Warriors: Burnttail's Regret (Complete)

Chapter 2

 ''Burntkit, wake up!''

 ''Huh?'' Burntkit yawned and opened his eyes, only to see Snakekit peering down at him. ''What do you want? Is it even dawn yet?''

 ''Shush, be quiet!'' Snakekit whispered, looking at Ebonyheart, who was still sleeping. ''Come on, I wanted to leave the camp today!''

 ''What?'' Burntkit blinked, suddenly fully awake. ''Are you out of your mind? We aren't allowed to!''

 ''Well, Sootblossom made the forest sound so great yesterday, and now I'm too curious not to go. Come on!'' Snakekit whispered and turned around, padding out of the nursery before Burntkit could say something. 

 Burntkit hesitated, but then sighed and got up, sneaking out of the nursery. He looked around the camp, surprised. It was completely empty, although he could hear movement from the warriors' and the apprentices' dens. Pricklepaw and Stormpaw haven't even left with their mentors to train. It's too early for us to be awake!

 Snakekit looked around as well, clearly confused, but then padded toward the camp entrance, which was a little bit to the right of the warriors' den. ''Come on!'' She whispered, looking past her shoulder at Burntkit.

 ''Coming!'' He whispered back and rushed after her. Burntkit still felt skeptical, but before he knew it, he was standing right in front of the thorn tunnel that led outside, a small path through the bramble walls that were protecting the camp. He could see the pine trees from beyond it, and he was sure he could see the sun rising slowly in the distance.

 ''And where do you two think you're going?''

 Burntkit's fur bristled and he spun around. Sootblossom was looking at them from right outside the warriors' den.

 ''Oh! Well...'' Snakekit started. ''We wanted to-''

 ''Leave the camp?'' Sootblossom guessed, but then sighed and sat down. ''You know you can't.''

 ''We know.'' Snakekit looked at her paws. ''But it's so boring in the camp! We just wanted to explore the territory! Surely nothing bad would happen, right?''

 ''Actually, yes, something bad could happen.'' Sootblossom meowed. ''The territory is very dangerous for tiny kits like you. You could come across badgers, foxes, dogs, twolegs, and maybe even cats from the other Clans.''

 ''But aren't warriors and apprentices patrolling and defending the territory daily?" Burntkit tilted his head. ''How can it be dangerous? Don't the others respect the border markings?''

 ''Some of the other cats do, but others might cross the borders for fun, or if they desperately need help from the other Clans. Or if they want to attack us.'' Sootblossom explained. ''Meanwhile, badgers, foxes, dogs, and twolegs don't care about borders. They come and go wherever they want, and we can't really do anything to stop them. Many moons ago, when I was an apprentice, a lot of twolegs invaded our territory. I still have no idea why, because they didn't even come close to our camp. They just spent some days in our territory, and then left. No one knows what they did.''

 ''Woah.'' Snakekit's pale amber eyes shone with surprise. ''And what did you do to get rid of them?''

 ''Nothing. There was nothing we could have done, unfortunately.'' Sootblossom meowed. ''They eventually left, but scared a lot of the prey away.''

 ''Twolegs were mean.'' Burntkit whispered.

 ''They are! A lot of them are, actually.'' Sootblossom sighed. ''Many cats die because of their stupid monsters, who carry twolegs in their bellies. And some twolegs hate cats. They can throw rocks at them.''

 ''What?'' Snakekit exclaimed, wide-eyed. ''Twolegs are so evil!''

 ''But don't kittypets live with them?'' Burntkit asked, tilting his head. ''They seem fine.''

 ''Not all twolegs are bad, I guess.'' Sootblossom shrugged. ''But I will never understand kittypets and why they want to live with twolegs. They only get to eat when their twoleg wants to. But anyway, let's stop talking about twolegs. Do you two want to hear a story?''

 ''Yes, please!'' Snakekit meowed. 

 Burntkit nodded, excited.

 ''All right, well... how about I tell you about Scorpionkit?'' Sootblossom asked.

 ''I've heard Ebonyheart talk about her sometimes.'' Burntkit murmured. ''Isn't she Snakekit's sister?''

 ''She is.'' Sootblossom nodded. ''She was a small ginger-brown she-kit with black splotches and a pure black tail, and-''

 ''Wait.'' Burntkit suddenly interrupted him. ''Wasn't she considered weird, if her tail was a different color than her body? Because my tail is gray and I think some cats find it odd.''

 ''Not really.'' Sootblossom meowed, surprised by the kit's question. ''Scorpionkit also had black splotches on her, so her tail didn't seem out of place. However, you don't have gray fur anywhere else other than your tail. But it's not weird at all! It's interesting. Did you hear other cats say it's weird?''

 ''No, actually, I just sort of assumed that's what other cats think.'' Burntkit murmured.

 ''What? It's not weird!'' Snakekit looked at him. ''I think it's great!''

 ''Really? Well, thanks!'' Burntkit purred, then looked back at Sootblossom. ''You can continue with the story!''

 ''All right.'' Sootblossom meowed and took a moment to remember what he said last. ''Right. So Scorpionkit, as I said, was a ginger-brown she-kit with black splotches and a black tail. Snakekit and her were born on a very cold leaf-bare night. Leaf-bares aren't usually too cold, but trust me when I say that I've never lived through a colder season! There was barely any prey in the forest, and there was so much snow... it was snowing a lot, and the wind was sharp cold!''

 Burntkit started shivering just when he imagined it, then he looked around gratefully. ''At least it's newleaf now.'' He whispered.

 ''True.'' Snakekit meowed. ''I'm glad I don't remember how cold it was!''

 ''Anyway,'' Sootblossom continued. ''The other cats tried their best to make the nursery as warm as possible, since Scorpionkit and you, Snakekit, were so tiny. But it just wasn't enough. One night, Ebonyheart woke up the entire camp saying that Scorpionkit... well, died. She said she woke up and Scorpionkit was freezing cold.''

 ''Oh.'' Snakekit blinked. ''Well..''' She paused. 

 Burntkit looked at her and saw that Snakekit was looking at her paws, unsure about what to say. ''I wonder if Scorpionkit went to StarClan.'' He meowed.

 ''She surely did!'' Sootblossom nodded. ''Anyway, we found you in the forest the morning after Scorpionkit's death, Burntkit. And I'm glad we did, because otherwise you probably would have died from the cold out there!''

 Burntkit tilted his head. ''Wait, Ebonyheart said I was found on a moss nest, right?''

 ''Yes, that's right. Why?'' Sootblossom asked.

 ''Well, it's... nevermind, actually.'' Burntkit meowed and looked around, deciding not to voice his thoughts.

 ''All right, then.'' Sootblossom meowed, then got up. ''Anyway, I'll leave you two alone now. And don't try to leave the camp again until you're apprentices! Understood?''

 ''Yes, Sootblossom.'' Snakekit sighed.

 ''All right.'' Burntkit meowed, watching Sootblossom walk toward the apprentices' den. The other cats have started waking up, and the camp was now pretty crowded. Burntkit looked back at Snakekit. ''I'm sorry about your sister, by the way.''

 ''Huh? Oh, it's fine.'' Snakekit meowed and looked around. ''I didn't even get to meet her, anyway. I didn't even know what she looked like until today. Although I wish I got to meet her.'' She murmured sadly.

 ''Me too.'' Burntkit agreed, then looked at his paws as he began thinking of the day when he was found abandoned by a patrol.

 But if I was found abandoned on a nest, then what happened to my mother? Who was she, and why did she leave me all alone and unprotected?