Here is the next chapter! Sorry it took so long. Thanks for all the reviews as well.
A paw prodded at her side, nudging her awake. Echokit curled up into a small ball - trying to get back to sleep - when the paw prodded her again. "Go away," she growled, squeezing her eyes tightly shut. The poking stopped, so she wriggled down deeper into the moss of her nest.
A heavy weight suddenly landed on her back, and Echokit flung her eyes open. "Frostkit!" she screeched flipping over to try and shake her sister off.
Three moons had passed since they had first explored the camp, and since then both kits had grown a lot. Though Frostkit was still stronger, Echokit was now almost as tall as her sister and had a narrower body, which Bubbleleap said would make her a quicker swimmer one day.
Echokit kicked out with her thin, but strong, hind legs, throwing Froskit off. The white she-kit landed on her paws and immediately sprang back towards her, throwing her against the wall of the cave. Echokit landed with a small thud next to the crack where she kept her shiny stone, the same one she had found in the rockpile a few moons ago. She carefully grabbed it between her teeth then held it up to the sun, reflecting the light off it and into Frostkit's eyes.
"Hey, no fair!" Frostkit mewed, shielding her eyes with one paw. "Anyway," she continued as Echokit returned the stone to its place, "Snowpaw said that he'd play with us today," Frostkit finished, ducking out of the cave and heading up the entrance tunnel, only glancing back once to make sure Echokit was following.
Once they were out of the den, they found Snowpaw waiting patiently for them next to the fern wall of the nursery clearing. "So, what game do you want to play?" he asked the kits as they bounded into sight. Frostkit sat down next to Snowpaw and started talking quietly to him - trying to think of a game.
While Frostkit and Snowpaw were chatting, a smooth, shiny pebble caught Echokit's eye. She padded over to where the stone was laying in the sand. It was perfectly round and night black in colour, and when she placed her paw on it it felt hot from absorbing the warmth of the sun. "Come look at this," she called to the others.
Frostkit looked up from her conversation, then trotted swiftly over to Echokit, poking at the pebble. "We could use it for our game," she meowed, then glanced over at Snowpaw. "Are there any games that use pebbles?" she asked him, nudging the stone forward.
Snowpaw nodded, "We can play find the pebble." He picked up the stone and placed it on a small rock. "The game is simple," he began, "One cat hides it and the other's search for it… " he then went on to explain the rules of the game, before they agreed that Frostkit would be the hider first.
"Okay, you have thirty seconds to hide the stone," Snowpaw mewed. He then turned to face the fern wall so he couldn't see what Frostkit was doing, and Echokit copied him and began to count.
27, 28, 2- "Done!" came Frostkit's mew as she bounded back to the others, cutting into Echokit's counting with a few seconds to spare. "I bet you'll never find it!" she boasted as the others slipped away to search for the stone.
Snowpaw headed towards the medicine den, so Echokit decided to search somewhere else. She made her way towards the riverbank, remembering to check the sand for paw prints as she went and sniffing the air to try and catch her sister's scent . The river was calm and still, its shimmering surface reflecting the cloudless sky. The sand there was undisturbed, so Echokit padded over to where the elders den sat nestled between some boulders.
There was only one line of paw prints imprinted in the sand, going from the entrance of the den to the prey-pile and back. Wait, the prey-pile! Frostkit had said that they would never find it, so that would mean that she wouldn't have just hid it behind a stone.
Echokit sprinted toward the large pile of fish in the center of the clearing. She tasted the air, barely managing to distinguish Frostkit's scent from the strong smell of fish.
"What are you doing-" Snowpaw mewed, coming up to the silver she-kit just Echokit plunged into the pile of fish, rummaging around for the stone. She popped out of the pile with the pebble in her jaws a few moments later. "Okay then," Snowpaw purred, amused.
They headed back to where Frostkit was waiting. "How did you find it?" Frostkit whined as they placed the pebble in front of her, disappointed that her attempt at hiding the stone had failed.
Next was Echokit's turn to be the hider. She picked up the stone and raced away to find a spot to hide it. She wound her way around some clumps of ferns, wondering if it would be well hidden there, when she remembered a small clearing that was littered with pebbles behind the boulder with dark holes in it.
She headed to the back of the boulder, searching for the where the clearing was hidden. She pushed past a clump of ferns, only to find the back of the boulder in her way. She growled softly and backed away from the rock, then tumbled backwards into the open. "Yes!" she hissed softly as she spun around to find that she was in the clearing.
Echokit threw down her rock and sprinted back to where the others were, knowing that they might already be done counting. "Just in time," Snowpaw mewed as Echokit sprinted back to the others, her long fluffy tail flowing out behind her.
Frostkit was already racing away to search, when Echokit suddenly realized that if anyone looked in the clearing at all they would almost immediately notice the pebble due to its unique appearance. She groaned inwardly as she realized this, and just as she expected; Frostkit came trotting happily back to her with the smooth, round pebble in her jaws. "Minnow-brain!" Echokit hissed to herself, though she congratulated her sister anyways.
The silver she-kit quickly forget about her mistake as they continued to play till well past sunhigh. It was Snowpaw's turn to hide the pebble, and so far he was winning with the most pebbles to not be found. Even though Echokit was nowhere near as competitive as her sister, she still was determined to do her best.
"Done," came Snowpaw's mew. Echokit immediately turned around and began searching in the dying light, barely noticing as Frostkit bounded off towards the elders den.
Echokit was careful to keep checking for scents as she went, not letting the smallest of details slip past her. Finally, after several minutes, she picked up Snowpaw's trail near the edge of the river. She followed the scent to the end of a long, wide branch that stretched out across the water, reaching over the thin strip of land that made a small island in the center of the river.
Carefully, she pressed her paws onto the branch, testing to see if it was stable. It bent slightly under her weight, but if Snowpaw could climb on it without it breaking, it must be safe enough. Slowly, Echokit stepped out onto the branch, digging her claws into the wood. She shifted her feet uneasily as bark peeled away beneath her grip. It was almost dark now as the sun slipped towards the horizon, making her stretch out being her.
Echokit hesitantly crawled forward over the branch, testing every step warily. After she was about over half way along the branch, she spotted the small pebble sitting in a small hole in the branch. As she padded forward toward the pebble, she barely noticed that she was now a couple of fox-lengths above the island.
She reached forward, grasping at the stone with her paw. She just couldn't reach it, so she shuffled forward along the branch. She grabbed the pebble and spun around, maybe a little too hastily, as the next second she found herself slipping off the branch and plummeting to the ground below. This wouldn't be a problem for a warrior, or maybe even a apprentice, but as a kit the drop could be much more of a threat.
Echokit let out a faint mewl of protest as she felt herself falling. She failed aimlessly trying to grab the branch, twisting and turning in the air. She flipped herself upright and braced herself for the landing, when her leg struck something hard and pain seared through her body. Then everything went black.
What do you think will happen now? Will Echokit be okay?
Also I want to say that in this world there can be animals from any continent. You will get what I mean in a second.
So I decided that for Echoflight's breed/breeds I am going to make her inherit her silver fur and green eyes from the Egyptian Mau and her strangely long legs (they will become VERY long in the future, making her a good runner and a strong jumper) and spots from a Serval. She got this from Lakebreeze's family (Lakebreeze is Bubbleleap's mother) who had one of her parents parents mate with a Serval (Now you should get what I mean when I say that the animals can come from any continent)
They may meet other Serval cats in the future, I am not sure.
Also, I am adding a Question of The Day because it is fun.
QOTD: What are your favorite breeds of cat? (Mine are the Bengal, Egyptian Mau and the Serval)
