AN: Wow, I have under ten reviews!
...
I'm already feeling motivated! XD Thanks for reading! Great StarClan, I must love long prologues, the original prologue part two was VERY long. Õ_Õ The following sections of the prologue are actually just chunks of the original prologue part. It had over 5,000 words... I haven't actually finished writing it all yet, but might as well publish some of it... Some=Practically all of it except the last part.
Willowsmoke: Thanks! I'm trying to write at least a hundred words a day, so I'll update quicker! :3
Nightmare/Dreams: I've already responded to this review back in KittyClan, but... Yep, Batkit and his siblings are pretty much delinquents. Poor Sootkit isn't, but he kinda gets dragged along for the ride. And yes, that dream of Lilykit's was really freaky. O_o Freakier than I intended.
Spam Queen/Kitty: Thanks! I'll try my best to update soon!
Jewel: I'm surprised that I managed to write this actually. XP Well, thanks! Don't worry too much about Sootkit, he'll be okay. The rest of them, however...
Well anyways, yeah, Lilykit's dream is rather creepy, but I actually thought I didn't write that nightmare well. But nobody is saying it's bad (but they are saying it's freaky) so I guess I did good enough! :P
Dream for Tonight/Ri: Thank you! I was actually wondering about the quotes thing, but I never found a clear answer for which was correct, so thanks for telling me that too!
Destiny/Willow: Thank you! :D
Fang/Jordan: Thank you! I was aiming to make it so that smiling is a little unnatural for them to do. But... I'm sorry but I can't really take your advice about the laughing thing. Purely because certain characters (such as Batkit, Ravenkit, and Beetlekit) have personalities where it just feels right for them to laugh, and purring would be weird. Petty, yes, but I just... Can't. :/
Raven: Thank you! :D
Enough of my rambling! It's story time!
Prologue Part Two.
Out of the three siblings, Lionkit was the only one who got a good night of sleep. Blinking awake, she rose to her feet and stretched her creaky limbs. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she saw a white-and-ginger she cat shift in her nest. It seemed like Rowanblaze was close to waking up. In the corner in front of her, a pale gray tabby, her belly plump and swollen, murmured in her sleep. Silverstrike was going to have her kits any day now, Lionkit was sure of it.
When her sky-blue gaze fell in the opposite corner, she was annoyed to see that the dark, sleeping figure of Duskface was unaccompanied by her own kits. Those four troublesome cats were up to no good, as usual.
"So I guess you noticed who managed to slink off in the night?"
Lionkit almost jumped out of her fur when she heard the caustic voice of her brother sound behind her.
"Don't startle me like that!" she mewed, "And yes, I know they left. Have any idea about what they're up to?"
Goldenkit sighed, his tail lashing in annoyance.
"They've snuck out of camp to cause mischief out there... But that's all I know." He replied. Now it was Lionkit's turn to sigh. Couldn't they stick to the simple stuff?
Lilykit tossed and turned beside her, reminding Lionkit that she should wake her up soon. Turning her head to face her brother again, she asked,
"Well, what are you going to do? Aren't you going to tell on them? Or try and bring them back?" Goldenkit looked thoughtful, but he shook his head only a heartbeat later.
"Of course not! Let them get into trouble for once!" He hissed, and Lionkit couldn't help but grimace at that. Yes, they were annoying, but that didn't mean Goldenkit should let them fall on their face! She opened her mouth to reprimand him, but then Lilykit let out a sharp cry. Alarm and worry flashed in Goldenkit's blue eyes, and he went to nudge his sister awake. Lilykit awoke with a groan, her fur still bristling from the nightmare she must of had. She looked around the nursery, confusion in her gaze as if she couldn't quite remember where she was.
"Lilykit?" Lionkit asked, anxiety edging her mew. Lilykit blinked, and turned her head to look at her sister.
"O-oh, it's just you t-two." Lilykit stammered, her blue depths looking a little wild, "I...had a bit of a... bad dream. Just a bit. B-but it's not like I was scared or anything!" Lilykit held her head high after saying that. Goldenkit looked unconvinced, but didn't voice it.
"Batkit, Ravenkit, Beetlekit and Sootkit ran off again, planning to do StarClan knows what." He said. Lilykit simply snorted.
Suddenly, the three kits heard a loud yawn. Turning around, they realized their mother had awakened. The young golden tabby queen sat up in her nest. She set her warm blue gaze on her children.
"Good mooooooorning little ones!" She meowed cheerfully. She then bent over and gave each kit (to their dismay) a big moist lick on the head. Their mother flashed an especially fond look at Lionkit, causing the kit's pelt to pricklw with discomfort. It didn't feel right, being the favorite.
But her mother didn't seem to catch this. Instead, she went about her daily morning routine. First, she groomed herself, and then Lionkit, Lilykit, and Goldenkit, and then unleashed them to play outside while they could wait for their father to bring them something to eat. the whole time the three kits watched anxiously as the Clan began to stir. Lilykit and Goldenkit were especially bitter, they hated the four little kits and their devious sense of humor.
They recognized the tortiseshell-and-white-pelt of Marigoldfur as she padded over to the fresh-kill pile. And the deep voice of Smokefall as he chatted to Snaketooth about nothing in particular. And the scent of Robinclaw as he ambled past, probably going on a patrol. Sablestar sat authoritatively atop the ledge as she surveyed the area. One by one, every cat was waking up.
Except Duskface.
Of course, not Duskface.
Lionkit shivered in the cold. Was it really a good idea for their mother to let them wait outside? The snow was starting to fall heavily now...
"Hey! Shouldn't you three be in the nursery?" A rather familiar voice meowed. Lionkit and her siblings looked up to see...
"Dad!" They cheered, and they immediately went to tackle him. They were a little too old to do that, but he didn't mind, laughing heartily as he fell into the snow. His purely golden fur was shining like a spot of sunshine on the snow, and warm like one too, which was probably why Lionkit found herself snuggling into it. He was still rolling with laughter-literally, so the three kits had to hold on for their lives so they wouldn't fall off.
"Okay, you need to get up now before I roll over your mouse."
...
Now in the warmth of the nursery, the three kits picked at their mouse in unusual silence. Not even Lilykit, who loved to work her mouth, said anything. Their father cocked his head in curiosity.
"What's with the long faces, you all?" He asked. Lionkit stopped eating and immediately went to tell him, but Goldenkit was faster.
"We're just tired of waiting for our apprenticeship!" He exclaimed. Lionkit's eyes were wide with shock, but as she looked at her brother it quickly hardened into a glare. His ears flattened, but he didn't take back what he said.
Their father didn't seem to notice the exchange. Instead, he purred.
"You'll be apprentices before the end of leafbare, I promise you." Behind him, Lionkit and her siblings' mother rose to her feet.
"I think I'll go for a walk. You know, to stretch my legs." She mewed. And with that, she left.
But still, no one noticed the absence of the four kits.
Nor did their mother awaken.
It was all too convenient.
Thankfully, they didn't have to wait any longer.
"Hey, where are Duskface's kits?"
Ravenkit's heart beat faster as the forest around her began to thin out. Her spine was prickling with apprehension. Every time she heard a tail brush against a tree, or a paw step a little too loudly, she'd whip her head around, searching frantically for what caused it. Of course, it was always just Batkit being a bit careless with where he put that tail, or Beetlekit stomping along.
Yet at the same time she kind of liked it. There was something curiously... Thrilling about doing things while being in danger of being caught. Especially if that thing was particularly naughty...
She and her brothers decided to head east to WindClan, and plan out something there. They were quickly approaching the small patch of woodland that belonged to WindClan. The white, leafbare sun was shining brightly, making the snow even more painful to look at.
Batkit was bounding eagerly through the thick snow, surprisingly fast for a small kit. Ravenkit and Beetlekit had to dash a few paces just to keep up with him. As Ravenkit was clambering through the snow to get to him, her fur got caught on the branch of a naked shrub. A patch of fur tore right off.
Panting slightly, she fell in line with her smaller brother. Batkit craned his neck to look at his siblings, to reveal that his face was contorted in a sharp-toothed grin.
"It's gonna be a looooooong time before the Clans forget this one!" He said his pale blue eyes shining. Beetlekit-who had been smirking himself- flicked his tail in agreement.
"Hold on, don't eat your prey before they've been killed. We haven't made an awesome plan yet. " Said Ravenkit, "Besides, if we get all excited before we do anything, it won't nearly be as good when it's been... inacted." She then puffed out her chest in pride for using a big word... Albeit it was slightly mispronounced. Batkit looked like he was going to argue for a moment, but he nodded instead.
"You're probably right. So let's start planning... Riiiiight now!"
Batkit stopped just as they reached the WindClan border to scheme. He sat right before the markers, ears swiveling. Ravenkit plopped down beside him, while Beetlekit remained on his feet, looking out for WindClan patrols.
Ravenkit let her mind wander in all directions, trying to think of the best kinds of pranks for this endeavor. A novice-like annoyance prank such as trying to dump cats with snow would be boring, and could be a bit anticlimactic. After all, the simply hilarious surprise would be replaced by fury in moments after the WindClan cats realized the pranks were preformed by ThunderClan kits. Surprise, fear, and agitation were funny. Fury, wasn't. But angering WindClan would be had to avoid. So whatever the trick would be, it had to be worth it...
Fear...
Suddenly, Batkit jumped to his feet, eyes glistening. Beetlekit stopped surveying the area to give his two siblings his full attention.
"I've got it!" His head whipped around to look expectantly at Ravenkit, as he mewed:
"What is something that would get any cat to freak out?" Ravenkit hurriedly racked her brain for the answer, not wanting to kill the excitement.
"Uhhhhh, danger!"
"You're getting warmer!"
"Um, intruders- no wait, rogues!"
"Close, but don't think cat!"
" Um, eagle! No wait dog! No wait fox!"
"Hot! You're flamin' hot!"
"Ummm... Oh, duh, badger!"
"Exactly!"
Batkit let rip a overdramatic cackle.
...
They stared at him blankly.
"How are we gonna get one?" Ravenkit asked. Batkit groaned.
"No, mouse-brains! We don't need to get one! With a little simple trickery, we can get them to believe a horde of badgers are attacking!... Well, not really, but still!" Ravenkit's heart fluttered when she heard the word trickery.
"What kind of trickery? Are we going to build some kind of badger decoy? Or maybe put a little snow in our pelts to make us look like badgers? Or would we simply just yell 'Badger!' and have them come running towards us?" She mewed eagerly.
"Ooh, I like all of those ideas!" Batkit meowed. He stopped to think. Ravenkit and Beetlekit could tell that he was really thinking hard. His ears swiveled, and for a few moments, his eyes frosted over with that same look of intelligence he reserved only for scheming. As if it had occurred to him that a WindClan patrol could appear at any moment, he looked around for other cats. When the coast was deemed clear, he beckoned them over with his tail.
"Okay, so here's the plan." He mewed in a hushed voice. "It's much simpler than I like, but I have a feeling that it will work."
