Chapter Seven
Larchkit was woken up the next morning by something falling on her face. At first she thought it was just Birchkit playing a trick on her until something else fell on her face; whether it was a trick or not, she would still have to open her eyes to deal with the problem.
With a groan, Larchkit's green eyes flicked open to see her brother on the other side of the nursery, loud snores coming from his mouth. There was no way that Birchkit would have been able to run across the nursery that fast to play a trick on Larchkit and then run back before she opened her eyes again.
No possible way. So what had woken her?
Her question was answered when not a mouse-tail away from her, a twig that was used to hold the nursery up hit the ground. She looked up to see that the nursery looked a little… off. It looked less stable than it did the night before and twigs and leaves were starting to hang down, ready to fall at any moment.
"Ferncloud?" Larchkit prodded her mother. "Wake up."
"Larchkit, go back to sleep," her pale gray mother muttered. She tried to lightly swat the kit away but missed completely. "It's too early to play a game."
"Ferncloud, I think there's something wrong with the nursery," Larchkit whispered but her mother still didn't open her eyes.
"Yeah, I know what's wrong with it," she growled. "You're not sleeping in it!"
"No, I mean something's really wrong with it!" Larchkit tried again. "The roof is falling off!"
"Larchkit, you're probably just imagining things," she sighed and sat up. "Here, I'll prove it to you. I'll-"
Ferncloud was cut off when a twig blew off the top of the roof and landed directly on her head, bouncing off and landing at her paws. The she-cat stared down at it in shock and then looked around the den; the entire nursery was littered with debris and other things they used to build the nursery.
"I told you," Larchkit sang but Ferncloud didn't even have time to tell her daughter to stop being so sassy, she was already prodding Birchkit to try and wake him.
"Birchkit, get up now!" Ferncloud hissed; not to be rude or anything, but just because they were in a state of urgency. If Larchkit spent nearly a quarter of the day in the medicine cat den for jumping into a pile of brambles, Ferncloud didn't want to see the effects of what would happen if an entire den collapsed on them.
"Just a few more minutes," Birchkit hummed and curled up into a tighter ball. "I'll be up soon…"
"No, you will be up now!" Ferncloud hissed and picked her son up by the scruff. She signaled with her tail for her daughter to exit the nursery just as it started to waver to the side.
They hadn't even walked three fox-lengths out of the nursery when it happened. There was a particularly strong gust of wind and the den shook, leaning to the side more before collapsing completely. Debris flew up, spraying everywhere, but most of it just landed in a messy pile.
"There goes the nursery…" Larchkit mumbled as cats started rushing out of their dens to see what the noise was about. Birchkit would have commented but he was still too shocked and sleepy to truly understand what was going on. He shook his head a few times, looked at the nursery to see if it was just a dream and then tried again.
"Where are we supposed to sleep now?" Ferncloud asked nervously as she turned to Firestar. "It's still too cold to sleep outside and my kits need a place to sleep. StarClan knows they haven't had a full nights rest since we made the journey."
"The warriors den is a little cramped but then again, I don't want to keep them in Cinderpelt's den. We don't need them eating a strange herb if they can't sleep," Firestar said as he thought. After a pause, he decided. "Squirrelflight and Sandstorm can sleep in my den for the night and Ferncloud can sleep in the warriors den with the kits. In the morning, we'll rebuild the nursery so it's stronger against the wind and then we can all go back to our regular nests."
Squirrelflight looked like she wanted to object but she bit her tongue. As much as she didn't want to share a den with her parents, everyone knew it was an unheard of honor to sleep in the same den as your leader and she should feel lucky. Besides, the Clan always came before her wants.
"We get to sleep in the warriors den," Larchkit whispered excitedly to her brother who was only starting to realize that he wasn't dreaming. "We're like, the only kits ever to spend a night in the warriors den!"
Birchkit only grunted in response as they padded into the den. It was dark and with everyone else swarming back into their den, it was hard to know where to go. Until Dustpelt waved them over and nodded to an empty nest. "This is where Thornclaw sleeps but we decided to reorganize some things so you can sleep closer to me. He'll sleep in Squirrelflight's nest and the kits can sleep in Sandstorm's nest who sleeps right here," Dustpelt explained and prodded some bedding near his. "Is that okay with you?"
"It's perfect," Ferncloud purred and nuzzled her mate. Larchkit and Birchkit didn't say anything as they clambered onto the mossy bedding and curled into fluffy balls of fur. The nest was far too large for them and even if they spread out as wide as their bodies would allow, they'd still have room to spare.
Once Larchkit was in a comfortable position, she scanned the den. Some cats had already fallen asleep and most other were starting to drift off, but Larchkit couldn't help but smile at her Clanmate's as a single thought crossed her mind.
'So this is what being a warrior is like…'
The next morning was not a pleasant one. For anyone.
Larchkit was still exhausted from all the excitement of the night before but no one would let her sleep. Someone stepped on her tail, another couple of warriors were laughing a little too loudly at a joke, and then with Cloudtail barking orders from outside, there was no way Larchkit was able to sleep. So she just kind of laid there, curled in a ball next to her brother as he dozed blissfully unaware of all the racket going on around him.
Finally, when the sun was shining directly in her face and Larchkit couldn't stand it anymore, she finally decided it was time to get up and go bother someone. And the cats that she decided to bother just so happened to be the same ones rebuilding the nursery.
"Don't make it as unstable as last time," Larchkit mewed and a few of the warriors jumped, not noticing she had walked up behind them. "I don't want to die by getting crushed by a nursery. That'd be just embarrassing."
"We're making it more stable," Thornclaw replied. "Don't worry, this time it's not going to collapse."
"Could you make it bigger too? I need more room to play," Larchkit added.
"Larchkit, if you want to play, why don't you just play outside?" Dustpelt asked as he moved some of the debris from the night before out of the way.
"Because it's cold outside and Ferncloud will make me come inside anyway. If I come in then I'll just be bored," Larchkit answered.
"If we make it any bigger then we'll just be taking up space. Why don't you go get something to eat?" Ashfur asked. He was trying to be as kind as he could in telling the kit to scram but she clearly wasn't getting the message.
"I'm not hungry," Larchkit lied. She was starving but she wanted to mess with the warriors who kept her awake so she refused to eat. Revenge came before hunger, always.
Larchkit watched as Thornclaw tripped over a small branch and she laughed loudly. "Don't fall!"
"Larchkit, when did you become such a pest?" Dustpelt finally asked, giving her a stern look. As much as he loved his daughter, she needed to learn when to stop talking.
"When incompetent warriors nearly got me killed from my own nursery," Larchkit answered smoothly. The three warriors turned to gape at the kit. Partially because of her attitude, partially because they didn't know a kit knew words like 'incompetent.'
"Larchkit!" Dustpelt snapped. "For StarClan's sake, what has gotten into you today?"
"Probably pieces of the nursery that almost crushed me." Larchkit shrugged as her father's eyes narrowed.
"Like father, like daughter," Thornclaw sniggered. Dustpelt shot him a look but the golden brown tom had already looked away. "I have an idea."
Before anyone could ask what he was doing, the warrior bounded away. The three cats watched with mild interest as he approached Sootfur, saying something and motioning over to Larchkit. The gray warrior nodded and said something else before Thornclaw came back.
He didn't say much, he only looked at Ashfur and Dustpelt and said, "You're welcome," and then turned to Larchkit and said, "And you're especially welcome."
"Why?" Larchkit cocked her head.
"C'mon Larchkit, we're going to play that game of moss-ball that I promised you." Larchkit whipped around to come face to face with two vibrant amber eyes.
"Wh-what?" Larchkit stuttered, looking from Thornclaw to Sootfur.
"I promised you that I'd play a game of moss-ball with you so why don't we go play that now and let your father get back to work?" Sootfur repeated. Larchkit numbly nodded as she trailed after the tom, looking back once to shoot Thornclaw a grateful look. He just beamed at her.
But once both their back were turned and they were out of earshot, Dustpelt whacked Thornclaw on the head with a sheathed paw. "Do you have bees in your brain? She's my only daughter and you're sending her to play with the tom she's been mooning over!"
Thornclaw laughed and dodged the older tom's next blow. "Sorry to break it to you but they," he nodded to Larchkit and Sootfur, "are inevitable. No matter how much you can try and stop it, they're going to get tangled up together."
"Not if I can help it," Dustpelt grumbled under his breath as he turned away to start on the nursery again. But now, his thoughts were swarmed with trying to protect his kit from toms.
On the other side of camp, Sootfur and Larchkit stood together, both with frowns on their faces.
"Where are we supposed to get the moss?" Larchkit asked, cocking her head to one side. They had bounded away from the others only to realize they didn't have any actual moss to use. They would have used the moss in the nursery but that option wasn't available anymore and no one in the warrior den would have let them rip up their nests to play a game.
And it wasn't like Cinderpelt was going to give them any…
"Why don't you wait here and I'll go collect some from the forest?" Sootfur offered and Larchkit's ears drooped. "Or… or I could ask Firestar if you could come collect it with me?"
Larchkit looked up with excitement sparkling in her green eyes. "Really? You would do that?"
"Sure, if Firestar allows it," Sootfur answered smoothly. "I don't see why he wouldn't; you'll be with me and we're only going to collect moss."
"Okay!" Larchkit squealed, bouncing around.
"Let's go ask him," Sootfur purred as he watched the kit. Larchkit was honestly like a sister to him and it made him happy, seeing her happy.
The two cats padded over to where Firestar was sharing tongues with Sandstorm. He glanced up when he saw the pair. "Hello Sootfur, Larchkit. Anything I can help you with?"
"Yes actually," Sootfur said, dipping his head. "I was wondering if I could take Larchkit out to help me collect moss. She's nearly six moons now and it's not a very far walk."
Firestar hesitated, sharing a look with Sandstorm. His mate muttered in his ear, "I think you should let them. Larchkit's taken a liking to Sootfur and she's been bugging all the senior warriors who are trying to rebuild the nursery."
Firestar nodded and finally said, "Just this once; I don't want this becoming a habit. And you're getting the moss and coming straight back, understood?"
The two cats nodded ferociously with wide grins on their faces. Before Firestar could rethink his decision, they turned and bolted off to go collect the moss. Larchkit held her head high as she sauntered out of camp, as a few cats turned and watched with mild interest.
The second Larchkit stepped out of camp, she was in awe. Trees towered over her and all sorts of sounds and smells hit her that had been blocked out by the towering walls of camp. She had been dozing in and out of consciousness when Ferncloud had carried her to the new camp so this was her first real time seeing the forest.
"It's… beautiful!" Larchkit gasped and looked around. Sootfur chuckled at her as she pounced on a leaf, batting it into the air before getting distracted by a thick tree and leaping at it, trying to pull herself up.
"It is, isn't it? But I promised Firestar that we would get moss and come straight back so we have to get a move on," Sootfur said and Larchkit nodded, still looking around in awe.
As they walked, Larchkit pointed out every little detail on the forest. "Look at that robin! Are those the same herbs Cinderpelt has? What's that?" As much as Sootfur tried, he just couldn't keep up with the energetic kit- mentally, that is. Her legs were so short he had to stop every so often to let her catch up.
"We're here," Sootfur announce, stepping out of the way so Larchkit could see the moss. It was growing on rocks, fallen logs, and the base of trees. It was such a plentiful area because there was a small dip in the land where the melting snow would flow. "Grab as much as you can hold-"
"We don't need all that moss for moss-ball!" Larchkit gasped, exasperated. "We need a ball of it, not a mountain! I swear, it's like you've never even played before!"
Sootfur playfully cuffed her over the ear, nudging her. "No, mouse-brain! The moss in the nursery got ruined so I figured if we collected as much as we can now, that's one trip I don't have to make later."
"Oh!" Larchkit grinned. "You could have just said that!"
"I was trying to," Sootfur mumbled under his breath. He began collecting moss, scraping it off the rocks and tossing it to Larchkit. He showed her the proper way of holding it but she couldn't hold that much since she was so tiny; even as a kit she was considered small.
It didn't take long for them to collect as much moss as they needed and head back. On the way back, Sootfur noticed Larchkit was quieter than normal so he decided to take a small break to ask her what was wrong. "You okay? You seem quiet."
"Yeah," Larchkit sighed, letting the ball of moss drop as they stopped. "It's just that I don't want to go back to camp… it's so nice out here!"
"I know how you feel, Larchkit," Sootfur nudged her lightly. "But don't worry about it too much. You're what, five moons now? You'll be out her again in no time and it's going to be much more exciting than collecting moss."
"What if all my mentor does is make me collect moss?" Larchkit grumbled and Sootfur purred in amusement.
"I doubt he'd do that."
"He?" Larchkit asked cocking her head. "What if it's a she-cat?"
Sootfur didn't say anything. He just shot her a sly look, picked up his moss and began padding towards camp again.
"Wait, Sootfur!" Larchkit squeaked, messily picking up her moss and chasing after the tom. "Do you know who my mentor is going to be?"
"Maybe," Sootfur smirked mysteriously. He loved teasing the kit because she got so excited and had this bright, silly look in her eyes that made him chuckle. He continued, "Maybe not."
"Who!" Larchkit screamed, bounding after him. "Please tell me! Will I like him?
"Yes, I know for a fact that you'll like him. But I can't tell you who it is; I've already said too much."
"No, no you haven't!" Larchkit tried. "C'mon, just give me a hint? What color is his fur? Does he have any family? What sound does his name start with?"
"I'll give you one hint," Sootfur finally said with a gentle smile. "He… has a sister."
A sister? Which toms in ThunderClan has a sister? Thornclaw, Brackenfur, Ashfur, Brambleclaw, and apparently Firestar, though she was a kittypet and Larchkit had never seen her. Her brothers obviously had a sister but she doubted one of them would mentor her... Sootfur and Sorreltail were siblings! Was this his way of telling her that he was going to be her mentor?
Larchkit didn't utter another word as she bounced after the older tom, a new feeling of happiness in her chest. Sootfur was going to be her mentor! She was sure of it!
They reached camp and Larchkit didn't even complain as she slid under the brambles, dropping her ball of moss proudly on the ground. Even if she barely collected any and most of it wasn't for their game, she still couldn't help but feel a surge of pride run through her.
She had collected her first ball of moss and in less than a moon, the tom she was madly crushing on was going to be her mentor. Nothing could bring her down!
"You ready?" Sootfur asked and the kit nodded excitedly. She pulled some moss out of the ball that she had collected and rolled it off so the soft part was on the outside and all the yucky dirt was on the inside.
"Just to warn you, I'm probably the best moss-ball player to ever live," Sootfur gloated and Larchkit narrowed her eyes competitively.
"We'll see about that," she sneered. In a flash, she flung the ball at the tom. He batted it back to her easily and she decided then and there that she would have to bring her all if she wanted to win the game.
The point of moss-ball was to bat the ball back and forth. If one cat missed it, that meant they lost the game. Sootfur knew he could easily send the moss sailing over the kit's head but what would be the fun in that? Besides, the other warriors wanted him to keep Larchkit busy and that wouldn't work very well if he won right away.
Larchkit batted the ball back to Sootfur, aiming a little off to the side this time and the tom had to dive a bit to catch it before it went past him. Hooking it with his claws, he tossed it back to the kit, making her run so she didn't lose.
Larchkit flung the moss back at the tom, in the opposite direction that he had dived the last time. He did the same to her and that was the moment when the simple game of moss-ball turned into a competitive, life-or-death situation.
A few cats started to look at the two as the jumped, raced, and dived all over the place just for a ball of moss. Some even started to crowd around them, betting mice on who would win. Some bet Sootfur since he was so much bigger, but others argued that if he could win so easily then why was he struggling so much.
"Go Larchkit!" Birchkit cheered. Spiderleg was sitting next to him, calling out cheers as well.
"C'mon Sootfur, show her who's the moss-ball champion!" Sorreltail called jokingly.
Larchkit's claw hooked on the ball and she sent it flying back to Sootfur. The ball flew to the right, so far that Sootfur had to sprint to catch it. He leapt into the air, not noticing the tom standing blindly in his path.
Sootfur rammed full force into Longtail, knocking them both over and making them roll. The Clan gasped and others winced, having to look away at Sootfur's mistake.
When Longtail and Sootfur rolled to a stop, all the younger tom could do was stare down at his former mentor in shock. "Longtail I am so sorry! I was caught up in the game and I went for the ball and you came out of nowhere!" Sootfur blabbered on.
Longtail waited for him to finish before asking, "So you lost then?"
Sootfur made a confused face and glanced at the untouched ball of moss. "Well yeah but that doesn't matter. Are you okay? I didn't break your neck or anything, did I?"
Longtail didn't answer, he simply broke out into a wide grin, and called out, "Mousefur, I told you the kit would win! You owe me three mice!"
Sootfur stared at the blind tom, and then glanced at the elderly she-cat who was cursing under her breath. She glared harshly at Sootfur. "I was perfectly fine with laying around all day but now I have to actually go out and catch something, thanks to you!" she sneered at the tom.
"B-but… what?" Sootfur's eyes were as wide as a full moon and all he could do was look around in confusion. "Isn't anyone mad that I knocked down a blind elder?"
"I'm sure three juicy mice will make up for it," Longtail grinned. His sightless eyes were filled with joy while the she-cat next to him held nothing but rage on her face.
"She only won because you got in the way," she snapped at Longtail.
"Did not!"
"Did too!"
As the two elders continued to bicker, Sootfur padded over to Larchkit, still looking confused at what had just happened. "That was… weird." It was the only word he could think of to describe it.
"At least we learned something today," Larchkit beamed. "That I'm the ultimate moss-ball champion."
"Are not!" Sootfur snapped playfully. He swatted at the kit with a silly grin on his face.
"Are too!" Larchkit ducked under Sootfur's paw and lunged at him, clinging to his back as he tried to shake her off. The warriors watching all purred and shared knowing glances.
Everyone couldn't help but notice the similarities between Mousefur and Longtail, and Sootfur and Larchpaw. There was only one question though: was that a good thing or a bad thing?
Judging by the scowl on Dustpelt's face, he was not happy about it.
Really enjoyed writing this chapter! Sootfur and Larchkit are kind of adorable, don't you think? :) I believe the next chapter is her first day as an apprentice and let's just say that it's quite eventful ;) And finally, I'm going to shamelessly self-advertise here but I just published a brand new story called Fight or Flight: Book One: Immune! If you enjoy my writing, you might like that too!
