Hello again! I might slow down the uploads, I haven't written past Ch.9. Oh dear. I do have literally everything planned out though, do it shouldn't be a problem. Anyway, enjoy the chapter!
Horizonkit was four moons old now. So was Sunkit. Silverheart had recently moved into the Nursery as she became a quarter-moon away from kitting. Beechflower now worked in the Medicine Den with advice from the newly expecting queen, until her kits were ready to be left in the Nursery at days.
And Sunkit was still wobbling.
SIlverheart said that she was getting stronger, though, and she would still be able to perform normal warrior duties as she got older. That had made Horizonkit feel a longing to be made an apprentice already.
Horizonkit raced out of the Nursery and almost crashed into Tigerpaw as he went past.
"Watch out!" the apprentice said, swerving to avoid him.
"Sunkit!" he called behind him.
"Yes?" came the replying mew. He spun around to see his sister racing towards him, getting faster with every day. She pulled up beside him, almost tripping over but recovering quickly.
He looked at the sun and cloudless sky. "Isn't it a lovely day today? Shall we ask mother if we can go on a walk?"
Sunkit nodded, "It is nice. Let's go do that now!"
"Hey, Tabbysky?" Horizonkit asked, looking at his stretching mother, "Can we go out for a walk today?"
"I was thinking of leaving you with Silverheart today so I could go for a walk, but if you want to come and see outside camp with me by you, then I suppose you can." Tabbysky mewed, getting to her paws and squinting out through the ivy curtain.
"Aw, yeah!" Sunkit squeaked, jumping up into the air and batting a leaf that had been whisked up with her.
Tabbysky let out a mrrow of laughter, "Come on then, my beautiful kits. Silverheart, are you okay to be left alone for a bit?" she called back to the small silver tabby she-cat.
"Yes, I'm sure. My kits won't be coming for at least another three sunrises." she meowed back.
Tabbysky nodded and walked her kits out of the Nursery.
"Solarstar!" she called up to her mate. He pricked up his ears and and leaped down from the Flatstone where he was observing the Clan.
"What's the matter, my love?" he asked, touching his mate's nose, then licking each kit over the ear once.
"I need a walk, and these kits want to come with me. Can you spare us for a bit?" she asked.
"Sure! Just stay away from Thunderpaths!" he purred.
Horizonkit nearly forgot that he was a kit with restrictions as they ducked out of the Rabbit Tunnel. He bounded forwards, eyes glittering as he took in the lush beauty of the outside forest. Sun was shining down in golden beams as it filtered through the leafy branches of the tall trees. Ferns grew at the bases out the trees, and ivy curled its way up them.
Various other shrubs and bushes grew around, each sheltering many small leafy plants. Sunkit padded up to one and gave it a quick sniff.
"Dock." she confirmed, turning back to Horizonkit and their mother.
"Where did you learn that?" Tabbysky asked, licking her daughter's ears.
"I was spending some time with Silverheart a couple of sunrises ago. She was teaching me about cobwebs and poppy seeds and dock leaves. Then I helped her sort them!" Sunkit said, bouncing up to bat at a butterfly.
"You've been spending a lot of time around Silverheart recently, even though she's expecting kits. Why was she even in the Medicine Den?"
"She said that Beechflower wanted to go hunting, and that she also wanted to see how the herb store was. And I like her company, and her job." Sunkit explained. Tabbysky purred.
"Can we explore a bit?" Horizonkit asked.
"Oh, yes," Tabbysky meowed, "stay beside me and don't wander off."
Horizonkit obliged, and stuck close to his mother's side, looking around the forest curiously. He could hear the birds singing, like he sometimes could in the Nursery, but they sounded closer than ever before.
Suddenly, Tabbysky stopped. "Sshh." she whispered to Horizonkit and Sunkit. She dropped into a crouch, and pulled herself forwards quietly. Horizonkit suddenly heard a tiny pitter patter sound, and caught the familiar scent of a mouse from his experiences of choosing a meal at the fresh-kill pile.
Tabbysky suddenly leapt, and landed on something, quickly nipping its neck. She turned back around, a brown mouse dangling in her jaws.
"Oh, wow mother! That was amazing!" Horizonkit exclaimed, bouncing around his mother's paws.
"I haven't hunted in five moons." she purred, stretching, "Now come on, let's get back to Camp and then we can play hide and seek around camp."
"Oooh, yay! I love hide and seek!" Sunkit squeaked, bouncing up and down.
When they got back to camp, Tabbysky deposited her mouse onto the fresh-kill pile then stood in front of the Nursery.
"Okay, you have twenty heartbeats to hide, then I'll start coming to find you. Don't go into the Elders' Den, you'll disturb them, and if you leave camp you will be punished, okay?" Tabbysky instructed.
"Ok!" Sunkit squeaked.
"Go!"
Horizonkit quickly scanned around camp, searching for a possible hiding spot. Most cats had left camp, though a few who had been on the dawn patrol or gone hunting early still stood around, sharing tongues. It was nearly sunhigh, and everyone would be coming back to share tongues through the hottest point of the day.
Horizonkit watched Sunkit scramble up the branch that led up to the Warriors' Den, an old owl den that had widened with wear. The tree was very thick, and very tall, and had stood in the camp since before the Clans had been established. The den fit everyone in just about there, and anyone who didn't fit in took turns to sleep under the ferns surrounding the trees. When it was raining heavily, though they moved into the Nursery or Elders' Den, or tried to squeeze into the actual Den.
Sunkit jumped onto the lowest branch and crouched into the bunch of leaves growing on the end. Horizonkit saw a small hole underneath a root that was sticking up out of the ground. He ducked into the earthy cave and looked out to see his mother begin walking around camp, scenting the air. Horizonkit rolled about in the soil, hoping it would disguise his scent.
Twigtail, who was watching them from across camp and had figured out the game, nodded at his tactic, then turned back to speak with Shimmerheart. She was also watching. Horizonkit felt himself glow with pride. A warrior had just agreed with his hiding technique! Pushing it aside for a breath, his flicked his gaze back to his mother. She was checking around the Apprentices' Den.
Horizonkit crept deeper into his hole, feeling himself back up against the wall. He vaguely heard Sunkit's branch's leaves rustle as she crept deeper into them. Tabbysky's head snapped around as one or two floated to the ground. She began to stalk towards the Den.
All of a sudden, a sharp pain jolted through Horizonkit, and he yelped and jumped up, only to bang his head on the ceiling. He spun around, trying to find what had hurt him. Then he stopped. The pain had come from inside him!
Tabbysky was walking more quickly now. She had heard both the noises and knew where her kits were. Horizonkit gritted his teeth to stop another yelp as another, less painful jolt jabbed at his heart.
Then, there was a loud thumping sound, followed by the scrape of pelts against rock as cats hurried through the tunnel. The scent of blood mingled with SunsetClan scent appeared, as well as a horrible trace of something else. All of a sudden, five familiar but blood-stained cats appeared from the tunnel: Stripedfur, Whitefoot, Salmonpelt, Tornclaw and Hollypaw.
Horizonkit bounded out of his tunnel, and Sunkit dropped ungracefully out of the tree. Tabbysky hurried to her kits and wrapped her tail around them protectively. Solarstar leaped down from the Flatstone and hurried over to his mate, pressing up against his side.
"What happened?" he demanded.
"We found fox trails, so we followed them." Salmonpelt explained, "We ran into Tornclaw hunting with Hollypaw on the way so they came with us. We found the Den and were about to report it back when two foxes appeared and attacked us."
"Foxes?" Silverheart cried, sticking her head out of the Nursery.
"It's alright, Silverheart, we chased them off. They left Clan territory and we won't be seeing them any time soon." Salmonpelt reassured his mate.
"Good." Solarstar said.
Beechflower stuck her head out of the Medicine Den and called the injured cats in for treatment one by one. Silverheart checked them once they had been treated to see if the needed anything else. Horizonkit left his mother's side and padded over to Hollypaw, who had already been healed.
"Hi! Did you join in the fight? Were you hurt? Are you okay?" he asked the brown-and-white she-cat.
"Oh, hi Horizonkit! Yes, I joined in the fight, but I only got a couple of scratches." she said in return.
"Can you tell me what happened in the battle?"
"Sure! Listen closely."
