Chapter 3: A strange new world
Duskkit squinted to see. The suns rays were blinding her. When her vision cleared what she saw made her jaw drop. She saw a clearing full of cats. Grey ones, white ones, Black ones, orange ones, brown ones, such a variety of colour! She smelled something that made her stomach growl. She followed the scent padding across the stoney ground. The scent led her to the center of the clearing where the freshkill pile was. Her mouth watered. She had eaten prey before but it looked so much more delicious when you could see it. She was about to take a mouse when she was pushed by the shoulder of a big yellow tom. "Watch it!" He hissed. She looked up at him fearful as he padded away. A light brown she cat with a silver underbelly padded up behind her. "Don't mind him thats just Sharptoungue he's always grumpy." The she cat meowed softly. "Oh…" Mewed Duskkit. "Whats your name?" The brown she cat responded with a smile. "My name is Hollyclaw. I am the medicine cat. You must be Duskkit." Duskkit nodded. "This is my first time out of the nursery." She mewled. "Could you show me around Hollyclaw?" Hollyclaw purred. "Sure." Hollyclaw took the lead and Duskkit followed. Hollyclaw stopped at a den not too far from the nursery. It was made out of gorse branches. "This is the elder's den." Mewed Hollyclaw. Duskkit was about to pad in but Hollyclaw held her back with her tail. "I wouldn't go in there. The elders can be really cranky." She meowed. "Come on Duskkit you have more to see." Duskkit padded behind Hollyclaw and they came to a stop by a den made of thickets. Hollyclaw meowed "This is the apprentice den, It's where you'll be sleeping soon since you are 5 moons old." Duskkit mewed. " Can I go inside? I want to see what it looks like." Hollyclaw nodded. "I think all the apprentices are out training and Wolfpaw is taking her final exam." Duskkit padded inside. It was comfortable and smelled of cats. The nests were made of soft moss and some even had feathers in them. After a few minutes Duskkit padded out ready to continue. Hollyclaw motioned for her to follow with her tail. A few moments later they came to a shadowed den made of brambles. "This is the warrior's den" Mewed Hollyclaw. " see how it's really close to the elder's den and nursery? It's so that if the clan is under attack the warriors are near the cats that need the most protection." Duskkit nodded. She didn't even ask to go inside for fear that Sharptoungue might be in there. They continued padding along until they came up to a tall slanted rock. "This is high rock. It's where the leader makes important announcements. His den is at the back." Duskkit squinted and saw an outline of the den. Hollyclaw pointed with her tail. "The training hollow is over there. We can't go see it because you're not an apprentice yet." Hollyclaw continued padding along to one last den in a crack in a boulder. Over the entrance vines hung. Hollyclaw padded in. Duskkit followed. "This is the medicine cat's den. It's where I treat cats injuries and illnesses." There were varieties of herbs in little crevices. Duskkit had had so much fun that she didn't realize the sun was setting. "Better go to your mother and get some fresh prey." Hollyclaw mewed. Duskkit nodded and started running back to the nursery. " It was nice meeting you Hollyclaw." Meowed Duskkit loudly. She skidded to a stop in font of the fresh kill pile. Her mother was there already. "Go ahead Duskkit choose a piece of prey." Mewed Blackstorm. Duskkit selected a big mouse and padded to the nursery to eat. "Aww why can't we go outside even though she gets to?" Mewed a complaining voice. Duskkit perked up her ears. Was that Flintkit? She sneaked into the nursery and found a shadowy corner to watch the squabble. It was Flintkit and Greykit. Shyfawn looked at them sternly. "It's because you two are only a moon old and shes five." They both stormed out and Duskkit couldn't stop a little mrow from escaping her throat. She finished eating her prey and then curled up into a ball. She was tired. That was a lot of walking for your first time out of the den. She let out a loud yawn before sleep began to take her.