Well, thank you for the reviews. I'm glad there were even more than I had asked for, even if it was only by one. Here's chappie 2! i'm sorry I didn't get it out sooner. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Warriors, though a couple of the characters in this story are from that series.
When Snowkit came to, he was inside a downy nest amid four huge eggs, almost as big as he was. It was a sunny day, scorching hot, and the kit was grateful for the shade the eggs provided. Suddenly, above him, Snowkit could feel a shrill vibration that told him the hawk was very close by. The sound vibrated through his pricked white ears, and he leapt up with alarm, every hair on his pelt bristling with fear and aggression. The thundrous vibrations of the shriek subsided at the sight of the frightened kitten, and Snowkit could tell it had turned into soft cooing.
Slowly, the tom lifted his head to look into the eyes of its kit-napper. The golden orbs shone brilliantly in the sunlight, and the blaze gave Snowkit a headache. the eyes were not filled with the witless hostility that the kit had heard of and expected, but with something else he had seen only in his mother's eyes. Then it occured to him—it was affection.
But why would a hawk, who had taken him for a meal, love him in any way more than the respect the cats would give their prey? Why had the raptor kept him alive at all?
During his thoughts, the bird turned its head and lifted a gigantic wing to preen the soft plumage. It seemed to be saying something, but Snowkit could not hear the words.
"Wha's tha'?" he mumbled in his odd deaf speach.
The hawk frose, then turned its head to face him, letting its wing fall flat. From the bird's eyes, he could see sympathy and sudden understanding. Slowly, it lowered its gaze to stare at the ground.
"I thought so," it seemed to say.
Snowkit was so surprised at the hawk's reaction to his deafness, he was lost for words, his mouth opening and closing like a dying fish. Finally he caught hold of himself and closed his mouth to swallow the dryness that was taking over.
"Why've you leh me live?" he croaked out.
The bird tried best it could to explain, making movements with its wings and head, sometimes its talons. Snowkit managed to undertand bits and pieces of it, putting everything together.
"I had a feeling you were deaf when I noticed you hadn't run for cover while all the cats were calling to you. At first I was going to eat you, then decided this would be unjust as you had no way of defending yourself, no chance of survival. So, I nursed you back to health for a while."
"Ha long've I been knockd oat?"
The bird held up two claws, but Snowkit didn't know what she meant.
"Two sunrises," she explained. It was only then that the kit noticed his cramping stomach, yowling at him for food. Feeling faint, he decided to sit back down. Holding up her talon again, the bird took off. "Wait here."
Snowkit waited, lying back down in the shade of one of the eggs. It was almost sunset when the hawk returned with Three mice and two rabbits clamped in her beak and talons. She nudged the most plump rabbit toward him, and the kit devoured it hungrily, savoring every bite. He licked his lips to get every scrap from his face, then settled down to wash.
"How'd yu no wha' I'm sayn'?"
The hawk gestured with her talon, first at her chest, then her head, at Snowkit, and at her beak. "I can speak cat." Then she added, "Many languages."
Snowkit nodded in understanding, then yawned, a buzzing returning to his head from before sunhigh. His host blinked, knowing that he wanted to go back to sleep. The kit padded over to the eggs again, falling asleep in the space between two of them.
Two moons passed, and Snowkit was able to understand the hawk and her newly hatched young very well. The mother's name was Valley, and her mate, who had appeared the next day from some long trip, was named Mountain. Though the female was a bit larger than her mate, the male held an aura of power about him that told Snowkit that he was the leader of this bunch. The four kits, as the tom called them, were named Arrow, Slash, Coal, and the smallest, Pebble. Three were male, the small one female, and each of them had their own distinct markings that made it possible for Snowkit to tell them apart. And, as far as the hatchlings knew, the cat was their nest-mate.
Snowkit still couldn't hunt very well on account of his noisy pawsteps that he couldn't hear, so Mountain and Valley usually brought him something back. They were vainly trying to teach him how to hunt, but they could only see from a bird's eye view, and they couldn't understand how the cat could possibly hunt on the ground. Still, though, the kit tried to teach himself, and he started to make progress, but had only caught one puny old mouse that was deaf itself.
Snowkit knew that if he had stayed in ThunderClan he would be an apprentice by now, maybe Brakenfur's. But he had put that behind him, knowing that he was way too far away to travel back home.
The tom had gone out training with Valley. The hawk had decided to help him from the ground, though it was a bit awkward for her. She waddled over to him once her enourmous wings were folded, her head bobbing slightly as she did so. Snowkit purred in ammusement, and the comment was greeted with a good-natured shove in the side. The hawk had carried him a couple miles in her talons to a place where she knew there would be lots of prey. She told him to be cautious though, since they were quite close to twoleg terriorty. There was a farm nearby, and she had seen many towlegs moving about, tending to some odd-looking animals with stone feet.
After trying to sketch out in the dirt of the open hollow how to hunt rabbit, Valley told the tom that he could try catching one by himself. He was allowed to go anywhere he wanted, just so long as he didn't stray to the twoleg place. Barely noting the last, Snowkit nodded enthusiastically and bounded off, not hearing the hawk calling something after him, only feeling a faint vibration in his ears making him guess that she was telling him "Good luck."
Snowkit's gonna get in trouble! goes around singing Sorry this chapter was kinda short, but oh well. I'll get the next one out asap! btw, sorry if i'm not responding to your reviews—they're not being sent to my email or something, so i have to look at them on the website. Well, please R&R! –Spiritwind