Here is the long awaited Chapter 1! It's a little short, but the following chapters will be longer, normally ;)
Reviews:
"Tigerflight" - Thank you soooo much! Yeah, the Spirit looks a little like the Starwatcher, I agree XD
"Blue741776" - Thank you! Not all the characters are present in this chapter, but I think that the allegiances will be posted next chapter!
Chapter 1:
Lightning flashed in a clearing, revealing a commotion of cats running around frantically in a gorge surrounded by trees. Thunder roared, and another bolt of lightning split the skies, covering the agonised yowls of a kitting queen. But the yowls continued even as the thunder stopped, letting thin raindrops pour down on the rocky dens of the gorge.
At once, all the noise ceased for a moment, and then the feeble mews of kits resonated in the night. Inside a rocky den at the right end of the gorge lay a queen, three tiny newborn kits suckling at her belly.
The queen's eyes seemed loving and caring, but whoever could see her up close could notice her sad gaze and brimming tears that wanted to struggle loose and fall.
"Echo? Is everything alright?"
The queen named Echo lifted her head and masked her tears, looking at the newcomer with a mixture of happiness and sadness.
"Yes, I am fine," replied the queen as she faced a pure smoky grey tom with tender green eyes.
The tom purred and padded closer to Echo, whose black and white chest moved upwards and downwards rhythmically.
"Smoke, we have three kits," meowed the new queen, unfolding her tail which hid the kits from view.
"I know, Echo, I know," sighed the tom, sadness lingering on his gaze. "Mist told me when she got out of the nursery."
Echo lowered her head and looked at her three newborns, examining each of them carefully. There were two she-cats and one tom, two of whom were pure black and held no trace of any markings, and one of the she-cats was black with white paws, underbelly and chin. She looked a lot like her mother, but had more white spotting.
A thin moon ray slipped into the nursery, revealing that the pelt of the black she-cat wasn't really black, but more of a very, very dark grey.
"Are you sure one of our daughters won't be paired?" meowed the father of the kits, his sadness turning into hope.
"I am sure," meowed Echo, still not taking her eyes off her kits. "Brook has only two kits, of opposite genders, and no queen is expecting, which means that no kits will be born before our kits are two moons old."
Smoke bowed his head, shoulders down and tail low. "At least two of our kits will survive," he meowed desperately, trying to lighten up the atmosphere. "We could have had three kits from the same gender, which would have made only one pair between our kits and Brook's."
Echo sighed but did not reply instantly. "Brook is lucky," she meowed after a moment of uncomfortable silence. "All her kits get to live."
"I know," murmured Smoke, "but these are the rules. We wouldn't be here without them! Look on the bright side of things: these rules have made cats happy, and have maintained our group alive for countless generations. We would be nothing without them. Nothing more than a bunch of silly rogues."
"You're right, Smoke," meowed the beautiful black and white she-cat, touching her nose on her kits' respective heads. "But I don't want to be the one to decide which of our she-kits will die..."
"Me neither," meowed Smoke, licking his mate protectively on the head. "We'll let Ash and Sky decide for us."
Nodding, Echo welcomed the comforting licks of her pair, and slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.
...
"Echo, wake up."
The tired queen lifted her head and blinked, coming face to face with her pair. Smoke was looking at her with kind eyes, and Echo felt comforted by his understanding gaze.
"Ash and Sky are waiting outside," meowed the smoky grey tom. "They want to talk to you."
"I'll go," meowed Echo, reluctantly slipping away from her kits. The three bundles of fur twitched, and the dark grey she-kit let out a tiny mew, which died as no reply came from her littermates. The other two kits were asleep.
"I'll be back soon, little ones," whispered Echo as she left the nursery, giving one last look at her three precious kits before going out in the open. Padding out of the den, the queen felt startled at the sudden change of weather. Instead of the dark clouds and rain from the night was the sun, shining like a thousand stars put together. The sky was blue, and there was only one lonely white cloud floating there like an abandoned kit looking for its mother.
Echo nearly choked at the irony of it all. By the time the choice would be made, one of her kits would be like that, alone and helpless. but she would never find her mother. She would perish, like all the unpaired kits before her, to never be seen again.
Turning to the two cats who were sitting right in front of her, Echo dipped her head and brushed her fur against Smoke, who was sitting beside her supportingly.
One of the two cats, a blue-grey she-cat with white patches and blue eyes, opened her mouth to speak.
"Echo, Smoke," she started, her voice betraying no emotion. "Congratulations on the birth of your kits. Smoke has told us what we needed to know, and we need to discuss that matter."
Echo started trembling at Sky's words, but Smoke caressed her down the spine with his tail, calming her a little.
"Of course," she meowed, her voice only slightly wavering.
"I know it is hard, but nearly every mother and father has to go through this," meowed the second cat, a pale grey tom with darker flacks and green eyes. "Remember that it is for the good of our group, and that the Spirit will not spare a cat who disobeys the rules."
Nodding at his statement, Echo and Smoke followed Sky and Ash into their den, which was situated on the opposite end of the gorge. The four cats settled down, and the tom continued.
"Brook's kits are only a moon old," started the tom called Ash. "Your tom kit and one of your she-kits will therefore be paired to one of them, but the third of your litter will have to leave us."
Echo bowed her head in submission, but repressed her sobs.
I have to be brave, she thought as she leaned a little into Smoke. If not, they'll think I am weak, and will seize any chance they have to kill me and Smoke.
Raising her head, Echo looked at Ash with a gaze full of determination, and the grey tom's eyes widened a little at this sudden change.
"I know," meowed Echo clearly. "But Smoke and I don't want to choose which of our kits will die. This will be up to you."
Sky nodded and locked gazes with the black and white she-cat, as if daring for her to protest.
"Then we will choose," meowed Sky. "But there is still a possibility for your she-kit to be paired, if a queen discovers she is pregnant in the following half moon. Nevertheless, if that does not happen, we will take that kit after that half moon is gone."
Smoke looked shocked at the news, and looked at Echo accusingly, but his pair looked at him with a hard stare, and he lowered his eyes in submission.
I know I told him that their was no chance, thought Echo. But that's because it is true. There is no way that a queen would want to have kits when there is only one older kit to be paired to hers.
"Will you tell us who the chosen kit is before that time is up?" questioned Echo to the pair.
"No," meowed Sky in a silky voice. "We cannot have you treat a kit differently from the other, and we need Brook's kits to think that everything is normal. If the time ever comes that we should kill one of your kits, we will make it look like an accident, so as not to shock her siblings and denmates. The remaining kits will be so young that they will not remember having a littermate. That is for the best."
How can the code be so cruel? thought Echo as she felt anger burn inside her, but did not show it. I don't want one of my kits to die. And I don't want everyone to think that it was an accident. But I can do nothing about it.
Sighing, Echo turned around and padded back to the nursery, Smoke at her heels. Once again settled warmly around her kits, Echo took the time to examine each one of them in detail. They were all beautiful: in the curve of their faces, their tufty ears and elegant paws. All three of them had long fur, the dark grey she-kit having the longer. The other she-kit had a long, beautiful bushy black tail, and the little tom was just handsome, his pure black fur shining as the rays of the sun filtered through the nursery.
"What do you want to name them?" whispered Smoke, so as not to startle his pair.
"I don't know yet," murmured Echo, looking at the grey tom earnestly. "I want them to open their eyes first."
"I understand," agreed Smoke, placing his tail gently on Echo's head. "Without names, they are still ours, but as soon as they open their eyes, the half-moon will be nearly gone."
The black and white she-cat nodded, surprised that Smoke had understood her completely. "Yes, that is exactly why," she sighed, curling her tail around her kits.
Smoke settled down next to her, and didn't protest as the tired queen just closed her eyes in exhaustion. It was morning, but the kitting and emotions had worn off Echo completely.
As darkness filled her vision, Echo slumbered into a world of dreams, filled with lonely clouds and desperate cries of a kit looking for its mother, disappearing slowly into the abyss and shadows of an unknown world.
Abyss and Shadow, thought Echo as she drifted into sleep. These will be the names of my two remaining kits.
I hope you liked this chapter!
For info, kits usually open their eyes at 2 weeks, making it precisely one half-moon. So the kits will get their names at this moment precisely...
Do you think that a queen will find out she expects kits by the half-moon? Which she-kit do you think will be chosen to die if not?
Please review!
~Lightning