Serval didn't even look at her daughter, even as Lucy pleaded for her to remove the chewed-up plants that felt were burning her skin. The lime-green plant juices melted onto the ground from her torn paws.
Blackbird entered the room, his face in shock once he saw his eldest daughter. "What happened to you, Lucy?"
Lucy wasn't sure what she wanted to tell him. He wasn't so serious with her, but quick lies came so easy to her. Serval interrupted her thoughts. "She was in that blasted tree again."
Lucy shook her head. "It was a jackdaw." It wasn't necessarily a lie. There had been a jackdaw.
Blackbird grimaced. "You know better than to mess with those smart birds."
"I didn't see it!" Lucy interjected. "It just attacked me. I swear!"
Serval shook her head and muttered something under her breath. Blackbird sat down and sighed. "Lucy, I'm going to have to restrict you from leaving camp."
The brown kit gasped. "But me and Luna-"
"I can't risk you getting hurt, Lucy!" Blackbird commanded. Lucy shrunk in her fur. "You need to learn better, and keeping you under our paws is the only way for now."
Lucy whined. "Fine...."
Serval spat out bitter fluid. "You have to lay down for a while until those plants dry."
Lucy didn't want to argue. She slumped down into her nest and closed her eyes halfway. Serval parted from the den, Blackbird following her and talking to his mate too quietly to be heard by the kit.
Luna had been hiding by the entrance of the den and waited for her parents to leave until she padded inside. Lucy looked up to see who it was. "Told you it was a jackdaw," Luna teased. Lucy swiped at her sister but winced in pain. Luna licked her forehead. "Let's not do that until you're better."
"Thank you."
"I heard our uncle Soren talking about Lencho on our territory again."
Lucy sat her head up to watch her sister. "I thought we shared our land with Lencho."
Luna shrugged. "Part of it."
"Are they gonna attack?"
"I hope not. But even if they do, we could totally kick their tails." Luna illustrated by hunching over in a pretend pounce.
"Yeah! Ouch!" Lucy had jumped up and stretched her wounds that had grown stable with the plant juice. She plopped onto her stomach. "Maybe not right now."
Luna laughed. "I could protect you." She hopped around the den. "When you're chief, I'm gonna be your best guard."
Lucy clenched her nose. "I don't need a guard." Luna gave her a glance and padded over, pressing a paw to her sister's sore side. "Youch! Luna! Why would you do that?"
Her younger sister laughed as Serval appeared in the entrance, frustration and annoyance plastered on her face. "What's going on?" the mother demanded. Luna froze while Lucy hid her muzzle in her paws. "What are you doing in here, Luna. Are you trying to hinder your sister's health?"
Luna shrunk into her fur. "No, mom. Sorry, I'll leave right now." Before anyone could blink, Luna took off, black fur fluttering in the air.
"Wh- Luna!" Serval flashed her gaze from kit to kit, hastily deciding who to go after. Her mind was made up when she dashed out of the den, demanding for the black kit to return to her.
Lucy sighed and rested her head in her plant-stained paws. The smell was terrible and made her dizzy, but she was too frustrated to care. She was eventually going to face her mother's wrath, and she wanted to save her energy.
Blackbird came in with a grim look on his face. "You were supposed to keep those in place." Lucy glanced at herself. Half-dried plants were crushed and smeared all over her fur and the floor and beneath her belly. Her wounds were exposed and red from irritation. "Help me clean those up."
Lucy pouted but didn't disobey. She got up painfully and began to scoop up the plants in her mouth. Her father cleaned them from her fur and reapplied new juices. They stung, but not as badly as the first time. Lucy lied down.
"Don't move so much this time. I want you to get better," Blackbird ordered. Lucy nodded and went to sleep. Out of view, the chief sighed harshly. He wasn't too optimistic to deal with Lencho.
