"Littlekit!"
Echostar's ears pricked with alarm when he heard Birdsong cry out her son's name. Scrambling out of his den, he slithered down the tree and scanned the camp until he saw the blue-gray queen outside of the warriors den. Why would she be looking for him in there? He thought as he walked closer.
As if to answer his question, Gingerfur came padding out, her eyes glittering with amusement towards the small bundle she held in her mouth. "Here he is," she purred when she had set him down.
"What in StarClan's name were you doing in there?" Birdsong scolded. "You nearly scared me to death!"
"I wanted to sleep with Tallwhisker," Littlekit squeaked indignantly. "Mousekit and Willowkit keep picking on me!"
Birdsong tilted her head to one side. "I haven't heard them say a word about you."
At this point, Tallwhisker had come out of the den, staring at Littlekit. Echostar noticed that his eyes were filled with both curiosity and uneasiness.
"That's because they don't say things! They do things." He protested.
"What do they do?" Tallwhisker asked.
"They trip me and then tell Birdsong that I fell! Then when we're playing they're too rough on me and say I fell on a rock when I squeal."
"Then why don't you tell us?" Birdsong murmured.
Littlekit lashed his tail. "Because I shouldn't have to! If you weren't blind, then you would notice these things!"
Echostar blinked in shock as Birdsong flinched and Tallwhisker hissed his son's name. The tiny kit paid no attention as he walked away towards Forestgaze's den.
"I'm sure he didn't mean those things," Echostar tried to comfort the young queen.
"He's probably just frustrated," Gingerfur, who had been watching silently, agreed.
"He's right," Birdsong fretted. "I would have been able to put a stop to it! If only I weren't blind!"
"Stop overreacting." All the cats turned to see Speckledpelt padding over. "All that kit needs is an attitude adjustment. Besides," her gaze locked onto Tallwhisker, "seeing on how much time he spends with the kits, their father should have noticed."
Tallwhisker merely looked away.
"This is the first time that they've had kits," Echostar mewed. "Stop judging them so harshly."
"And you would know a thing or two about judging someone harshly wouldn't you?"
Echostar whipped his head around to see Blacktail glaring at him from the entrance of the warriors den. Making sure that he would remain calm, the leader replied, "Blacktail, that was moons ago."
"And yet, cats still remember it." Louder, he added, "Does any cat here truly believe that Amberstorm intentionally killed Mistpelt?"
Echostar lifted his chin, expecting his Clan mates to leap to his defense, but instead, Gingerfur and Tallwhisker exchanged glances and Birdsong turned away, while Speckledpelt looked at Blacktail expectantly.
Feeling slightly disconcerted, he muttered, "Well, my decision about her has already been made and there's no changing it. Besides, she's dead, so what would it matter?"
When he met Blacktail's green eyes, Echostar immediately knew that he had said the wrong thing.
-
Amberstorm let out a sigh as she was led though the Twolegplace by a talkative Jasper. He had offered to give her a tour of the Twolegplace to get her mind off of Lilly. So far it had worked, but she was slightly uneasy being around so many Twolegs and their yapping dogs.
Suddenly, Jasper stopped in front of an old oak tree. "This is where I caught my first squirrel," he explained proudly.
Amberstorm tilted her head to one side. "I thought your Twolegs fed you."
He shrugged. "They do, but sometimes I get hungry while exploring. I don't go out much often anymore, though. Ever since Borace got altered, he's been too lazy to come with, you see."
The tabby nudged his shoulder affectionately. "It does feel better when you have a friend with you, doesn't it?"
He purred. "Yeah."
Amberstorm suddenly felt a pang of regret. She would be leaving possibly two of her greatest friends tomorrow. Lilly had always watched her back while Jasper…well, Jasper just felt special to her. She laughed at herself. To think me of all cats would become best friends with a loner and a kittypet.
Jasper sighed. "I'm going to miss you, Amberstorm."
She looked down. "I'll miss you too, but I need to do this."
"Fine, go ahead and leave me like that," she looked up to see amusement glowing in his eyes.
Thinking fast, she smiled. "Well, maybe I was going to ask you to come with!"
"Well maybe I was going to ask to go with!"
"Fine!"
"Fine!"
The two stared at each other for a moment before breaking into a fit of laughter. As she calmed down, Amberstorm realized that she hadn't felt this free-spirited since she was a kit.
"Amberstorm?" Jasper looked uneasy as they padded back to his den. "You don't think Bramblestar will hurt me, do you?"
She purred. "I know he seems a bit prickly, but he won't eat you."
"I'm serious!"
"And so am I." she paused to look at him. "He won't hurt you; not while I'm around."
He merely replied by coming close to her and twining his tail with hers. While he did this, the tabby warrior felt as if her paws were weightless and her heart seemed to skip a beat.
Was she falling in love with the kittypet?
-
"Hawkfrost!" Tigerstar screeched as he sat by a small pool in the heart of StarClan's old territory. Beside him was Brokenstar, who looked faintly amused by the tabby's anger.
Finally, the former RiverClan warrior appeared. "Yes, Tigerstar?"
Tigerstar whipped around to look into the pool, which showed the image of Bramblestar and Squirrelflight, perched on top of a Twoleg fence.
"What is the meaning of this?" he snarled. "I thought you had said that your patrol had taken care of Bramblestar! Now him and that blasted she-cat have found Amberstorm."
"I thought that we had been rid of him," Hawkfrost stammered.
"Well clearly, you thought wrong!"
"Would you like me to take care of them?"
Tigerstar shook his head and stood up. "No, clearly if I want something done right, I'll have to do it myself. I'll deal with them. And I know just the cat to help me."