Pipertalon stuck his snout through the snow, trying to find anything worth eating while the cats with him were waiting for his results. He got up and turned to the rest of his patrol, shaking his head. They nodded and headed back to camp, tails dragging behind them as if they were extra weight. Pipertalon followed behind them, checking to make sure that none of them fainted from hunger like yesterday's patrol, who had two cats passing out. StarClan called for Berryfur that night but luckily Sootpaw would live to see another day. While remembering the event, the brown tom tripped over something.
"Something wrong?" One of his patrol members called.
"Nothing at all," Pipertalon answered. The patrol shrugged and continued walking. The tom stood up and shook his pelt, and looked down to see what tripped him. There was a pile of snow beside a red-brown tree that was strangely solid. He whisked away the snow, revealing a large black and fawn bundle underneath the snow. Pipertalon licked it the wrong way, making sure that it wasn't anything dangerous. Sure enough, black ears were seen from the brown spot on its neck, then a tail separated from the bundle, making the warrior's fur rise with worry. Who would leave a kit in the snow? Someone might have dropped it off, Pipertalon wondered. He put his paw gently on the kit's neck, hope fluttering inside him. It's still alive! I should bring it back before it freezes. The tom grabbed the kit by the scruff, following his patrol a few fox-lengths bck. His clan must accept it. The warrior code says so. IceClan kits are taught it from the beginning, and follow it with their heart their whole lives. Surely they can't leave a kit out to die. He looked at himself and his skinny frame and thin legs reminded him of how much his clan was starving during this leaf-bare. Right?
Gorseflame circled the camp, black and white fur bristling with impatience. "When is that patrol coming back? They should've come back a while ago," he growled.
"They will come back," a calico meowed behind him. The black and white tom whipped his head around to see his sister.
"Oh, Robinstar!" Gorseflame exclaimed. He dipped his head to his leader, who swiped at his ears gently as if she were a kit.
"Just because I'm leader doesn't mean you have to respect me as if I were Cherrystar." She purred. The leader added a sharper tone to her voice. "But you still have to obey my orders."
"The patrol's back!" An apprentice squealed. All of the cats that weren't so weak from hunger rushed over to see what the patrol brought back. Gorseflame thrust his way through the cats to see if the patrol caught anything. He looked at the cats with disapproving glares until he came upon Pipertalon. He stared at the bundle that was in the warrior's jaws.
"Pipertalon, that doesn't look like prey," Gorseflame observed. "What is it?" The black eared tom gently placed the kit at his paws.
"It's a kit that I found buried in the snow. It's still alive," Pipertalon explained. Collective gasps rose throughout camp. "It has pretty thick fur so I guess that's understandable. I believe we should keep this kit in IceClan." Gorseflame glowered down at the kit, then looked up at Pipertalon. His blue gaze burned into the warrior.
"Nonsense," Gorseflame snarled. "We don't have enough prey to go around already! Do you even know how mousebrained it is to get another kit in IceClan who's going to die overnight anyways? It's just another mouth to feed!"
Pipertalon flattened his ears at his clanmate's words. "But the warrior code says we must save every kit! Even if they aren't from our own clan!" Pipertalon protested.
"The warrior code also says that you must put your clan above all things," Gorseflame retorted. Cats around him nodded their heads. Pipertalon glared at them with ears against his head. Sure, agree with the leader's brother. Yeah, that will surely make you better warriors, Pipertalon thought. Robinstar shoved her way through the cats and stood in between the toms.
"I want you two in my den, now," Robinstar didn't wait for a reply as she walked into her thorn den. Gorseflame stalked behind her while Pipertalon picked up the kit. Gorseflame looked over his shoulder, glaring at the tom.
"Why are you bringing that waste of space in-" Robinstar cuffed her brother over the ear.
"No, Pipertalon. You can bring the kit into my den," Robinstar mewed. Pipertalon trailed after the siblings, the kit dangling from his jaws. Once coming into the den, he realized how much warmer this den was than the warriors' den.
"Now, properly explain why this kit should be a part of IceClan," the calico meowed. Pipertalon opened his mouth to explain but Gorseflame cut him off.
"We can't feed this kit! It was nearly dead when Pipertalon found it so there's no point in keeping it around!" Gorseflame snarled. Robinstar nodded her head slowly as the warrior was speaking. "Besides, Berryfur just died yesterday. This kit will only make us weaker." The brown and black tom flicked his tail tip in anger. Did he really just compare regard Berryfur's death to someone abandoning a kit? Pipertalon couldn't believe the warrior's insensitivity to the event. He was snapped back to reality when Gorseflame's hiss signaled for him to speak. Pipertalon stood up and began his explaination.
"The code says we must save any kit in danger. If we refuse the code, then-" Robinstar lifted her tail to silence the warrior. She rose from her nest and gazed at her warriors, who followed her outside the den. The she-cat clawed her way up the Whitestone. Pipertalon noticed how thin and frail she looked compared to the rest of IceClan. Of course she doesn't want to eat. She has plenty of lives left and we all have only one, the tom thought.
"Clan meeting!" Robinstar's yowl rang throughout camp. Cats rose tiredly to their paws, walking as if it took every last bit of energy left. "I've heard enough from my warriors about the kit one of my warriors"-she gazed down at Pipertalon, who shivered in fear-"found. Clearly, I've been given enough reason that this kit will not be a part of IceClan." Pipertalon sighed in defeat. Gorseflame could always win his sister over with whatever he said. She added briskly, "Pipertalon."
"Yes, Robinstar?" He meowed sullenly.
"Since you found the kit, I'll give you the pleasure of returning it back where you found it," the she-cat meowed. Although, it sounded more like an order to the warrior. He stared at the kit then back at his leader. This cat, willing to put an innocent soul to die just because a sibling said so? I won't have it, Pipertalon thought.
"I guess I'll be leaving with the kit then," Pipertalon meowed.
Gorseflame snorted with contempt. "You? Leave the clan just because we can't accept a kit?"
"Well," Pipertalon began. "If you choose to deny the code and this kit, then you might as well be denying StarClan. Besides, a kit is just as valued as a warrior. If a kit is just another mouth to feed, then so is a warrior. I don't see my place here anymore if no one can respect our code like I do."
"Pipertalon. If you leave, you know that you are not allowed to come back," Robinstar warned. "Are you sure about your decision?" Gorseflame stared at his leader in disbelief.
"It's clear he wants to go!" Gorseflame snarled, looking at the tom in hate. "Why even give him a second chance?" Robinstar nodded her brother's remark.
"Never mind, take the kit with you and leave! You are never to return to IceClan! If our patrols find you or the kit, we won't hesitate to kill either of you," the calico yowled. Pipertalon looked at his clan a final time, before picking up the kit, and running off into the snowy lands. Gorseflame looked after the two, a smirk across his face. The clan began to disperse among themselves, giving each other bewildered looks. We had to help the clan. It was the only thing to do, Gorseflame thought grimly. Even if we had to lose a warrior too.