Naw, didn't get any reviews last chapter. It's alright though! I desperately need some OC's. No leaders or deputies, or medicine cats, since I'm trying to keep this as accurate as possible. I won't accept cats called Rubysong, Diamondpaw, Hammerface, ect. Rubies don't sing. Cats don't know what hammers are. Not trying to offend anyone.
Silverkit quietly batted a moss ball. The day had grown dark, sun bleeding into the clouds. Snow reflected the crimson sky.
Featherkit and her siblings had gone to the elders den for stories. Flamekit was nuzzled into the crook of Cloudflight's belly, asleep.
He was alone, racing his shadow in the snow. Silverkit's kit-thin fur didn't do much to stop the howling wind, but he didn't want to go back into the nursery.
The little tom sighed. If he went to sleep, he would probably wake up to being scoffed at by Stormkit and Rainkit. Their mother, Willowfur, was nice enough, but didn't seem bothered to stop her kits' taunting.
Silverkit halfheartedly pushed the ball toward the warrior's den. A ginger paw shot out of the bush, hitting it back toward him. Silverkit gasped in surprise. Amberclaw's eyes glinted mischievously.
"After a long day of hunting, I ought to spend some time with my favorite nephew!" Amberclaw declared, stepping out of the darkness. Silverkit purred.
"I'm your only nephew," He reminded. Something Silverkit couldn't identify flashed in Amberclaw's eyes. Then, as if nothing had happened, he dropped into a crouch.
"Do you know how to do the hunter's crouch yet?"Amberclaw cocked his head. Silverkit looked at him blankly.
"Oh right. What was I thinking. You're only a moon old," Amberclaw shook his head.
The long legged tom padded toward a willow tree at the edge of camp. Silverkit followed him.
"First, put all your weight onto your hind legs," Silverkit awkwardly balanced on his rear paws, clawing the air to keep his balance. Amberclaw let out a mrrow of amusement.
"I never told you to stand on your hind paws, did I? Put your feet down. I bet Cloudflight won't be impressed if I give you back with a sprained paw!" The ginger tom pressed Silverkit's shoulders down, so that his rump was extended in the air.
"Are you teaching my son battle moves, dear brother?"
Silverkit sat up, self-conscious. He stared into the narrowed amber gaze of a muscular dark ginger tom.
He had called him his son.
"Father?' His question was blocked by Amberclaw, who walked up to the tom.
"Naw, it's far too early to be teaching a kit his age battle moves, Redtalon" Amberclaw replied. The broad shouldered tom looked at Silverkit disapprovingly once more, then turned to Amberclaw.
"You're needed on dusk patrol," Redtalon mewed passively.
"Sorry kit. I have to go. Keep practising that crouch," Amberclaw waved his tail as he left.
At that precise moment, a light grey head poked out of the fallen log that was the elder's den.
Featherkit's eyes told him to run.
But it was too late. The she-kit was shoved aside as Stormkit burst out of the elder's den. Following his sister's gaze, he snorted. Rainkit laughed mockingly.
The twosome advanced menacingly on Silverkit. Crouching down, he hoped he didn't look threatening in any way.
"Oh look, the little runt is cowering in terror," Rainkit snarled, moving forward until she was nose to nose with Silverkit. Stormkit snickered.
"I-I'm not afraid of you!" Silverkit insisted. But he had heard his voice waver. Of course, Stormkit would use that to his advantage.
"You sure sound scared," Silverkit could smell Stormkit's rank breath on his face.
"You smell like a badger," Silverkit retorted, feeling a sudden rush of courage.
"Why you little-" Rainkit raised her paw high into the air.
Silverkit squeezed his eyes shut and waited for the blow.
But it never came.
Silverkit cracked his eyes open. Silhouetted against the darkness stood a grey she cat. Cloud-like patches glowed stark white in the darkness. Her eyes were startlingly blue, burning with fury.
"Don't you two have anything better to do then torment kits younger than you? Oh I understand. Your maturity level is that of a newborn mouse. How about I do the same to you brats?" The she-cat looked to be of apprentice age. She cast a shadow that brooded over the two older kittens, but Silverkit could still see kit soft fur erupting from behind her ear.
'A-Aspenpaw," Stormkit sounded absolutely terrified. Rainkit crouched beside him, head lowered, feigning shame. Despite that, the look she shot Silverkit was pure hatred.
Aspenpaw didn't miss it.
"Scram," She growled, jabbing a claw toward the nursery. In his haste to get away, Stormkit tripped over Rainkit's tail, falling flat on his face.
Rainkit looked back in the direction of Aspenpaw and Silverkit.
"Poor little Dirtkit, needs a big ol' apprentice to defend him. Cats won't always be there to protect you," She taunted.
"Get lost," Aspenpaw snarled.
As Rainkit's bushy tail disappeared into the nursery, Silverkit turned to the apprentice.
"Thank you," He breathed.
"That was-"
"Awesome?" Aspenpaw grinned.
"Awesome," Silverkit agreed. Aspenpaw's ear tip twitched. By now, moonlight bathed the camp.
Aspenpaw's fur was stained dark silver by the starlight.
"Don't worry about it," She shrugged, "I've wanted to wipe the smug smile off their furry little faces for a long time now." Aspenpaw looked up toward Silverpelt.
"It's getting late, and I have training tomorrow. Goodnight, Silverkit," Aspenpaw stood up.
Silverkit was disappointed. His head down, the little tom sighed. He would be alone again.
"Hey. Wipe that frown from your face. They'll only pick on you more if you don't look confident" Aspenpaw mewed sternly.
"The elders haven't eaten yet, and their den is empty again. I'm sure they'd appreciate some company and fresh-kill," She added, eyes shining.
Silverkit brightened up.
The elder's den is empty! I bet those badger-breaths didn't even care to bring them some fresh-kill!
Waving goodnight to Aspenpaw, Silverkit padded off in the direction of the fresh-kill pile. He turned his pale blue gaze up. At the very top of the pile, there lay a large magpie.
Great! It's big enough for all the elders to share.
Just to get it down…
Silverkit dropped into a lopsided hunting crouch. He bunched his hindquarters and leapt.
He landed on a stiff rabbit's head. It went flying. Silverkit skittered onto a plump vole, toppled a skinny mouse, and stepped into a thrush's eye before finally reaching the magpie.
Silverkit yowled triumphantly, snatching it in his jaws. The sudden gain of weight made the pile unbalanced. Silverkit barely had time to yelp before the fresh-kill pile collapsed.
Indignant, Silverkit stepped out of the pile of limp bodies. He groaned at the mess he made, hastily scraping the prey into a rough mound. Silverkit looked around, relieved that no one had seen his embarrassing tumble.
Gripping the magpie in his teeth, Silverkit proudly trotted into the fallen tree.
"Who's there," A thin voice grumbled.
"It's Redtalon's lot, I believe."
"Stop pointing out the obvious, Vinetail. He looks identical in stature to him and his brothers when they were his age,"
"Oh, hey there, young warrior. I see you brought prey," An ancient dark grey tom greeted.
"At least you seem to have some manners. Unlike those ungrateful little-"
"Language, Mosspelt!" A tabby tom with one eye reminded the tortoiseshell she-cat.
"I don't need your help restraining my foul mouth, Fogstep," Mosspelt chuckled.
Mosspelt leaned toward Silverkit.
"And what might be your name, dear?" She asked gruffly.
"Silverkit," Silverkit hated how his voice came out as a squeak. He shyly pushed the magpie toward the three elders. Mosspelt lunged towards the bird. At the last second, Fogstep snatched it away, leaving Mosspelt snapping her teeth shut on thin air.
"Let Vinetail divvy it up. It's been too long since we had prey this fresh," Fogstep meowed. Turning to Silverkit, he nodded in thanks.
After the elders were finished, Vinetail turned to Silverkit.
"As payment for the fresh-kill, would you like to hear a story?" Silverkit slowly shook his head.
"Actually, I was wondering whether you can tell me why Moontail dislikes my mother so much," He replied quietly.
Fogstep's eyes darkened.
"Cloudflight was born to two SkyClan cats. Elmheart and Darkwillow, their names were. I believe they were distant kin to Flystar of Skyclan in some way. It was a gruesome battle. I was a warrior at that time. SkyClan and ThunderClan were pitted against each other for a small stretch of land by the RiverClan border."
Fogstep stared at Silverkit for a moment before continuing on.
"Both sides suffered tragedies. The battle waged on for two days and two nights. Blood flowed until the river ran red. Our leader at the time, Swiftstar, struck down Elmheart."
"Darkwillow shouldn't have fought. She was too heavily pregnant to fight properly." Regret brimmed in his eyes.
"I didn't mean to kill her. I-I pinned her down too roughly. Darkwillow's belly was injured, which caused her kits to come. When the SkyClan cats left, defeated, they thought Darkwillow was already dead. But she wasn't."
"There were four. Only Cloudkit made it. The others were too weak to take their first breaths. Since her parents were dead, and her clan had left her for dead, Swiftstar welcomed her into ThunderClan with open paws."
"Moontail dislikes Cloudflight for growing close to Redtalon. She would come in here as an apprentice and babble on. The arrogant she-cat wanted Redpaw to herself."
Fogstep chuckled quietly.
"I don't think she realized that we elders were still able to hear. So, after your parents became mates, she stormed off and took Barkstripe as a mate to make your father jealous. Seeing that didn't work out so well, she blamed Cloudflight for 'stealing' Redtalon."
"Is that all you wanted to know, youngling?" Mosspelt asked.
"I also want to know why my father seems to dislike me," Silverkit blurted out.
Mosspelt's eyes misted over.
Vinetail sighed in remorse.
"That is for you yourself to figure out, child. Now, leave us to sleep in peace." Fogstep's voice was hollow.
Confused, Silverkit walked back into the nursery. Mosspelt had said that he looked like Redtalon and his brothers. Amberclaw was his father's only brother.
Shaking his head, he curled into his nest, burrowing into Cloudflight's soft fur.
Suddenly, something hit him.
Technically, Silverkit and his sister were half SkyClan.
Ooh, plot twist!
QOTD: Who's your favourite cat so far?