Any one want to guess what Bronzekit's secret is? Also, thanks Orythea and Eilatan1011, for the nice reviews!
Chapter 4
"You know tonight's a Gathering," Crystal-Eyes told them that night outside the nursery. They had both decided not to mention Bronzekit's secret to her. Not that Orangekit knew what it was.
"Well, I'm going," Crystal-Eyes continued. "Both of you take care of each other, alright? And pay attention to Henfeather. I don't want to hear any complaints when I come back."
Crystal-Eyes bent down and licked them both on the head. Orangekit shook his head, irritated. Bronzekit just stared up at her, not caring if part of his fur was wet and lopsided. He just stared up at his mother, expectantly.
"Oh, I'm going to miss you sooo much!" Crystal-Eyes whispered her eyes pained. Orangekit saw a small a twinge of fear in her eyes too.
CannibalClan won't be happy to see her, Orangekit guessed but said nothing. He didn't want to see their expressions when they found out she was alive but at the same time, he was really curious. They couldn't fight her, that was for sure, but he could imagine them hissing and spitting at her. The thought made his fur bristle. She did nothing wrong! All she did was try to protect her family!
He shook it off. Best not to think forward.
"Crystal-Eyes, come on," Cheetahstar called, then headed for the camp entrance that was a barrier of thick brambles with a hole in the dirt that led to the other side. It made attacks to the camp harder.
"Good-bye kits," Crystal-Eyes purred, flicking her tail over their ears and then she slipped through the camp entrance.
As soon as she was gone, Orangekit realized that this was the first time he was alone without Crystal-Eyes. It felt strange and empty. He instantly missed her.
Bronzekit nudged him reassuringly and stood up, stretching. "Well, I guess all we have to do now is wait for her to come back," he yawned, stretching out his back leg.
An idea popped into Orangekit's mind. "Or follow her."
"What?" Bronzekit said, surprised. "We can't leave! What will Henfeather think? What will she say? We'll be in huge trouble!"
Follow her, a voice urged him. Don't worry. Nothing bad will happen.
"We'll just act like we're going to go to sleep, stack up some moss to make it look like us, and sneek out again," Orangekit said.
"I don't know," Bronzekit muttered uncertainly. "The plan could backfire."
"Come on!" Orangekit urged. "Nothing bad will happen. We can see our first gathering without being apprentices! How many cats can say that?"
Bronzekit seemed to be convinced the minute Orangekit said "see". "All right, let's go!"
Orangekit quickly got up and made his way to Henfeather, trying to look and act tired, but still not over doing it. He didn't want her to get suspicious.
"Henfeather, is it all right if I go to sleep?" he asked sluggishly. "I barely slept last night. I'm really tired."
"Yah and you kept me up with all your fidgeting," Bronzekit said just a sluggish, only with a sort of mad tone. Orangekit could barely tell he was acting.
"All right then," Henfeather mewed. "Don't disturb Snowhare though. She's asleep with her kits."
Orangekit nodded and forcefully kept himself from bolting for the nursery entrance. Slowly, he crawled inside under the bush and the minute he was inside he ran for the nest that he shared with his brother and mother. He carefully began to stack up moss, patting it to take form, until he was pretty sure it would fool any cat. Bronzekit made another form right next to Orangekit's then smiled.
"Come on!" he urged and slowly made his way to the nursery entrance. Orangekit gave his moss form one last pat with his paw then went after his brother.
His brother was already by the entrance his eyes glittering under the shadows of the brambles. Orangekit slowly kept in the shadows, only once and a while being caught by a ray of moonlight. He soundlessly passed Henfeather, who was watching Rainkit and Gentlekit as they played. Finally he reached his brother.
Orangekit nodded his head towards the camp entrance then began to wiggle through the whole. It was damp and when he got to the middle it got dark, but finally he made it to the other side. His brother pushed him all the way through then got out himself.
"I can smell their trail," Bronzekit mewed, and then opened his mouth, letting the scent waft to the top of his mouth. "This way!"
He took off, dodging leafs and jumping over roots.
Orangekit went after him, having a harder time considering his smaller size.
Why do I have to be so small!?, he thought bitterly, then pushed himself to go faster. Suddenly he crashed into Bronzekit, who dug in his claws to keep from tumbling forward.
"Why'd you stop?" Orangekit asked. He couldn't see any cats around.
"Look," Bronzekit mewed, nodding his head towards something in front of him. Orangekit looked and gasped.
In front of them was a large stream.
"I taught streams were small," Orangekit gasped.
"There has to be a way over!" Bronzekit said determined, walking over to it without giving his brother a second glance.
Orangekit began to sniff along it then dipped his paw into it. It wasn't that deep.
Yah, but if we swim across, we'll come home wet and then we'll really get in trouble, he thought and looked on forward.
"Hey! I found something!" Bronzekit suddenly called from upstream and Orangekit quickly walked over to him.
"Look," Bronzekit said. His paw was on a fallen log and it had scrape marks all over it. Bark barely covered it, probably from generations of cats digging their claws into it and climbing over.
"Um, are you sure it's safe?" Orangekit asked nervously. It was wet from the stream splashing it. It was sure to be slippery.
"Yup," Bronzekit said and hopped up, claws digging into it. Orangekit gulped, and then jumped up behind his brother. Bronzekit was already in the middle and was waiting for Orangekit.
Slowly, Orangekit edged forward, bit by bit.
Hurry or you'll miss the Gathering.
Orangekit knew he had to hurry.
He gulped in some air then began to carefully walk across. Bronzekit began to walk forward as soon as he saw Orangekit was doing okay and looked back every once and a while. Finally, he reached the other side and there he waited for Orangekit.
Orangekit met him there and Bronzekit helped him down before jumping down himself.
"Come on," he urged then took off, this time slow enough for Orangekit to keep just beside him.
Orangekit was grateful for that.
. . .
"This is where the scent is ending," Bronzekit panted as his running began to slow, a short time later.
Orangekit slowed, panting as well. He hoped they hadn't missed most of the Gathering. Probably just the beginning.
Bronzekit slowly padded forward, and then gasped as he peered through a gap in some ferns. Orangekit joined him and his eyes widened.
In front of them were many cats. They were in a large clearing that was in front of four bolders. On each bolder sat a cat. Orangekit could clearly see Cheetahstar whose gold eyes were glittering. Next to him was a silver-blue she-cat who held her head up and whose eyes showed that she was proud.
Lakestar, Orangekit named silently, keeping in the shadow next to his brother, who was trembling with excitement. Orangekit knew he was too.
Next to Lakestar, there was a brown tom with scars running along his face and sides. He was missing the very tip of his tail and had only half of each ear. His lip was nicked too.
He had a fierce look in his eyes. It made Orangekit shudder, reminding him of Blacktooth.
Ratstar, Orangekit knew bitterly. The cat that ran his mother out.
Next to Ratstar, there was a feeble looking mountain lion with greyish fur, probably from old age.
Greystar, Orangekit knew. The name fit. Greystar was talking.
"- and I warn that you watch out for the rouge mountain lions," Greystar rumbled in a deep, old voice. It showed great authority. "Also, the deer have veered off towards the MountianClan border. It will provide well for your clan, Cheetahstar."
Deer! Orangekit thought, excited. Deer was sometimes hunted by MountainClan, only because of the fact that their warriors were near the size of mountain lion warriors. But it had to be done in groups and it took a lot of effort.
"Thank you Greystar," Cheetahstar said. "Is that all?"
Greystar nodded.
Orangekit quickly took the time to scan for his mother. He spotted her bronze pelt among the darker colors of brown and black and the lighter colors of silver and white and blue. She stood out so much.
Next to her was a black she-cat.
Orangekit nudged Bronzekit, and then nodded his head towards his mother. "That must be Darkflower next to her," Orangekit informed him.
I wonder if Darkflower has told her anything new about Longkit, Orangekit wondered, thinking about his distant brother. Then he quickly started to pay attention to the Gathering again.
"LakeClan has had plenty of prey this greenleaf," Lakestar was saying. "Sandclaw has also delivered one kit; Jaykit."
The clans murmured their congratulations to the sleek, silver furred LakeClan cats.
"We've had no trouble with the Twolegs who come to walk," she continued. "They have brought dogs though and sometimes they let them off their leashes. They stray far and might come into your territories, so I suggest you be careful. Most of them are too small to be much of a problem, but there is a large one who's Twoleg comes often to the lake. He could be dangerous. That all I have to say."
Cheetahstar nodded. "I'll speak now. Our clan has done very well. There have been some hawks but so far they haven't disturbed the clan. A badger is somewhere in our territory, but were on our guard. There has also been an injured rouge in our territory. She's with us for the moment because of her injuries but will probably leave as soon as she's better."
Some cats began to mumble to each other. Orangekit knew very well that letting a rouge into a clan wasn't good but according to MountainClan rules, they were supposed to help the weak.
If it wasn't for that, we would be dead, Orangekit thought. He was sure they would be dead. A least, him and his brother would be dead.
"Also," Cheetahstar began and Orangekit could see the smallest bit of uncertainty in his eyes. Crystal-Eyes was bristling too.
"We have a new addition to our clan," Cheetahstar continued. "Crystal-Eyes of CannibalClan has us joined along with her two kits Bronzekit and Orangekit."
Gasps rippled through the clans and screeches of outrage rippled through what Orangekit was sure were CannibalClan cats. Crystal-Eyes was spitting back at the cats that were surrounding her, growling at her. Orangekit could hear a few of them spitting, "Traitor!" or "Fox dung!"
He growled himself in outrage. He wanted to claw their ears off!
Orangekit could feel Bronzekit bristling next to him.
Looking up, Orangekit could see Ratstar's eyes widening, then narrowing. Orangekit saw a flash of a weird emotion in Ratstar's eyes that he couldn't quite get.
"Enough!" snarled Cheetahstar and it quickly quieted down. "She has her reasons and we welcome her."
"Is that everything, Cheetahstar?" Ratstar asked calmly. His voice sent a chill down Orangekit's spine.
The young leader nodded slowly, confused.
Orangekit was confused too. How could Ratstar be so calm?
"As you know, there was a fire in our territory," Ratstar began. "And due to this fire we've had some of us have had to do some… sacrifices. But nothing that will truly affect the clan."
Yah, having all of your kits except three eaten isn't bad at all. And the queens wanted to sacrifice their kits for the clan, Orangekit thought sarcastically. Of course it could affect the clan! How could it not?
"Unfortunately, most of our kits are dead, except for my mate's," Ratstar said coolly, not seeming to be bothered. The cats murmured apologies to CannibalClan.
All except for MountainClan.
If only the other clans knew, Orangekit thought sadly. Why hasn't MountainClan mentioned it?
"And that cat you have with you, Cheetahstar, is a traitor!" Ratstar proclaimed and CannibalClan began again, hissing furiously. "And so was her mate! But he's paid for it!"
Ratstar eyes continued to glitter and Orangekit's breath caught in his throat. Bronzekit stiffened. Ratstar couldn't possibly mean…
"He's dead!" snarled Ratstar. CannibalClan seemed to be cheering but they were hissing instead in Crystal-Eyes' direction.
Crystal-Eyes was stiff with shock. Her mouth was open yet no words came out.
Suddenly she let out a wail. No! No, no, noooooo!"
"Let's go," Bronzekit said stiffly and without waiting for a response, he turned.
Orangekit backed away, not being able to remove his eyes from the scene.
Finally, he came to his senses and the reality hit him. His father was dead. He sacrificed himself to save his mates and kits. Even if Orangekit had never knew his father, just hearing about him made him feel so close to him. Know he was dead.
Orangekit's vision blurred and he took off running, past Bronzekit who had been walking at a turtle's pace. As soon as Orangekit passed him, Bronzekit began to run too.
As Orangekit neared the fallen log, he forgot about the danger of slipping. He didn't care he ran across without any trouble and didn't stop to rest or even see if Bronzekit had made it across.
Running felt like the best way to escape the grief.
Finally he slowed as he came to the camp entrance.
Thoughts swept through his head. He didn't deserve death. He didn't do anything wrong! I'm glad I'm in MountainClan! If CannibalClan is really that terrible! That cruel!
Orangekit wanted to keep running. He didn't want to think.
"Running won't make the grief easier," Bronzekit suddenly murmured, coming up to stand next to him. Orangekit hadn't even noticed he had left his brother behind. "We've got to be strong. We can't show grief in front of Crystal-Eyes or she'll know. Just be calm, alright? Everything's going to be fine."
Bronzekit sounded moons older then he really was. Looking up, Orangekit could see an older look in Bronzekit's eyes.
"Come on," Bronzekit insisted and carefully the two of them went through the camp entrance then sneaked into the nursery. Everyone was asleep and hadn't seemed to notice that there were two fake moss piles in their nest instead of two kits.
Silently, Bronzekit and Orangekit crawled in. Bronzekit curled yup right next to Orangekit. Orangekit didn't mind. He liked the comfort of his brother being there. Orangekit didn't realize how tired he was until he lied down. His eyes quickly fluttered then closed.
A few minutes passed when suddenly a low wail came from inside the camp, and there were sounds of paw steps coming into camp.
Orangekit was half-awake so he woke up immediately to the sound. Bronzekit lifted his head too, knowledge of what was happening outside showing in his eyes.
Wolffang stirred but continued to sleep and only Henfeather woke up, looking alarmed. Orangekit quickly put down his head, trying to look deep in sleep. Voleclaw, one of the cats came into the nursery, her eyes pitiful.
"What happened?" Henfeather asked, her voice almost inaudible. Voleclaw shook her head then mouthed, "Sharpclaw is dead."
Understanding immediately seeped into Henfeather's gaze and she turned to stare at Bronzekit and Orangekit. Still looking at both of them, she asked, "How is Crystal-Eyes taking it?"
"Not too well. Leafclaw said it would be best she stay in the medicine den because she's so grief stricken," Voleclaw answered.
"I'll watch over her kits. When do you think she'll tell them? It's not going to be easy for them. Even if they never knew their father, they seemed to look up to him," Henfeather said.
Voleclaw just shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe she'll never tell them. Maybe they'll find out on their own."
With that, Voleclaw slipped out.
Was his mother really that sad?
Orangekit thought this over.
She won't need to be sad. When she's back in the nursery, we'll show her she'll be okay with us.
With that, Orangekit curled into a tighter ball, determination and sadness swirling through him.