Warriors AU: Crow That Brings In The Night

Chapter 3

~Cricketkit~

    "Absolutely not!" Wigeonclaw snapped. "You can't. I won't allow it." Her eyes were blazing, and for a moment Cricketkit though about stepping down. Then a picture of her and her mother spending time together as medicine cats came into her mind.

   "Well, I won't allow you to boss me around! I make up my mind! Besides, you don't have to spend rest of your life in medicine cats den with my mother!" Cricketkit snarled at Wigeonclaw.

  The queen blinked few times, not used to kits talking back. Yet, she bared her fangs. "Listen, you ungrateful lizard. You are staying, wherever you like it or not." Wigeonclaw came closer to her, looming over Cricketkit.
   
     "Understood?"

      Cricketkit shook with fear. She's never seen the kind she-cat like this.
  
     "Yes. Understood."

        And in that moment, she meant it.

--

"CurrentClan, attack!"

  The simple call echoed in Cricketkit's bones. It jolted her awake instantly, making her shiver with pure terror.

   She stood up in panic. They're coming they're coming looking for me I need to hide where where nowhere to hide they're coming for me.
 
   Cricketkit pawed at Wigeonclaw. "Wigeonclaw." She hissed. "Someone's attacking us."

   The queen awoke the moment Cricketkit touched her. She laid there, only for the tiniest shard of second, listening to the sounds outside their nursery, before waking up her kits.

"I need you to be very quiet and still," The queen whispered. "Especially you." She glared at Lionkit. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say, then closed it again. Dapplekit trembled next to him, and Cricketkit felt a wave of pity surging throught her.

And as the yowls and screeches echoed around their camp, they waited, silent. Only when the sounds died down did they breathe freely. 

Then, just when Wigeonclaw was ready to run out of nursery, did Cricketkit hear something that froze her limbs.

"Bring them to me. All queens and kits, bring them to me. FireClan can't be strong if they don't have warriors."

"And if they struggle?" Another cat asked. There was a moment of silence.

"Then kill them."

Wigeonclaw turned to Cricketkit and her litter, her eyes sparkling with determination. "No," The she-cat said. "They won't find any queens or kits. Follow me." She swept her tail across the nests, disappearing throught the nursery wall. Dapplekit gasped, but Lionkit nudged her forward, following their mother's pawsteps.

Not throught the wall, Cricketkit thought. A hole in the wall. Cleverly hidden under their nests, hole big enough for a full-grown cat to come throught.

Once outside, Wigeonclaw clamped her yaws around Dapplekit's scuff, lifting her up. "Come on!" She mumbled. Lionkit and Cricketkit looked after each other, just for a second, fear visible in their eyes, before they followed, side by side, their moment of vulnerability hidden forever, for they knew the other one would never betray their fears.

--

The queen's eyes were wide with fear as she ran throught the forest, forgetting Lionkit and Cricketkit. Soon, they were alone, no sound to be heard. Cricketkit shivered. She never felt so lonely.

They were both silent. The she-cat felt Lionkit by her side. He was shivering, too, maybe even more than she was.

"We'll be okay," She managed to say. Her friend grimly nodded. 

"I hope so."

Cricktetkit was about to offer him more comfort when they heards the ferns around them rustle. Someone was coming.