Enjoy! By the way, can you guess who is on the cover of this story?
Two moons later, things were smoothly, or so it seemed to the blithe Lakekit. The black-and-white tom was now significantly bigger and bulkier than his brother. While he had the thick build of a true ThunderClan cat, Fogkit was lean and long-bodied. It was clear Fogkit would be tall, however, in enough time.
Their mother was on edge. Despite her extreme efforts to stay sane in front of her kits, Lakekit overheard her once talking with Dovewing.
"I just don't know what to do anymore," sobbed the silver-and-white tabby, burying her face into her sister's shoulder fur.
Dovewing just frowned, staring ahead and curling her lip a little. "You made a decision, and it's up to you if it was wise. Now you see the result of it."
Ivypool pulled away, her sapphire-colored eyes glinting a bit with anger. "Don't you punish me too," she hissed quietly. "I know I've made mistakes in the past, but I doubt this is the worst one."
Her sister's shoulders fluttered up then down again. "Whatever you say," she mewed mildly before walking off, brushing against the undergrowth Lakekit was hiding in. He swallowed back a squeak of surprise and bounced back before his mother's sister would notice he was there. Ivypool sat there for a moment, subdued and hurt, before she stood as well and followed the same trail, bumping more harshly into the undergrowth.
Lakekit wondered why Dovewing was being so harsh on Ivypool. What had his mother done? She seemed flawless to him: how could she ever have made even one mistake? There was only one thing to do… find out.
It was a particularly overcast day. The clouds looming threateningly made Lakekit feel crushed and trapped. His usual carefree mood had vanished in an instant when he heard Dovewing and Ivypool's strained conversation.
He was heading, unstoppable, toward where his brother was speaking nonchalantly with Morningkit, when he remembered his last real exchange with Fogkit.
Lakekit stirred up quite a bit of dust by halting suddenly, but he ignored as fury made his lip curl. Fogkit had claimed himself to be levelheaded like Ivypool- after seeing her most recently, Lakekit could laugh at that- while Lakekit was apparently "like their father", whatever that meant. As far as Lakekit knew, their father could be a very pleasant, just not present, cat. It could be either a compliment or insult, but the way Fogkit had said it so scathingly, like he was tasting crowfood, it made Lakekit pretty sure he intended it as an insult.
Well, the least I can do is make the jerk apologize! It's been long enough anyway. Lakekit picked up his pace again and was soon enough standing before Morningkit and Fogkit, who trailed off uncertainly as his brother arrived.
"Yes?" the silver tabby kit asked stiffly.
"No," Lakekit said in reply.
Fogkit's brow furrowed. "… What?"
"No, that is not what you should be saying right now. You should be saying you're sorry."
Fogkit's frown deepened, and Morningkit began to edge away awkwardly. "I don't even remember what I did now, but whatever. Sorry."
Normally Lakekit would object: that apology was far from sincere. But talking to his brother about what he heard was more important than being mad at him any longer, so he dipped his head and grunted, "I need to talk to you; it's urgent."
"Should I, er, go?"
Both of them seemed to have forgotten Morningkit was there too. With a sideways glance at Lakekit, Fogkit nodded slowly and murmured apology to her. She shrugged and trotted off, tail erect.
Fogkit flattened his ears as he glowered at Lakekit. "No need to be icy. She and I were having a thorough discussion about-"
"- some yawnfest, yeah," Lakekit interrupted. "Look, I overheard our mother and Dovewing talking just now. They said some pretty… intriguing things."
"You know what that word means?" demanded his littermate incredulously, but Fogkit listened to Lakekit retell what he remembered the she-cats saying.
"'I know I've made mistakes in the past, but I doubt this is the worst one'?" Fogkit quoted Ivypool, sounding apprehensive. "What mistakes?"
Lakekit sighed. "Of course they weren't going to list her mistakes right there!"
The silver tabby tom rose to his paws and started to pace a bit. "What did Dovewing say then?"
"She was like 'Whatever you say' and was cold. Then she left."
Fogkit stopped striding and picked at a loose twig on the nursery thoughtfully before meowing, "This probably isn't any of our business. But it is intriguing."
Lakekit stuck out his tongue. "I said that first!" Forcing himself to be more light on his feet despite his misgivings about their mother, he turned and skipped away.
"No, I did!" protested Fogkit after him.
The stressful day was finally easing into night, the ashen sky melting into a deep azure. Squirrelflight sent out the final patrols, and every cat was getting ready to hit the hay when there was a piercing, strangled cry from the heart of the forest.
"Birchfall! Lionblaze! Molefoot!" Squirrelflight was quick to action. "Go find Tigerheart's patrol and see what is the matter. I'm not taking any chances this late at night. Even if they were scared by a falling twig, it's best to check."
Icecloud's sleek white form could be seen through the thick dark air, and Lakekit shuddered a little as the pale queen whimpered in fear for her mate. The tension hung in the air for her family: their kits were due to be made apprentices almost any day now, and it would be terrible if their father was injured or worse during their ceremony.
Some cats, however, weren't as worried about the patrol in trouble.
"Maybe it's better this way," Berrynose muttered scornfully to his mate, Poppyfrost, whose tail was whisking back and forth anxiously. "Squirrelflight should not have put him as head of a patrol," he went on, meaning Tigerheart.
Personally, Lakekit had taken a liking to Tigerheart. Even after a few moons of being in ThunderClan, the dark tabby didn't quite fit in still. But it was clear he was trying his hardest to fully transition from ShadowClan to the Clan his mate and kits were born into. Lakekit honestly thought Berrynose was daft to be criticizing Tigerheart. Tigerheart had full-blood roots: his father was born into ShadowClan, and his mother was actually from ThunderClan, the daughter of pure-blooded parents Tigerstar and Goldenflower. Meanwhile, Berrynose was a former horseplace-dweller.
Bramblestar finished where he was sharing tongues with Jayfeather and stood beside Squirrelflight, their gazes on the thorn barrier. "If they don't get back soon, I'm going out with a few more cats," the leader decided.
"Only a few," Squirrelflight determined fiercely. "If whatever is out there is malignant, we're not risking any more lives." She ground the earth below her into a fine powder with her claws. "I should've gone with Birchfall and Lionblaze, and not risked Molefoot."
"You made the right decision, our younger warriors need the practice in situations like these," Bramblestar assured his mate, nudging her cheek.
After that, the Clan waited in a somewhat uneasy silence. Bramblestar looked ready to venture out when in burst Birchfall's patrol, as well as Tigerheart's, everyone thankfully in one piece. There was a faint tang of blood, however.
Icecloud threw herself onto Tigerheart, licking him roughly. "Oh! You're hurt!" she gasped, leaping back and sniffing her mate.
"Ah, it's nothing. The most I lost were some hairs," Tigerheart retorted, stepping forward with his cats, Lilyfern, Amberear, and Toadstep. He dipped his head to Bramblestar and said, "W- we ran into an enormous group of foxes." He noticed Briarlight was approaching them, searching out for minor wounds. "You might want to give something to calm down Amberear," he suggested to her. "It was her who shrieked, very surprised by the sheer number of 'em."
Briarlight nodded and dragged herself back to the medicine den, mumbling "thyme, poppy seed…"
"Foxes?" Bramblestar sounded almost relieved. "That's all? You fought them off?"
Tigerheart lowered his head, and before he could speak, Lilyfern met his shoulder and mewed, "Um, no. There were far too many for under ten cats to take on. They've taken over close to half of our territory."
Lakekit felt a lurch in his belly. Half their territory? That meant half the prey than usual coming in now, right? He had only been weaned a moon ago, and was just starting to like the taste of mouse.
Bramblestar groaned, clearly trying to contain himself at this outrageous news. "What a great start to greenleaf." His glittering amber eyes scanned the cats who had faced the foxes, and asked all of them, "Which side of our territory?"
Molefoot piped up, "From the WindClan border, along that whole stream, to a few, uhm, fox-lengths outside of the training hollow."
The dark brown tabby leader took a deep breath and swerved to address the whole Clan. "If the foxes aren't ready to pick a fight with us yet, then we will sleep tonight. Tomorrow morning, I will discuss with my senior warriors what to do to take as prompt action as possible."
Uh-oh! FoxClan is here!
