Chappie One: Gingerkit is introduced, yay! (cheer)
To whom it may concern: I like pie, No Da? 'You Know' in Japanese
This is the beginning of the prophetic dreams Angelwing visits Gingerkit in. FYI Greenkit is a kit who passed away in front of Gingerkit's eyes when she was attacked by rogues.
Well...that's about it. :P
Thx! No Da
CHAPTER 1
"No!" A terrified yowl sounded from outside the den. "Come back!" Gingerkit huddled inside the nursery, her piteous mews echoing in the large cavern. "Help…" she whispered."Help me, Greenkit. I don't know what to do."
"My kit! Where's my kit?!" she heard her mother yowl. At the sound of that precious voice, Gingerkit scampered outside to the mouth of the den and cried, "Mother! I'm right here!"
But Mousetail remained in the battle, trying to tug Flowerkit out of another cat's grasp. The little brown and white she-kit, usually so lively, was semi-conscious and limp. Pantherfoot raced out suddenly into the clearing, bristling.
"They got Lilypaw!" he spat, and Mousetail gave a wail, full of fear for her youngest kit.
Larkwing was battling a tomcat, who had in his jaws a tiny, tiny black kitten. She was clearly putting up a fight for a cat her size, and the tom that was battling her was beginning to get annoyed. In a flash, he struck her on one side of her face, leaving deep gashes on her left cheek.
Gingerkit gave a small whimper and ran towards the young queen, spitting contemptuously as the intruder ran off. "Larkwing?" she nudged her flank. "Are you o-"
"Coalkit!" she cried suddenly, leaping to her paws. "Where's Coalkit?"
Nightflower was hurtling herself after 2 big she-cats who were dragging a little silver kit and a little golden one out of the nursery.
"No! I will NOT LOSE another kit!" she snarled, and leaped onto the biggest cat's back, biting and clawing furiously. The calico snarled and abandon the silver one, but, seizing her chance, the tortoiseshell sprang off with the golden one in her mouth.
"Sunkit!" Gingerkit suddenly screeched, though she had no idea who the kit was, or how the name had suddenly come into her mind. Eagleeye tried to follow the cat that had stolen his son, but just got lost in the tide of fighting cats.
"So much fighting, Gingerkit," a voice whispered in her ear. "Why…?"
The voice faded away, leaving the ginger-colored kitten alone. "S-stop!" she stammered, staggering forward, then yowled more clearly, "STOP!!!" No cat spared her a glance, too busy clawing at each-other's faces.
Gingerkit was whisked off the ground. She felt jaws digging into her scruff, and desperately tried to call for help, but to no avail. Where was her mother?
Though in her vulnerable position, Gingerkit realized that these rogues were kit-napping kits and young apprentices only; the warriors were the ones getting hurt.
The last she saw as she was dragged out of camp was her mother's horrified gaze staring after her, and a motionless scrap of fur, his coat matted with blood and dirt.
"No!" Gingerkit wept in her dream, a terrible realization overcoming her.
"BEWARE!" a piercing shriek suddenly rang out, its high-pitched sound echoing in Gingerkit's ears. "BEWARE OF DANGERS YET TO COME!!!"
&&&
"Gingerkit!" a soft meow sounded. "Wake up!"
Gingerkit chose to ignore this voice, but a harsher, colder voice was speaking now. "Get UP, Gingerkit!" it demanded. "NOW!!!" Gingerkit winced as she felt a small head butt into her side, and blinked open her fierce light blue eyes to find she was still whimpering from her nightmare.
"Flowerkit, don't hit her!" another voice protested, and Gingerkit recognized Lilykit's voice. Sun rays peeked in through the cracks of the nursery opening, and somewhere outside there were warriors calling to one another for dawn patrol.
The kit buried herself into her mother's warm, creamy-colored fur, trying to take comfort from the familiar feelings of the nursery.
"Nightmare?" Mousetail asked gently, and she managed to give a small nod.
"It was awful," she whispered. "Intruders came and took us all away, and Smokepaw was-"
"Yowling like that over a stupid nightmare!" the cold mew interrupted, and Gingerkit turned to see her sister, glaring at her through narrowed amber eyes. "You woke half the nursery up, shrieking like that, you mouse-brained idiot! Including us," she motioned towards Lilykit as well, who was staring at her sister with wide, scared eyes. "We were trying to get some rest!"
Gingerkit ignored Flowerkit, for she was used to her sister's cold nature, though at heart she was a loyal member of ThunderClan, even as a kit. "Well, excuse me for having a bad dream," she flicked her ear irritably.
She glanced over at Sunkit and Moonkit, worried to have awakened the young kits, but they were peacefully sleeping near their mother.
Gingerkit's youngest littermate, stared at her sympathetically and gave her ear a lick. "Intruders won't break into camp, Gingerkit," Lilykit assured. "Stormstar makes sure of that. He has warriors posted all over the entrances, and he's doubled the patrols since they found Lightfoot dead." Gingerkit shuddered as she recalled Eagleeye racing into camp, frantic and bristling, saying they had found the body of the Clan deputy…
"But there were lots of rogues," she mewed ruefully, breaking the memory. "They even took Coalkit, and-"
"Who's Coalkit?" A small white she-cat asked. Larkwing looked curious, green eyes alight.
"Oh, a kit I saw in my dream-" Gingerkit muttered. "I think he was yours…"
"Now that you mention it, that's a fine name," purred the young queen, taking no notice of the last comment. "When my kits are born I'll be sure to name one of them Coalkit. Which should be any day now," she commented, giving her huge belly a look.
Mousetail's green gaze pierced Gingerkit's eyes, and she was forced to look away. She didn't think she could endure all the pain her dreams caused, but her mother's voice was understanding as she wrapped her tail around her kit.
"It was just a nightmare," she murmured. "I know you still have bad dreams about Greenkit and the attack-"
"But this dream was different," mumbled Gingerkit. However, her mother went on.
"If you're troubled, talk to Berryleaf about it." She laid her head against her kit's cheek, and Gingerkit sighed. "Don't worry about it, Gingerkit. If it comes to that, all the warriors of StarClan will come to your defense."
StarClan…where dead cats went, where there was no pain or hunger or cold. Gingerkit felt a little calmer now. Greenkit was in StarClan, and she would keep her safe.
Pantherfoot would, too. He had been her father's good friend, and had watched over Gingerkit and her sisters in the nursery, sleeping side-by-side with them and murmuring how he would never let anything happen to them. He would have been a perfect father but was not theirs. He had one son in ShadowClan, and his mate had become a kittypet. Gingerkit loved him dearly, and he loved her, especially since he knew what she was going through when she lost Greenkit.
Gingerkit considered her mother's advice. She would talk to ThunderClan's medicine cat about it. Maybe it meant something more than what Gingerkit understood. So, still weary, she trekked off to Berryleaf's den, undoubtedly awaiting what would probably be the explanation of her dream.
"Be strong for me, Gingerkit," she remembered Greenkit purring. "For me."
