Sweetkit's POV
I licked my mom's shoulder gently. She winced every time I ran my rough tongue over the cut on her shoulder. She refused to tell me where she had gotten the scars that littered her body, but I suspected it was to do with the cat that stood outside our den. I stopped licking for a second and looked at the wound. It had obviously been inflicted by someone's claws because there were no brambles in the den.
I sighed. I often wished that I could see the brambles that mom blamed her scratches on. And with the brambles came the sky. The older cats in the den sometimes talked about how blue it was, and how warm… I shook myself, grabbed some cobwebs and tightly bound the wound. There was no use wishing for something that I had never experienced.
"There you go Minnowtail." I whispered. She purred softly at me and gave me a big lick on my head. I flinched back as she did so. Great now I had to clean my fur.
I watched as mom turned her attention to my littermates. They were mewling pathetically in the corner. My lip curled up in disgust. They were a useless waste of space. I knew how to bind wounds, clean wounds and I didn't need unnecessary attention or food. I opened my eyes a few hours after I was born. A few weeks later and my precious littermates still hadn't opened theirs.
When mom lay down next to them they instantly quieted and started to suckle. I turned my head around in displeasure. I could feel my mom giving me a pleading look. She had long since given up on making me suckle and I often saw older cats looking at me in discomfort. I guess it was weird for them to see such a skinny, small kit, but they would have to deal with it.
Sometimes I thought about what it would have been like if it was different. If I was born in Riverclan. I probably would have been plump and happy. My eyes would be bright and happy instead of dark and thoughtful. I would probably be just like my littermates suckling. From where I was I could smell the milky scent and the kit part of me just wanted to run over and nuzzle against my littermates. I growled slightly. I was better than that.
Instead I headed over to where Brackenpelt lay. When I approached she flicked an ear. She turned her eyes towards me and I supressed a shiver. It wasn't the colour that creeped me out. It was the three long scratches that ran over both her eyes. None of the older cats told me what had happened but the scratches looked inflicted by a cat, a bit like the ones mom always has. I stayed still as she slowly leant towards me and sniffed me. When she worked out who I was she smiled.
"Ah," she rasped "Sweet, my favourite little visitor." She purred. I blinked at her and smiled back, not that she could see. She pulled me closer with her tail and gave me a small lick on the head, not at all like the big, slobbery, careless ones that mom gives. Her head tilted towards me. "So what do you want to here about today young one." I looked up at her. Without the scratches over her eyes she would have been quite pretty.
"Some of the older cats have been talking about this thing called Starclan." I blinked at Brackenpelt confused. "What's that?" I could feel her tense up. I prodded slightly. "Brackenpelt?" She shook herself.
"Sorry Sweet." She turned her head in the direction of the entrance of the den. "Around here Starclan is a touchy subject. She twitched her whiskers slightly. I growled angrily. Why di everyone think I was too young for everything. I had lived my whole life here! If they wanted me to be innocent they were a bit late.
Brackenpelt touched her nose to mine. "However, I think that there is no use keeping things secret. You're bound to find out soon enough anyway." I looked at her, surprised. I leant up against her coarse fur and closed my eyes.
"Starclan is the clan in the sky." Brackenpelt began. My whiskers twitched. What?! I opened my mouth to question her but then remembered her rule against interruptions. Besides she would know what she was talking about.
"Starclan is thought to be all wise. They know what every cat is thinking, they know the future and the past and they are the most beautiful cats. All worthy warriors who follow the warrior code go to Starclan. There is endless hunting and no leaf-bare and when a cat reaches Starclan all of their ailments are gone. The old are made young, the sick - healthy, the weak – strong.
But then there is the other side. If you do not follow the warrior code, if you kill a cat or are greedy and only care about yourself you are sent to the Dark Forest. There you are always hungry. You are always thirsty. You are always aching. You are always fighting against other cats to survive." Bracken pelts eyes turned misty.
"But Starclan isn't always such a happy place. Kits as young and younger than yourself die. They die before they've had a full life. They can never become warriors or have kits of their own. They live in Starclan until they are forgotten and then they fade." I blinked back tears. I couldn't imagine kits like me dying. That wasn't fair or wise.
"Starclan aren't always wise. They often don't see what is happening right under their noses until it is too late and they come up with a haphazard solution. Luckily the solutions haven't failed until now.
These days it isn't as simple. No-one is sure if Starclan really exists. Even I am starting to doubt myself." I watched as a tear fell from Brackenpelts broken eyes. I started licking Brackenpelts fur soothingly. The den was beginning to turn dark. It was late.
"You must be tired." I whispered. "I'm sure that Starclan is real. I bet their looking down at you now." But even as I said those words I felt doubt fill my heart. Why would an all wise clan not be able to foresee one of the worst disasters to ever befall the clans?
The Prisoners
Riverclan:
Minnowtail – dark gray and white she-cat
Shadenose – dark brown she-cat
Brackenpelt – tortoiseshell she-cat with slashed eyes
Nightflower- dark gray she-cat with blue eyes
Softpaw – cream she-cat with brown eyes
Sweetkit – light gray and brown she-cat with a white tail
Applekit – white long-furred tom
Flowerkit – light gray she-cat
Mosskit – black she-cat with a gray tail
Windclan :
Brindletail – mottled brown she-cat
Emberfoot – gray tom with two dark paws
Heathertail – light brown tabby she-cat with blue eyes
Mudpelt – brown tom with black paws
Snowpaw – white she-cat with blue eyes
Rouges and Kittypets :
Fluffy – gray tom with a black tail
Autumn – gray tabby she-cat with brown eyes
Crow – black tom
Merlin – black tabby tom
Lil' Stripy – gray and brown she-cat
Hope you enjoyed the chapter. I need some cat names for Riverclan, Windclan and Thunderclan. Autumn is the name of my cat and Merlin and Lil' stripy is what I named her littermates. I don't know what they are called now. I think Autumn knows that I'm writing about her because she is looking at me. Until next time.
Muntin