Rebels: A Warriors Tail

Chapter 6

Featherkit holds her breath until Talon finally snorts and moves on to the next bush, nosing around it the same way he had the others. Relieved, both kits slowly let their breaths out and looked at each other. Featherkit stifles a purr at the completely leaf covered Snowkit and notices that her flank was not completely covered anymore, but thanks to her tortoiseshell coat pattern, they still hadn't been found out.

Suddenly feeling thankful for the pelt color her Clanmates seem to despise, she looks over at Snowkit and thanks StarClan yet again that he remained completely covered so no cat could recognize his light grey and white coat under it.

Snowkit doesn't seem to notice this benefit and slowly started to shake them off, trying to not make a sound. Featherkit shook her head at him and gestured towards Talon with a sharp flick of her muzzle and he stopped, staring at the ground and looking absolutely miserable. The two remained still and silent as Talon made his way to the next bush, growling and obviously getting quite frustrated, Moonrunner and the white-headed cat still yowling at each other in the near distance.

One of the leaves that used to be over Snowkit's head starts tickling his nose from where it now rests and, before he can stop it, it causes him to sneeze. Talon growls and spins immediately, rushing to the sound, perfectly pinpointing them now. Featherkit launches out of her spot and sits in front of Snowkit, pushing him in the direction Moonrunner pointed out earlier.

"Run Snowkit," she yowled, no longer caring that the mean cat could hear them. "Go now!"

As he obeys and sprints off, Featherkit turns and scratches the approaching tom's nose before running after him, easily catching up and nosing him onto a rabbit trail through the trees. They run side by side, both small enough to fit perfectly in the small rabbit-sized path. Talon yowls and puts his paw to his nose before growling and running after them.

"That was a mistake! Now you're doubly dead and I'll make sure you suffer!!" the chocolate tom growls, crashing through the branches after them. The much larger tom has a hard time following them as he does not fit through the rabbit's trail and is forced to weave around bushes and over trees rather than going the faster path.

The kits continue running long after the crashing sounds Talon is making as he tries to follow them. Eventually, the pair gets so far ahead that they hadn't heard the tom for quite a while and Snowkit starts to slow to a stop, Featherkit slowing beside him, thankful for the chance to catch her breath.

"That was close," Snowkit mewed, back to his cheery self already. "I thought we were crowfood, but I guess we showed him. You were so brave, scratching that tom like that! I would never have thought to do anything like that!"

Featherkit licks her chest fur in embarrassment. "I just wanted you to have time to get away too. I don't know what I would do without you." She nudges his shoulder with her own. "You are my brother after all. I'll always protect you."

"But still," he mewed, bouncing around her. "It was so brave!"

Featherkit shook her head and purred at her brother's excitement even in such a perilous situation and crouched down to launch herself at him. Snowkit, oblivious to the imminent attack, stopped bouncing and started listening to the breeze in the trees. Before he could say anything, Featherkit pounced on him and rolled him over while purring happily, oblivious to the crashing through the trees until it had gotten just over a tree's length away.

Talon yowled in victory as he heard the kit's tussle and started running harder, the crashing getting closer and closer. Snowkit and Featherkit froze for several heartbeats before clumsily trying to scramble apart. Featherkit spins to face the trees they came from, eyes wide in panic, before spinning on her tail and running a random direction, bumping into Snowkit's shoulder and leading the way through the bushes before finding the rabbit's trail again and sprinting along it, not daring to look back.