New Horizons

Chapter 16

After resting for a little while, the group headed upwards, past the ThunderClan-ShadowClan border. "Fireheart!" called a light brown tabby she-cat with a distinctive white chest and paws. The ginger tom turned to look at her, forest green eyes wide. "Where are you going? And who are all of these cats?"

"These are, like I told Smudge, friends that I'm travelling with," explained the tom. The she-cat's head tilted to the side, confused, with sad eyes just as two other cats appeared: one was a light ginger she-cat with a white underbelly and pale green eyes, the other was a white she-cat with bright blue eyes.

"Princess? What's the matter?" mewed the light ginger she-cat before noticing the cats below them. "Who are they?"

"I'm Fireheart," Fireheart introduced. "These are my friends, Cinderpaw, Ravenpaw, Barley, Graystripe, Feathershade, Nightstream, Mistcloud, and Weaselpaw."

"What about the kits?" questioned the white she-cat.

Fireheart glanced at the kits before looking back at the three she-cats. "Right. There's Shallowkit, Featherkit, Ripplekit, Lakekit, Stormkit, Stormkit, and Streamkit." Turning towards Mistcloud to make sure she was alright and getting the confirmation she was, he turned back to the three kittypets and noticed the knowing look in his sister's eyes. "Say, who are you two? I know Princess, but I don't know you two."

"Oh!" exclaimed the light ginger she-cat before jumping down from the white fence and dipping her head in greeting. "I'm Lily. This," Lily gestured to the white she-cat beside her now, "is Angel."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," smiled the white she-cat. Mistcloud watched as Nightstream couldn't seem to take his eyes off Angel.

"It's nice to meet you too," Nightstream greeted, stepping forward whilst dipping his head to the white she-cat. Angel's ears burned slightly before Princess spoke up.

"So where exactly are you lot going?" she asked.

"We're leaving this area and moving on," Fireheart explained as he stayed close to Princess. Meanwhile, Graystripe stayed close to Mistcloud who had laid down to allow all the kits to feed. He sat by her, resting his dark grey tail on the she-cat's flank. "Would you three like to join us?"

Just when Angel started to say something, a small, plump white kit jumped out of the bracken around them and pounced on Mistcloud's tail. "Got you!" he cheered. "Wait, you're not Fireheart."

"I'm not," replied the queen gently before flicking her tail towards where Fireheart was speaking with Princess, Angel, and Lily. "Fireheart's over there. But what are you doing out of the ThunderClan camp? You look like you're barely five moons old, little one."

"I'm not little!" he exclaimed, before noticing the kits snuggled into her belly fluff.

"Are you cold? It is quite late, and quite cold tonight." Mistcloud murmured, wrapping her tail around the plump kit. The kit nodded, padding around, and curling into the she-cat's chest, slowly falling asleep to the dusky brown she-cat's gentle licks.

"What is Cloudkit doing out of camp?" Fireheart asked after noticing the sleeping tom. Mistcloud shrugged before continuing to lick the kit before placing him with the other six kits. "Anyway, are you three joining us?" Angel, Lily, and Princess glanced at each other before nodding.

Angel and Lily padded over to where Mistcloud lay. "Do you want Lily and I to help you there, Mistcloud, right?" Angel asked. Mistcloud nodded, picking up Ripplekit and Shallowkit, nudging Cloudkit awake. Angel grabbed Lakekit and Streamkit, Lily grabbed Stormkit whilst Graystripe grabbed Featherkit and Stormkit before the group headed off, with Weaselpaw keeping a close eye on Cloudkit.

"You'll be an apprentice like me soon!" exclaimed the dark brown apprentice. Cloudkit nodded, excited to be an apprentice to make Fireheart, his uncle, proud of him.

"I'm really excited," the kit exclaimed. "I wanna make Fireheart proud of me."

"I'm sure he will be," Weaselpaw mewed, curling her tail around him. Cloudkit nodded before both fell silent, continuing on. As Weaselpaw looked up at the sky, pausing for a moment, she noticed how the clouds above were the kind of grey that would make any quarry rock proud, as if they were so pleased to echo the earth. All the grey, all that swirling water in the sky, a storm was bound to happen sooner rather than later. As Weaselpaw quickly caught up to the group the drops came steady and soft, falling from a sky of grey. They came together and yet as pioneers.

"We need to find somewhere to settle for the night!" Nightstream, who was at the front of the group with Angel, called over the rain from the front of the group. The others agreed as they tried to find somewhere to rest. They soon did, a little overhang with enough space underneath to shelter all of them together. Mistcloud was gently ushered to the very back of the overhang where she and the kits would be sheltered. Graystripe, Angel, and Lily followed, the three of them placing Lakekit, Streamkit, Stormkit, Featherkit and Stormkit beside her as Cloudkit curled up with them.

"You look exhausted," Graystripe murmured as he settled down next to the dusky brown she-cat.

"I feel exhausted," she replied as she rested her head on her paws. Graystripe mewed in sympathy, resting his tail on her flank before curling up on her other side, blocking anyone's view of the kits.

"Rest," he said, licking Mistcloud's forehead as he watched the dusky brown she-cat slowly fall asleep. Graystripe glanced to where Fireheart was staring at him, his forest green eyes seeming to glow in fierce jealousy. Attempting to ignore the fierce glare of the ginger tom, he rested his head down beside Mistcloud's and slowly fell asleep.