"Thornkit's alive!"
Thornkit felt the sharp pain of someone colliding with him, as the dark brown tabby was drawn out of his thoughts. As Thornkit turned to look at Fuzzykit who was happy to see him, gently shaking himself to get the young tom off of his back. "Was there ever any kind of doubt?" he laughed with the weight in his heart being lifted.
Birchkit walked close behind her brother. "It did sound like you fell head first into the river, I paid attention to what some of the warriors said." she said, jabbing Fuzzykit in the side. "You must have been worn out as you were knocked out when you came back. It's good to see you on your paws."
Thornkit chuckled as his head drooped, thinking back to the night before and turning his head to look back behind him to the camp entrance. Hope flourished in his heart as the reeds rustled, however through it came Badgerfur. The black and white tom looked disheartened as he approached Driftstar.
"Hey, you alright?"
Thornkit turned back to the other kits as Fuzzykit poked his side with one of his paws, the dark brown tabby shoving the tom back as he let out a scrambled together a chuckle. "Fine, just… lost in thought I suppose." he responded.
Fuzzykit chuckled as he dropped into a crouch and launched himself at the dark tabby, this time managing to knock him off his paws and get caught in a playful battle with a cloud of fur. Both toms picked up debris in their fur as they rolled across the ground. Birchkit taking a step back as they went out of control.
Both toms rolled across the clearing back and forth, with Fuzzykit trying as hard as he could to shake free. As the two made a ruckus along their path, nearly bumping into a few of the warriors as they went. Disregarding safety as the two tousled back and forth, before Thornkit was finally pushed off of the tortoiseshell tom. Accidentally sent flying into the brambles of one of the dens.
Thornkit struggled for a second as he managed to push through, only to be grabbed by the scruff and carried back towards the nursery. "Perhaps it's better for you to play over here for a while." the calm voice of Willowtail spoke as he held the dark brown tabby in his jaws. Fuzzykit being beside the two as they headed back.
Thornkit ducked his head as the warrior carried him back to where Poppyheart was waiting, the russet colored she-cat watched him set the dark brown tabby at her paws. "Sorry about that Willowtail, those two need to be kept an eye on more." The she-cat laughed as she nudged Thornkit back towards the other kits.
"It's not too much trouble really, we're just trying to keep our camp in some sort of order while we rebuild." Willowtail answered.
Thornkit looked over his shoulder as the warrior turned around and headed back towards the other side, Thornkit sighed and turned back to his other denmates who had settled in a little corner of the camp out of the way. While Poppyheart returned to the other queens sitting under the tree by the elders' den.
He noticed Coldkit sitting on her own on the other side, she was looking across the camp towards Sootstep and Mintnose; the latter of which chose to be helping with the repairs to the camp rather than laying in the sun. Thornkit stepped to beside the she-kit, resting his tail on her shoulder. Startling the lilac tortoiseshell slightly as she jumped and turned to look at him. "Sorry." He said as he lifted his tail from her shoulder.
"I-it's fine… I just needed a moment to myself." Coldkit said as she bunched her shoulders up and stood up to walk off to a different side.
Thornkit knew exactly what she was really thinking about, but he let her go without another word. Thornkit turned back to the other kits and took a deep breath, Birchkit had hooked a ball of moss up with one of her claws. Throwing it up into the air and across the corner, as it edged dangerously close to the edge of the river. Before Fuzzykit swooped in and kicked it away from there.
Thornkit chased after the moss ball, it flew straight into the river past the camp wall. Stopping at the edge he sat on his haunches, before Fuzzykit slammed into the back by Fuzzykit. Losing his footing, he was sent falling face first into the shallow water reaches of the camp. As his chin collided with the wet stones of the bank.
Fuzzykit's laughter was barely heard as the clan drifted away, the sky grew dark and he could feel water rising up his fur as it came battering down. His breathing rose and his heart pounded, he couldn't move and the more he struggled the worse it got. It felt like forever before he could feel someone grab him by the scruff and everything went back to normal. Shaking slightly as he was set back down on dry ground.
He could feel the warmth of his mother Poppyheart wrap around him, as Thornkit pressed into the white spot on her chest as his breathing steadied. He could feel many eyes watching him from outside of her embrace, turning his head briefly to look out towards where the other cats were starting to gather.
Thornkit was freed from his mother's grasp and chose to sulk over to a corner, feeling self-conscious about the panic he felt earlier. His tail between his legs as he refused to look back behind him. Sitting down in a corner to lick his paw and draw it across the top of his head, trying to avoid the gazes of all the cats in the camp as they returned to their duties about fixing the still storm damaged camp.
As soon as he felt comfortable to step out he noticed the other kits getting herded back towards the nursery, following his mother obediently back towards their nest with shoulders slouched as he noticed the rest of the clan starting to gather at the base of the wet rock where Driftstar was sitting with her head hung low.
"May all cats old enough to swim through the currents, gather here beneath the grand rock for a clan meeting."
Poppyheart nudged him into the nest with a gentle push. "Wait here for a while, you can get back to games in a while." She spoke, there was something heavy in her voice as she turned back towards the entrance and headed through to the camp outside.
Thornkit perked his ears as he let the other queens head out, before he crept out behind them. Curiousity prickled in his pelt as he tasted the air.
"It is with a heavy heart that we must share the bad news, the river has been searched as far as any warrior could go… and there is no sign of our deputy." Driftstar said, her voice tired and head low as she addressed the clan. "I am afraid we must assume the worst to have come of Oakwhisker, and move on. Our clan needs a future, and we can not hold out on hopes of a miracle."
Thornkit's ears perked as his heart dropped, watching from the shadows of the nursery den entrance
'No!'
"And so it is that I must choose our new deputy of RiverClan, before the moon is high in the sky." Driftstar raised her head with a deep breath. "And I had held hope for this one when I would be succeeded, but he is fit for the role and duties he has ahead of him."
Thornkit looked over at Badgerfur, perhaps he could be a good pick. A faithful and caring warrior who has proved himself to put the clan before himself.
"Willowtail will be the new deputy." Driftstar announced, her head nodding to the pale gray tom sitting off to the side.
Willowtail bowed his head to the clan leader, a silence befell the clearing however.
Badgerfur was the first cat to raise his muzzle though, his voice loud in the clearing as he spoke. "Willowfur! Willowfur!" he cried, as the other cats slowly raised their heads to join in the chant.
Thornkit's tail twitched behind him, as he turned tail and headed back to the nest. Oakwhisker can't be dead, he just can't.
A/N: So yes, I changed the ending of the first chapter. But I felt like this chapter flows better this way, and for fixing any continuity issues I chose to unfortunately shorten the first chapter. And I have decided on an amendment to the allegiances for the sake of creating a fun side addition to the main story.
