EDIT- Sorry guys! I completely forgot to upload like half the chapter!
Stars speckled the brightening horizon, like flecks of frost on leaf-fall undergrowth. Silverkit stood watching the sun peek out through the trees. Fresh green and blood red misted together, as he squinted to avoid the glare.
He rubbed one paw over tender grass, then rolled over on his back. Silverkit was hardly a kit anymore. Perhaps, he thought, a bit more fun before apprenticeship would do him good.
He flexed his claws, dropping into an almost perfect hunting crouch. Amberclaw had helped him work on it in the short time he had when not training Featherpaw. Sparrowpaw was almost a warrior, but Redtalon had yet to visit his son. Silverkit sighed bitterly. He had often watched from the shadows as his father instructed Flamekit on battle moves, eyes lighting up in delight as the young she-cat mastered each technique.
I can do just as well, if you'd just let me prove myself,Silverkit vowed. Although he would never admit it, his heart longed to feel the fierce affection of a father. The only contact Silverkit ever made with Redtalon was through stolen looks and barely tolerant glances.
And there he was now, Flamekit at his side. Proudly demonstrating to his brother the moves he had taught his daughter. Flamekit pounced onto Redtalon's back, clutching on and dealing a series of blows to his ears while the muscular tom bucked like an enraged badger. Silverkit's sister leapt out of the way as their father dropped and countered, squashing the space Flamekit had been mere seconds ago.
Silverkit pawed at a bit of debris from the fire. Camp had begun to recover. He had helped thread new tendrils of bracken and bramble into the nursery walls, had puffed his chest out in pride for a snatch of praise that was often left unsaid.
The light tabby tom scraped a pile of grass into a vague ball shape, rolling it from paw to paw. The white tip of his tail twitched excitedly. Until, that is, it was slammed to the ground by a hefty paw.
Silverkit whipped around. He had somehow stumbled in front of the apprentices den.
His tail pinned under one paw, muscles bulging from his slick grey pelt, Stormpaw wore a smug smile broadly across his face.
"Hey Rainpaw, something feels out of place below my paw," Stormpaw called into the den. Silverkit tried to pull his tail out from Stormpaw's grasp, but the grey apprentice wouldn't budge. Stormpaw looked directly at him.
"Oh sorry, Oddkit, I didn't see you there. I barely felt your ridiculously long tail between my claws," Stormkit smirked. Suddenly, his amber eyes zeroed onto a point on the other side of camp. Quickly stepping away from the kit, Stormpaw feigned innocence, standing at attention.
"Stormpaw, quit dilly-daddling. You will be cleaning out the elders den if you don't come here this instant," Duskpelt snarled. Silverkit saw the slightest flicker of uncertainty in Stormpaw's amber eyes.
Stormpaw was afraid of his mentor.
But Silverkit wasn't like his foe. He did not want to grab his weak point and hit there. Oh no, Silverkit wanted the thrill of having to find out a way that he could strike even without having to exploit Stormpaw's weaknesses.
EPICLINEBREAKHERE
Amberclaw mewed goodbye to him and slunk out of camp. Featherpaw followed her mentor.
Silverkit stared intensely as Redtalon returned to the warrior's den, leaving Flamekit to practice by herself. The kit headed in the direction of his sister. But she wasn't there anymore.
Confused, Silverkit looked around. His gaze stopped at a rustling bush. A bright ginger tail tip disappeared into the plant.
Flamekit was sneaking out of camp!
No, oh StarClan Flamekit, you're going to get in trouble!
Silverkit darted into the bush after his sister, panicked. The sharp thorns raked his pelt into stripes as he stopped to sniff the ground. Flamekit's scent led away from the dirt-place. Silverkit thought tersely.
If he told anyone, Flamekit would get in trouble, and her ceremony would be postponed. On the contrary, he would never forgive himself if she got hurt.
Shaking his head, common sense took over. Silverkit turned around and ran back to camp.
"What are you doing?" Silverkit gaped as he stared at Redtalon, eyes narrowed with a furious expression on his face.
"Fl-Flamekit," Silverkit's voice shook. Redtalon's eyes glowed in confusion.
"What about her?" Redtalon asked, bewildered.
Before he could answer, a cat burst into camp.
"Badger," Rainpaw breathed, panting heavily. "A-Amberclaw. Flamekit."
Redtakon's voice was surprisingly gentle. "Take a second, Rainpaw,"
Rainpaw took a deep breath. "Flamekit ran into a badger. Amberclaw and Featherpaw are trying to hold it off."
Redtalon's eye twitched. "What?" Rainpaw darted out of camp, with Redtalon following close behind her. Sparrowpaw dropped her squirrel on the pile and raced after them.
Please be alright, Flamekit, Silverkit prayed, head bowed. He sat stiffly by the nursery, scratching out lines into the dirt with one claw. Cloudflight padded out of the den and took a seat beside him, her eyes grim.
"They're going to fine, right mother?" Silverkit begged for the look in Cloudflight's green eyes to disappear. But she only stared at him sadly.
"I don't know, Silverkit. I really don't know," Cloudflight looked up at the sky. Silverkit's heart sank into his paws. Cloudflight walked back into the nursery, but Silverkit found that he could not move. Tail swishing back and forth anxiously, he awaited the return of his sister.
INSERTEPICLYAMAZINGLINEBREAKHERE
He had just started to doze off when they came back.
Silverkit sat up with a jolt, eyes widened in horror.
Sparrowpaw was covered head to toe in scratches. But that was nothing compared the cat whom she supported with a shoulder.
Amberclaw was braced between Sparrowpaw and Rainpaw, head lolling. A huge gash was slashed on his belly. Redtalon trotted out after them, eyes sickeningly dark. His jaws were clamped around a small ginger shape.
"Flamekit!" Silverkit cried, voice strangled. He shot across camp, leaping into the medicine den. Pinespring sat at the entrance, waiting. A clump of cobwebs at his paws.
His eyes widened as Sparrowpaw set Amberclaw down on the moss.
"Kestrelpaw, we need more cobwebs. Take Silverkit and go to the fallen tree by the Sandy Hollow," Pinespring instructed, not looking up from Amberclaw's fallen figure.
"But-" Silverkit was silenced by a look from Kestrelpaw. He didn't feel excitement for leaving camp before he was an apprentice. Only a strange numbness.
He silently followed Kestrelpaw out of the gorse tunnel, looking back at the medicine den. Redtalon had set Flamekit down. Now that he could see her clearly, Silverkit let out a sigh of relief. Flamekit looked simply unconscious, not dead like he had previously thought.
Silverkit looked around in wonder. Birds chirped in the trees, their cheerful chattering breaking off into bright song.
How could you still be singing after this? Silverkit thought angrily, before reminding himself that they didn't know. Kestrelpaw was waiting by an old tree, downed moons ago.
"This is the best place for cobwebs in the entire forest. Claw them out and make sure there aren't any spiders. We have to be fast," Kestrelpaw looked at Silverkit before adding, "Sorry about your sister and uncle. I'd be lost without Featherpaw,"
Silverkit moved his paws rapidly, watching in awe at Kestrelpaw's nimbleness. The brown tom was scraping moss by the pawful, squeezing out excess moisture with the flick of a paw.
Silverkit rolled a clump of cobwebs into a neat ball. Unsheathing and sheathing his claws quickly, he clawed webs from the hollow log, inspecting each carefully for spiders.
Kestrelpaw tucked the moss beneath his chin. "Let's go before your kin bleeds out," Kestrelpaw turned the way they had came and raced back.
Silverkit tacked the sticky substance beside his ear, dogging the medicine cat apprentice. They burst into camp, heading directly into the den.
Pinespring was still working feverishly on Amberclaw. Without a glance at the two young cats, he grabbed the wad of cobwebs and pressed them to Amberclaw's still-bleeding belly.
Flamekit was curled in the corner, cobwebs plastered to her flanks.
"Her ceremony has to be delayed. But she'll be fine after a moon,"
"Huh?" Silverkit looked at the dark coloured tom.
"Flamekit. Amberclaw is worse off. If he makes it through the night, your uncle's chances are greatly increased,"
Pinespring spread a layer of moss onto the cobwebs on Amberclaw's body. He nudged the unconscious ginger tom into a more comfortable position.
Please, StarClan, don't take Amberclaw yet! Amberclaw mustn't die!
Cliffie!