Echoshine raised her head. Just another day as a medicine cat.
She stretched. The height of Greenleaf was a nice time to live in. Warm, plenty of fresh-kill. But Echoshine found herself shivering. The dream was still haunting her. She turned her head to look at Chervilpaw, her apprentice. She was snoring away, her nest of moss and bracken looking comfortable as ever. If only Echoshine's sleep could be to peaceful…
Echoshine padded out of the den. Heatherblaze, the deputy, was organizing the dawn patrol. Whispernight, Echoshine's brother, was organizing a hunting patrol. She picked a mouse out of the fresh-kill pile and moved over to sit next to Skystar. "So, Skystar," she mewed, "I had a mysterious dream last night…" She explained her vision to Skystar, telling her everything. Skystar was quiet for a moment, and then she softly responded, "I think that was a prophecy, too. A vague one, nonetheless, but an important one. Tell me if you find anything new and we can piece it together."
Echoshine was about to protest when Windrunner dashed up to her. The tom's mew was urgent. "Echoshine," he exclaimed,"Silvercloud is kitting!"
Echoshine jolted up. "Silvercloud!" She leapt over Lionpaw, who was sunbathing, and hurtled her way to the nursery. Sure enough, Silvercloud was biting on a stick and moaning. "Ok, Silvercloud." Echoshine's mew was calm. "You feel, as you always have, like you are going to have 2 kits. Push that first one out and I'll lick it." Silvercloud gritted her teeth, but she did as she was told. A black she-kit (more of a really dark gray) slipped out. Echoshine licked the kit's fur the wrong way, and Silvercloud kept pushing. As soon as Echoshine nudged the little she-kit to her mother, a darker she-kit slipped out as well. "There we go, Silvercloud!" She encouraged Silvercloud with her muffled meow as she licked the newest kit. She nudged him to his mother as well, mewing, "Ok, Silvercloud! You're done now."
Silvercloud sighed. "No matter how many times I go through that, it's always just as painful." Echoshine nodded, licking, relieved that the final kit was ok. This she-kit was the smallest of the litter, a tiny black kit. "That one's Veilkit." Silvercloud motioned to indicate the stormy gray she-kit, the firstborn. Her eyes glowed with pride. "She's going to be the best warrior the forest has ever seen!" She mewed happily. "What about this one?" Echoshine mentioned while licking the black she-kit. The queen's expression darkened. "The runt?" she mentioned cautiously, her expression full of malice. Echoshine knew why her expression was so dark; the she-kit resembled Silvercloud's sister, Ravenwing, or, Echoshine reflected, Raven now. Ravenwing had killed the last leader, Fernstar, and almost got away with it. But when Echoshine had found the teeth marks and fur to match hers, she was banished from the clans. She became a rogue. But she wasn't done yet. After that, she killed a couple rogue cats, Sagewhisker, and Scarletheart before she was killed by an eagle. After her sister's betrayal, Echoshine couldn't blame Silvercloud for disliking what looked like her twin. "Yes," she mewed patiently. "The small black she-kit." What she said next almost rocked Echoshine off her paws. "This kit doesn't deserve a name," She spat. "No kit of mine will ever take after that fox-hearted killer!"
Echoshine's jaw dropped. She was about to retort sharply, but Sagedream beat her to it. "Silvercloud!" She mewed in shock. "Every kit needs a name! She's still alive, you know!"
Silvercloud glared at Sagedream, then glanced at the kit like it had just killed Veilkit. "Fine." The single syllable held more anger, hatred, and rage than every word Echoshine had ever spoken in her life. "She will be Shadekit." Silvercloud shoved Shadekit with her nose, and then curled around Veilkit. "Now get her out of my sight!" Sagedream gasped as Silvercloud mewed,"She is not, and has never been, my kit!"
After about an hour, Echoshine failed to convince Silvercloud to nurse Shadekit, so Sagedream took her in. Although Echoshine disliked how Silvercloud abandoned Shadekit, she got an odd vibe from the litter in general. Could the two black she-cats possibly be the ones from the dream? But neither of them were named Shadowkit! Echoshine sank into deep thought as she sorted the herbs with Chervilpaw in her den. I wonder...
And let's stop there! I hope you loved this chapter! Tell me what you guys are thinking in a review! I love to hear them! Tune in next time, same stellar channel, to...
Burning Frost, Glowing Shadows!