A challenge from TheSoulsAura in the forum Moonclan
Summary (kind of): Forgiveness is fragile, hard to come by, hard to receive, yet important to all. Understanding is even harder to catch between your claws, yet is even more vital. When two kits get into an argument with each other and can't apologize, what will happen? Will they find it in themselves to forgive one another, or will they be forever floating in the waters of indecision, stuck between a Scylla and Charybdis until it is too late? The journey of heart and soul, loyalty and courage, the ties of friendship, the strength of one, the fear of another, and the hand of destiny.
The legend of Heart and Soul, and the story of Mistakes
"Did you hear? Did you hear? There's a badger in our territory! They were talking about it during the clan meeting!" A small kit groaned as excited words entered her dreams, chasing them away like a young apprentice landing in the middle of a plump field of mice, sending the creatures skittering every which way except near her hungry paws. The silver-furred kit inched open one sleep-crusted eye, hesitant to leave the quite world of dreams.
"They say the badgers huge! Apparently it's an old one that had already stumbled into the other clans' territories. They successfully drew it away, but at the cost of two young apprentices' lives. They say it has fearsome claws and even scarier teeth that could rip apart a full-grown cat without hesitation!" an excited kit cried, her orange fur glistening as if it was made of gold.
The small kit shivered at her friend's words, imagining a fearsome beast that would stop at nothing to drink a cat's blood. Burying her head deeper into the moss bedding, the small, silver kit tried to find comfort in drinking in the sweet scent mixed with that of her mother's fur. She hoped the badger would never come near their den, their home. The kit imagined what it would be like to realize this was her last moment alive, a life cut short by the cruel claws of fate. She imagined the look on her friends face when she found that her closest companion was gone. Gone forever in the inky darkness of death, with a whispering hiss in their ears and never-said words in their dying breath. Some cats said they went to Starclan, to roam fields full of prey in the sky far above, but it was no replacement for the life they could have had. Should have had.
Shivering, the silver-furred kit pressed her pelt deeper into the tangled moss, desperately wishing she would never have to see her friend get hurt in the same manner.
"Rawr! You'll never get me, you evil old badger!" The sudden cries were accompanied by soft paws digging into her small frame and sharp teeth gnawing harmlessly at her neck. Screeching in surprise, the small kit staggered under her friend's weight as she attempted to run, thinking a badger had come to eat her, to kill her friend. "Yeah, that's right! Run, old badger! You're no match for Thornkit the mighty!"
Realizing it was her friend and not some beast, the silver furred kit rolled on the ground, throwing the orange kit off before turning angrily at her bemused friend. "What are you doing?" the silver kit hissed, gleaming tail swishing and black-tipped ears held back in her fury.
The other kit was taken aback by her friend's reaction, scrambling up from the ground and puffing up her fur. She had dark orange, short fur, considerably different from her friends gleaming silver coat. A long, black strike stretched from her snarling muzzle, down her arched back, and up to the tip of her lashing tail. Black stripes sprouted from it like thorns, the kitten's namesake, and it fit the kit well, easy to pick up and hard to get rid of. "I-I was just playing! I thought it would be fun to play-fight like we were fighting a badger! Not as exciting as the real thing, of course," Thornkit replied hastily, amber eyes awash with fear, confusion, and just a tinge of anger, her orange fur glinting as if it was made of gold.
The silver kit became even angrier after hearing her friend's words, puffing up her long, silver fur and pulling her black-tipped ears farther back as she just about managed to hiss out a reply. "Just playing? Just playing?! You just about frightened me to death! You need to tell someone before you start playing your silly games on them!"
"What do you mean, silly! There fun! Your way too serious about these things, Silverkit!" Thornkit wasn't quite as angry as Silverkit was, still confused about the whole situation. Why was her friend so angry all-of-a-sudden?
"Were about to become apprentices, Thornkit! It's time you stopped playing dangerous games and start acting your age! Unless you want to be a kit for another six moons, that is," Cloudy eyes glared in anger as Silverkit tried to pound some sense into her friend's head.
Upon hearing her friend's words, Thornkit brought one black paw to her chest, taking a single step back in surprise. Let me get this straight, the kit thought. My friend wants me to stay a kit for six more moons? When we promised we would be apprenticed together? For an incident as silly as a simple game? This makes no since! Does she… not want to be my friend anymore? Thornkit's amber eyes began to well up in tears, whiskers drooping momentarily at the realization of friend's misunderstood words. Then… then I don't want to be her friend anymore either!
The orange kit's heart hardened, hissing out a now truly angry reply, "Well… well you're just a scaredy cat, Ms. I am the boss of everyone! I bet you can't even fight a badger if you tried!"
"Of course I can't!" the silver kit yowled, voice raising in horror at the suggestion. "And neither can you! Were still kits after all, with no battle experience!"
"Well, I bet I could! In fact, why don't I go show you! Or are you too much of a kittypet to come?" Thornkit taunted.
"I'm not going, and neither are you!"
"Kittypet! Kittypet! Scared little Kittypet!"
"I'm not a kittypet!"
"Then come with me! We can fight the badger together!"
"No!"
"Then you admit you are scared!"
"Of course I'm scared! But is being scared for your friend's life such a bad thing?"
"Yes! It just shows you don't believe in me! Aren't friends supposed to believe in each other?"
"I believe in you! I just don't want you to get hurt!" The kit's voice was now desperate, terror edging it's way in. If her friend decided to fight that badger…
"Liar! You just don't want me to get all the glory!"
"Thornkit, that's not the truth at all!"
"It is the truth, and we both know it!"
"Please don't go! You're my friend. I don't want anything to happen to you. The world is so big out there… I admit it. I'm scared. Scared for you. My friend." Anger left the silver kit's voice as she said those words, desperate for her friend to understand. A few silent moments passed, as If Thornkit was shocked at her friend's words and didn't know how to reply. Finally, Thornkit let out a hollow meow.
"No. No were not."
"What do you…?"
"We're no longer friends, Silverkit." With those words, Thornkit walked out of the nursery, paws landing hard on the ground as she pressed them deep into the dirt in silent anger.
…
Did she make the wrong choice? Should she have listened to her friend, kept their friendship? No, her friend hadn't believed in her. They had vowed to be friends forever, to believe in each other no matter what, and her friend had broken that promise. Stepping silently out camp, Thornkit prepared to fight the badger, staring down at her tiny claws in silent contemplation. Words still rang in her head, prepping her mind to turn back even thought her body said no. This was her battle, and if her friend, no if Silverkit, didn't believe in her, then Silverkit no longer deserved to be friends with her. And yet… I believe in you! I just don't want you to get hurt! Of course I am scared! But is being scared for your friend's life such a bad thing? The kit turned back into camp, unable to keep those words out of her head.
…
Silverkit felt follow, empty inside. The vow she had made seemingly ages ago… Friends forever, until the end! We will believe in each other, stand paw in paw! Our claws are one, our hearts are true, forever together, me and you! She broke the vow… the vow that was so dear to their hearts. She needed to apologize, but… she was scared. If her friend… no, Thornkit wasn't her friend anymore… if Thornkit got into a fight with that badger… Silverkit shuddered at the thought. How could she apologize, if apologizing meant losing Thornkit forever?
…
Silverkit padded out of the nursery, her head in a big jumble like a ball of moss that had been batted around one too many times. Unable to keep her mind on where she was going, the small kit tripped and fell head over heels before bumping into a cat near the entrance of the camp. Looking up at her savior, she was about to thank the cat that had stopped her, but the words stopped before they left the silver kit's mouth as she saw who it was. Thornkit.
A part of Silverkit leaped in joy that Thornkit hadn't pursued the badger after all. Perhaps she was sorry. Perhaps she had thought over her friend's words. Perhaps she wouldn't get hurt at all. Perhaps everything could resume as it was before, like nothing had happened.
Silverkit's hopes were bashed as Thornkit stalked away, tail high in the air, without another glance. Maybe it was she who needed to say sorry, not Thornkit. Yes. It was. Saying sorry might mean losing Thornkit forever, but without Thornkit being her friend, she was already gone.
Silverkit snuck into the elders den, carefully padding in, her gaze sweeping the cats inside for Thornkit. Yes, there she was, listening to an old ginger tom with one eye, lost in a fight with a fox, he said. Silverkit padded over, preparing the words in her mind. She would say she was sorry. Sorry for breaking the vow so dear to them. If it was what Thornkit really wanted, then Silverkit would stand at her side beside the badger.
Thornkit met Silverkit's gaze, surprised at seeing her old friend here. She almost spat out the words, "what are you doing here?" but in respect for the elder, she said nothing. Instead, her amber eyes gazed into Silverkit's cloudy ones, hard anger lingering in their gaze. Silverkit opened her mouth, as if about to say something, but hesitated. For a moment, Thornkit saw ravenous fear in Silverkit's gaze, before Silverkit dashed out of the den, resentment and an untold fear hard on her paws.
…
"Have you seen Thornkit and Silverkit lately?" a questioning voice arose as two cats spoke near the fresh kill pile. "It's almost the day of their ceremony. I have been trying to decide who their mentors should be, Smokestripe."
The cat she was talking to replied over a mouthful of shrew, "Well, Dawnstar, I haven't seen them around at all. According to cats I've talked to, it's been days since they even looked at each other. Fernclaw thinks they must have had a fight. She saw them in the elders den, said the atmosphere was so tense between them that it could be cut with a claw."
"That's exactly what I've been worried about, Smokestripe. Thornkit and Silverkit have always been close friends, so close they even asked to be apprenticed together. But today Silverkit made her way to my den to ask if she could be apprenticed after Thornkit. I'm scared of what might have happened between the two of them, and was wondering what you thought I should do. You always seem to have good advice."
"Well, I think we should-"
Dawnstar interrupted Smokestripe as she saw a flicker of movement near the camps entrance, a tiny, black-striped, orange tail disappearing into the world outside. "Smokestripe, did you see something?"
"What do you mean?"
"I could have sworn I saw Thornkit leaving camp." Dawnstar said in confusion, before roughly shaking her head. "Perhaps it was just a trick of the light."
…
Thornkit lashed her tail about as she stalked out of camp. Only moments earlier her old friend had bumped into her in the nursery. She recalled the short conversation they had had, "Why do you keep running into me!" Thornkit said as Silverkit stood across from her, mouth open as if trying to say something but unable to find the right words. "If you have something to say, just say it!"
"Look, Thornkit," Silverkit finally managed to say, "I'm really-"
"What, scared? Not a good friend? A promise-breaker? Shut your trap, I don't want to hear it. You're no friend of mine." With that, the orange kit dashed out of the nursery, determined to destroy the badger once to prove her fri-no, Silverkit, wrong.
Thornkit bounded through the forest, attempting to taste the air like the warriors in her clan. Unable to tell the jumbled scents from one another, the black-striped kit growled in frustration. She would just have to find the badger some other way.
…
Branches lashed out at Silverkit's long pelt, determined to catch her and slow her down, to push her farther away from her goal. Why couldn't she have said it there and then? Said she was sorry and gotten on with it? Instead she had made Thornkit even more determined to scare away the badger that still lingered on their territory. It was easy enough to track her frie- Thornkit down. She had known the amber-eyed kits scent since the moment she was born, and finding it in this forest wasn't too much of a challenge. But with no way of knowing whether she was getting closer, the small kit felt as if she was running desperately to reach a line on the horizon, each step making her gasp for breath as she raced towards a goal that kept getting farther away, running endlessly on legs that were too slow.
Silverkit screeched to a halt as she reached a large clearing, sighting her friend ahead. Her friend was searching the clearing, trying to scent the ground, orange fur glinting as if it was made of gold. Thornkit was standing cautiously, not sighting her old friend or a large, lumbering beast behind her. It was black, with a long white stripe running down its head and a glistening smile, like that of a hawk about to catch its long awaited prey. A large paw was raised, claws glinting, aimed at Thornkit's back.
Terror in her eyes, Silverkit raced towards Thornkit, pushing her out of the way before the badger struck. She felt a painful stinging sensation race through her body as the claws, surprised at the change of events, landed at her side. Fighting off the pain, Silverkit turned to face the badger, unsheathing her tiny claws. She leaped at the badger, scrambling over its tough fur before scoring her claws across its eye. The badger screamed in pain, throwing the small kit off. Silverkit landed hard on the ground, her silver pelt glinting with crimson blood. Thornkit stared in horror, racing towards Silverkit's side, her mind racing at the sudden change of events. Did Silverkit just… save her?
Silverkit, seeing her friend, breathed heavily before meowing, "I'm sorry, Thornkit."
Thornkit, tears in her eyes, recalled what Silverkit had said before, a sudden fear clouding her mind, "Is being scared for your friend's life such a bad thing?" Thornkit's whiskers drooped, a thousand things running through her mind that she was unable to say, thousands of rabbits that disappear down dark holes as soon as she made a move to catch them. "Silverkit… I don't want you to get hurt either," the orange kit managed to meow.
Before either of them could say anything else, the badger rumbled over, resuming its attack. Thornkit supported her friend as they attacked the enraged beast together. "Friends forever, until the end! We believe in each other, stand paw in paw! Our claws are one, our hearts are true, forever together, me and you!"
…
Dawnstar raced through the forest, hearing the commotion of battle ahead. Her keen eyes picked up two kits, fighting as one, as a badger attempted to bring them down. She pumped her legs harder, wishing she had pursued the kit earlier instead of brushing it off as a trick of the light. As the leader raced closer to the blood-bathed clearing, Thornkit was hit hard. As the little kit struggled to stand, Silverkit raced in, yowling the words, "Friends forever, until the end! We believe in each other, stand paw in paw!" The next words were caught off as the black and white beast landed the killing blow, and Silverkit fell motionless to the forest floor. Dawnstar watched as Thornkit buried her muzzle in her friend's side. Dawnstar could almost feel the grief pouring through the small kitten, the regret, the untold word swirling forever in a dark abyss, as the beast came lumbering in to take her life too. Dawnstar, almost upon them, managed to shout, "Run!" to the small kit. But Thornkit stood motionless, too devoted to her dearest friend to leave Silverkit's side.
"Today we mourn the deaths of two devoted friends and young lives, Silverkit and Thornkit." Dawnstar meowed, as the clan gazed sorrowfully up at her. "I ask my warrior ancestors to look down on these two young kits, lives yet to be fulfilled, who were to be given the name of apprentice today. Silverkit, who gave up her life to protect her friend, and Thornkit, who stayed with her friend until the end. Let Starclan receive them as apprentices, Silverkit under the name of Soulpaw for her bravery and caring, and Thornkit under the name of Heartpaw for her devotion to her friend in her darkest hour."
And so, the legend of Soulpaw and Heartpaw was born, names to be forever remembered as lives cut short by the swirling darkness of death, who had to choose between a Scylla and Charybdis and chose Charybdis. Friends forever, paw in paw, their claws as one, their hearts true, walking the swirling, black road of death together.
Before you kill me- yes I know the ending wasn't that original, and that the names/ceremonies may or may not be canon. Also, can cats cry? I'm highly curious. I have never seen my cats do it, but some writing thinks they can.
Keep on reading and writing, and I hope you enjoyed this short story! I enjoyed writing it, and though I will mainly be focusing on "Double P," I might drop in a few short stories and/or challenges like this one that I have written. They are what I enjoy writing most, after all.