Chapter 1: Spreading your wings

Raven stood by the tiny stream near her nest, her still small jet-black wings hanging limply at her sides. She tried moving the downy-coated wings, her big, baby blue eyes gleaming with excitement when one twitched.

Breeze always told Raven that her wings were like hers when she was a kit too and that it would take a while for the muscles to develop within the wings. At first, Raven didn't believe her, but now, at five moons old, her mother's words rang true. Her right wing had just twitched.

"Mama! Mama, my wing moved!" She yowled happily, running out to her mother's usual hunting grounds on the other side of the hill. She looked around, desperate to show her mother her achievement. Raven had no siblings nor a father to brag to. Just her mother. Anytime she asked about her father or why she had no siblings, Breeze would try to get off the topic. She told Raven that she had two brothers and another sister, but they died right away.

And her father? Breeze described him to be a brave and handsome ginger tabby. Raven would always ask what color his wings were, and Breeze wouldn't answer. She asked what her siblings had looked like. Breeze would answer that one. Hazel, her sister, was supposedly a dark gray she-cat; Bracken, her oldest brother, had been described like their father; and Breeze told her that Night, her other brother was black like she was.

Raven suddenly felt lonely. She should be used to it by now, but her mother couldn't play like a kit, and she wasn't allowed any further from the den than the stream. So technically, she was breaking her mother's rule. Raven understood why she wasn't allowed to go further than the stream; the cliff-ridden mountain slope that they lived in wasn't the safest place for a kit her age that couldn't fly.

"Raven! What are you doing here?" Breeze asked worriedly, flying and landing beside her daughter; a hawk dangling from her claws.

Raven's eyes lit up. "Guess what, mama? I moved my wing!"

Breeze couldn't help but purr in pride from her daughter's milestone. "That's great, Raven. But you're too far from the den. Until you can fly, you can't leave that area, we've been over this!" Breeze scolded, grabbing the kit's scruff and flying back to the den.

XXX

Raven ripped another piece of hawk from her share and swallowed as Breeze lectured her about not leaving her selected area. "Do you understand how dangerous it is for a kit who can't fly yet like you? What if you fell and I wasn't there to catch you?" Breeze hissed.

"But I didn't." Raven replied arrogantly, her little black tail swishing back and forth.

"Raven! If you fell," Breeze began once again.

Raven tuned her out, her thoughts aimlessly wandering as her mother ranted. "Mama, why aren't there any other cats up here?" She asked suddenly.

Breeze stopped mid hiss, panic arousing in her baby-blue eyes. "B-because."

"Cuz why? I wanna play with another kit." Raven insisted.

Breeze looked guiltily at the ground. "Well… that's a tough question. Other cats used to come around more often, but they left before I had you."

"But why? Did they not want me to be born?"

"Raven! Your father was thrilled to have you."

"But where is he? Why'd he leave?"

"I don't know. He and I got in a fight and then… then he just left."

"About what? Me?"

"Sort of… we both wanted different things for you, so I left."

"Can we go find him?" The black she-kit asked hopefully.

"I don't think so, sweetie. He doesn't love me anymore and I don't know how he'd react if we came to visit him."

"So you know where he lives?"

"Of course, Raven. Unless he move to a new place then yes, I do know where he lives."

"Would he be angry if I came?"

"Maybe."

"I thought you said that he was thrilled to have me."

"Raven-"

"Mama? Are we… normal?" Breeze seemed to freeze in place at her daughter's question.

"Of course we are. All cats have claws, fur, whiskers, four legs and paws, teeth, and tails."

"What 'bout wings?"

The black and white she-cat stiffened. "Yes."

"Prove it, mama. Show me another cat." The kit requested.

Her question echoed off the cave walls; it seemed like moons before her mother answered.

"I can't."

"But why? Why are we all the way up here where no one can see us?"

"I can't tell you."

"But why? What have I done wrong? Why can't I know anything! Why are you punishing me?" Raven cried, "why doesn't daddy love us anymore!"

Breeze's eyes clouded with misery. "I don't know."

"You're lying! There's something wrong with us isn't there, mama! What is it?"

Breeze had a look of grief and sorrow that Raven hadn't seen before, "when you can fly, I'll tell you."

"You're still lying! You won't ever tell me, will you?!" Raven wailed, her little face twisted with anger and an indescribable sadness.

"I… I'll be right back." Breeze whispered, spreading her wings and exiting the small cave, flying into the distance.

"Mama! Mama, mama! Don't leave me!" She cried.

Raven scrambled to her paws and hurried to the mouth of the cave, staring at her mother's figure as she flew to a different area on the mountain. Raven made a feeble attempt to spread her own wings, only succeeding in a slight twitch from her right wing.

As the sky grew darker and star-ridden, she sat down and wrapped her tail tightly around her body, her head hung low.