Chapter 4 A Family Past
Everyone turned to see Daisypetal storming into the slave's den with anger and hate in her eyes.
"I don't want you anywhere near these filthy slaves! Do you understand?!" she hissed.
"Why not?! They're my friends!" Lightkit yowled.
Daisypetal ignored him and grabbed Lightkit by the scruff. As she carried him away, Lightkit saw glares from each of the slaves and a look of sadness from Darkkit.
"Bye." he whispered
"Bye." Lightkit whispered.
Daisypetal carried him out of the den and headed towards Whitestar's den. Glances and stares were given by their clanmates.
"Oh great what did he do this time?" Moonsong sneered.
"Probably hanging out with the slaves." Snaketooth grunted.
Daisypetal and Lightkit reached Whitestar's den and entered. She gently placed him down and approached Whitestar. He was talking to a white she-cat with stars on her pelt, a silver moon mark on her forehead, and glowing blue eyes. After a few moments, both looked at Daisypetal and Lightkit.
"I found him Whitestar. He was in the slave's den." she meowed.
"Thank you Daisypetal you can go now." Whitestar meowed.
Daisypetal nodded. He turned at the starry she-cat.
"We'll finish this talk later." he meowed
"Remember Whitestar you owe us!" she hissed.
She left the den along with Daisypetal. As Whitestar and Lightkit were alone, he looked at his father.
"Did you want me?" Lightkit asked.
"Well no I just wanted to know where you were that's all. Shinefur and I were worried." Whitestar meowed.
"Actually I wanted to ask you about something." Lightkit spoke.
"Really what is it?" Whitestar asked.
"Well there's this she-cat in the slave's den named Blossomsnow and I have to ask. Why is she a slave? Why isn't she a warrior like everyone else?" he asked.
Whitestar was silent for a few moments, feeling guilt and sadness at the same time. After a few moments, he looked at Lightkit.
"Do you know the stories of Snowstar?" Whitestar asked.
Lightkit nodded. She was a white she-cat with green eyes and had a uncanny look of Cloudberry. Snowstar was the former leader of Lightclan, Lightkit and Brightkit's grandmother, and Whitestar's mother. She died along with the former medicine Frostydawn, a few warriors and a few slaves in a greencough epidemic that struck Lightclan many moons ago.
"Well she's the main reason Blossomsnow is a slave. Here let me explain." Whitestar meowed.
"When I became deputy, there was a bit of a civil war in Lightclan about the slave law. Most cats liked it, but others didn't. However, blood wasn't necessarily shed, but it did cause somewhat of a rebellion. Your mother, Cloudberry, and Blossomsnow were strong haters of the slave law and always tried to figure out a way to abolish it. They weren't the only ones complaining about the slave law though. A cat named Birchheart hated the slave law in fact he was a slave himself." he begin.
"Surely every slave hated it as well right?" Lightkit asked.
"Yes they did Lightkit, but they were scared of the thought of being punished for rebellion. Birchheart was the only brave cat I knew that had the guts to stand up to it." Whitestar answered.
"Anyway, we had two slave apprentices that were about to be executed for pity reasons. Birchheart thought it be a good idea to escape along with the two apprentices. Thank goodness he did, the Star Council had announced that Birchheart would be executed on the same day as slave apprentices for rebellion. Your mother convinced me to help them escaped and reluctantly I agreed mostly, because I supported their cause, however I didn't want to get in to trouble. We managed to help Birchheart and the apprentices escape, however it came at a price. Snowstar somehow found out about the escaped slaves and trust me when I say she was really creative about our punishments. Cloudberry was confined in camp for a few moons, Riverstripe and I were not allowed to see each other and I was force to mate with Shinefur." he continued.
"Wait so she's expecting your kits?!" Lightkit exclaimed.
"Unfortunately yes. It was only a moon after me and Riverstripe became mates again that I found out about it." Whitestar admitted.
"So what happened to Blossomsnow?" he asked.
"Snowstar never liked Blossomsnow,but that was no excuse on what she did to her. She called a clan meeting and asked Blossomsnow to step forward. Snowstar than attacked in surprise and than gave her that horrible scar no cat wants to have. It was agonizing and horrible to watch. I almost could feel her pain on what she went through. It took a few days for Cloudberry to properly treat her. After she recovered, Snowstar stripped her from her warrior duties and forced her to become a slave." Whitestar spoke.
Lightkit saw anger in his father's eyes as if he didn't want to think about it anymore. When Whitestar finally calmed down, he looked at Lightkit expecting another question from him.
"So what happened to Birchheart? Was he ever caught?" Lightkit asked.
"We never saw him or the slave apprentices after that. Some cats think they're dead while others think they're alive and waiting for their time to strike." Whitestar answered.
"So what were the slave apprentices names? You never mention them." he asked.
"Their names were Flowerpaw and Petalpaw son." he answered.
"What did they look like?" Lightkit asked.
"Flowerpaw was a black tortes-shell she-cat with green eyes and Petalpaw was a dark ginger she-cat with blue eyes." Whitestar meowed.
"But when you became leader, why didn't you make Blossomsnow a warrior again? Lightkit asked.
"Trust me son I've tried, but the Star Council always refused." he answered.
Lightkit nodded a thank you to his father and quickly left the den. He was angry on the fact that his own grandmother could do such cruelty to so many innocent cats. As Lightkit headed to the nursery, he looked over at the slave nursery and decided to head there instead, but was stopped by a paw on his tail.
"Oh no you don't." Shinefur spoke.
"Hey what gives?!" Lightkit yowled.
"Daisypetal told me what happened and has ordered me to keep you in the nursery for the whole day." she explained.
Lightkit growled but said nothing else. Shinefur grabbed him by the scruff and carried him to the nursery. When they entered, she gently placed Lightkit down and headed towards her nest. Wolfkit and Brightkit approached Lightkit.
"Lightkit where were you? You had me worried." Brightkit asked.
"I was in the slave's den and in dad's den." Lightkit answered.
"What were doing in there anyway?" Wolfkit asked.
"Espcally since us high rank kits shouldn't be anywhere near these filthy slaves." Brightkit sneered.
Shinefur shot upright shocked at what she had just heard.
"Brightkit I know I didn't just hear that from you. Now all three of you head to bed now." She snapped.
All three kits made their way towards Shinefur, until Rivershimmer entered the nursery and layed on her nest. Brightkit, Wolfkit, and Lightkit decided to approached her with the question of who the father of her kits were.
"Hey Rivershimmer who's the father of your kits?" Brightkit asked.
She looked down for a few moments, feeling grief and sadness at the same time. After a few moments, Rivershimmer looked at Brightkit.
"His name is Icetail." she whimpered.
"What happen to him?" Wolfkit asked.
"He died from Greencough after I told him about our kits." Rivershimmer meowed.
After that, she layed back down not saying another word to them. The kits went to Shinefur's nest and rest for the night.