Snowkit watched Sparrow go, only turning after the cream tail disappeared. He thought he felt a tremor of paws on the ground; but he was much too exhausted to care. Only when a tabby cat collapsed at his paws wheezing, did he look up. "Hawk...?" He said, hardly daring to believe it. "I thought Lightning killed you!" "Adder killed Rook, Snowkit, Rook is dead. We managed to escape but..." His lips closed. Snowkit looked down. So their leader is dead. "Valley nearly killed Adder for vengeance, but Adder, Falcon, and Lightning escaped. Their power is broken, but Leaf, Valley and I fled. We will never go back there. Falcon killed Rain when we fled." Hawk's eyes dropped. "Where are Leaf and Valley, then?" Snowkit demanded. "They are behind that bush. Valley is grieving greatly for Rook. They were mates, after all." Snowkit got to his paws. "Maybe I can help."
Valley's head was buried in her paws. Leaf sat beside her, soothing her. "He would want you to move on, Valley. It is okay." Snowkit sat beside her. Valley looked up. "I am sick of this!" she spat angrily. "Having to fight for our territory, and never being able to live peacefully." Her golden eyes were blazing like fire. "I'll even bet this place is owned by another cat!" Snowkit didn't have the heart to tell her about the old loner Sparrow.
He probably does live and hunt here, but I'll bet he can't catch much. He thought, looking at the stony ground dotted with shrubs and weeds. "Valley-" he mewed, "Fighting to survive is a part of our life. It is our nature, our very essence, and Rook knew that. He died fighting for you all. Some cats fight more than others, some cats like to fight, to kill, and spill blood. Some do not fight at all-" "Well, then, I want to be one who doesn't fight!" she hissed. "And the ones that do not fight are soft. They live with Twolegs. They are not free, free will for them is nonexistent." He said firmly. "And that is not what you want, deep down inside."
The three former Freecats looked at him in awe. "You may be deaf and young, but you are wise." Leaf meowed. "You must have been sent by the Sky-cats." "Sky-cats?" he mewed. "Yes. They are our lost ones. They live in the clouds after they leave this earth. Rook will be there now." At the mention of her mate, Valley whimpered. "I do not know these Sky-cats, but I know of StarClan." He offered.
Their ears pricked. "StarClan?" Hawk asked curiously, tail twitching.
"Yes, StarClan. They are where Clan cats go after they die." Leaf's amber eyes gleamed. "What is a... what do you say? A Clan?" Snowkit stared at her in awe. "Why, you do not know?" He mewed in disbelief. "A Clan is... why, it is amazing. There are four Clans, excluding StarClan. Cats live all together, similar to what you had, but there is a firm system and it is much larger. A leader is a powerful cat with nine lives. He has a deputy, which will take over after the leader dies nine times. If the deputy dies first, the leader must choose a new deputy." He sighed. "I know most of it. When kits are six moons old, as I would have been, they are apprenticed to learn to fight and hunt." Snowkit saw Valley mouth something under her breath, it looked like she scoffed, fight. He moved on.
"Then, after the apprentices have learned all the skills they need, they are made warriors. They get a name. Like, if I was Snowpaw, I might become, say, Snowpelt or something. Then there are queens, they nurse kits. Once your kits are apprenticed, you can go back to being a warrior. Once you are too old to fight anymore, you become an elder. Also, we have a medicine cat. She doesn't fight, doesn't mate, and doesn't have kits."
"Well, young 'un, that's some fancy stuff there." Snowkit felt the rumble of a cat's voice. "Sparrow." He meowed. Sparrow padded in front of him. Hawk stood up, claws out. "Who are you?" He snarled. Snowkit got to his paws. "It's okay, Hawk! This is Sparrow. He's a loner... right?" Sparrow nodded. "And I got me some company. Bell, come out. They won' eatcha." A rustle sounded in the bushes. A small blue tabby with yellow eyes shyly padded out. A collar hung on her neck, and a brown bell dangled off of it, jingling as she padded over daintily.
"Hello. I am Bell." She mewed softly. Leaf stared at her in disgust. "She's a pet!" She growled. Bell looked at Leaf. "Excuse me!" she hissed, surprising Snowkit greatly. "But for your information, I never wanted to be either! My humans abandoned me!" Snowkit laid his tail on Bell. "It's alright. We won't hurt you, will we?" He aimed the last part at Leaf, glaring. She grumbled. "Fine. Bu she should take that revolting thing off." She eyed the collar. Snowkit purred. Quite an unlikely party. An old loner, a kittypet, three rogues, and a deaf Clan cat. He looked at the sky. StarClan, what are you planning?