"Wake up, my little Blue Jay." A sweet voice mewed. The gray tom opened his eyes, glancing around. His gaze caught on the silver she-cat beside him.
"How come you didn't wake up Little Creek?" He asked. The young tom stretched.
"I was just about to." The queen mewed. She prodded the she-cat gently. "You too. We must keep traveling. Those foxes might come back, and I don't think I can hide you a second time." She mewed.
"But I am still tired!" The larger kit mewed.
"Why do you have to act like a kit? We are almost eight moons now Little Creek!" Blue Jay hissed, pouncing playfully on the she-cat.
"Both of you, calm down. I want to show you how to fish today."
"Yes, Falling Snow." The kits mewed in unison, bowing their heads in respect to their mother. She flicked her tail and led the way into the forest. It wasn't far before they reached a stream, marking the edge of the burnt territory. Something about the territory called to Blue Jay, but he couldn't put his paw on it. He decided it was best to ignore it.
After the lesson, Blue Jay remained standing in the forest. He could barely scent something on the breeze, which puzzled him. He had noticed the scent on one of the kittypets in the new twoleg homes just beyond the den where his family slept.
"Can we visit the kittypets?" He asked. Falling Snow seemed uncertain.
"Why? Not thinking about becoming one are you?" She mewed. Blue Jay shook his head.
"Blue Jay has a girlfriend." Little Creek teased, shaking her wet back paws. Blue Jay hissed.
"I do not!" He pinned her down. "I want to talk to someone." He added.
"Yeah. That Cinder cat. Your girlfriend." Little Creek's tail lashed playfully as she teased her brother. Blue Jay hissed and whirled off her in anger.
"Alright. We will go to visit the kittypets." Falling Snow mewed, purring in amusement. Blue Jay puffed out his chest and lashed his tail in accomplishment. Now, he could ask Foxfoot what the strange scent was. The tom was known by twolegs as Red, but he preferred to go by Foxfoot. Blue Jay didn't know why a cat would want such a weird name. He understood his wasn't much better, but many cats around had the same type of name. Blue Jay followed his mother and sister towards the tall twoleg nests.
"Go where you like, but meet back at the den before dark." Falling Snow mewed. Both young cats nodded and watched their mother leave and leap one of the fences, which they knew belonged to an old friend of hers.
"Blue Jay!" Blue Jay held back a growl at the sweet, familiar voice. Little creek gave a grin and an "I told you so" look before bounding away.
"Hey Cinder." Blue Jay mewed. He allowed the she-cat to meet him before padding along the tall red-stone wall between them and the twoleg nests. He jumped up on the wall when he reached the familiar spot with the bramble bush in front.
"What are you doing?" Cinder asked, joining him.
"Foxfoot!" He called. It wasn't long before a ginger tom made his way out of the nest, mumbling something abut stupid twolegs.
"Morning young ones. What would you like?" he rasped. The tom was slightly young, only a few moons older then their own mother, but when the burnt forest had been destroyed in a fire, he had been injured. A whole leg was missing, his whiskers singed to almost nothing, and his voice remained a rasp. Even his eyes had been affected, now blind from the mix of bright flames and heavy smoke.
"I have a question about the burnt forest." Blue Jay mewed, jumping down to meet him. Interest sparked in Cinder's eyes and she too jumped down to meet Foxfoot.
"What about it?" The ginger kittypet stretched and sat down with his fox-like tail curled around his paws.
"There is a strange scent there, something I have only scented on you before. It is completely different from the moor and hills, which hold the same scent. When you reach the stream, it appears. It is so faint. It seems like whatever held the scent has been gone for moons." The gray tom explained with a sigh. Foxfoot purred.
"You have a good nose, young Blue Jay. You remind me a lot of a cat from when I was young. You see, the area around the lake used to be home to four Clans, RiverClan, ShadowClan, WindClan, and my own Clan, ThunderClan. Each had its own scent to distinguish it and the territory. Here in the hills and moor, WindClan made their home. They ran fast, and were skilled at catching rabbit. Near the horseplace, RiverClan lived. They were excellent swimmers and preferred fish to most else. Way out on the other side of the lake, in the pine forest, ShadowClan stayed. It seemed like one of their cats was always lurking in the shadows. They hunted well in that kind of territory. Now, as for ThunderClan, we lived in the burnt forest. We hunted and moved well in the thick undergrowth." Foxfoot explained, his blind eyes looking dreamy.
"Why did they leave?" Cinder asked.
"It started when the fire came. The twolegs in the campsites that used to be there started a fire they never put out. It spread quickly. Before we even knew it was there, it was at our camp. Queens struggled to save their kits, warriors tried to guide the elders and panicking apprentices out. I remember how one she-cat was engulfed as she tried to lead our blind medicine cat, her brother, out. We all moved quickly, but very few, me and maybe another one or two young kits, made it out." Foxfoot sighed. Blue Jay tried not to show it, but his head began to burn and throb, and his vision kept flickering back and forth between real and blackness.
"Who were the other cats that made it out? What happened to them?" Cinder asked.
"We did the only thing we could do. I carried the two kits, a pair of she-cats, here. They needed someone to take care of them. The other clans were already in a state of panic. There was supposed to be four Clans. Without one, the balance was destroyed." The tom laid down. "Do you know Panther and Ginger?" He asked. Cinder nodded.
"They live next to me." She mewed. Foxfoot nodded. Blue Jay could no longer hear the conversation. Everything went dark. With a bright light, it all changed. He was standing in what seemed to him like a large rock hole in the ground. All around him, fire raged. Yowls of fear and pain erupted from all around him.
"Hurry Jayfeather! You will die if we don't get out!" He turned to see a black she-cat with her tail over his shoulders. He noticed three young cats run out of the entrance. He tried to gasp, but couldn't, and could only watch as he and the she-cat were engulfed by flames. His vision cleared so he was standing once again in the twoleg garden, sitting near Cinder with Foxfoot in front. Two she-cats had appeared on the fence. Foxfoot and Cinder seemed so into the conversation, they didn't notice.
"What were the Clans like? You mentioned warriors, a medicine cat, apprentices and kits. What do those mean?" Cinder asked.
"You are forgetting elders, leaders, queens and deputies. Kits, of course, are kits. Queens are their mothers, or she-cat expecting kits. When a kit reaches six moons, not much younger then yourselves, they would become an apprentice, and receive a mentor. That mentor would teach them how to hunt and fight, and where each Clan border was. When an apprentice finished their training, they would have a special ceremony to make them a warrior. Warriors would hunt for their clan and patrol borders to make sure everything was correct. They would only fight when needed. Occasionally, a kit decides to take a different path, or a disability causes them to be unable to be a warrior. Those cats become medicine cats. They use herbs to heal sick cats, and interpret signs from StarClan. There is only one medicine cat and one apprentice for each clan." Foxfoot explained.
"Are you telling them about the clans?" Foxfoot perked up and focused his eyes on the two she-cats. The black she-cat, who looked a lot like the cat in Blue Jay's vision, purred in amusement and jumped down, followed by her sister.
"Of course. They were wondering what ThunderClan scent was." He replied.
"You two were ThunderClan too, right?" Cinder mewed. Panther and Ginger nodded.
"Foxfoot here saved us. If it weren't for him, we would be dead like our mother." Panther mewed.
"You look exactly like her." Foxfoot sighed, almost to himself.
"Did you know Foxfoot was our father?" Ginger asked. Blue Jay and Cinder shook their heads. Foxfoot nodded.
"Their mother, my mate was the one that got killed helping her brother. I wanted to save her, but she wouldn't leave without Jayfeather." He mewed dreamily.
"I'm sorry. I wish I would have been there to help." Cinder mewed.