It was strange. She had never seen this place before. It was dark and she could only make out forms. The little kit rose to her paws, finally tumbling over in shock. She had no strength in her legs. She squeaked, hoping for someone to find her in the dark. Movement beside her made her look up with a horrified squeak. Blinking down at her were two golden eyes. The little kit couldn't put words to her thoughts but at that moment, the eyes were cold and heartless. A voice, sickeningly calm and cool moved around her.
"So you've opened your eyes." The little kit couldn't respond. She couldn't move. She was pinned down by the cold golden eyes. Then suddenly voices were swarming around her.
The pale golden she-kit with faint brown spots on her belly shot up in horror. A noise almost like a scream escaped her muzzle. She blinked, looking around her. Three kits sat in front of her, their large, beading eyes almost as frightening as the ones she had seen in her dream.
"She's awake!" One of the kits, a tortoiseshell with white rimming her large light green eyes gasped with awe. Next to her was a golden tom with big blue eyes. He excitedly pushed aside the tortoiseshell.
"Brightkit!" He squealed. His voice was just as high-pitched as the tortoiseshell's. It made the pale golden kit wince. "Riverfoot told me what her name is! It's Brightkit!" The tortoiseshell shoved the golden tom kit forcefully. She was much larger than him and easily knocked him aside. He cried out in surprise as he tumbled into a form that was lying beside the pale golden she-kit. The form moved and a head appeared. It was a large light brown she-cat with darker brown stripes. She turned to the golden tom kit, frowning down at him.
"Thunderkit, what are you doing?"
Thunderkit, the golden tom kit, mewed in apology. "I'm sorry Treepelt. It's Spottedkit's fault! She pushed me into you!"
"Liar!" Spottedkit, the tortoiseshell, hissed. But then she brightened up, bouncing from paw to paw. "But Treepelt look! Brightkit's opened her eyes!" Treepelt, the light brown tabby, turned her gaze down to the pale golden she-kit. Brightkit, which was apparently her name, gasped in horror as she recognized the golden eyes from her dream. The voice was the same however it was filled with warmth.
"So you've opened your eyes." Brightkit blinked with surprise. She had been horrified. She shivered slightly, still a little scared.
"Are you cold?" Brightkit looked up into blue eyes. The last of the three kits, a light brown tabby tom with darker brown flecks, blinked down at her. His eyes were cool, not wide and excited like those of Thunderkit. Brightkit mewed in reply. He seemed to know what she wanted to say for he nodded once, his expression happy.
"That's good." Thunderkit appeared suddenly, bowling over the light brown tom kit.
"Scratchkit!" He exclaimed with warmth. "Let's play outside!" Scratchkit, the brown tom kit, shoved Thunderkit off, looking at Brightkit.
"Can she come?" He asked, directing his question to Treepelt. Treepelt sighed. She looked down at Brightkit.
"Would you like to go play with them?" She asked. Brightkit didn't know why she had felt so scared of this cat before. She was warm and smelled like milk. Brightkit nodded excitedly, getting shakily to her paws. In her dream, Brightkit had fallen over and had not been able to move. Brightkit determinedly took a step.
"Look! Look! She's walking!" Spottedkit cried with excitement. Her sudden outburst startled Brightkit and the young she-kit lost her balance, flopping to the ground. "Oh…sorry." Spottedkit looked down sheepishly.
Brightkit mewed sadly in reply. Thunderkit looked down at her, grinning. "Come on Brightkit! You can do it!" He encouraged. Brightkit looked up at him and nodded. She slowly got back on her paws, shaking slightly before she took another step, then another and another.
"Look! She's doing it!" Spottedkit said, a little quieter. Brightkit mewed in happiness, quickening her pace until she was able to run easily on her paws. The three kits cheered as Brightkit ran around the Nursery. She moved in and around two other forms in the Nursery. One was a tortoiseshell like Spottedkit and the other a light gray she-cat. They both moved as they heard movement around them. The tortoiseshell had pretty green eyes and she purred as she watched Brightkit race about. The light gray she-cat with darker gray flecks also had green eyes. They were trained on Brightkit as she moved in and around her.
"Slow down." She warned.
"She'll be fine, Riverfoot." Treepelt called to the light gray she-cat. "Let her play a little." Brightkit mewed in reply excitedly, passing around the tortoiseshell she-cat when she tripped, flopping over and smacking into another cat. Brightkit cried out in pain as the cat she ran into cried out as well.
"See, Treepelt, I told you she should have slowed down!" Riverfoot cried, glaring at Treepelt. Treepelt only shrugged.
"Ouch!" Brightkit blinked, staring into a pair of yellow eyes. The kit looked surprised. It was a tabby she-kit with ginger fur and white paws and a white tipped tail. "You're the new kit?" She asked. Brightkit nodded happily. The ginger she-kit looked away from her gaze. Brightkit tilted her head in confusion.
"Are you okay, Mosskit?" The tortoiseshell asked, licking the top of the ginger she-kit's head. Mosskit moved away from her mother's touch, sauntering behind her and staring at Brightkit with nervous eyes. "It's alright." The tortoiseshell soothed.
"Mosskit!" Spottedkit leapt for the ginger she-kit, tackling her. "You met Brightkit!"
Mosskit looked at Brightkit, her eyes downcast when they met Brightkit's. "Yeah."
"Isn't she interesting?! She reminds me of Chillkit!" Spottedkit squeaked happily. The tortoiseshell flinched. Riverfoot padded over to the tortoiseshell's side, drawing her tail over her shoulders.
"It's alright, Rabbitfur." She murmured. Rabbitfur nodded, sagging into Riverfoot.
"It's just too soon." Rabbitfur replied. Spottedkit noticed Rabbitfur's distress and padded over to her.
"What's wrong, Momma?" She asked. Rabbitfur blinked and purred, rubbing her muzzle against Spottedkit's cheek.
"Nothing my little one."
"Can we go outside and play now?" Thunderkit asked. He had his paw on Scratchkit's side. Scratchkit huffed at him, pushing him away.
"Yeah!" Spottedkit perked up in an instant. She turned to Mosskit. "You come too, Mosskit!" The ginger she-kit nodded, shuffling passed Brightkit as she followed after Spottedkit and Thunderkit. Scratchkit padded over to Brightkit.
"Follow us." He said. Brightkit eagerly followed them outside of the Nursery. Brightkit looked around in awe at the atmosphere around her. The outside was filled with bustling activity. Cats went to and fro from the dens that lined the rock walls of the camp. Trees loomed around them and Brightkit looked up at them.
"This is the camp entrance." Scratchkit explained. He pointed with his tail to the clearing where Thunderkit, Spottedkit and Mosskit were playing. "We usually play here." Scratchkit led the way to the center where the three other kits were mock battling.
"Feel my teeth, Whispersun" Thunderkit growled, launching for Spottedkit. Spottedkit dodged, laughing.
"You can't beat me! As leader of LeopardHerd I will always defeat Flamesun of LionHerd!"
Mosskit appeared behind Spottedkit, pushing her down. "Isn't that my line as Risesun of TigerHerd?" They tussled together.
Scratchkit sighed. "Well that leaves Windsun of PantherHerd. He's the only leader left." Scratchkit nudged Brightkit. "You can be him if you want." Brightkit, confused, nodded and went to tackle Mosskit. The ginger tabby turned around in surprise to leap for her but froze. Brightkit jumped and pinned her down, mewing with excitement.
"Wow!" Thunderkit exclaimed, coming suddenly over with Spottedkit and Scratchkit. "I didn't notice before but Brightkit you're really big!" Brightkit blinked as Mosskit pushed her off. Brightkit noticed suddenly that she was, in fact, larger than both Spottedkit and Mosskit, who were the biggest of the four.
"Not fair!" Spottedkit growled. "How'd you grow so fast?!" Brightkit tilted her head in confusion as a cat padded over to them. The cat was far larger than all five of them. It was a silver tabby she-cat with blue eyes. In her jaws was a strange object.
"Prey!" Spottedkit squealed suddenly at the she-cat's approach. "Is that for us, Mistypaw?!"
The silver she-cat purred, shaking her head as she dropped the "prey" onto the ground. "Sorry Spottedkit but it's for your mothers. Are they in the Nursery?"
Spottedkit nodded as Mistypaw turned to Brightkit, blinking at her before she purred. "Well she's finally awake! Brightkit, right?" Brightkit nodded happily. She turned to eye the "prey" that lay at Mistypaw's paws. Mistypaw noticed and she purred.
"This is what we call a mouse. It's fresh kill. We big warriors eat it to get bigger."
"Speaking of warriors, what about you Mistypaw?" Scratchkit asked. Mistypaw puffed out her chest proudly.
"I passed my final assessment today. Flamesun said my warrior ceremony will be scheduled for tomorrow morning!"
"That's great news!" Thunderkit bounced happily from side to side.
"Mistypaw! Have you given the prey to the queens yet?" A voice called to them from behind Mistypaw. A golden yellow she-cat was standing impatiently beside the fresh kill pile.
"Sorry Lightpelt, I'm going now!" Mistypaw turned back to the kits. She dipped her head to them. "Sorry guys, I gotta go before I get into anymore trouble." Mistypaw hurried off into the Nursery with her mouse.
A gray tom with white streaks by his green eyes padded from one of the dens Scratchkit had pointed out to Brightkit. He noticed the kits and padded over to them. At the sight of the tom Scratchkit and Thunderkit blinked excitedly.
"Father!" They cried, racing over to him. The tom chuckled as the two kits leapt for him.
"Scratchkit and Thunderkit, are you showing these she-kits around?" He laughed. "You remember what I told you right?"
"The tom guides the she-cat and protects her, always and forever!" They both chorused. From beside Brightkit Spottedkit scoffed.
The gray tom nodded. "That's my boys. Now, where's your mother?"
"Riverfoot's still in the Nursery." Thunderkit said.
"We'll show you to her." Scratchkit added. Scratchkit and Thunderkit eagerly led the way to the Nursery with the gray tom following after them. Spottedkit whispered close to Brightkit.
"That's Skullhawk, he's Scratchkit and Thunderkit's father. If you haven't guessed already, those two are brothers." Then Spottedkit drew Mosskit towards her with her tail. The ginger tabby unwillingly was pulled so their pelts pressed against each others. "Like Mosskit and I! We are sisters! We had a brother named Chillkit but he isn't around anymore." Spottedkit looked down sadly. "He doesn't want to play with us anymore so he had to go far away. Momma told me that he now plays in the sky. Up there!" Spottedkit pointed with her tail to the sky. Brightkit directed her gaze towards the bright shining light in the sky. She mewed in confusion, narrowing her eyes against the light's strong gaze.
"That's the sun." Mosskit told Brightkit, having noticed Brightkit's confusion. "And Spottedkit's wrong, Rabbitfur told us that Chillkit lives in the sun's rays now, looking down on us." She looked up at the sky, her yellow eyes mirroring the brightness of the sun. Brightkit instinctively moved so she pressed against Mosskit. Mosskit flinched against her, staring down at Brightkit and noticing the young pale golden she-kit's sleepy gaze. Brightkit mewed an apology to Mosskit who smiled, purring.
"It's okay. I'm not sad." She let the young kit stay beside her.
Spottedkit pouted. "I wanna snuggle too." She pushed herself against Brightkit's other side so that all three kits were close together. Their breath mingled together under the sun.
"We'll be the best of friends, won't we?" Spottedkit whispered. Brightkit cried out happily in response.
Mosskit hesitated only slightly before she replied. "Yeah." She said softly.
Page Break
Brightkit sneezed, opening her eyes. Darkness swirled around her and for a heartbeat; she thought she was drowning in her dreams again. Something fell on her head and Brightkit looked up, something soft and brown slipped down her nose. What is this? She thought. Bright light shone down at her but it was so far up. Brightkit cried out, hoping for someone to hear her. Help! Someone! Spottedkit! Mosskit! Please! Momma!
Laughter erupted from above her and a pair of amber eyes stared down at her. A brown tabby tom with tan spots on his belly grinned down at Brightkit. "You're awake! Good. This is my welcoming gift." He laughed again as Brightkit stared up at him with wide eyes. Then a loud voice shot out from nowhere.
"OWLPAW! WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Brightkit recognized Spottedkit's voice as the tortoiseshell she-kit leapt for the brown tom. He cried out in horror as she tackled him. Brightkit couldn't see what was going on but she could hear the brown tom's screams.
"Ah! Get off of me Spottedkit! You know it's a tradition—Ow! Ow! Ow! My ear! My ear! That's my ear! No wait wait wait I'm leaving! I'm leaving! I'm LEAVING!" Brightkit heard scuffling noises before she figured the brown tom had raced away. Spottedkit's face peered down at her from above.
"Brightkit are you okay?!"
Brightkit shook her head.
"Ok, I can't reach you so I'll get Momma!" Spottedkit turned and raced off. Brightkit felt alone once more, sitting in the dirt when she heard a noise above her. Brightkit squeaked in terror as Mosskit peered down at her.
"Sorry…" She mumbled. "I was just wondering why there was a big hole here. I almost tripped into it. I'm guessing Owlpaw has something to do with this." Brightkit nodded and Mosskit chuckled. "Owlpaw did the same to our brother Chillkit. Spottedkit chased him off last time too." Mosskit was about to say more when Brightkit recognized Rabbitfur's voice as the tortoiseshell queen gasped in horror.
"Brightkit! Oh dear! I'll get you out, don't worry." Then Brightkit felt teeth meet in her scruff and she was lifted out of the hole. Brightkit met Mosskit's cool yellow gaze, Spottedkit's annoyed light green gaze and Rabbitfur's worried gaze.
"Brightkit, oh my, did you fall into there?" Brightkit was about to reply when Treepelt padded from the Nursery. She looked around for a moment, completely calm, before she turned her eyes on Brightkit.
"Oh there you are Brightkit. I was wondering where you were." Rabbitfur looked taken aback.
"Treepelt, Brightkit was in this hole! Were you unaware of this?"
Treepelt looked at the hole coolly before she met Rabbitfur's gaze and shrugged. "No I wasn't. She's just looking for trouble isn't she?" Rabbitfur said nothing as Brightkit's eyes trailed to Mosskit and Spottedkit. Spottedkit looked confused while Mosskit caught Brightkit's eye before she averted her gaze, looking down at her paws quietly.
"Let's go back inside…" Rabbitfur whispered to Brightkit and her own kits. She drew her tail around Brightkit as she led them into the Nursery. Treepelt followed slowly after them. Brightkit sat down in her own nest, curling her tail over her tiny paws. Treepelt sat down next to her, grooming herself. Thunderkit and Scratchkit padded over to Brightkit, their eyes wide.
"Owlpaw put you into the hole didn't he?" Scratchkit asked, looking down at Brightkit. Brightkit nodded. Thunderkit sat down next to Brightkit and Scratchkit next to him.
"He did the same thing to Scratchkit too." Thunderkit purred. Scratchkit glared at Thunderkit as Thunderkit explained. "He calls it his tradition. He does it to one kit of each litter. Usually it happens to be the younger sibling."
"In Brightkit's case it could only be her since she doesn't have any siblings." Scratchkit pointed out and Thunderkit nodded.
"Who knows why he started the tradition. He's always been an annoying fur ball." Thunderkit growled, rolling his eyes. Scratchkit and Thunderkit both pressed against Brightkit, sharing their warmth.
"At least you seem ok." Scratchkit whispered.
Thunderkit chuckled, "After Riverfoot saved Scratchkit from the hole he couldn't move for a whole day." Scratchkit glowered at his brother while Brightkit squeaked happily.
The sound of approaching paw steps alerted them to the approach of a cat. A tortoiseshell tom with amber eyes padded into the den. Brightkit looked up in surprise as Scratchkit and Thunderkit scrambled to their paws, pleased.
"Thistlerain!" They squeaked in unison. The tortoiseshell tom looked down at the two kits, his eyes twinkled mischievously.
"Well there are my nephews! Where's your mother? I have something to speak to her about." Scratchkit and Thunderkit raced over to Thistlerain, jumping up and down in front of him. Brightkit watched with amazement as the tortoiseshell tom gently ruffled their fur with his paw. Brightkit felt happiness radiating from Scratchkit and Thunderkit as well as an aura of playfulness from the larger tom. He blinked, noticing Brightkit and he smiled.
"Why if it isn't Treepelt's daughter, Shinekit, you've opened your eyes." He purred, padding over and ruffling Brightkit's fur as well. Brightkit squeaked at his rough touch but it also felt somewhat gentle.
"Actually Thistlerain, her name is Brightkit." Riverfoot purred, padding over from her nest. She touched her nose to his ear. "What brings you here?"
He laughed, returning the compassionate touch with a lick to her cheek. "Nothing much, sister, just thought I'd pop in." He sat down and looked at the kits admiringly. "I remember when Runningstream and Leaffall were just little kits, running about the Nursery."
Riverfoot purred, pressing close to his side with amusement. "Oh yes, and now they are big strong warriors."
"And I'm ever so proud." Thistlerain joked. Thunderkit and Scratchkit loped over to Brightkit's side.
"That's Thistlerain. Riverfoot is his younger sister." Scratchkit explained. "This makes him our uncle! He likes to visit us a lot. He's such a cool cat!"
Thunderkit nodded with excitement. "Yeah! He's really funny!" Brightkit watched the larger tom with excitement. She wondered if Treepelt had any siblings who would visit her.
At that moment a dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes padded into the Nursery. His cool demeanor made Brightkit looked up at him with wide eyes. Who is that?! Thunderkit and Scratchkit beside her exchanged a quick glance. Brightkit nudged them.
"His name is Eaglehawk." Thunderkit said, stepping back a bit. "He can tell you who he is." Thunderkit chuckled to himself and Scratchkit smiled as the two slipped away. Brightkit squeaked for them not to go when the amber eyes of the brown tom met Brightkit's yellow ones. Brightkit blinked as his eyes immediately softened.
"Brightkit, you have opened your eyes." He whispered in a soft voice. He padded over to her side and Brightkit caught his scent. It was warm and smelled like pine trees. Brightkit immediately recognized it and her heart fluttered. She had smelled that scent on her own fur countless times before. Even when she had opened her eyes the air had permeated it.
Eaglehawk purred as Brightkit looked up at him curiously. "You have the brightest eyes I have ever seen." He purred, sitting down in front of her and lowering his head. He licked the top of her head and Brightkit felt the familiar rasp of his tongue on her ears. She remembered him, vaguely, but she remembered him. She squeaked and Eaglehawk looked at her in confusion for his eyes brimmed with utter warmth and he purred.
"I am your father." He whispered, as if he knew exactly what she had been thinking. Brightkit blinked, remembering Skullhawk, who had visited Thunderkit and Scratchkit the day before. They had said he was their father.
This is my father… Brightkit couldn't suppress the purr that rose in the back of her throat as she pressed against her father, wrapping herself in his embrace and the smell of the pine needles that enveloped her every night.
Every odd chapter (including the Prologue) was written by me and every even chapter (including the Epilogue) was written by Spottedpath.
The first few chapters are a little slow but the plot really starts up in Chapter 5. We introduce a lot of characters during the span of the first four chapters.
Chapter 2 will deal with Brightkit's ability to speak, (finally). While writing Chapter 1, I had a hard time remembering Brightkit can't speak yet. It really sucked xD Thank god that's over.
Spottedpath will greet you in the next chapter. See you guys again when I post Chapter 3. :)
-Mosspool (Everlastingpassion13)