Weasel slowly opened his eyes and instantly winced at the sunlight streaming through the hole. "Oh blazes, what time is it"? He thought. He went to get up and proceeded to wince a second time as he bumped his already sore head against the roof of the hollow. Had he been knocked out? The sky outside of the window was a dark orange with grayish-purple clouds scattered about. Oh no! He had been knocked out! Was Sunny...
Weasel instantly soared into the air as soon as he had brushed against what he least expected to be in that hollow. Well, he kind of did, knowing his luck. A streak of brown zoomed out the hollow and was followed by a confused porcupine, who waddled slowly out of the the hole, wondering what had woken him up from his nap.
After sprinting a good distance away, Weasel sat on his haunches and panted. He quickly glanced over his shoulder and hoped that, that spiky creature wasn't behind him. To his recollection, he's never seen such a weird creature in the city. Except, maybe, a raccoon. Weasel shivered at the thought of it. Apparently they can be as deadly as a fox despite their size. They were also rumored to steal kits in the night, leaving no trace except the wailing of mother-cat in the night.
Weasel shuddered and looked around the small clearing and was taken aback when he didn't see Sunny in his range. His heart started thumping quickly but slowed as he reminded himself to take deep breaths. She's probably just a little ways ahead scouting out the area.
"Sunny are you out there?"
He was answered with the sound of silence. The birds were no longer chirping, and everything seemed to be still. Weasel's fur was pricked as he slowly made his way through the underbrush.
"Sunny, are you hiding?"
Again. Silence.
The only sound was the crunching of fallen pine needles and twigs underpaw, and of course the sound of the river which he was now approaching.
There was suddenly a loud screech that sent birds flying off into the distance. Weasel instantly twisted and looked over to his right. The eerie silence had returned. and the whole forest seemed to be holding its breath, anticipating what would happen next.
Another blood-chilling screech cut through the silence. The second time helped snap Weasel back into reality. He instantly began to charge through the undergrowth towards the sound of his mate in distress. Everything was a blur as Weasel sprinted as fast as he'd ever gone. The breeze against his face would of felt nice, if he had the time to appreciate it. He was quickly approaching a dark shadow which appeared to be a cat. The smell of blood mixed with Sunny hit his face as he charged forward. He instinctively leaped on top of a shadowy shape that surrounded something without thinking. He randomly swatted with unsheathed claws at the shadow, trying to land a blow, but was unsuccessful. The shadow dodged and swept Weasel off his feet with its tail. Before he knew it, he was pinned to the ground by the shadowy figure. He couldn't tell if he couldn't see because it was darker out or if it was actually a shadow.
Luckly, when his vision began to clear, he made out a muscular yet slim black and white tuxedo cat giving him a ice-cold glare. His orangish-amber eyes matching the fire colored sunset behind him.
"You're lucky I'm a warrior, or else I probably would've killed you right where you lay." he meowed in a low voice. He stepped off Weasel and allowed him to scramble quickly to his feet. The tom was looking down Weasel head to toe with an unreadable expression.
"What did you do with Sunny?" Weasel hissed as he fluffed up his fur and tail, trying to appear intimidating and bigger.
The tom let out a mreow of amusement.
"What's a kit like you gonna do to a cat like me?" He flicked his tail playfully. Instantly the cat's strict attitude vanished.
Normally, Weasel would of probably clawed this cat's ear off for mentioning his short "stature". If this cat was a City-cat that is, but this was a Forest-cat. He didn't know what type of battle moves he could perform and what his weaknesses were. Plus, he wasn't very offended by this cat. His insult was hollow, like as if he were a older brother that was just trying to get his little brother's goat.
"I'm not a kit, I'm probably just as old as you are, even older!" he huffed.
Before the intimidating "warrior" could add anything, a gray she-cat with a broad face and slightly flattened muzzle poked her head out from the ditch, her golden eyes twinkling with a wisdom beyond her years.
"Stormclaw, who's this?" she asked in a surprisingly calm tone. He would of expected her to be a little more panicked about a random cat attacking her comrade and the smell of blood in the air.
"I think he's the 'Weasel' she's been chattering about." he replied. "Thank Starclan, her constant meowing was starting-"
"Don't worry Weasel, your mate's right over here." she interrupted, sending Stormclaw a quick glare.
Weasel didn't let her show him over and was quickly at Sunny's side before one could raise a paw.
"Weasel, you came!" she meowed in a hoarse voice.
"Are you all right? Are you hurt?" he asked in between licking her in between the ears. The sound off pretend barfing could be heard in the background and the rolling of the gray she-cats eyes at Stormclaw intolerance of sappyness could practically be heard as well.
"Yes I'm fine, I just popped my hind leg out of place, which Pigeonfeather over here thankfully helped put it back in place…"
Pigeonfeather gave a small nod in acknowledgement.
"As a medicine cat, it's my duty to help any injured cat, be it loner or clanborn." She meowed in a serious tone but then softened.
"But I'd be willing to help any queen kit for the first time, even if I wasn't a medicine cat. She smiled at Sunny.
Weasel stopped and mentally scratched his head at what Pigeonfeather just said. Kit? Is she saying Sunny already had kits or that she'd be willing to help when Sunny DID kit?
"Yeah, Heh heh…" Sunny nervousally laughed.
Weasel could instantly tell what was up. Why else would there be a blood scent in the air?
Sunny, why is your tail wrapped around your stomach, did you scratch yourself? He questioned.
She looked down at her tail and looked up with a cheeky smile.
"Oh, I guess I didn't know my tail was like that."
"Sunny…"
"Yawn…Boy am I tired! Let's just sleep here tonight."
"Sunny…"
Pigeonfeather and Stormclaw exchanged worried glances and wondered if they should intervein.
"Sunny, you don't have to lie with me, you can tell me anything." Weasel whispered softly.
Sunny sighed. She slowly lifted her tail, as if she were relcuntant to show Weasel her scratch. Instead of a bad scratch, there were three small kittens squirming around, trying to find milk and warmth. They were the cutest things Weasel had ever seen. The one closest to Sunny's rear however didn't look to well. It was the smallest of the kittens and wasn't moving around as much. It's tiny sides were rising slowly up and down, slower than the other kits.
Ears flat against head, he looked down at his paws and stared at them as if they were the most interesting things ever. He couldn't help but feel as if it were his fault, that if he'd not jumped onto that tree that he could of helped somehow.
"I didn't want to show you because I knew you'd beat yourself up for not being there." She said as if reading his mind.
"But it's not your, mine, or even Pigeonfeather's fault." She said gesturing towards Pigeonfeather. "None of us could of done anything to help the kitten, It would of took to long for Pigeonfeather to get any herbs and by then, he would of died anyways." He couldn't tell if she was saying that to convince him, or herself.
Weasel nodded biting his tongue. He didn't want to sob in front of the others since Sunny was being so strong. He knew that the kit would need a name, So he'd have to suck it up and name him. For Sunny!
"Junior…"
"What?"
"Junior, Weasel Junior, or Weaselkit, or however clan names work." Weasel said looking at the clan cats for approval. The others nodded.
"I like that name." Sunny whispered.
The sky was starting to turn purple, and the twinkling of stars could be seen in the sky. All of them were silent, even Stormclaw. The evening birds started to tweet happily, dispite the cituation. The others were already padding off, Pigeonfeather and Stormclaw carrying the other two kits gently in their mouths. Weasel was behind, still comforting Weaselkit before he joined the Star-cats.
"Weasel, are you coming?" Sunny yelled over her shoulder.
"Don't worry, I'll catch up with you guys later."
Sunny gave a sad nod and joined the other two cats. Weasel was left alone, staring at Weaselkit as he took his final breaths.
Weasel had never looked out for anyone as a City-cat and only looked out for himself. His only purpose was to survive. But after meeting Sunny… everything changed. There was a greather purpose in life now, more than just to survive. He knew he'd do anything to protect his new family. Even if it meant sacrificing himself for his kits.
He looked over his shoulder one last time, at the faint lights and tall buildings that made up the city. The freshly dug hole with a pile of dirt that lay next to it. And his son, who couldn't finish the journey and was curled up within the hole, internally resting. With his final respects, Weasel buried Weaselkit and slowly padded off towards the rest, expression unreadable. The City-cat had a long road ahead for him. Forest-cat did. The Warrior.