Warrior Cats: Dawnheart's Journey

chapter fourteen

      It had been exactly three days since the death of Ravenkit. His heroic action had still left everyone devastated, but had also given them the determination they needed to get home. Dovefur's muzzle was still stained a light crimson which became lighter with every nervous lick she made. Crowkit however, refused to wash away any of the blood. Although a majority of it had been his own, the small splotches of his brother's was the only thing he had left.

"I'm hungry, Mother," Emberkit mumbled under her breath, not taking her eyes off the ground. 

Before Dawnheart could open her mouth, Crowkit sprang in front of her, his fur rising quickly. 

"Can't you be quiet like the rest of us? If you're hungry why don't you make yourself useful and kill your own prey, dear deputy?" He spat.

"Crowkit!" Dovefur hissed, whacking the kit on the back of the head.

He turned to face the she-cat, his blue eyes showing a cloudy pain. He opened his jaws to protest before bursting into tears and collapsing at her paws. Dawnheart rested her tail on her grieving son as she watched Spottedkit and Emberkit disappear into the bushes. 

"I should have let him be my deputy in our game!" He wailed. "He wouldn't have needed to prove himself!" 

Dewkit placed her paw on Crowkit and sternly said, "It was his choice, Crowkit, even if he had been your deputy he would have done the same thing. He didn't do it because of our stupid game."

She turned to face her weeping sibling.

"He did it to save his family."

Dewkit looked into the distance before completing her speech.

"StarClan needs him up there as much as WindClan will need up down here."

The sentence sent shivers down Dawnheart's spine as a smile formed across her face. Crowkit turned to his sister and buried is face into her pelt.

"Were you always so quiet because you were thinking of a speech, because if its true I don't think I could be mad," he laughed, making the air of tensity dissolve into a comforting hue. 

One by one, everyone began to laugh, each voice cheered out together. But as the four voices began to die down, Dawnheart could have sworn she heard a fifth one chortle along with them, despite Emberkit and Spottedkit not having yet returned. She closed her eyes and purred, only opening them to see her two children racing towards her. 

"Everyone! We found something!" Spottedkit gasped as everyone whipped around to see the commotion. 

"What is it? Are you hurt?" Dovefur babbled, unsheathing her claws as her tiny friend bolted to her.

Instead of responding, Spottedkit turned her head in the direction of five cats. Two were the size of Dawnheart's children while the other three were clearly adults. Dawnheart motioned her children behind her as new scents began to flood her nose. It was a smell she had not smelt in a long time, but soon she realized what it was.

"Dawnpaw?" A female voice called from the group. 

The two calico she-cats emanated from their separate clusters as they faced each other. 

"Is that really you?" She asked. 

The kits let out low mutters among themselves as they peered cautiously at the remaining group. Dovefur's jaw hung open as she glared at the bulky warriors; a group of cats she had not seen in what seemed like a thousand moons, let alone a clan far away from her own home. 

The relatives only stood embracing the appearance of each other, their eyes both a bright shade of green. Their pelts were both a clash of colors rarely seen by clan cats, although one was covered in claw marks and blood while the other seemed freshly groomed and clean.

"Yes, Mother!" Dawnheart weeped. "Yes Mother, I'm home!"