew from growing up nearby she could land on to make her way to the bottom. With the other three catching up, she took her chance to jump, but found herself caught.
Their brother’s teeth sank into their hind leg, wrenching it out of place and swinging her off mark. She didn’t have time to think as she twisted in his grasp and used her remaining momentum to strike openly at his face. The force of her claws knocked one of Cicada’s eyes loose, and he dropped her. She crashed face first into the edge of the ledge she’d meant to catch, and the last thing she recalls is the feeling of her lip busting and a tooth dislodging before she was tumbling down the slope to a lower ledge.
It didn’t know how long it had laid there, unconscious and bleeding with waters rushing just below. It’s uncertain if it ever should have woken, but when they do they don’t waste the opportunity. On a bad leg and with a bleeding face and sore body, they dragged themself out of the precarious gorge and without looking back they made for new ground.
They limped for days before they found themself in a thick pine forest. Their mind was hazy with pain that had yet to numb and they were certain their wounds were infected, but even then when a stranger called out to them, they reacted by pouncing. It was messy, and tangled the two of them as they dragged themself and their target to the ground. A small scuffle played out, a rather unimpressive one before finally Locust relented, stumbling back and seemingly preparing for death or to be run off. To it’s surprise, neither came, and instead, it was invited to this stranger’s home: MonarchClan.
It didn’t take much to convince Locust and they tailed silently after this new cat to their camp. Despite their pain and exhaustion, they held their head high when they entered, and after speaking with their leader, Fogbellow, Locust couldn’t see any reason for them not to stay. For now at least, until they were back on their feet. The clan could provide shelter and protection should Brick and their gang come looking. It was a wise decision.
