" . . well that happened" Ryestalk said, peering down at the camp below. Beside her, Swiftbreeze spluttered uselessly for a moment, aghast at her friends blaise words.
"That's all you've got to say?!" She cried, tail lashing. "They let a Kittypet into Windclan. A Kittypet."
"Yes, thank you for reminding me."
"The prophecy- the prophecy's changed!"
Ryestalk nodded, amber eyes wide "I know . Isn't that neat?"
"Neat?" Swiftbreeze shrieked "neat?! He's subverting a prophecy-destiny- and you think it's neat?!"
She shrugged, tail neatly folded over her paws "fire will still save the clan" she reminded her "it'll just-" she peered down at the kit "have a little help."
"Fire alone will save the clan" Swiftbreeze reminded her. "Alone" she emphasized. "It's changed. He-" unlike her friend, she glared down at the kit, "is not supposed to be here. And now he's changing things. Ruining things."
"He hasn't ruined anything" Ryestalk said sharply "we just have to remove the 'alone' part of the prophecy and then we're all good."
"Besides" she continued, seeing Swiftbreeze's eyes narrow "it's not the first time a prophecy has changed-it's happened loads of times before."
"But this is one of the big ones" She whispered back, ears pinned to her head "if this goes wrong, the consequences will be-" she shuddered, twitching at the thought, and Ryestalk twined their tails together without any other thought.
"My son" she whispered "is going to be killed. And fire is the one who shows the tiger's true stripes. If-if that Kittypet" her voice trembled with the force of the word "prevents it, or even hinders it- I swear to us, I will flay him alive."
Ryestalk sighed, leaning down to touch Redtail's mother's ear. "It'll be fine" she vowed "you'll see."
Swiftbreeze trembled.
"You boy" Hawkheart grunted, making his way over to where Smokekit was sitting. "I was told you may have some injuries I need to look at."
Smokekit looked up at the brown and grey tom for a moment, before wordlessly rising to his paws and trotting after him.
"Try not to traumatise this one will you?" Onewhisker chirped as he too bounded off.
Barkface, who was reclining outside the Medicine Den, looked up when they passed "'you boy''?" He echoed, ignoring Hawkhearts growl as he followed them inside "Starclan, you are old."
The older tom let out a harsh breath, before carefully prodding Smokekit with one of his claws. "You have a couple of scratches I see" he said gruffly "get into a fight?"
Barkface, who had been reaching towards the cobwebs, turned sharply in the direction of Smokekit, frowning. Why would a kit have wounds? Much less a Kittypet?
"Something like that" Smokekit muttered, tail lashing and kicking up sand.
"Well, they're not infected-small mercies and all that- but we will have to dress them."
Smokekit followed his line of sight, curious, then visibly balked when he saw Barkface making his way over. "Are those cobwebs?" He asked, sounding horrified.
Hawkheart nodded, nonchalant "they're the best for preventing infections" he explained.
"But what if there's spiders in them?!" The kit shrieked, muzzle scrunching in disgust.
"I hate to tell you, but if spiders can get you down, then you do not belong here. Besides, the last time Barkface brought back spider-infested cobwebs was when he was seven moons old-"
"-Which you never let me forget" Barkface muttered
"-and he has gotten slightly more cautious about just dragging something possibly infested into camp."
Smokekit bristled, "is that supposed to be a dig at me?"
Hawkheart started unwrapping the webs from the stick they were on "actually, no. But expect a lot of those in your future."
"It'll be okay" Barkface soothed, shooting him a warning look.
"Don't lie to the boy" his mentor snorted "you would think being actual grownups would stop our fellow Clanmates from throwing temper tantrums every time someone so much as steps a paw out of line."
The younger Medicine Cat rolled his eyes, clearly used to these kinds of things, but Smokekit just stared, wide eyed, up at him, as he continued on.
"Shadowclan and Riverclan are somehow the only two sane Clans in this whole forest. We're all too scared off 'upsetting our flawless ancestors' and Thunderclan is too busy sucking the Warrior Code's-"
"-Kit present" Barkface called.
"I'll tell you here and now, boy; Shadowclan and Riverclan may have their own share of issues-Brokenstar can go dive off a cliff for all I care- but they are practical . And Starclan knows we need practical Clans in this forest."
"Please stop selling your anti-Code agenda to the literal kit."
"But I'm right!" Hawkheart protested "we all have a thorn in our paws about half Clan cats, and half rogue cats and half Kittypet cats, while they're over there talking about the merits of outsourcing and preventing inbreeding." He shook his head "Shadowclan and Riverclan cats, I tell ya, they know what they're doing."
"I am pretty sure most of Shadowclan's warriors are half Riverclan and vice-versa" Barkface allowed, before flicking his tail towards Smokekit "but as I said, you shouldn't say these things to a kit on his first day with us."
"It serves as a good distraction" Hawkheart shrugged, slapping more cobwebs onto the wound. "And who knows? It may be useful in the future for him to know that Riverclan are very welcoming to Kittypets- if things get too hard for you " he told Smokekit in mock sympathy.
"Things won't get too hard for me" Smokekit said, flinching slightly as another piece of cobweb was added to his pelt.
"Ha!" Hawkheart barked out a laugh "you say that now." His gaze turned contemplative. "You are the first Kittypet to join Windclan in a very, very long time. Heritage or not? A lot of cats aren't going to be happy about that."
"That's dumb."
"That's life" he corrected. "You want my advice boy? If any of the grown ups start to bug you, keep your head down. Arguing with a Warrior will not garner any respect."
"That explains why Onewhisker and Ashfoot were so weird earlier" Smokekit mumbled, but the two caught it.
Barkface blinked at him "what did you say to get those two mad?" He asked, genuinely curious
Smokekit hesitated, shooting the two a nervous look. Hawkheart rolled his eyes "out with it, boy, we've heard it all at this point."
He dragged a stubby claw through the sand, voice low as he admitted "I asked them why Medicine Cats can't have kits."
Hawkhearts paws paused just above one of his wounds.
"It doesn't make any sense" he tried to explain "the story of why is just so stupid, and could happen to anyone, and I don't get it!"
Hawkheart made a deep rumbling noise . . purring? He looked up to see bright amber eyes shining back at him.
"Dear Starclan" he said "finally. Someone with a modicum of sense." Barkface shook his head, but he didn't look condemning like Ashfoot and Onewhisker, gaze almost warm. "But-yeah, don't say things like that. Not yet at least."
"Wait a couple of moons before you overthrow our entire system" Barkface suggested as he left the den.
"Wouldn't that be something" Hawkheart sighed fondly, before scooching back a little. "Okay, you should be good now. Just- try and keep those on and don't scratch at them and you should be fine."
He actually escorted Smokekit out of the den, little kit trailing behind him like a shadow. Across the clearing, Ashfoot perked up a little at seeing him, rising to her paws and making her way over to him, but stopped when Tallstar cut across her easily.
"Hawkheart" he greeted, dipping his head a little in a show of respect.
(To this day he wasn't sure if that was because he was a Medicine Cat or because he had enough blackmail material on Tallstar to last him a lifetime. Or nine lifetimes.)
"Tallstar" he returned, aware of Smokekit's curious eyes on them "tell me you aren't dying again."
Smokekit blinked, looking as if he was questioning his life choices. Good. He was learning.
"Oh no" Tallstar said nonchalantly "I was actually wondering if I could speak to our newest member?" His tail, which he was named after, flicked towards Smokekit whose fur immediately spiked up. He shot Hawkheart a look of desperation, ears slicked back against his head.
Hawkheart smirked. "Sure, go ahead" he said, using his paw to bodily shove him towards the leader. It was like watching his soul die. Hawkheart felt like an asshole, but he also felt like laughing.
Smokekit shot him a look over his shoulder as he slinked behind the leader, tail twitching nervously. As he did so, Hawkheart couldn't help but notice the way the Clan was staring, wide eyes following the two into his den. The second they disappeared from sight, they broke out in mutterings and mummering's, tails twitching.
His eyes narrowed. What the. .?
Barkface, eyes wide and face slack. "You are not going to believe this!" He chirped, skidding to a halt.