Silence
I saw the world, for the first time.
A beaming face of a pale grey she-cat stared down at me.
Yet, I couldn't hear when her mouth opened and shut.
What was she saying?
I watched the other two kits bouncing around.
Yet they didn't make a sound.
I watched them in interest, their mouths too doing that weird opening and shutting thing. "What are they doing?" I wondered in my head. They tumbled towards me and did the mouth thing, but they stared at me in shock when I simply tilted my head to the side.
I wondered what they did as they padded up to the other kits and pointed to me, biting their bottom lip worriedly. "What? What is this weird mouth thing?" I fretted in my mind, too biting my bottom lip.
There was no sound.
The days went by, the world silent around me. A large dark ginger tom padded in and smiled down at me, he too doing the mouth thing. He looked at me in confusion when I stared back. He turned to my mother and opened his mouth and shut it.
She shook her head and cried, I not realizing I was the problem. The tom looked at me sympathetically and gave the space between my two ears a lick, doing the mouth thing into one of them before turning and comforting my mother.
The world was silent.
I leapt onto the other kit, and batted its ear. I was playing rough, yet it was playing as if I was a weird flying thing. It batted me gently and smiled happily at me and mouthed something.
The she-cat did the mouth thing to the kit, and dropped a flower beside the kit. "Flower." I spoke, yet I did not hear myself say it. I was doing the mouth thing now. Was I normal? The kit smiled and nodded, her pretty golden face beaming.
She mouthed the word kit – I had seen that word mouthed a lot – and pointed to the flower. "Flowerkit?".
No words were spoken but the kit mouthed to me, the she-kit nodding. Why did we do this weird mouthing thing, and why did she know her name? Why didn't I know my name?
The word pestered me for as long as I was in the nursery.
The tom came in one day and spoke to the pretty she-cat. The she-cat did a long open mouth thing and smiled at me. I smiled back. She flicked her tail, I understanding that meant "Come here.".
I was guided out of the nursery and into the clearing in which lots of cats doing the mouth thing bustled around. I was brought to the den of the weird cat, and shown a bunch of plants.
He greeted himself, and shook his head and mouthed angrily.
He pointed to the ground and scuffed up dirt and pointed to his dark brown feet. "Dirtfoot?".
No sound came back but a happy and approving nod showed me I had got it right.
I didn't know my name. Why did these cats know their names?
Then that day came, where Flowerkit and the other tom kit were bouncing off their paws and leaping onto the she-cat.
She groomed us, and smiled and mouthed.
A black tom called us forward after awhile, smiling down at me.
He mouthed something to all of us and flicked his tail for Flowerkit to trot over to a large black tom with dark ginger stripes. He smiled down at Flowerkit and pressed his nose to hers.
Then my other sibling, a dark grey tom kit, was called up to go up to a golden tabby she-cat.
I was called up finally, and everyone stared at the ground. I looked up at the black tom and he indicated to me to turn to the cat with herbs. The cat walked forward and stuck out his nose.
I leaned up awkwardly, wondering whether I was doing it right. I pressed my nose to his as I saw my sister and brother do.
He smiled down at me and guided me over to the side of the gathered cats as the black tom finished up talking to us. Cats came over and smiled at me and mouthed at me. I smiled, but I shrugged every time cats mouthed at me.
The tom led me away to his den.
Dirtfoot smiled at me, and mouthed something. I think he said "It's time.". He led me out of the camp at halfmoon, my paws itching with excitement.
Over the years I had lost many cats. My brother, Gorseblaze, had lost one of his two kits to greencough. Flowerblossom had lost her mate as he protected her and her four kits, I not being able to treat his wounds. And, Nightstar, I had just found out his name, died two times in a row from greencough.
I greeted the other medicine cats, Rowanwing, the ShadowClan medicine cat, dipping his head to me. I met the new RiverClan medicine cat apprentice, Rosepaw.
Dirtfoot indicated to go to the moonpool as he mouthed something to the others. I dipped my head and dipped my nose into the pool and sleep met me and cuddled me.
The darkness came and suddenly the shimmering fields of StarClan appeared. The one place in which I could hear.
"Hello.".
I turned to see the familiar face of the grey tabby tom, dipping his head.
"Hello.".
"I think it is time you got some names.".
"What?".
"For moons you have never known the cats close to you. The other medicine cats. You only know your mentor, the RiverClan apprentice, Rowanwing, Flowerblossom and Gorseblaze.".
"I know. That is all I need to know.".
"There is Shimmerpelt, the RiverClan medicine cat. Greenfield, the WindClan medicine cat. Blazekit, the kit your brother lost. Blackpelt, your sisters deceased mate. Amberblaze, the she-cat you fawned over. Rainstorm, the former ShadowClan medicine cat. But which name do you long to know?"
I thought about this. Which cat did I never know the name of that I wanted to know? Then I knew.
"Me.".
"Greetings, Hawksong.".