Chasing Thunder


Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, warrior cats.


Chapter 6

Burrkit knew something was wrong the moment Deeppool padded wearily back into the nursery, Lilyflower nowhere to be seen, the stench of blood wreathing around him. Behind him, followed Jayfeather, three kits hanging limply from his jaws, the small meows that trailed from their tiny jaws the only thing to indicate that they were still alive. The overpowering scent of death that followed them indicated that someone who had been near them was the very opposite of alive. Twigkit shifted in his sleep beside her, and lifted his head slightly, eyes wide and sleepy, the fur sticking up on top of her head.

"Featherleap? I think we might need some help with these kits." Deeppool's voice tread cautiously, glancing downwards at Burrkit and Twigkit- the careful way her skirted around the situation sending a spark of irritation plunging through the she-kit. The grey she-cat seemed to catch on to what the medicine cat was saying, and reached out, nudging her own kits aside, sadness stabbing into her heart as she took the three mewling kits from Jayfeather, letting them nuzzle into her fur, searching for food. Still agitated, Burrkit turned her gaze upon the medicine cats and frowned angrily.

"Lilyflower's dead isn't she? Why don't you just say so?!" she called out, causing Deeppool to swivel around, a rare flash of anger in his eyes as the kits began to mewl loudly, eyes freezing over and turning icy.

"Be quiet, Burrkit. Go to sleep." The chiding tone to the tom's voice caused more anger to coil up inside the she-kit, her teeth gritting together, claws sliding into the moss, sharp claws flashing.

"No. I'm old enough. I understand death. I've seen it." The harshness to her own voice frightened Burrkit, and Twigkit shrank away, fur prickling at the stony words that flickered from his sister's tongue.

"That's enough, Burrkit." The brown pelted cat snorted to herself. Despite being frightened, she also felt powerful. Like she could stand up to the world if it got in her way.

"That's Enough, Burrkit!" She mimicked the Medicine cat's voice in mocking tones. "Let's pretend that Death doesn't happen, to protect the poor innocent kits, who watched their sister die in front of them! No, they couldn't possibly talk about Lilyflower dying!" Burrkit hardly noticed herself spring to her paws, the bitterness slowly seeping into her words, green eyes flickering with corrupted flames, until Featherleap stood up and a paw clattered around her head, the kit letting out gasp as Jayfeather's paw collided with her head, and she skidded to the floor, head ringing with the impact. The anger on the blind cat's face caused her to shrink back, choking down the urge to sob over the pain in her head.

"Enough." The single word was growled in her direction, before the two medicine cats turned and left, Deeppool shooting a glare in her direction. Curling up in the dirt, Burrkit folded her tail around her body, letting her eyed blink shut.

"Burrkit, do you want to come back over here?" The hesitant voice of Twigkit sounded by her ear, and she snapped her head up, eyes narrowed as she spat bad-temperedly.

"Good luck if you want me to. I'm staying here, away from everyone!" Burrkit didn't pay any notice to the hurt look on Twigkit's face, and curled back up, letting herself descend into a fitful sleep as her brother crept away and coiled up next to the warm bodies of Lilyflower's motherless kits.


Burrkit awoke far from her nest. Trees with twisted branches stooped towards her, framing a moonlit sky, the light shrouded by wisps of murky clouds, the sky tainted like muddy water. Twisted bushes with thorny tendrils snaked along the ground, and mist crawled and writhed, its darkness splintered by the unnatural glow of mushrooms that were illuminated in strange colours. The kit found the darkness surprisingly comforting, the slight dampness easing the pain that still curled under her skull from Jayfeather's strike. The memory of the conversation before she had slept caused her skin to crawl, and she sunk her claws into the dark earth.

"You seem angry, kit." Burrkit snapped her head up in surprise as a silky smooth voice spoke behind her. "Is something the matter." The she-kit jumped to her paws, staggering slightly, and whirled to face the semi-transparent form of a lithe she-cat, with sleek, russet fur and black paws, her solidly coloured green eyes casting a faint glow, her otherwise smooth pelt broken by a long scar that twisted from her shoulder to her hind leg, the welcoming smile on her jaws soothing Burrkit. The dusty-pelted kit tilted her head at the she-cat.

"Who are you? How do I trust you?" She forced a slight demanding tone to her voice, despite being slightly scared. The strange she-cat dipped her head slightly.

"I never asked you to trust me. You may hate me, if you wish- but All I wish to do it help you." Burrkit snorted. Better to seem confident than to seem scared. She told herself.

"That doesn't answer my first question." That's it. Show her that she shouldn't patronize you.

"Of course. My Name is Spiderfang. It's a pleasure to meet you at last, Burrkit. We have great things planned for you." Now, Burrit was scared. How did this 'Spiderfang' Know her name? Confusion struck her, and she flinched back slightly, heart fluttering slightly.

"H-How do you know my name?"

"There's no point in lying to you, Burrkit. I've been watching you as you grow up. You're a strong cat, and I'd love nothing more than to train you as my apprentice." The kit paused slightly. Could she trust the cat with the dull eyes? "I understand what it's like, Burrkit. They treated me the same, after my brother was killed." The statement made Burrkit look up sharply. Spiderfang had genuine concern in her dead gaze.

"I want you to train me." The russet she-cat smiled softly, and swept over to the she-kit.

"You made a good choice, Burrkit. You'll be a better apprentice than all of the rest of the cats in the clan. I promise, that with the things I'm going to show you, you could be the youngest Leader the clans have ever seen." The purring tone to Spiderfang's voice calmed the dusty cat, and she blinked, then let out a squeak of surprise as a paw slammed into her side, a flash of pain rushing through her as unsheathed claws brushed her pelt. Letting out a loud yowl, she turned to face the larger cat.

"That hurt!" she complained, shrinking back.

"Do cats sheathe their claws in battle?" Burrkit didn't answer the question, and scrambled back to her paws, gritting her teeth and letting her claws slip into the dirt, ready for the next attack, ignoring the stinging of her side. Spiderfang lunged once more, and this time the kit was ready, springing to the side and avoiding the blow, ducking under the warrior's paws and flicking her own claws along her light-coloured belly-fur. Spiderfang was quick to retaliate, and flicked her body around, claws scoring into Burrkit's side once more, blood seeping out and splashing onto the damp earth. Hissing in pain, the she-cat gritted her teeth and forced the pain to turn into anger, leaping right back up and launching forwards, clinging onto the warrior's face, scoring her claws into their muzzle, grinning as they hissed in pain, but yowling loudly when the russet cat sunk her teeth into Burrkit's tail, pulling her off and slamming her into the earth. Grunting softly, blood splatting onto the ground from her side, the she-kit looked up as Spiderfang smiled down at her.

"You did very well." Lifting a paw to dab at the rivulets of blood that trickled down her muzzle, the semi-transparent cat purred. "You're excellent." Burrkit was about to respond, but the ground lurched slightly under her paws, and she gasped slightly as darkness closed in on her vision, clouding around her.

"You're waking up." Spiderfang's voice swam through the murk. "I'll see you again tomorrow, Burrkit." With those words, Burrkit's eyes flung open, to find herself lying in the corner of the Nursery once more, light streaming in through the entrance. Shifting where she lay, the kit hissed as a stab of pain launched through her fur, and she noticed that the area where the older she-cat had hit her was mattered with blood, very much real. Despite the pain, the she-kit smiled.

The wounds may have carried through, but she had never felt more alive.

A/N: I think we all know where Burrkit woke up! She's in trouble now... Okay, QOTD: If you were in Burrkit's position, what would you have done? Yould you have trained with the mysterious Spiderfang, or left? Review!

Storm