He walked silently through the camp, his paws making no sound in the sand of the riverbank. Without a word, the dark grey tom sat down, his blue eyes moving to the river. Glowing serpents swan through it in the darkness, a sight which surprised him – but still he made no sound. When one of the serpents finally raised its glittering head and met his eyes with an ebony gaze, he leaped for its throat. But the serpent was faster, and the warrior fell into the river with a deafening crash, the snake's teeth in his pelt.
Ospreykit sat silently inside the nursery. He had no idea why he had woken up – he had just woken up suddenly. No nightmare, no blinking. Just asleep and then awake – like that. Thunder roared outside the warm den, a sight which hardly displeased him. The other kits might get restless, cooped up in the nursery, but he could slip out easily – nobody watched him.
The dark brown tom's ears swiveled suddenly, and he whipped around as Brackenkit made a leap for him. Ospreykit ducked just in time, and the ginger tabby sailed over his back, tail brushing Ospreykit's face, and landed in the mud. "You cheated," growled Brackenkit. "What? How?" Hissed Osprekit. "You attacked, I dodged. That's how it works." The ginger tabby rolled his eyes and padded over to their mother, Bluetail. He let out a pathetic mewl. "Ospreykit pushed me in the mud," he told Bluetail. "I – what?! No!" Ospreykit cried in defiance. Bluetail sighed and shook her head. "Ospreykit, go sit outside. Now." Ospreykit scowled back at his brother as he stalked away. Brackenkit shot him a sadistic smile.
Ospreykit had no real problem with being outside in the storm. In fact, he found it rather fascinating, and had soon sprawled out in a sheltered spot to watch the lightning arc across the pre-dawn sky.
"Hey, Ospreykit, what're you doin' here?" Ospreykit looked up to see his Uncle Eaglescar. "Oh. Hey, Eaglescar." Ospreykit stood up, shaking as much mud off as he could. His uncle leapt down and affectionately bumped Ospreykit. "So, what brings you" - Eaglescar looked around critically – "To the edge of our camp, before dawn, in a thunderstorm?" Ospreykit sneezed before he could talk. "Well, she told be to." Eaglescar sighed, which emphasised the long diagonal slash across his face. "We should get you checked out by Emberstorm. She's usually up by now." Ospreykit fell into step beside his uncle. "Okay, but why?" Eaglescar lifted up Ospreykit, as the medicine den was difficult for a kit to enter. "Well, I think you're catching something." He mumbled around his nephew.
Emberstorm was indeed up. Eaglescar set down Ospreykit, who sneezed twice before shyly padding over to Emberstorm. She sniffed him, listened to his breathing, then finally said: "This can't be good, I think it's whitecough …" Ospreykit was nervous, but he knew it could be worse. "Well, it's better dan greebcough, though, right?" Emberstorm nodded distractedly. "Yes, it could have been worse, I suppose …"