Warriors: Burnttail's Regret (Complete)

Chapter 3

 Ebonyheart bent down and licked Burntkit's head while the dark ginger kit tried squirming away. ''Be still, Burntkit!'' The queen sighed.

 ''Leave me alone!'' Burntkit complained, trying to get away from the queen's grasp.

 Ebonyheart firmly put her paw in front of the kit. ''No, you have to be clean.''

 ''But I'm not even becoming an apprentice today!'' Burntkit protested.

 ''I know, but you will tomorrow, and I want you to be as clean as possible.'' Ebonyheart purred, then raised her head. ''Now, where's Snakekit?''

 ''I'm here!'' Snakekit meowed from the corner of the nursery. 

 Burntkit raised his head and looked past Ebonyheart's pale gray paws. Snakekit was crouched over something. Burntkit squinted his eyes, trying to figure out what she found. A beetle!

 Ebonyheart sighed. ''Where did you even find that?''

 Snakekit shrugged and looked back at the beetle. ''I didn't find it, it found me! It just crawled in the nursery!''

 Burntkit rolled his eyes, then looked back at Ebonyheart. ''Can I go play with Snakekit now, please?''

 ''Not yet.'' Ebonyheart sighed and rasped her tongue over Burntkit's back. The kit let out a growl.

 Snakekit giggled. ''Your fur's glowing now! I guess we should start calling you Shiningkit.''

 ''Hey!'' Burntkit hissed. ''Well, you-''

 ''Bumblestar!''

 Burntkit froze as he heard someone call the ShadowClan leader. Snakekit looked away from the beetle instantly.

 Ebonyheart's ears twitched. ''That's Pigeonswoop. And it doesn't sound good.'' The queen got up and padded toward the den entrance, then sat down right outside so that Burntkit and Snakekit couldn't get out. Burntkit hissed quietly and padded over, trying to look past the queen. Snakekit followed him.

 Burntkit saw Pigeonswoop run toward the leader's den, panting. The warrior looked beyond exhausted. What happened to him?

 Bumblestar quickly padded out. ''Pigeonswoop? What's wrong?''

 ''Foxes.'' Pigeonswoop managed to hiss. ''A bunch of them. They attacked my patrol.''

 ''Foxes?" Bumblestar's eyes widened and he looked around. ''Smokedream?''

 ''Here!'' Smokedream got up from where he was sitting and padded over to him. He looked at Pigeonswoop. ''How many foxes are there?''

 ''At least three or four. And they're angry.'' Pigeonswoop whispered, trembling. ''Very angry.''

 Bumblestar unsheathed his claws. He looked at Smokedream. ''Gather some cats and go help the patrol. Pigeonswoop, you will lead the way.'' Then, the yellow leader turned toward the medicine cats' den. ''Flintpaw!''

 The young medicine cat apprentice padded out quickly. ''Yes, Bumblestar?''

 ''Did Fawnwhisper come back from WindClan yet?'' Bumblestar asked. Burntkit could tell by the leader's voice that he was extremely impatient.

 ''Not yet.'' Flintpaw responded, pawing the ground awkwardly. ''She came in our territory yesterday while I was gathering herbs. She said WindClan is finally recovering from the greencough outbreak, but she won't be back for another day or two, because their medicine cat is still sick.''

 Bumblestar sighed, not looking happy with the answer. ''All right. Prepare the herbs for when we come back.'' The leader turned around again. ''Are we ready to go, Smokedream?''