Tawnykit opened her eyes, starting to yawn. She stopped when she noticed the bright, dazzling colours which were threatening to cover her vision, coming in at her from all directions, making her want to close her eyes and retreat back to the warm darkness of her mother's belly. Instead, she narrowed her eyes, and slowly the colours eased back, allowing her to see the den she was in more clearly. She turned to look at her mother, who had sat up, a proud look on her face. The silver she-cat opened her jaws in the direction of another she-cat who had the same comforting milk-scent that Tawnykit's mother always carried on her fur. Apparently in response, the other she-cat, a gray tabby, turned to face Tawnykit. Her gaze turned friendly and she opened her jaws as well, for a moment. It seemed she was waiting for Tawnykit to do something. The kit tilted her head, as if to say, I don't know what you want, and decided to ignore it. She got to her tiny paws and stumbled outside, not steady on her feet yet.
Outside, she waited once more for the bright light to subside, and then wandered towards a small group of cats just a little bigger than she was. She wondered if they wanted to play. As she approached, the cats looked at her. A couple seemed to be yawning at her, or perhaps stretching their jaws. Tawnykit didn't understand. She opened her mouth back at them, unsure of what to do. They looked at her with an odd expression and they all spread their jaws in an amused sort of way that annoyed the little kit. She slumped sadly just as someone grabbed her scruff and pulled her into the air. She could scent her mother as she swung around in her teeth, following the tail gestures of a tom which the kit did not recognize. He smelled of leaves. Once inside a small den, also smelling strongly of leaves, she was dropped to the ground. Her mother sat in front of her, watching the tom with an annoyed and disbelieving expression. He simply opened his jaws a few times. After a little while, during which Tawnykit had begun to daydream ,the tom turned to her mother, who opened her jaws wide, then threw a miserable look at Tawnykit, and swept out of the den.
Mother… Where are you going? Wait for me! She thought sadly.
Tawnystep climbed out of the warrior's den, and headed towards the exit of camp. She had long since learned that her Clanmates could hear what she could not, though she had a hard time imagining what that would be like. Her world has always been silent, and though she never missed what she had never had, she found it difficult to fit it with her Clanmates. They had tried to teach her to hunt, and to fight, to do apprentice tasks and even tried a simple form of sign language. But though she could compensate a little with her sharp eyesight and the way she could feel vibrations in the ground to warn of approaching creatures, she still found it hard to fight when her enemies could so easily and quickly pounce from behind, or to find birds sitting in tree branches without them seeing her first.
Tawnystep stalked low through the undergrowth, eyes locked on a small sparrow that was pecking at something on the ground. She was so close, careful not to sweep her tail across the ground, watching for stray twigs. Suddenly the bird lifted its head and spread its tiny wings, fluttering into the air and out of reach. Tawnystep leaped after it, but her claws were already a fox-length behind. She slumped on the leafy floor, wondering what had alerted the bird. She must have stepped on a crunchy leaf or something. Disappointed, but determined not to return to camp empty pawed, the orange tabby continued slowly through the forest, trying to sniff out some prey. Soon she found a mouse sniffing at the ground, looking for food. She stalked forward, this time carefully watching where each of her paws fell. After a few moments she leapt, and successfully killed the small creature. Back in a good mood, Tawnystep buried her prey and set off again to find more.
After a while, the warrior had caught and buried another mouse and a large rabbit, something Tawnystep was sure the elders would appreciate. She had just spotted a vole when a sharp stench hit her nose. In the few moments it took her to figure out which direction it was coming from, the fox from which the scent had wafted burst out of the bushes behind Tawnystep, about to land on her. Quickly she dived forward, getting out of the way, but the fox still managed to rake its claws across her flank. She gritted her teeth against the stinging and sprinted away. She was bounding in the direction of camp when she realized that it could follow her and harm the kits and elders, so she spun around and prepared to dart in another direction, but before she could two warriors sprang from either side of her, surrounding the fox. One of them, a lean gray tom that Tawnystep recognized as Tallcloud, gestured towards the camp with his tail. Taking his directions, Tawnystep fled back to the camp and into the main clearing. She stopped there, panting, noticing more clearly the pain from her wound. The cats in camp started filtering out of their dens, wondering what the commotion was outside. Among them was the leader, Featherstar, and his deputy, Lightwing. They exchanged a knowing look, the leader looking especially grave. Tawnystep looked around, wondering why everyone was looking at her with those strange expressions. Each one either looked angry with her, or were uncomfortably avoiding her gaze. The two warriors who had fought the fox came back into the camp, and they padded over to Featherstar, apparently giving a report. He then nodded at his warriors and leapt up onto the tall tree stump which he used to address the Clan from. He opened his jaws wide; Tawnystep guessed he was yowling a summons. Once all the cats had gathered, he spoke to them, and then his eyes rested on Tawnystep. He pointed his tail at her,then out of camp, and slowly back to camp. He gestured to the kits and queens that were present, and to the elder's den. He gave her a sad shake of his head.
Slowly it dawned on her. He thought she would have lead the fox all the way into camp if his warriors hadn't stopped it. He glanced at the scratch on her flank( Tawnystep, annoyed now, assumed he thought she had been injured and was thus useless, or not a skilled enough fighter), then jumped down in front of her. He grabbed a stick in his teeth and drew a simple picture of a mouse. He looked at her questioningly, and gestured at her empty jaws, as if to say, Where is your prey? You were supposed to be hunting. He turned and climbed back onto the tree stump, then shook his head again. He met her eyes, and then pointed his tail at her once more. Then he flicked it towards the elder's den. Tawnystep looked at him in shock. She could vaguely see cats murmuring around her shooting disapproving glances her way. She bowed her head, wishing the fox had not caught her. Wishing she could tell her Clanmates that she has tried to lead the fox away, and that she had a large haul of prey stashed in a hole somewhere in the forest. She wished that she was not being sent to join the elder's and end her chance at being a warrior forever, and instead bringing that fat rabbit to the elder's who had worked hard all their lives and had earned their life in that den.
Quietly, head still bowed, she wandered to the elder's den, tail trailing through the dust. Before she reached the den she noticed that one of the cat's who were angry with her, shooting glares at her, was her own mother. Deciding to ignore this, she entered the darkness of the elder's den, lay down, and drifted into sleep, where she could hunt fox-free, and occasionally even hear faint noises, of cats meowing and her mother purring and her tail swishing on the leaves of the forest.