Welcome back :)) A very special character is appearing in this chapter.


Chapter 4

"Is it real? Is it real? Am I really a disgrace to your family?" Redkit asked, his eyes fixed on the moss on the ground. His wide amber eyes were slowly filling with tears, but he carefully ducked his face away, refusing to let the tears roll down his face and let Runningblaze see him cry. Runningblaze slowly wrapped his tail around his kit, his words filled with pity as he tried to explain himself. Runningblaze found himself speechless for awhile, before he squeezed his mind, trying to think of an explanation that wouldn't hurt the kit's feelings.

"Um... You are just...different. Yes, different."

"How different? Different in a bad way, or a good one?" Redkit growled, tearing the moss apart with her tiny claws.

"Good way, of course," Runningblaze mumbled, afraid that Redkit would think of himself as an extra in his family. "Don't think too much about it, Mousefoot is getting old and senile. Most probably she doesn't know what she was talking about earlier." Redkit nodded his head reluctantly, his big head seemed to big for his small body.

"Now, go and play with Silverkit and Ashkit, I'm going on a patrol later," Runningblaze nudged his son. Redkit sprinted towards the two kits bouncing about in front, one crawling on top of the other, while the kit below bared her teeth, looking like a vicious fighter. The two kits broke up once Redkit was near him, and they both stared at Redkit. For a second, there was an awkward silence, before Redkit's cough broke it.

"Can I play with you?" Redkit tucked his paws under his belly.

"But Goosefern told us not to be near you. She told me that you have a terrible disease, and that you will bite me. Getting bitten is very pain, I don't like pain." Ashkit explained, taking a step backwards, keeping a distance from his brother. "So now I will go away, if you don't mind."

"I am not sick, and I don't bite! Goosefern is lying to you, she's making up lies." Redkit tried to defend himself, but Ashkit's eyes were full of fear, and he kept shaking his head.

"Goosefern is an honorable senior warrior! Why would she lie to me? Stop making up lies, Redkit," Ashkit retorted, his neck fur bristling. "She is going to be my mentor one day!" With that, the little tom stormed away, unwilling to believe his own brother.

Redkit glanced at Silverkit, and saw her stiffen. After awhile, she shrugged and simply said, "well, I don't believe in what Goosefern said, then maybe I will play with you, Redkit. What do you want to play, Redkit?"

Happiness sparkled in Redkit's eyes as he immediately mewed, "anything!" Silverkit giggled, placing a paw on Redkit's bushy tail.

"Let's play 'catching', then. The first one to touch the other's tail is the winner!" Silverkit suggested, eyeing Redkit's long, bushy tail. "I bet I could easily win you!" Silverkit pounced, her paws landing less than a whisker's length from Redkit's tail. Redkit dashed off, avoiding Silverkit as he inched closer to Silverkit's short, fluffy tail. Silverkit jumped away, and stretched her paws until they touched Redkit's tail, stopping the fox from moving any further.

"Not fair!" Redkit squeaked, his fur fluffing up. "My tail is longer than yours, that's why you won!"

"Are you suggesting that I didn't win it fairly?" Silverkit growled, letting go of Redkit's tail.

Redkit rolled his eyes. "Anything." Silverkit spat and stalked away. Redkit was taken aback, and he stood still, wondering if he had done anything wrong. He didn't expect Silverkit to care so much about winning fairly or not.


That night Silverkit didn't bother to talk to Redkit anymore, maybe she's still angry at Redkit. What's worse is that Ashkit kept a distance from the red fox, not daring to come any closer in case he gets bitten. Smokefoot was too tired to notice the siblings' strange behavior. She only cared about wrapping her tail around her kits and keeping them safe. Redkit inched closer to Silverkit when he thought his sister was asleep. He felt warmth around his paw for awhile, before Silverkit jerked away. Silverkit growled softly. Redkit felt as if he was slapped right in his cheek, and he put his paw away. Next to Silverkit was Ashkit, but Ashkit has been eying Redkit warily. Ashkit pushed himself nearer to Smokefoot, covering his face with his mother's fur. Smokefoot grunted but did not open her eyes. Redkit snorted and faced the nursery entrance instead, he felt so angry that his siblings ignored him when he had done nothing wrong. Outside, the crickets' music seemed to have gotten louder and the night seemed to be longer than usual.

The air seemed to be colder when Redkit woke up. It was the first time when Redkit had difficulties sleeping. He glanced at Smokefoot and his siblings. Smokefoot's tail was no longer wrapping around him, instead, it was curled neatly around the gray queen. Redkit waddled towards his mother, snuggling with her. Smokefoot coughed and Redkit looked up, wondering if he had woken her up. But Smokefoot continued snoring and breathing peacefully. Redkit scratched himself and put his paw nearer to his sister's. Silverkit slept soundly, and Redkit closed his eyes, feeling loved, the cold wind didn't bother him anymore.

..

"Redkit?" Smokefoot prodded her kit. When Redkit opened his eyes, he felt numbness in his paws.

"What happened?" Redkit shook his paws, yawning. "Why is my paws numb? Why is it so cold?"

"It's snowing, you idiot!" Ashkit squeaked, tumbling in the snow. Silverkit jumped into the snow, disappearing among the soft white snow.

"Come and play!" Silverkit's voice was like melody to Redkit, and Redkit immediately scrambled towards his siblings, glad that the 'war' was over so quickly. Redkit splashed all about, throwing snow at Silverkit and jumping onto Ashkit. "How about we go explore the woods? It will be so fun! There's a lot of things there like bears and tigers, and if we can catch a thrush or something, the whole clan will see us as potential warriors! Maybe Brackenstar will even make one of us his apprentice!"

"Wow, that's way better than playing with these stupid snow that will only hang on your pelts," Ashkit agreed, wriggling his body, trying to get snow out of his pelt. "I'm definitely coming. Redkit, will you join us?"

"Um... Didn't Smokefoot tell us to stay in the nursery?" Redkit murmured, shuffling his paws. He looked down.

"She told us to stay in the nursery, and we stayed in the nursery for so many moons! Moreover, she didn't tell us when can we go out to explore, are we going to stay in the nursery forever?" Ashkit retorted, lifting up a paw. "Come with us, Redkit."

It wouldn't hurt going out for awhile, right? Perhaps what Silverkit said was true, I can be an apprentice once I prove how brave am I. Redkit nodded his head eagerly, bouncing towards Ashkit. Ashkit flicked his tail and together, the trio set off into the forest.

In the forest, the canopy had blocked most of the sunlight, thus it was dark inside. When the leaves swayed the raindrops from last night would come dripping down onto the ground. Silverkit wriggled her paw in disgust as she cautiously stepped over the decaying leaves. Ashkit looked around excitedly, sniffing here and sniffing there, his wide eyes scanning all that was around him. Redkit poked the rotting log before him, curious about the white mushrooms growing on it. "I want to go home, these leaf piles are disgusting!" Silverkit spat. "I'm hungry."

"I guess you can eat some of these," Redkit suggested, pointing towards the mushrooms that he had found earlier on with his tail. "They look yummy." Silverkit padded over, licking her lips, her eyes wide in anticipation. Without hesitation, she bit down hard on the mushrooms, and tore them away from the log, munching with satisfaction. She flicked her tail, inviting Ashkit and Redkit to join in too.

"Don't!" An unfamiliar scent hit the the three kits' noses. They spun around, baring their teeth, looking around in fear. Silverkit shivered, while Ashkit's neck fur bristled, giving the animal before them a glare. Redkit continued staring at the red creature, amazed at how similar they looked. The sharp, pointed ears, the fiery red fur they two bore, the long, bushy tail and the pair of sharp fangs. The animal before Redkit bared its fangs, throwing Silverkit onto a patch of soft grass nearby. Ashkit charged at the red fox, offended by its actions, but was pushed away gently. Ashkit continued to growl, trying to scare off the red fox. "The mushrooms kill you!"

"Redkit, help! It's a mad fox, it's a mad fox! It's just yowling before it starts chomping our heads off!" Ashkit wailed, pressing himself nearer to Silverkit. Silverkit's eyes widened in fear, her four paws kicking the earth softly, trying to push herself further from the fox. To them, the fox was yowling with no reason, but to Redkit, what he said interested the little tom. "No, no," Redkit whimpered at his siblings. "he said that the mushrooms are not good." As if that wasn't enough, Redkit added softly, "we will die." Silverkit's breathing went faster as Redkit spoke about death. Her eyes focused on Redkit as she did not dare to look at the fox in his eyes.

The big red fox turned his head, his mouth closed as he stared curiously at Redkit. The fox started making weird noises, those that touched Redkit's heart and were like melody to him. The noises attracted Redkit forward, until the little kit was only whiskers' away from the red fox. Silverkit and Ashkit began whimpering, shocked at what Redkit was doing. "You dumb kit! Go get help! Don't go near him!" The red fox turned around and face the two kits again, before giving them a hostile glare. The two kits immediately quieted down, holding their breaths. "Who you little kit? Your little kit name." The fox whispered.

"Redkit," Redkit answered, putting his paw on the fox's fur. To the other two kits' astonishment, Redkit started making noises similar to what the fox had made earlier. "We so similar. We related." Redkit whispered as the fox's ears twitched. The fox crackled and made a deep voice that sounded like it was laughing too hard. "We, related?" It repeated Redkit's words, seemingly taunting the little kit. "You cat, I fox. We enemies." The fox smiled as it tried to explain. "Now I very hungry. Will not eat you. You special to me." Redkit stood there rooted to the ground as the fox advanced towards his siblings. Ashkit and Silverkit screamed, as if screaming would help to get them out of this predicament.

"Don't."

The fox stopped, turning around. "I very very hungry. Lucky everyone did not. Eat the poison mushrooms. Or else you all. Not good for me."

"She ate some." Redkit flicked his tail, pointing towards Silverkit. Silverkit had her eyes shut tightly as her breathing quickened once again.

"Not good not good." The fox shook its head, sighing before he said, "she will die fast. Need fruit call raspberry. Need some water hemlock. Must have some marigold. Need to have honey. Or else will die. Bye bye dear Redkit. We meet in future." With that, the fox disappeared into the forest, leaving the three kits alone. The leaves rustled and a search patrol, Blueflower, Patchfur and Goosefern emerged through the bushes.


"You three will be confined to the nursery for a moon. Your apprentice ceremonies will be delayed too." Silverkit and Ashkit sighed, looking at each other with tears in their eyes. Redkit was not listening; he was thinking about their encounter with the fox. The fox was so strange, and it seemed to be so familiar to Redkit.

"Redkit?" Brackenstar mewed, glancing at the little kit. "Are you listening?" Redkit nodded his head immediately, hanging his head low. "You three are lucky that the fox didn't discover you all. It's so dangerous, kits. Think before you act, please. The clan can't afford to lose any more kits, especially in this harsh year." The golden leader continued this "meeting" until Silverkit shivered, her fur getting wet although the sun was so warm. Silverkit collapsed onto the ground, her hind legs kicking madly, her tongue rolled out. Her eyes were turning dull as her flank stopped moving.

"Silverkit!" Smokefoot rushed forward, nosing her daughter in anxiety. Ashkit and Redkit were taken aback, until the medicine cat, Dawnberry arrived, her two eyes filled with concern. She told Runningblaze to usher Smokefoot to the nursery when the gray queen got too agitated, trying to stop Dawnberry from touching her kit. Dawnberry did everything that she could, but Silverkit did not have any reaction to any of the herbs given. The medicine cat was about to give up and feed Silverkit deathberries when Redkit spoke. "Dawnberry, can you get raspberry, water hemlock, marigold and honey? I think I know how to save Silverkit." Desperately, Dawnberry rushed back to the medicine cat's den, searching for the herbs that Redkit mentioned.

Redkit chewed up the herbs with Dawnberry, and mixed them up. Dawnberry shoved the medicine down Silverkit's throat. All the cats held their breath as they focused on the silver-furred kit lying before them. Silverkit coughed suddenly, giving the others a shock as she spat out vomit. The liquid was smelly and brown, and Brackenstar ordered Thistlepaw and Sandpaw to clean the vomit up with some leaves. "Silverkit, are you okay?" Smokefoot covered her kit with licks although Silverkit reeked of vomit. Smokefoot carefully guided her kit into the nursery where Silverkit could get some rest. Meanwhile, Dawnberry and Brackenstar turned to Redkit, giving him approving nods. Redkit puffed out his chest, glad that he could play a part in saving Silverkit. However, he felt guilty as he was the one who suggested Silverkit to eat up the mushrooms. Lucky there's the fox, or else Silverkit would have died! Redkit thought.

"Redkit, how did you know about the herbs?" Dawnberry approached Redkit, her eyes warm. No, I definitely cannot tell Dawnberry about the fox, Brackenstar will surely send patrols to hunt the fox down. Moreover, they will think of me as a monster if they knew I could understand what the fox was saying. "Redkit?" Dawnberry nudged the kit, demanding for an answer.

Heaving in a deep breath, Redkit answered, "I just knew it." Dawnberry gave Redkit an astonished look, before she padded away, as if she had accepted the answer. Redkit caught sight of Dawnberry entering Brackenstar's den as he closed his eyes, ready to sleep in his nest.


Word count: 2751

I'm sorry I haven't been updating. I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. Remember to review. :D And why is Dawnberry looking for Brackenstar? Who is this fox? Answers will be revealed next chapter. :))

From this chapter, we can see that Silverkit is very sensitive little girl. :P She just cannot stand people, I mean cats, suspecting her of something she did not do. Ashkit is easily influenced, and if Goosefern told him that Redkit was a monster in disguise, dumb Ashkit would actually believe her! The fox is simple-minded, treating Redkit as his friend. Brackenstar seemed to be too harsh, who wants to have their apprentice ceremony delayed? :( Redkit starts to get mature :P he now knows how to think of the implications and consequences Of his actions and words. His memory is quite good. :)) At least he could remember all the herbs that the fox mentioned. How many of you can remember them? I bet you all have already forgotten all the herbs mentioned by now. :))

QOTD1: Have you guys noticed a strange thing about the fox? What's strange about it? Answer it in your reviews! :))

Hint: Look at how he speaks.

QOTD2: Which of the three kits do you like best? Why?

-Stuffed Watermelon