Prologue
Lightning split the air. Sleekwhisker flattened her ears, lashing her tail. What prey in their right mind would be outside in this storm? she thought. Yarrowpaw sniffed the air, swiveling his head around. Yarrowpaw, like all apprentices in the beginning, was determined to be the best. Sleekwhisker recalled the small apprentice's ceremony, five days ago.
" We should split up. We may have a chance of catching something if we do. " Risingdusk, the deputy declared.
" Why do we have to hunt in this weather? No sane-"
" Not everyone wants to starve Leafpaw! " Yarrowpaw snapped shaking his paws. The deputy muttered something under her breath and walked away, ears perked. Sleekwhisker hesitated before picking a direction.
" Come on. Let's see if we can find and prey out here. " Sleekwhisker said, watching Whiteapple lead Leafpaw away. Yarrowpaw huffed. Sleekwhisker walked forward, heading towards the hollow where rabbits usually hung out.
" How can we find prey if there's no way to smell it? " her apprentice complained.
" Using your ears. Maybe be quiet and complain less. " she replied evenly flicking her ears as more lightning split the sky.
" Did you hear that? " Yarrowpaw whispered. Sleekwhisker stopped in confusion.
" No, " she said. " Maybe-"
" There it is again!" Yarrowpaw said, changing direction slightly and then promptly fell. Sleekwhisker sighed, squinting.
" Another tree gone. " she noted, walking over to Yarrowpaw. Yarrowpaw scrambled to his paws, sniffing the tree.
" Fox! " Yarrowpaw growled backing away. Sleekwhisker padded forward sniffing the newly fallen tree. She wrinkled her nose. Yarrowpaw leaped onto the tree, and slid down to the other side. A few heartbeats later he hissed.
" One's alive! " she heard him say.
" What? " Sleekwhisker said, confusion etched onto her face. She leaped over the tree and turned, staring at her apprentice.
" The rest are dead. Let's kill this one baby fox before it becomes a-"
" What? No! " Sleekwhisker snapped. Yarrowpaw turned around and stared at her.
" But foxes are dangerous creatures! " Yarrowpaw said, confusion clear in his voice. " We should kill it while we can! "
" Do you have no heart? I'm not going to kill a kit! We could just as easily let it live- " Sleetwhisker started. A loud whimper. Sleekwhisker lightly moved her apprentice out of the way and stuck her head into the space between the tree and the ground, managing to grab the kit. She slowly moved her head out, holding the whimper fox kit.
" Why should-" Yarrowpaw started, widening his eyes.
" The leader can decide. " she stated, her voice muffled by the fur of the kit. It wiggled and whimpered.
" It looks about 3 moons old. " Yarrowpaw said, tapping his paw against the ground.
Sleekwhisker gave her apprentice a glance, He was studying the kit, his whiskers twitching.
" We should head back to camp. I don't know how long they've been out here. They may need a medicine cat. " she said around the kit, shaking her fur.
The rain has started to clear up. Yarrowpaw looked at his mentor, fur fluffing.
" What will-"
" We'll find out. Now, let's go." She cut Yarrowpaw off, heading towards camp.
Swiftstar studied the kit, his fur still fluffed up.
" Where are it's parents. Why would-"
" They're dead. A fallen tree killed them. " Sleekwhisker said, watching the leader. A look flashed across his face as he watched them.
" Twistedbranch said she'd be fine with taking in another kit. " She added, twitching her ears.
" Does she know that they're a fox? Do you know how the clan will react? There are multiple questions that they'll have. Do we even know how old they are? " Swiftstar questioned, fur fluffing.
Sleekwhisker hesitated. She chose her next words carefully. " The code says to never neglect a kit in danger. They're still young. We can't just leave them to die. Even if the clan reacts badly, it'd be wrong to leave them out in the forest to die. They're no more than 2 moons old. " she said, shifting her gaze to the small kit.
" Even if I'm the closest thing they have for a friend. I won't let them stay alone. " She added, watching her leader. He let out a sigh.
" If anything bad happens, such as them attacking us, they're gone. " He said after a bit of silence. Sleekwhisker looked back in surprise. I didn't think it'd be that easy. Oh thank StarClan he saw sense! She thought, giving her leader a grateful look.
She went to pick up the kit, only to be stopped by the leader. " They'll need a name. " He said, his voice low. Sleekwhisker paused, meeting her leaders' eyes. Her mind started running through a list of names. Blazekit maybe. Or even Sunkit. Cherry kit might work. Frondkit? Her train of thought was cut off by Swiftstar's voice.
" From now on, they shall be known as Foxkit. "