May
"Thistleberry, Thornkit bit my tail again!"
"I did not! You just bit yourself just so you could blame me, minnow-brain. And stop calling something other than my name!"
"And why would I ever do any of that?" The young brown tabby kit stuck his pink tongue out at his brother.
"Because you're mean. Duh," replied a dark brown tabby tom. The kit's dark fur was ragged and patchy, as if he ran through a patch of thistles backwards. Despite the number of times his mother gave his pelt a fierce licking, it would still turn out ruffled in the end.
"Mother should've called you Pricklekit or Needlekit," Barkkit sneered. "Or how about Hedgehogkit or Porcupinekit instead? You resemble more of that sort of animal instead of a crackle. What is a crackle anyway?"
"Shut up!" Cracklekit hissed, his patchy fur sticking up in some places as he fluffed his thick pelt. It wasn't his fault that he could never be properly groomed. The elders always insisted that Cracklekit never had to clean himself because his pelt never looked like he cleaned it in the first place! However, when he told that to his brother he'd always say that cats could tell that he didn't wash because of the pungent order.
"Thistleberry!" Barkkit wailed. "Cracklekit's being mean again!"
"Great StarClan, what's gotten into you Cracklekit?" their mother, Thistleberry, insisted with a sigh as she padded over to her eldest son. Barkkit purred as his mother gently licked her son's neck fur. Like Cracklekit, Thistleberry's thick pale gray pelt was spiky as his, but not as extreme. Her pelt could be smoothed down by long strokes and could stay that way for a few hours before re-spiking.
"I've done nothing wrong!" Cracklekit objected. He padded forward towards his mother and reached out a paw to touch her flank. He longed for the closeness that she shared with Barkkit.
Thistleberry whisked his paw away with her fluffy tail from her flank. "Why don't you go play with Sedgeflight's kits?"
Cracklekit made a face. "Because they're she-cats! I don't want to play with she-cats."
"And I don't want to play with kits with rocks for brains!" Barkkit hissed.
"Enough you two!" Thistleberry hissed. Cracklekit could tell that his mother was wearing down on her limited patience. "Why don't you two go explore the camp?"
Barkkit immediately forgot his latest argument with his younger brother. "Really? We're finally allowed to go outside the nursery?"
Thistleberry nodded and Cracklekit wondered if she just wanted to get rid of their endless bickering for a few heartbeats. "As long as you two stay together, and I don't want to hear any arguing? I can hear everything from in here." She gently nosed her two kits forward out of the den. "Great StarClan, why did you have to curse me with two rambunctious kits?" Cracklekit was about to question her but she already shoved the two brother out of the den before he could ask.
"Whoa…" Barkkit breathed and he and Cracklekit finally agreed on something: the camp was huge! It was much larger than the nursery, for sure, but Cracklekit could never have pictured it to be this large! The camp was surrounded by large trees and Cracklekit's gaze traveled to a large pile of rocks.
"Come on, let's go climb those rocks!" Cracklekit suggested as he bounded towards the gray stones. The stones felt smooth to the touch, as if several cats had climbed these very stones for many seasons. "Last one to the top is a pile of badger dung!" Cracklekit jeered as he scrambled further up the rocks. The sound of scratching claws from behind the young kit affirmed Cracklekit that his brother wouldn't turn down a challenge. Cracklekit hurried to make it to the top, each jump higher than the first. He heard a commotion down below, but he pushed it to back of his mind. The only thing that mattered right now was beating Barkkit.
With one final leap, Cracklekit stood on the apex of the rocks. "I did it! I did it!"
"Great, now be careful not to fall, Tumblekit," Barkkit sneered as he gently shoved his brother forward. "Oopsies!"
"Stop it, Barkkit," Cracklekit hissed as he scraped his claws against the stone. He ignored his brother's smirk and gazed out onto the camp. What a view it was! He could see as far as the camp entrance, of reeds. He saw a gray and white cat disappear beneath a tree and wondered where he was off to. I've got to check that out later, Cracklekit promised himself. Several cats were pouring out of a large den woven of reeds and brambles dotted with large leaves. They stared in awe at the two kits on top of the rocks, but no cat dared to say anything. Cracklekit puffed out his chest; he imagined that he was a Clan leader addressing the Clan. This would be a perfect place to play Clan leader from.
As he continued surveying the camp, he spotted Treekit and Hawkkit, recognized by their brown pelts, playing by the stream that ran in the middle of the camp. Treekit laughed as she splashed her sister with water and Hawkkit retaliated by splashing her back with a squeal. Cracklekit spotted Duckface and Cloudsky snoozing by a log not far from where the kits were playing. Cloudsky let out a hiss as one of the kits accidentally splashed her white pelt with water and mumbled something under her breath.
"Hey, Barkkit, let's go—" Cracklekit was about to suggest when a large shadow towered over them. The two kits slowly turned around and saw a tortoiseshell and white she-cat glaring at them with unamused eyes.
"What do you two think you are doing?" the she-cat slightly growled.
"Playing," Barkkit replied nonchalantly.
"Playing, huh?" the she-cat mused. "Well, I understand that this is your first time out of the nursery, so I'll let you two off with a warning." She swished her tail to point out the rocks they were standing on. "You are standing on top of Stonecleft, the place where Clan leaders address the Clan."
"Then why are you up here?" Cracklekit objected. He didn't like to be told that he was wrong. How was he supposed to know that this was Stonecleft? His mother never told him anything!
The she-cat flicked her ear. "I'm Turtlestar, leader of WaterfallClan."
"Oh," Cracklekit replied, glancing down at his paws.
Turtlestar didn't say anything and simple ushered the two kits down the rocks. "Next time, ask before you climb something," she muttered.
"Like we need permission to climb anything," Barkkit mumbled to Cracklekit.
Treekit and Hawkkit met the two younger kits at the bottom of the rocks. "You two must be really stupid to climb Stonecleft without permission. Every cat knows that," Hawkkit snorted.
"Just because you're a whole moon older than us doesn't mean you know everything," Cracklekit snarled.
"Well, do you want a tour of the camp?" Treekit offered. "That way you can know everything and not get into trouble again."
"Sure," Barkkit agreed before Cracklekit could object.
The two she-cats led the two toms towards the large den woven by reeds and brambles. A black and white tom was sunning himself outside the den and he lifted his head when the four kits padded towards him. "Ah, Cracklekit and Barkkit, that was quite a show you put off up there," the tom purred. "I've never seen Turtlestar so ticked off!"
"Hey, how do you know our names?" Barkkit asked. He fluffed up his brown tabby fur. "Have you been spying on us?"
"His name is Perchfall," Treekit explained. "He's a warrior and most warriors are aware of what goes on in the Clan."
"That's right," the black and white warrior purred. "You two were born nearly a quarter-moon ago. I recall how worried your father was during the birth."
"Was it that bad?" Cracklekit asked.
Perchfall gently raked his tail against Cracklekit's shoulder. "Nothing your mother couldn't handle. She's a tough warrior."
"Let's go see the medicine cat's den next!" Treekit chirped and bounced lightly on the tips of her paws. "Skippool will want to see you two."
"Who's Skippool?" Cracklekit asked Treekit as she led the other kits towards a large tree with a dip right in front of it.
"Skippool is the medicine cat," the cheerful Treekit explained. "Oh, well, he's our medicine cat apprentice, but everyone's expecting Lakesplash to retire soon."
"Why is that?"
Cracklekit's question was never answered because as soon as they reached the dip, a mottled ginger and brown tom appeared from the hole. His rheumy blue eyes gazed over the four kits until his eyes rested over Cracklekit. The young tom felt his blood turn into ice as the tom bore his teeth into a snarl.
"You!" he spat, lowering his head to make eye contact with the young kit. His breath smelled rancid and Cracklekit forced himself not to flinch away. "Stay away from WaterfallClan! You will destroy us all!"
The tom had gathered quite a crowd around him. Several of their Clanmates crowded around the five cats, whispering among themselves.
"Why would I destroy WaterfallClan?" Cracklekit asked.
The tom didn't answer his question. "Destruction will come upon the Clans in the moons to come if you are to stay in here. Secrets will be generated, lies will be constructed, with death to sweep us all away as our homes are destroyed. Warriors will be slaughtered, kits will be swept away from their mother's flank, and leaders will fall in a fire of StarClan's wrath!" The tom was so close now to Cracklekit's nose that he could see every piece of fur on his graying muzzle and examine his yellow rotting teeth.
"Lakesplash, leave those kits alone!" a gray and white tom demanded as he emerged from the cavern beneath the tree. "You should be resting, not scaring kits."
"You are a fool to ignore the signs from StarClan, Skippool," Lakesplash hissed as the tom ushered him back into the den with a paw. "How can you not see the destruction that lies behind his eyes?"
"Go back to sleep, Lakesplash," Skippool muttered as his mentor disappeared into the den. "Sorry about Lakesplash's behavior," he meowed as he turned towards the kits. "I hope he didn't scare you too much. He sometimes says things like that."
"No, we're fine," Barkkit answered for them. "That old tom didn't scare me."
"Then you are a brave little tom, Barkkit," Skippool purred. "And what about you Cracklekit?"
"Pft. I wasn't scared of him!" Cracklekit boasted, but he would never admit that he got a little frightened.
"That's a relief," Skippool replied. "Why don't you kits go enjoy the end of new-leaf before it goes away? We won't have nice weather like this for a long time."
"We will!" Hawkkit chirped. She then tackled her sister and the two littermates went rolling away towards the stream.
"Want to play?" Cracklekit offered.
"No, I'm going back to Thistleberry, Pricklekit" Barkkit taunted before dashing away towards the nursery. Cracklekit watched him leave, longing for the same kind of relationship Treekit had with her sister. He couldn't help but muse over the old medicine cat's words; was he really going to destroy the Clans?