Poisonberry's Vengence

A Step Into the Sun

Hopekit in the Sun

The sky was eggshell blue, the air chillingly still as Hopekit peeked out into the sun for the first time. "Whoa..." A hawk circled high in the sky, stark against the pale atmosphere around it. 

Tail still shrouded in the darkness of the cave tunnel, she put one paw forward, sneezing as frosty air entered her nose too fast. Crouching so the hawk wouldn't see her, she crept forward, further and further out from her home, out onto a large ledge overhanging a dizzyingly long drop. I can see everything! Hopekit marvelled, her mismatched eyes searching everything she could possibly see. An ice-covered lake, the dark smudge of a burnt-out forest directly below the mountain, flat, open land far in the distance... It was glorious. Beautiful. 

"Hopekit!" She jumped, feeling as if she'd been poked with an icicle. Hawk-dung, it's Mother! "You're four moons old! Did I tell you you could be out here? It's dangerous!" Gentlebreeze chastised, hurrying her daughter towards the lengthy, dark entrance into the cave at the center of the mountain. Disappointed, she let her paws drag. A prick of anger and impatience flared in her chest at the fact that she'd have to wait for another two moons until she could be free from the stuffy cave. "Sorry." Gentlebreeze sighed, shaking her head wearily. "You'll have plenty of time to be outside when you're older, and when it's warmer. Wait a bit longer, love, okay?" Hopekit nodded, letting her mother usher her into the smothering darkness, that she was so familiar with.

                                                                           ~❆~

"Get Hopekit! She's got the stone!" Jaws aching, Hopekit stumble-ran across the underground camp, heaving a small, smooth stone in her stubby teeth. Kittish excitement rose in her chest as she gained more ground on Bluekit and Emeraldkit, running as if her life depended on it. "Hopekit! Here, pass!" Screechkit squealed, bouncing up and down in anticipation. But Hopekit hesitated. Screechkit was tiny. He could just barely hold a stick, but a hefty stone like this would be too difficult. We'll lose! 

But before she could decide, she felt paws collide with her back. Bluekit's scent flooded over her, and she tried to twist herself out of her brother's grasp, all the while keeping the stone tucked beneath her fluffy, cream-coloured belly. She felt it slipping, as another nursery kit on the opposite team, Emeraldkit, tried to fish it out. "Screechkit, grab it!" She called out, sliding the stone away. 

His eyes lit up, and he tried to grab the stone but kept dropping it, sending the smooth piece of gray rock clattering to the ground. Hopekit wriggled out of Bluekit's grasp, sprinting to help her little brother. But Emeraldkit got to him first. An only kit with a stunning, unusual pelt, endearing and persuasive, Emeraldkit was a Clan favourite. Combined with the fact that she had survived Greencough, a life-threatening disease, she was a little miracle in everyone's eyes, a moon older than Hopekit. But she was mean to Screechkit, and Hopekit strongly disliked her for that.

He let out a cry as she knocked him away, grabbing the stone. "Yeah! Go, Emeraldkit!" Bluekit cheered, and Hopekit glared at him. "Careful!" As Bluekit passed him, in pursuit of his teammate, she heard him taunt little Screechkit. "Better luck next time, Twiggykit!" 

Hurrying to his side, she helped him up. His eyes shone with a thin film of tears, and she felt a pang of unease and pity. He had been born alongside her and Bluekit, but he was always so small. There were two separate times when he had been on the brink of death, and he'd never really recovered. Now, he was the target practice for Emeraldkit. That spoiled, self-centred bully. 

"You okay?" He nodded, stifling a sniffle. "Yeah, but they won." Hopekit glanced over to the other team of Bluekit and Emeraldkit, seeing them gloating in the place where they were supposed to drop the stone to win. "It's fine. It's just a game. And you're not Twiggykit, you're Screechkit. Don't let her be mean to you, okay? And we weren't going to win anyway." He flicked his tail. "Thanks, Hopekit. I'm glad you're not like them." 

                                                                      ~❆~

Exhaustion swept over Hopekit, as she curled at Gentlebreeze's belly, Screechkit and Bluekit were both asleep next to her, but despite how tired she was, she couldn't sleep. The sensation of hunger dragged at the pits of her stomach, but she was used to it. Ever since she was a tiny kit, hunger had been as familiar as the stone walls of the cave, or her own brothers; it no longer bothered her very much. "Mother?" Gentlebreeze glanced sleepily down at her daughter, golden eyes shining in the dark. "Yes, Hopekit?" She blinked. "Emeraldkit was being mean earlier. She called Screechkit, Twiggykit." She dug her claws into the moss and rabbit pelt of the nest, as Gentlebreeze let out a quiet sigh. "Pay her no attention, my love. She's just..." Her mother hesitated for a moment, struggling to articulate what she was trying to say. "Some cats are just like that. She'll change over time, and she'll become a more reasonable cat; more mature." 

"I know. But she's just so awful!" 

"Sleep. You're letting your temper flare too high, Hopekit. Focus on other things." Still seething slightly, she sank down, covering her nose with her tail. Cats murmured in the ghostly dusk of the cave, eyes flickering like multicoloured stars under the pale light of the glowing lichen. Too weary to keep her eyes open any longer, she drifted away to sleep.

Hopekit dreamed...

A mountain ridge, dotted with pines, greeted Hopekit in her dream. The snow was soft, and the air was only chilly, not cold. With awe in her eyes, she gazed around the peaceful, still landscape, mouth agape. Then, from behind a drift, a cat padded into view. He was large and thick-furred, with a blueish-gray pelt, and blue eyes. His pelt was speckled with countless stars. Is that... He dipped his head, eyes warm. "Hello, Hopekit. I'm your father, Ashenwater." Delight bloomed like a flower in her chest. "Really? Hello! It's so great to meet you!" She leaned forward to greet him, but her paw went right through him. He wasn't solid, more like a cloud than a cat.

 "I have a simple message for you. It's random, and won't make sense now, but listen close." Hopekit's ears pricked as he spoke. "Be the best cat you can be, okay? Be kind, and listen to your Clanmates and kin. Be positive."

"Why are you telling me this? I'm only a kit. Did I do something wrong?" Ashenwater chuckled. "Of course not. Just..." A worried look flashed across his face briefly. He looked like he knew something terrible. "I just wanted to meet you. Give you some... Fatherly advice. Goodbye, Hopekit." With that, the great blue tom slipped away, seeming to melt into the landscape of snow. There were so many things she wanted to say and ask him, but she could feel her limbs regaining sense, her mind growing misty as she began to wake up. 

Pre-dawn light filtered through the fissures in the ceiling that cats had stuffed with ice long ago, as Hopekit awoke. Cats were just beginning to stir in their nests, and she suspected the dawn patrol would leave soon. Gentlebreeze's flanks rose and fell gently in slumber, Bluekit fidgetted as he dreamed, and Screechkit was curled into a tiny ball of cream tabby fur, but Hopekit was wide-awake. She'd always been an early riser. She thought about her strange dream. What does it mean? Why did he visit me, and not Mother or Bluekit, or Screechkit? Questions drifted through her head like snowflakes on a gale. I'll try to do what he said. She decided with a yawn. I'll be a good kit and a good apprentice, and someday, a good warrior. 

What do you guys think? PLEASE give me any constructive criticism, I want to make this book as good as it possibly can be. Feel free to predict where you think this book will go!

Oh, also, do you guys prefer longer chapters, (1200+) or shorter ones? (900-1000+)

Fun Fact: Hopekit has Heterochromia! That means she has one golden, and one amber eye.