Warriors: Solemn Wishes (Warrior Cats Fan Story)

Chapter 8

Acorntail frowned. They should be back soon. She began to mentally prepare herself for when her Clan returned, as the sun's light began faintly creeping up on the horizon and turning it a shy magenta. Not that she was not used to the Clan's shenanigans, but it was easy to get settled into only having a quarter of them around, and she now had to re-prepare herself for them all. She would have spied on the Gathering again, but it wasn't all the time she could pull that sort of stunt; half the time, she somehow landed herself in hot water with Metallicstar days before the Gathering, and it would be too risky to leave camp without having others who were staying behind rat her out to get her in more trouble. Like right now.

As she sat in the middle of camp, fiddling with a number of reeds in an attempt to twist and knit them into a basket-like structure - failing again and again - she felt her Clanmates' eyes watching her at all times. In any given moment, at least one of the cats who had stayed behind from the Gathering was looking at her. Nothing less could be expected, after the fiasco she had pulled attacking and killing Yarrownose and Dustface's rogue half-brother.

She glared at the reeds, the movement of her paws reflecting her mood. It isn't like I knew that rogue was their half-brother, she irritably grumbled in her mind. How should I have known? It isn't my fault their dad slept around and got a loser son who wandered onto a claimed territory with his half-witted brain. They should be thanking me for freeing them from that embarrassment of a bloodtie.

She was so engrossed in her thoughts that she didn't realize her grip had severely tightened, and she had crumpled up and torn some of the reeds. They unraveled, and she would have to start over again. Angry, she shouted and ripped up what few good reeds she had left, throwing the whole bunch away unsatisfied.

She glanced at the nursery, to see a handful of kits - Donkeykit, Dimplekit, and Roarkit - eyeing her temper tantrum from afar. When she looked at them, all three fuzzed up, and Dimplekit ran off back into the nursery, leaving his two comrades to the squirrel.

Acorntail's tail fluffed out. "What're you lookin' at? Don't you thin-brains have anything else to do, like throw around moss all day to forget how meaningless your lives are?"

Donkeykit's fear was briefly and shallowly put down by the offense. While he continued bristling, he raised his head up a bit and glared. "W-Well...you're the one throwing around reeds."

"Yeah? You saying we both have meaningless lives?" Acorntail snickered, beginning to walk closer to the gray-and-blond-streaked brown tom. Donkeykit's frown was quickly dropped for a look of fear. "How about we give each other meaning? You'll give me meaning by giving me something to hunt, and I'll give you meaning by giving you something to run from!"

"Y-You're prey!" Donkeykit gasped. "You can't do that! You're not a predator!"

Acorntail smirked, holding up a claw and flexing it in front of the kit. "I'm not scared of nature. I'll flip the stupid 'food chain' upside down if I have to. Just watch me!"

"MOM!" shrieked Donkeykit, running back into the nursery, with Roarkit on his tail. "MOM, ACORNTAIL'S SAYING SHE'S GONNA KILL US AGAIN!"

"How many times have I told you..." Acorntail smirked and turned around, allowing the mother's voice to fade into the background. Not that her and any of the queens were friends, especially due to how often Acorntail threatened the kits with death, but the queens had also often told their kits to not interact with Acorntail to begin with. The squirrel was annoying, but so too was the kits' insistence on getting close to her in order to kick up drama, especially when most of the Clan knew her threats were empty.

Acorntail glanced toward the elder's den, where she saw Greenwheat immediately turn her gaze away from her. The squirrel couldn't help smiling. Yeah, of course, pretend you weren't just staring at me. Pretend you weren't, you skank.