Echostep: Hey guys! Here's your second chapter to Alive, But Barely Breathing (A,BBB). Read and Review please! :)
Three suns (days) later, the Clan's new home was ready for them to live in. There were dens for each rank: a leader's den, a medicine cat's den, a warrior's den, an apprentice's den, a nursery, and an elder's den.
Angel had slept for many hours when they were finished with the cave. Ginger had told everyone that she was just resting from the exhaustion, again, and she needed piece. Sky and Whisper made a moss curtain that draped over the entrance to the leader' den, to act as a privacy keeper.
"Let's all rest in our dens, now. Angel will call us together when she wakes up." Sky nodded to his Clan. Echo was lying on the cave's entrance floor, grooming his paws. He had gained the ability to walk and to talk over the suns. Petal, Sweet, and Spot had also learned them too, so all three of them communicated together.
"Echo," Petal trotted over to him. "Can you help me move my nest in the nursery?"
"Sure," Echo got up and walked flank-to-flank with Petal to the nursery. All four of the kits had become best friends. Supposedly, they had a lot in common. Echo walked into the nursery and saw Rain lying on her side with Ocean next to her.
"What's wrong?" Petal mewed to her mother.
"Oh, Petal," Rain purred. "I'm having kits!"
"Again?" Petal sighed. "Do you know how many?"
"Ginger said that I'm going to have one." Rain groomed her stomach. "She said it's likely that it's going to be a tom."
"A little brother?" Petal perked up. "Does Sweet know?"
"No, not yet. Why don't you go tell her?" Ocean purred, making unison with his mate. Petal exchanged glances with Echo, not wanting to leave him to do her work.
"It's alright," Echo mewed. "Go tell your sister. But wait, which nest is it?"
"It's the one in the far corner," Petal pointed her tail at a lush, green nest. "Can you move it towards the entrance of the nursery? I've been having bad dreams lately."
"Oh," Echo sighed. "Okay. I hope the dreams go away soon."
"Me too." Petal smiled and bounced out of the nursery. Echo grabbed her nest, which was embroidered with small branches and yellow and pink flowers, and he dragged it to the front of the nursery den.
"Oh, Echo, you're such a nice tom," Rain purred. "You help everyone!"
"Not really…" Echo blushed. "I just like to help." After he finished, the padded outside to watch Sky make patrols.
"Alright," Sky searched the group of cats. "Oak, take Snow, Night, Ice, and Whisper on a hunting patrol. I'll go with Ocean and Honey on a border patrol." He scanned the crowd of cats and didn't see either one of the two he announced.
"Ocean is in the nursery with Rain." Echo mewed. He made complete eye-contact with Sky. Sky nodded and walked towards the nursery. "Where's Honey?"
"She's in the medicine den." Echo pointed his tail towards the den. "I think she's sick."
"Oh," Sky sighed. He poked his head in the nursery and told Ocean to come out on the patrol. He heard Ocean sigh and lick his mate goodbye. Ocean trotted out and nodded to Sky. "I don't think this is enough for a patrol."
"I can go!" Echo beamed. "I really want to get out of this cave. Can we go to the pond?"
"Sure," Sky purred. The patrol walked outside of the cave. The sun was sparkling beautifully off of the waterfall and the pond. Lily pads wafted in the pond and orange and white fish swam inside of it peacefully. "You see those fish down there? They're sacred fish. Ginger and Angel told us not to touch them. Ginger says that they resemble our peace."
Ocean rolled his eyes and Echo purred in amusement. They moved on. They marked the trees that surrounded the territory. Birds sang in the trees and the temperature was perfect for some sunning.
"Want to sun for a bit?" Ocean prodded Echo with his tail. "I know a great spot." Echo nodded and followed Ocean. He led Echo up a small rocky path and a flat stone was at the top of it. It over looked the whole territory, the top of the waterfall. The flat rock was already occupied by Oak and his patrol, who were sunning on it.
"Hey, I thought you were hunting!" Ocean purred.
"Yeah, we did," Oak pointed his tail to the cave. "We just dropped it off when you were out checking the borders. And great spot for sunning, Ocean."
Ocean sighed and looked at Echo, "They followed me here. And now it's not so private anymore." Echo purred and smiled. He trotted over to his sister and lay next to her. Whisper started grooming him, making him feel more comforted.
"CLAN MEETING!"
The exclamation made everyone jump. They all rushed down the path and into the cave. Angel's white fur was all over the place, from tossing and turning in her nest. Her yellow eyes were crazy with information, and her ears were perked up, tail swaying with amazement.
"I have news!" Angel announced. "I just had another amazing dream. The cats that told me before about the Clan idea have told me another fact. Clan cats have special names."
"You're making us change our names?" Mist glared. "I like my name just how it is, thank you very much."
"Hear her out, Mist." Sky meowed.
"Thank you, Sky. The starry cats told me about the names. They are two words that fit next to each other. The ranks decide on your second word. A kit is then known as, for example, Echokit. An apprentice is known has, for example, Sweetpaw. When you move up in rank, your name changes. We don't have any apprentices yet, but the starry cats will tell me when you are ready to move on from apprentice to warrior. When you become a warrior, your second name is totally anonymous. The starry cats will also tell me your name at your warrior ceremony. Oh! And… and leaders. Their last name is "star", because they are linked to the starry cats. Medicine cats, unfortunately, do not have special names. Their second word is anonymous, but medicine cats must earn their own name. The leader gives you your name if you are a warrior/apprentice/kit."
"Wow!" Snow meowed. "Let's do it! It sounds really cool!"
Everycat meowed in unison. Even Mist.
New Names:
Angel: Angelsong, Sky: Skyfall, Ginger: Gingerleaf, Oak: Oakfall, Snow: Snowcloud, Ocean: Oceanmist, Night: Nighttears, Whisper: Whisperheart, Ice: Icenose, Petal: Petalkit, Sweet: Sweetkit, Spot: Spottedkit, Echo: Echokit, Rain: Rainflower, Honey: Honeypelt, Mist: Mistsong.
Echokit had taken a liking to herbs. He started hanging out with Gingerleaf a lot lately and new most of the herb names. Gingerleaf had taught him a lot about the sacred fish, too. She told him that they were the cats who have died for their clan. She pointed to the black and white fish and said, "That one is Cloud, your mother."
Echokit had visited the pond every day after that, speaking to Cloud the fish. He would talk to the fish at moonhigh (midnight) when he was supposed to be asleep. The rest of the Clan was snoozing in the cave, so no one would hear him creep out at night.
One night, when the starry night sky was completely cloudless, Spottedkit had come outside for some fresh air. She stumbled upon Echokit talking to the fish.
"And today I caught my first mouse. It was tricky, and it almost got away, but Whisperheart directed it back to me again. It tasted real good, too. I wish you could have seen it." Echokit sighed. Spottedkit padded over to him and rested her tail on his shoulder. He jumped at least a couple foxlenghts in the air.
"Sorry!" Spottedkit purred. "What are you doing?"
"Oh. I'm talking to my mom." Echokit looked at the pond. "Gingerleaf told me that the black and white fish is my mother, so I've been talking to her about my days."
Spottedkit looked at him funny but a pang of sympathy hit her. "I'm sorry she passed away, Echokit." She licked him between the ears, a sign of compassion. "I bet she is really happy where she is right now, and I bet she loves listening about your day."
"Thanks." Echokit lowered his eyes and lay down on the rocks surrounding the pond. "I wonder who the orange and white fish is. Gingerleaf told me that the fish here were the cats that have died for this Clan."
"You know, I heard Mistsong talking to Snowcloud about a fiery tom. He said that the tom was the fiercest tom that traveled with us. He died from saving our group in the night; a badger had almost taken Honeypelt and he saved her from it."
"He sounds really cool," Echokit smiled. He cocked his head. "I wonder if we will learn more about him."
Echostep: Who is this mysterious fiery tom that Mistsong had talked about? I guess we'll find out in the next chapter!
Review please! Send me any suggestions and tell me if you want to add a character in!