Chapter 2
"Ebony," Tigerstripe dipped her head. "I've been waiting. Did you bring Drizzle and Blacky?"
Wrenfeather clawed at the ground. So I was right. These cats do know each other. What is Tigerstripe thinking?
Ebony purred, "I did," she replied. Her words came out crisp and formal, but there was a twinge of fondness in her voice. It was only a moment later that Wrenfeather noticed the rustling of the bracken behind the loner – two kittens stumbled out of the vegetation, one black, one splotchy and gray.
The first was larger than the second, but maybe it was his puffy black fur or large golden eyes that made him look twice his size. Sitting next to him was a tiny, ruffled gray scrap staring up at Tigerstripe with green eyes so big they barely fit his face. Wrenfeather stifled a purr at the adorable sight.
The calico dropped to a crouch, inviting the kits closer. "Hey, you two. Did you miss me?" she meowed as the black kit rubbed his head against her chin. She curled a paw over his back and pulled him closer.
"Are you clan leader yet?" the first kit asked the question out of the blue, face so close that the two cats' whiskers touched.
Ebony flicked the kitten with a paw, "Blacky, don't be rude."
"He's fine," Tigerstripe replied, then turned back to Blacky, "Me? Clan leader? No way, little buddy. That's Wrenfeather's job, one day."
The other kitten – who's name must have been Drizzle, if the other was Blacky – tilted his little head, "Isn't Wenfeaver the cat that orders all the other cats around?"
A blank look crossed Tigerstripe's face. Then she broke out into a purr so loud it must have woken every mouse in the forest, "Well, not really. That's Robinheart's job. But Wrenfeather just likes to take the lead – she's good at it. But really, Robinheart is the deputy and Blackstar is the leader."
"What's a deputy again?" Blacky asked, batting at the calico's face. She cuffed back playfully, and Wrenfeather felt a pang of anxiety. Is she telling these cats all about ThunderClan? Doesn't she know how dangerous that is – probably not from the kits, but from Ebony?
For a moment Tigerstripe didn't answer, thinking it over. Then she shifted position on the forest floor, "Well, the deputy is the second-in-command. He does what the leader wants, but tells the cats below his rank what to do," she explained.
That isn't a bad way to put it, I guess. Her thoughts were interrupted by Drizzle's little voice, "If Wenfeaver isn't the deputy or leader, why'd you say that it would be her job to order cats around?"
A look of curiosity crossed the warrior's face, "Y'know, Drizzle, you have the mind of a good warrior," she noted, "You must have got it from Cougar. Wrenfeather has always wanted to be leader – that's why I said that she'd be ordering cats around, one day."
But Wrenfeather barely registered what Tigerstripe was saying. The calico's words were still bouncing around inside the tabby's head. "You must have got it from Cougar?" Not that tom from last green-leaf, surely? That nasty cat had been nothing but trouble, and the tabby could feel her fur bristling along her spine at the thought of the tawny-and-white loner. If Tigerstripe had claimed that Drizzle's clever mind came from Cougar, he must have been related to him somehow – perhaps the kittens' father, even. Ebony was clearly the mother. Would Cougar mate a cat like her? It seemed probable, knowing how filthy the opportunistic tomcat often behaved.
Wrenfeather turned her attention back to Tigerstripe, Ebony and the kittens. "Do either of you ever want to be in ThunderClan?" The black rogue was asking.
Drizzle and Blacky glanced at each other, and finally Blacky spoke, "I don't know. What do you do in ThunderClan?" he asked, directing the question toward Tigerstripe.
The warrior blinked, "Well… You wake up in the morning, go out hunting, or out on patrol – that's when cats go out to check on our territory – or on some other job the deputy wants you to do. You share what you catch with the clan, and you fight when you have to. But there's time for playing, napping, and talking too, unless there's a whole lot going on," she explained. The kits stared, as if all this information was too much.
Finally, Drizzle raised his little voice, "That's a lot. Why do you have to check on the territory – patrol, as you put it?"
Ebony and Tigerstripe glanced at each other, and Wrenfeather understood. Drizzle latched on to that one point throughout Tigerstripe's whole explanation, she thought to herself, and then he asked about it afterward, not interrupting her. More than that, he wanted to know more. That means he's interested in ThunderClan. Tigerstripe and Ebony must realize his potential. I certainly do.
Wrenfeather was yanked out of her thoughts at Drizzle's voice, "Wait – I smell another cat. Ebony, look over there."
The she-cat tensed up. Snap! That other cat is me! Before she could move, all eyes were on her. A moment later, she was staring up at the black she-cat's dazzling emerald eyes. "Is there something I can do for you?" the loner queried.
Immediately, Wrenfeather found herself regretting Drizzle's potential.