Badgers
Characters:
Badgerkit – large, responsible black tom kit with white stripes on his face, green eyes, and large paws
Foxkit – small, slender russet she-kit with white paws and muzzle and yellow eyes
Hollykit – pale grey she-kit with green eyes
Thornkit – pale tabby tom kit with green eyes
"Come on, Badgerkit!" Hollykit moaned, rolling her eyes. "You're so slow! If you don't hurry up, someone's going to catch us and then we'll all have to wait a hundred moons to become apprentices!"
"I don't think that's how it works," Badgerkit replied, carefully placing his paws down on the steep, rocky hill that led to the dirtplace. He, Hollykit, his sister Foxkit, and Thornkit were all sneaking out of camp to explore the forest.
Suddenly, above him, Foxkit's hind paw slipped from its perch. She let out a squeal of alarm.
Foxkit! Badgerkit surged forward and grabbed his smaller sibling by her scruff just before she fell. "Are you okay?" he mewed through a mouthful of her fur.
"Yeah, I'm okay," she agreed, shaking herself and climbing ahead a few steps. "Thanks, Badgerkit!"
He nodded. "No problem." That was why Badgerkit had come along – he knew that Foxkit would go with the two older kits no matter what he said, and he couldn't let her go alone. His sister was somewhat clumsy and fragile, so Badgerkit had always taken it upon himself to make sure she was safe. He'd offered to climb the hill last; Hollykit and Thornkit thought he was just slow, but Badgerkit had wanted to be below Foxkit just in case.
"Stop being so loud," Hollykit grumbled.
"Yeah, someone's gonna hear you," Thornkit agreed.
At last, Badgerkit reached the top of the hill, and his legs wobbled. No! I've got to be strong, he thought. Badgerkit hated heights, but it was the only way to get out of camp unnoticed.
"Finally," Hollykit snorted, grey tail-tip twitched irritably. "Now I know why Mallowstem called you Badgerkit; you're as slow and heavy as a badger. Now come on, we're going to the badger sets."
"Can't we go explore the borders? Everyone says that the badger sets are dangerous," Foxkit pointed out with a worried look.
Hollykit rolled her eyes again. "No. I said we're going to the badger sets. Come on!"
When Foxkit hesitated further, Thornkit loomed over her. "Are you going to come to the badger sets, or are you afraid?"
Badgerkit curled his claws angrily. No one talks to Foxkit that way! But before he could defend his sister, she dipped her head, staring at her paws. "I'll go to the badger sets."
As the siblings padded side-by-side after the older kits, Badgerkit whispered, "You don't have to go, if you don't want. We can just go back to camp when they're not paying attention." He glared at Hollykit's haunches.
"No, it's okay," Foxkit promised. "They're just being mean. I bet they've been to the badger sets before, anyway, so they know it's okay."
"Yeah, sure," Badgerkit agreed, though privately he doubted that the older kits had even left camp before.
From up ahead, Thornkit let out a squawk as he fell into a mouse-hole. Badgerkit and Foxkit erupted into laughter, but Foxkit quickly grew quiet when Thornkit glared at her. Badgerkit, however, couldn't contain his laughter. Serves that bully right!
"Cut it out," Hollykit snapped crossly. "You're going to bring the warriors down on us!"
Badgerkit fell silent, lashing his tail in irritation. I wish Foxkit hadn't come here. We could be back in the nursery or playing in the clearing instead of getting yelled at by Hollykit.
"We're here," Hollykit announced, waving her tail for them to stop. "Look at that."
She angled her ears at a wide hole in the side of a grassy ledge. It was bigger than a full-sized warrior, and dark inside. A strange, musky stench filled the air that made Badgerkit's nose wrinkle.
"We've seen it. Now let's go back to camp," Badgerkit meowed to Hollykit. She rolled her eyes again, but stopped abruptly when Thornkit leaned in and whispered in her ear. Then her eyes began to gleam. That's not a good sign. Badgerkit shifted his paws uncomfortably.
Hollykit turned and faced the two younger kits with a smirk on her face. "I have a dare for you guys," she mewed, looked Badgerkit in the eyes. "I dare you two to go into the badger set there and bring out badger fur!"
"What? No way!" Foxkit yelped from beside Badgerkit. He turned to see that his sister's yellow eyes were huge with shock and fear, and her short russet fur stood on end. He pressed against her protectively and felt her racing heartbeat.
Thornkit snorted. "Come on. It's so easy. There's not even a badger there, or that stink would be even worse. All you have to do is walk in there and then grab a tuft of old fur. That'll prove that you're really worthy of hanging out with us."
Badgerkit narrowed his eyes. This is really dangerous! I can't let Foxkit do this! "What if the badger is in there? How do you know that the smell is stale? It smells fresh to me. This isn't safe."
"That's why it's a dare, mousebrain," Hollykit pointed out with a smirk. "Look, you're just a little kit who's never even been out of the camp before. You couldn't tell stale badger scent from fresh mouse." She flicked her tail at the badger set. "Go on."
"Yeah. Unless you're scared," Thornkit taunted.
Badgerkit felt Foxkit stiffen beside him. Don't say you'll do it, he pleaded silently. It's too dangerous.
"I'll go," she agreed, and Badgerkit winced privately.
I have to keep her safe. "I'll go too," he meowed, stepping forward.
Hollykit's eyes sparkled. "All right. Go on in, then. We'll keep guard out here from warriors." Foxkit led the way to the badger set, with Badgerkit following. She halted at the entrance, giving him a chance to catch up.
The set smelled rank, and was heavy with the awful stench of what must have been badger. Foxkit set a few pawsteps into it, and Badgerkit did as well. Then they were inside and on their way to find badger fur.
The set was black as night, without any little holes in the roof like there were in the nursery, but Badgerkit's eyes adjusted somewhat to the darkness, at least to the point that he could make out Foxkit's silhouette – and, after a few moments, he saw that the set opened to a wider room. Then he saw something that made him freeze in place.
"Badgerkit," Foxkit whispered, making him jump, "I'm scared."
"It's okay," he mewed softly. "I'm right here. I'll protect you from anything."
He sniffed around the entrance to the wider area, hoping there would be fur there, but there was none. "I don't think I want to play with Hollykit and Thornkit anymore after this," Foxkit meowed quietly. "They're mean."
Badgerkit licked his sister's ears. "That's okay. We can have fun by ourselves. I bet you could even play alone sometimes. I would play alone sometimes when you were still too little to be outside, and it was pretty fun when I could find some moss. Maybe when we get back, you can ask Mallowstem to teach you moss-ball."
"But I don't want to play alone," Foxkit protested. "I like playing with you better."
I like it better, too. I want to keep you safe. "I know, but when we become apprentices, I won't always be there. It'll be good to learn to play moss-ball. And you have to stand up for yourself against Hollykit and Thornkit, too. I won't always be there to defend you."
"Right," she agreed. "I promise to stand up for myself."
Another moment passed in silence before he heard a shuffling sound. Badgerkit steeled himself for what he had to say next. I have to do this. I have to protect her. "Hey, Foxkit?"
"Yes?" she mewed, turning to him.
"You have to get out of here."
"What?" she asked, eyes wide. "What do you mean, I have to get out? What about the badger fur?"
Badgerkit turned and nudged her back towards the entrance to the set. "Don't worry about it. You really need to leave. Please."
"Then come on!" Foxkit exclaimed, sounding confused.
"Go out there and tell Hollykit that she's nothing but a stupid furball," Badgerkit encouraged her. "Hurry!"
Behind him, the shuffling sound grew louder and a low growl emitted from the darkness. Foxkit stiffened. "Badgerkit? What's that? Is that you?"
"I said go," he insisted. "Get out of here, Foxkit, go find a warrior!" I have to protect you! "Quick!"
She took a few steps away from him, towards the entrance of the set. "But what about you? You're coming too, right?"
"Sure," Badgerkit promised. "Go!"
She nodded nervously and ran for the entrance to the set. Badgerkit closed his eyes in relief. I promise I'll keep you safe. I'll slow it down so you can escape.
Behind him, the growl turned into a badger's roar of rage. Swallowing hard, Badgerkit turned around to face the massive creature he was named after.
Hey, if anyone wants to know... I may actually continue this, or at least write something with these characters. Still deciding whether Badgerkit lives or not though...