Prologue: Promises
"Ha! Get up runt!"
"You're too slow!"
"Hey, stop it! Be nice! Mother! Help!"
Nutmeg sighed in trepidation as the words of her kits came through the air. Tail twisting up with worry, she leaped down from the window where she had been enjoying the sunlight and dashed through the opening that led to the living den. There, she saw three of her kittens picking on the runt of her litter while the last kit was trying to pull one of her brothers off of the other, more scarred tom.
"Hey!" Nutmeg snapped, a mixture of feelings bubbling up in her body. "Just what is going on here?"
All five of her kittens' heads snapped up at her words. Relief shown in her light brown tabby daughter as the others stepped off their ginger-furred brother. Nutmeg tried her hardest not to flinch as her smallest son dashed toward her and leaped under her belly for comfort.
"I do love all of my kits," Nutmeg thought to herself as she glared at her other kits. "But… Sometimes… It is so hard to love them… Especially this little Spark… He looks so much like his father…"
"I am so sorry Mother!" cried light brown tabby molly, her paws working their way into the false grass. "I tried to stop them, but Bark kicked me!"
"I did not!" proclaimed the brown and white tom, his fur fluffing up in anger. "And you bit me!"
"At this point," growled Nutmeg, letting out some of her frustrations at her situation out. "I really don't care how this started! But… This is not the first time I have caught you picking on your brother! Do you want to explain yourself? We are a family! Families stick together, not tear into each other!"
Two of her kits, the brown and white tom and the brown and ginger tortoiseshell molly just looked down at their paws, guiltily, mumbling under their breaths. However, her last kit, a large light ginger tom, just glared hatefully at the small ginger tom under his mother. Nutmeg just stared back, waiting for a response.
"Well?" she asked, flicking her tail. "I'm waiting."
"We didn't ask to be family with a freak!" the light ginger tom shouted with fury, fluffing up his fur to look bigger. "It is not our fault that he messed everything up! He is the reason that we can't make any friends with the other kits! Always claiming that he sees strange cats that are not there!"
"But I can't help it!" cried the runty tom under Nutmeg. "There are pale looking cats around… And I can't help what I saw! I… I… I couldn't just say nothing! Not when there was so much smoke…"
As the small ginger tom shook with fear as his brother sneered at him, Nutmeg let her thoughts go back to that terrible day, leaving her quarreling kittens for the moment.
It started out as a sunny, happy day. She had brought out her five kittens for the first out of their nest to show off to the other kittypets. She had been very nervous about going out, personally seeing this as some silly kittypet tradition. However, the kittypets in the other nests were getting a bit impatient and were starting to question her on why it was taking so long for her to introduce them.
As the last thing that Nutmeg wanted was the other kittypets barging into her nest and possibly finding out about her Knight's lineage, she agreed. There was no need for some random cat to meet her father or her siblings and cause trouble for the Knights. After having these kits with a tom that didn't give a damn about anything but chasing molly's tails and puffing up with pride at the number of babies he had, she deserved some peace.
It had started out okay, with the nearby kittypets praising her strong and healthy litter. However, even then, the kittypets noticed that something was off.
Nutmeg had forgotten about the fact that cats with Marked ancestors, even if they weren't Marked themselves, threw out genes that normally wouldn't happen in a normal litter.
A few of the older kittypet had taken one look at her, then one look at her two ginger toms and her mini me and quickly left the area. Even then, things were peaceful, with Spark hiding behind her as her other kittens played with some of other cats.
Everything changed when some young toms dragged Spark out. They saw the yellow star marks right above his front white paws. They sneered as they poked the runty tom. Spark, on the other paw, had frozen. At first, Nutmeg had thought that he had froze in fear, but then noticed that he was not reacting to anything. Then…
"Fire!" Spark had cried out, eyes wide in fear. "Smoke! Get out of there!"
That had shattered the peace. Nutmeg quickly gathered all of her kittens, in spite of their protests, and dashed right back into her twoleg's nest. Then, she guarded the door to make sure that no one had followed her. It was her worse nightmare come true.
For a few days, everything was quiet. Nutmeg slept little during that time in fear of being attacked by the other kittypets or even the nearby rouges. Though, she feared even more for Spark's life. While her life would be more difficult because the kittypets now will shun her, Spark was in danger. Normal non-Marked cats hated the Marked: if a kitten was found to be Marked, it was the kittypet way to get rid of them. In any way possible. Usually by murder.
Then, what she feared happened. Everyone came for Spark: bloodthirsty and angry.
Turns out, three days after the failed meetup, a fire had broken out in a nearby twoleg nest. While the twolegs were not there, thank the ancestors, two of the three kittypets that lived there passed away. The survivor was not harmed but traumatized by the lost of their friends and home. However, he also happened to be one of the toms that Spark had yelled out his warning to… And that tom blamed Spark for what had happened to him.
With little warning, the group of cats charged into her nest, held her down so that she couldn't stop them, and dragged Spark out of his hiding spot, not caring about any blood dripping onto the false grass.
The attack was brutal… Spark was lucky to be alive.
"If it wasn't for my twolegs coming back at just the right time," Nutmeg thought, coming back to the present as Petal and Fox argued. "And taking poor little Spark to the cutter… Well, just because he looks a lot like his father doesn't mean that he is his father! And to the fact that my father, Ada, Rose, and Dreamweaver came by and threatened all the attackers, we have not had anymore problems… But Spark is still healing from that attack… He will always have the scars marking his pelt, and I am afraid that he will have a hard time trusting anyone… But at least, he will have Petal by his side… But he needs more friends than his sister to survive in this terrible world…"
A loud meow threw Nutmeg out of her thought. All five kits turned toward where the sound came from as a second meow followed up. Her heart sung with joy as she recognized the voices.
"Hey!" chirped Petal, tail waving in the air. "Aunty Ada and Uncle Dreamy are here!"
"Oh great," moaned Fox as both Moon and Bark gathered behind him. "More freaks! Come on… Let's see if we can…"
"Maybe you should show some respect for your elders, you little brat!"
"I'm sorry Ada," Nutmeg sighed as she turned to face the three cats that entered her home. "But it seems that somehow the local kittypet's attitudes have rubbed off on some of my kittens…"
"It seems that they have been sneaking out this last moon," she added mentally, disgusted by Fox's new attitude. "There is no other way that this could have happened… At least, I know for a fact that Spark hasn't been out since that attack…"
"Now… What is this about freaks?" questioned the long furred gray tabby tom, whiskers twitching as he stared down the three naughty kits. "As far as I know, there are no such things as freaks…. Well, besides that one group…"
"Oh, give it a rest, my little brother!" the dark brown tabby molly with white paws purred, flicking his ear with her tail. "We all know how much you dislike those clan cats, and for a good reason, we are not near their territories at the moment! Just remember why we are currently here!"
"Why are you here?" Moon asked, stepping away from Fox and Bark curiously. "And who is that?"
Moon pointed her tail at the third cat, a young ginger and black tortoiseshell molly, who had been looking around the nest with wide eyes. However, the molly stood at attention at Moon's questions. Meanwhile, Spark finally came out, walking straight up to the gray tabby tom with no fear, but ended staring at the newcomer, afraid.
"Hello!" chirped the young molly, who was just slightly older than Nutmeg's own litter. "I'm Fiona! I'm your cousin!"
With those words, she leapt toward Spark in excitement, causing him to try and run. However, Fiona tackled him as he screamed out in fear, covering his face with his paws. Nutmeg's heart began to fill with dread.
"Hey! Be nice!" called out Petal, looking like she was going to bolt over to her brother's side. "Please don't…"
Petal stopped as Fiona began to lick Spark's fur. In turn, he stopped shrieking. Spark just looked very confused at what was happening. Ada was hiding a smile behind a paw while Fox and Bark looked disgusted.
"Fiona," sighed the gray tabby tom, Dreamweaver. "What did I tell you before we came here?"
"That Spark has had a hard time and might be fearful at first," answered Fiona, getting off of Spark to answer. "And that I shouldn't jump him like I do my brothers… But Dad!"
"Don't but Dad me!" snapped back Dreamweaver as he stepped between Spark and Fiona and put his tail around the scarred tom. "Listen… I know how exciting it can be to meet new family members, but… Well, not everyone can handle your… Er, ah… Greetings…"
"Okay…" mewed Fiona as she glanced down at her paws. "I understand… I'm sorry…"
"Er…" Spark suddenly spoke up from within Dreamweaver's tail. "It' okay…. I just thought that… that… You hated me… Just like my siblings… Just like mom…"
Nutmeg's heart broke at those words.
"Have I failed so much as a mother?" she wondered, guilt building up. "That Spark noticed my feelings? Just because he looks like father doesn't mean that he is his father… Yet… I feel like that I am ruined for any future lover… And like most Knights, I would like to find someone that could love me for who I am, not for my ability to have kittens."
"Hey… Petal, come with me," Ada spoke up, breaking Nutmeg out of her thoughts. "Let's find your siblings and teach them the importance of family! Then, I will tell you a story…"
"Okay Aunty Ada!" purred Petal as she rubbed up against Ada's legs. "They need to learn to be nice to Spark and not be big bullies all of the time!"
Nutmeg hadn't noticed when Bark, Fox, and Moon had left the room. She had been too caught up in her guilt. Also, it seemed that Fiona and Spark seemed to be getting along under the attention of Dreamweaver. They seemed to be talking about how Rose's adopted kit was sick, and Fiona's three brothers had stayed behind to make her feel better. Dreamweaver noticed her and stood up.
"Hey Fiona," mewed Dreamweaver, staring at Nutmeg while speaking. "While don't you ask Spark to show you about this house?"
"Okay Dad!" she chirped back. "And Spark… I can continue to tell you about Jay, Lay, and Tay! They are just the sillies of brothers! They like to try and trick the teachers by…"
"She is a talkative one, isn't she?" Nutmeg noticed as the two kits walked into a different area in the nest.
"She just gets very excited," Dreamweaver answered, flicking his ears. "Now… Let's go outside… Just you and me."
"But what about the…" began Nutmeg, suddenly nervous to be around her brother.
"Ada will watch over them, so don't worry," Dreamweaver interrupted her. "Just because Ada is stern, strict, and a bit of a hard head, but she truly loves them…"
Heading over towards the opening, Nutmeg fell silent as she followed Dreamweaver, a mixture of worry, guilt, and nervousness. Reaching the small opening that lay in the door, Dreamweaver went through, whiskers wide. Nutmeg sighed.
"Well, time to get this over with…" she thought. "Dreamweaver was always good at picking up hidden emotions of others… And with Spark's remark… I feel so bad that I couldn't hide my feelings from my own son… The son whose future I am the most worried about…"
Deciding to not delay things anymore, Nutmeg pushed through the flap and joined Dreamweaver outside. The cool air hit her pelt as she glanced around for her brother. She noticed that he was sitting by the bushes by her twoleg nest, taking advantage of the shade. Nutmeg rolled her eyes, went over to him, and sat down by him, glad that her brother sat in a place with no snow.
"Dreamweaver… The sun is out today," she started, unsure on how to start the conversation. "Why are you hiding in the shade?"
"I don't want to sit in the snow," Dreamweaver replied, looking in her direction. "It is bad enough to walk through the snow, but I don't want to add a wet rear end on top of that! But enough about that… Are you having a hard time with your kits?"
"So you noticed…" Nutmeg stated sadly, struggling to find the correct words to express her sentiments. "Well… Yes and no… It… I love all of my kits… but… It just hurts that Spark looks like his father…"
"Nutmeg… You cannot be so hard on yourself!" Dreamweaver lightly scolded, his blue eye widening. "You are only just a normal cat. What happened to you wasn't your fault! If anything…"
"And yet, I still feel ruined," Nutmeg continued on, letting her emotions flow out of her. "Like the world has turned against me… Like I will never find true love! Not after having kits!"
"That is not true!" snapped Dreamweaver, getting emotional. "There is always at least one cat that will love you, no matter what. I… I'm sorry sister, I have failed you as a brother…"
"Dreamweaver, it's not your fault," Nutmeg answered him back. "It's just, even now, I have trouble coming to terms with what happened. Even now, I can feel that tom's claws on my back… His fangs on the back of my neck…"
"There is no need to say anymore sister," Dreamweaver snarled, standing up and stomping an unsheathed claws on the ground. "That tom hurt you badly. If I ever find that piece of dung, he will wish that he had never been born! No one does that to my family and gets away with it!"
"Thank you, brother," Nutmeg stated as she stared up at the sky. "But… I also cannot help but to worry about Spark's future…"
"Is it he is smaller than other kittens?" Dreamweaver inquired, sitting down and placing his tail on her own. "Or is it because is it he is Marked?"
"Both, yet there is something more than that," Nutmeg answered him. "Spark is a fearful kitten… And yet there is a wildness to his soul that is not within any of other kits…"
"A wildness?" Dreamweaver asked, looking confused.
"I mean that I don't believe that Spark is meant to be a kittypet like the others," Nutmeg clarified. "Compared to the others, he seems more…. Restless. Like he is uncomfortable in a twoleg nest… And there is no way a normal kittypet would ever from around here will accept him. They will try to kill him as they still believe that he caused the fire that killed two cats. Dreamweaver, when Spark come of age, I want you to take him to the Knights. That way, I will know that he will be protected from others and maybe find others like him. And … Just maybe, he will find his own happiness in this harsh, unforgiving world."
"Of course, I will sister!" Dreamweaver stated with a mixture of regret and anger in his tone. "Spark is family! You didn't even have to ask me that! But… If it will make you fill any better, I will do one better!"
Nutmeg was stunned when her gray tabby brother stood up, faced her, and bowed his front legs to her, rear held high while his tail curled around one of his back legs.
"Oh Dreamweaver…" Nutmeg thought. "You don't have to go that far…"
"I, Sir Dreamweaver of House Lancelot," Dreamweaver began, nose in the dirt. "Holding the title of the Hidden Sight… I promise to take in Spark as if he was one of my own! I will protect him and am willing to lay down my life if needed to save him. I will help him on his path to acceptance as one of the Marked and be a guide if necessary. That is my vow, both to you, Nutmeg, one of my dear sisters, and to Spark, my beloved nephew. May our ancestors strike me down should I fail!"