/QN: I put Graystripe as temporary deputy here, until Squirrelflight gets out of the nursery. I know it's against the code, but I checked the wiki and no matter how many times I checked the code, I could not find that rule a single time. And I checked it many times. XD;; I hope you are not bothered by this fact, I have seen others use this as well ^^;/
Chapter 2
~Midnight Stroll~
Hawkkit watched Snowkit jump around in sheer joy while Brightheart washed the white kit's siblings. Snowkit was absolutely excited about becoming an apprentice, Hawkkit could understand that, but did the kit have to throw it in his face?
"I'll learn battle-moves, hunting, I'll see the whole territory and I'll see all the other Clans!" Snowkit exclaimed happily, shooting a smug glare at Hawkkit.
Hawkkit gritted his teeth and dug his claws into the earth.
"Shut up", he growled, loud enough for anyone to hear. "You'll be as useful as a dead rat filled with maggots."
"Hawkkit!" Squirrelflight snapped sharply. "Behave yourself."
The little tabby let out a disagreeable "tch" but didn't say any more rude comments. Hollykit looked at Hawkkit with sympathetic eyes while Ashkit silently agreed with his brother.
Brightheart got up and began to nudge her kits toward the exit. Daisy heavily got up, despite her round belly filled with kits. Brightheart instantly spun around to stop the creamy brown she-cat.
"You're staying in your nest", the white-and-ginger she-cat demanded.
"As if", Daisy replied. "I'm not missing their apprentice ceremony."
"Spiderleg might panic", Squirrelflight joked. Daisy and Spiderleg had made up, and Spiderleg had promised to try and be a good father this time.
"I'm not missing their apprentice ceremony", Daisy repeated, still managing to hold a kind yet bossy voice, "and that's final."
Amberkit, Snowkit and Dewkit all cheered for Daisy and ran eagerly around Brightheart's legs, though they were just small enough to do so. Squirrelflight nudged Hawkkit to follow them like his brother and sister and he reluctantly did. The hollow was filled with the ThunderClan cats, all gathered beneath the High Ledge. Graystripe, who was temporarily deputy while Squirrelflight was in the nursery, was sitting down closest to the Ledge. Hawkkit raised his head towards the High Ledge with eyes shining of admiration.
On top of the High Ledge sat his father, Bramblestar, and the muscular, dark tabby tom was unable to be missed. He had called everyone to the High Ledge, and they obeyed, for he was their respected leader. Hawkkit's anger vanished and he sat down together with his siblings and mother while they listened to their father's speach.
"I have gathered you all here for I will announce our new apprentices", Bramblestar began. "Brightheart's kits, Amberkit, Dewkit and Snowkit are all ready to become apprentices." He paused to let the crowd of cats cheer for the three kits before continuing.
"Amberkit!" he called out to the pale gray kit. "From this day forward until you recieve your warrior name, you will be known as Amberpaw. Mousewhisker, you taught Bumblestripe to be the great warrior he is today, and I believe you will mentor Amberpaw with the same intelligence and enthusiasm."
Mousewhisker lifted his head high to Bramblestar. "I will."
"Dewkit!" their leader continued the ceremony. "Until the day you recieve your warrior name, you will be known as Dewpaw. I trust Toadstep to be your mentor, as I know what a great warrior he is."
Toadstep seemed surprised to be chosen as a mentor, but dipped his head in respect to Bramblestar. "I'll do my best."
"Finally, Snowkit", Bramblestar finished. "From this day, you will be known as Snowpaw until you recieve your warrior name. Whitewing, you taught Icecloud how to become a warrior and you taught her well. I now ask you to prove yourself to be a great mentor once again."
Whitewing nodded eagerly. "I won't let you or ThunderClan down, Bramblestar."
The new-made apprentices and their mentors touched noses while the cats around them cheered the new names. Hawkkit could hear their mentors suggest different things to do on their first day and the apprentices agreed, but asked the mentors to wait a heartbeat.
The three apprentices bounded over to Brightheart and touched noses with their mother.
"Did we do good?" the three questioned eagerly. Brightheart smiled warmly.
"Of course you did", she meowed. "But aren't your mentors waiting?"
"Will you be fine without us?" they asked worriedly, directed to everyone in the nursery. Squirrelflight rolled her eyes.
"Of course we will", she assured them.
"We'll probably have it even better when you're off!" Hawkkit teased. Snowpaw narrowed his eyes and leaned forward with a grin.
"Oh really?" he taunted. "I was just about to tell you how glad I am I won't be sharing den with you this night!"
The two toms argued while Ashkit and Dewpaw agreed to still play with one another once in a while and Hollykit and Amberpaw agreed that toms were mouse-brained. Then the apprentices ran off to their mentors. Hawkkit watched them go. He cursed himself for feeling so, but he couldn't help but to feel abandoned. The nursery would feel empty without the other three and when they for once visited, they would boast about everything they'd done, for sure. To make things worse, Brightheart would move out too.
"Hawkkit!" He was pulled out of his thoughts as he heard Hollykit call his name. "Are you going to stand there staring into space for ever?"
The tiny tabby shook his head and joined his sister and brother. "No, of course not", he answered. "I was just lost in thought."
Ashkit sighed heavily. "I know what you mean..."
Hollykit's eyes shone with the same loneliness as her brothers, but brightened up. "Don't sulk!" she mewed cheerfully. "We'll have lots of fun without them, and two moons isn't that much time!"
Hawkkit couldn't help but to smile at his sister's cheerfulness, though he suspected she was cheerful because she had already memorized the warrior code and that she knew exactly how old they were to be once they became apprentices. The kits decided to play outside the nursery while Brightheart moved out and began playing with a mossball. Hawkkit was having fun, but he kept on looking at the camp entrance longingly.
Suddenly, as he ran after the mossbal which was flying a bit too far away after Ashkit accidentally threw it too hard, he caught glimpse of something in the camp which in turn caught his interest. An idea began to form in his head as he ran back to his siblings with the mossball in his mouth. He grinned. It was the perfect plan. A small voice in his head told him that the consequences seemed endless, but he ignored it completely.
i...i
Hollykit slowly forced her green eyes open. "What is it Hawkkit?" she growled quietly, making sure her mother and Daisy didn't wake up. Hawkkit's blue eyes gleamed in the dark of the night.
"Help me wake Ashkit up, and I'll tell you", he whispered eagerly.
Hollykit rolled her eyes and shook Ashkit's shoulders. "Wake up, Ashkit!" she hissed in his ear. The tiny gray tom drowsily opened his dark blue eyes and yawned. "Why are you waking me up, Hollykit...?" he mumbled, still half-asleep. "Ask Hawkkit", the black she-kit replied. She turned to Hawkkit. "Well?"
Hawkkit's eyes glowed as bright as the moon by then out of excitement. "Follow me", he said shortly and beckoned with his tail as a gesture for them to follow. Hollykit narrowed her eyes and grabbed Ashkit by the scruff, forcefully dragging him to his feet.
Hawkkit led them out of the nursery, hiding in the shadows of the hollow. No other cat was awake, except for Berrynose who was guarding the entrance. His muffled complaints could be heard even from the other side of the camp where the kits were.
Hollykit felt her suspiciousness grow more than more as they sneaked through camp, her fur prickling with unease. She left Ashkit's side to catch up with Hawkkit.
"What exactly are we doing?" she asked quietly.
"Getting out", her brother answered, much to her dismay.
"What?!" she and Ashkit exclaimed, forcing their voices to keep quiet.
"Have you got bees in your brain?!" Hollykit snarled. "We can't go outside the camp, kits aren't allowed to go outside until they are made apprentices! Are you even listening?!" she added in frustration as she saw Hawkkit sniff the air and continued to stalk quietly forward. Ashkit slowly followed his brother, to Hollykit's surprise.
"You're following him, Ashkit?!" she hissed into the gray kit's ear as she matched his pace. Ashkit flattened his ears insecurely, avoiding the question and simply followed his brother's lead.
When they reached the dirtplace, Hawkkit stopped and looked around. After making sure no one could see them or had seen them, he sneaked through it, avoiding the dirt as good as possible. His littermates stayed behind, grimacing in disgust.
"Just go through it", he hissed impatiently.
"We shouldn't even go!" Hollykit retorted.
"Why not?" Hawkkit protested. "I mean come on, it's just a quick walk. Don't try to tell me you don't want to see the real forest, because I know you want to."
Hollykit hesitated, because even though Hawkkit's words were a fool's, they reeked of truth. After a few heartbeats of pondering, she agreed and followed her brothers out of camp and into the forest coated in the shadow of the nightsky and the light of the full moon.
i...i
Ashkit felt that his neck was beginning to ache, but he didn't care. He wanted to take in every detail of the forest. It was a lot more beautiful than he had imagined; he had seen many glimpse of it through the thorn tunnel and over the walls of the hollow, but to see it like he did now was breathtaking. There were so many scents, so much to see and so much to hear!
Though, after tripping over a tree root and recieving a hiss from his littermates to keep quiet, he decided to look at what was in front of him instead. The three kits played with each other out in the grass and explored the forest while trying to still keep close to the camp.
It did not go well.
Ashkit suddenly stopped and looked around himself. He couldn't see the hollow anywhere and he couldn't detect any other scent than forest, forest and forest. Frantically, he spun around without cease until he finally felt a familiar scent. Relieved, he breathed it in as he recognized the scent of Graystripe, Millie, Blossomfall and Cloudtail.
The gray kit suddenly stiffened and stifled a yowl of alarm. They were the night patrol! He glanced at his littermates to see if they had noticed the same. Hawkkit was oblivious to the fact at the moment, but Hollykit's fur was fluffed up twice her size and she quickly dragged Hawkkit with her into a bush. Ashkit followed her and jumped into the bush, fear reeking from him as the branches rustled around their tiny bodies.
Ashkit forced his breath to keep calm and he breathed through his nose. Hawkkit crouched down beside him, glaring through the branches of the bush. Hollykit held her breath as one of the warriors came closer and her eyes shone with regret.
"Cloudtail, come back here", Graystripe's voice called. The dark gray tom's voice was irritated and impatient and Ashkit felt himself shrunk as if he was getting scolded.
"But I thought I heard something over here!" Cloudtail protested loudly.
"If you really heard something, you probably just scared it away", Blossomfall meowed. Her voice was strange; a mix of impatience and fear. Ashkit frowned and wondered what might make her feel uneasy. Maybe she regretted she had retorted at an older warrior.
"You're in no place to critisize others, Blossomfall", Millie hissed threatingly. She sounded so serious; as if she was about to rake her claws across her own daughter's throat, that Ashkit was taken aback in fear. Squirrelflight did scold them when they did something wrong or were disrespectful, but she didn't sound like... whatever that was.
The patrol went silent for a couple of heartbeats before continuing. Ashkit pricked his ears in surprise. Why didn't they stay? Couldn't they smell him?
After sniffing his and his littermates' pelts he could understand why - they stank out of dirt. He took a second to admire his brother's cleverness before continuing to wonder about the patrol's behavior. Why didn't anyone react when Millie did... that? Was that normal, or had Blossomfall done something really bad?
"See?!" Hollykit's voice hissed. Ashkit shook his head and stopped wondering about Millie and Blossomfall. "This was stupid, we shouldn't have done this!" she continued furiously. "It's against the warrior code and we could've been caught!"
Hawkkit looked unfazed despite their sister's sharp voice. "But we didn't get caught, now did we?" he pointed out. "It's not even moonhigh yet, we can stay here for a while!"
Ashkit was just about to warn them that they might make the patrol come back with their bickering when he scented something strange.
Bewildered, he followed the scent silently. His littermates noticed he left and followed him. They asked where he was going, but he didn't answer. After all, he didn't know where he was going, nor what he was looking for.
After a while of searching, the scent became dangerously close and he stopped by a big hole in the ground. Curiously, he sneaked inside the hole, ignoring the protesting wails from his siblings.
It was dark inside the hole and he narrowed his eyes to see. It didn't take long until he found what was creating the horrible scent.
A strange, large, black-and-white animal was lying in front of him. It had huge jaws and it was snoring peacefully.
Ashkit didn't know what the animal was, but he could guess from the stories he had heard.
Badger.
AN: Insert dramatic music here. Lolwat. I'm not really all-happy about this chapter, I'm looking forward to the upcoming chapters more really, but oh well ^^ I remember that both Ash and Holly went out on little adventures when they were kits, so good for them! They were breaking laws in their first lives and they did it in their second lives too! Let's give them a medal. XD
Anyhow, hope you enjoyed, please review and tell me what you think and thank you for reading! I hope you will enjoy this story as much as I enjoy writing it. Also, as requested by a kind reviewer, Allegiances will be added ^w^
