eternal: hyacinth || warrior cats

chapter 1

viperkit

~~~

SINCE THE MOMENT VIPERKIT OPENED HIS EYES, a pair of cold blue ones had looked back at him. It was an icy look that ShadowClan's medicine cat, Clearfrost, produced often. 

Clearfrost wasn't a touchy feely cat. That had been made abundantly clear when he'd tried snuggling into her fur one night and she, in nicer terms, kicked him away. Since then, she'd chosen to sleep in the medicine den instead, leaving the three kits to spend the nights by themselves.

Well, they weren't entirely alone. Featherflight and her two kits, Frozenkit and Sweetkit, were also there, but Featherflight wasn't great at hiding her emotions, so her distrust in Clearfrost's parenting skills was obvious. She looked at Viperkit, Snakekit, and Mintkit as if they were savages of some sort. 

Perhaps because of that, she had a blatant favoritism toward her own kits. She also didn't hide that very well.

"I'm bored." Snakekit's voice woke Viperkit up one early, greenleaf morning, his muzzle right next to Viperkit's ear. Dawn had just arrived, and chill breezes from the night were still passing into the nursery.

Viperkit shivered as his jaws parted into a yawn. "Go back to sleep, then."

"I can't, I'm hungry," Snakekit responded in protest. "C'mon, Viperkit, let's go explore!"

"How do you have the energy to explore if you're hungry?" the gray tabby tom-kit grumbled sleepily, turning away from his brother. 

Snakekit audibly groaned. "Because, if I'm exploring, it'll take my mind off of eating! Please, Viperkit?" 

Viperkit found the energy to peel open his eyes, looking around the den. Mintkit was still sound asleep in the nest, her belly rising and falling slowly. Lucky her.

"Fine, fine," Viperkit grumbled, knowing his brother wasn't going to give up, "we can go explore, as long as we're back before everyone wakes up." He didn't want to get in trouble. Again.

"Deal," Snakekit chirped, his tail swishing happily. As the two tom-kits climbed out of their nest and headed for the entrance, they heard a soft voice call after them.

"Hey, where are you two going?"

Turning around, Viperkit spotted Frozenkit wiggle out from Featherflight's nest carefully, before bounding over to the toms. Her amber eyes looked golden under the dawn light, and her white fur was shining. Curiosity deepened her gaze.

Frozenkit was okay. Her attitude differed from her mother and sister's when it came to Viperkit and his littermates. She would often play-fight with the three before Featherflight ushered her away.

"We're going on an exploration," Snakekit replied quickly, puffing out his chest. "Want to join us?"

Frozenkit pondered it. "Sure, why not," she decided at last, slipping out of the nursery. "My mom won't be awake for hours."

Snakekit seemed to beam at the white she-kit's words, following after her eagerly. Viperkit passed him an amused look before ducking out after the two; it was quite clear to him that his brother had a crush on Frozenkit. He was just waiting for Snakekit to admit that.

As soon as he came out of the nursery, he felt Frozenkit's paw snag at his scruff. "Quickly, over here," the she-kit whispered, dragging Viperkit and Snakekit behind a bush.

"What's wrong?" Viperkit mewed quietly, shifting his weight from one paw to another. "Why are we hiding?"

Frozenkit nodded at the camp entrance. "Brooklight's guarding the exit," she responded, eyes fixed on the brown-furred warrior. "We're never going to get past her."

"Don't worry, I'll distract her," Snakekit offered bravely, snarling and swiping out a paw for demonstration. 

That's never going to work, Viperkit thought, his whiskers twitching with poorly hidden laughter, causing Snakekit to shoot him a small glare. Trying to show off to Frozenkit's made him a bit of a fool. 

"Or," Viperkit meowed, "we could sneak through the dirt-tunnel."

Frozenkit's ears stood up. "Yes, that could work." 

Snakekit shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm a little doubtful." He ruffled his fur, clearly trying to play it cool. "But I suppose we could try it out."

Frozenkit led the way, and the two tom-kits trailed after her. Thankfully, Brooklight's gaze was pinned outside the camp, searching for any RiverClan warriors trying to enter, rather than ShadowClan kits trying to escape.

Just as the three were about to reach the dirt-tunnel, a loud yawn made the kits freeze in their steps, before collecting their senses and leaping into the nearest bramble bush to hide.

Shadestrike padded out of the warriors den, stretching as he entered the morning air. "Ugh, I can't believe Waspstrike put me on dawn patrol."

"It was your turn," Briarlight pointed out as she followed him, her tortoiseshell fur ruffled from the night's sleep. "Plus, Waspstrike's going on the patrol himself."

Next out was indeed Waspstrike, ShadowClan's deputy, jaw parted in his own yawn. "Where's Foxstorm? Is he out yet?"

At the mention of Foxstorm, Viperkit felt Snakekit tense up next to him. He knew how much Snakekit looked up to Foxstorm, seeing the ginger tom was the most respected warrior in the Clan after Ivorystar. In fact, Viperkit would bet that the only reason Foxstorm wasn't deputy was because when Ivorystar was choosing one, Foxstorm was still only Foxpaw.

Foxstorm's presence soon graced the entrance moments later, his ginger pelt gleaming in the sunlight. "I'm here, I'm here. Come on, let's go, otherwise those WindClan cats will take the lack of scent as an invitation into our territory."

"He's so cool," Snakekit whispered, green eyes laden with admiration, watching Foxstorm give Brooklight a brisk nod as he passed. "I hope I get him as my mentor."

"Mom said he's a very good warrior," Frozenkit meowed, flicking her ears. "But she also said he's kinda stuck up."

Snakekit snorted. "With his skills, who wouldn't be?"

"True," Frozenkit agreed. "Now, are we exploring or what?"

Viperkit held his breath as they crawled through the dirt-tunnel. Although it had been his idea, he couldn't be more relieved to reach the other side, the fresh pine scent bathing his tongue once more. "Where to now?"

"I want to visit the Carrionplace," Snakekit mewed. "I heard there's a lot of cool stuff there."

Viperkit gave his brother a pointed look. "No you didn't. You just heard Foxstorm saying that it was rat-infested."

"Well, he described it as cool," Snakekit defended, twitching his pelt.

"Clearfrost described it as a place with a lot of diseases, and should be avoided at all costs," Viperkit pointed out.

Snakekit flicked his tail, turning coolly to Frozenkit. "You're the tiebreaker, then."

Frozenkit shrugged. "I don't really care where we go, I'm okay with anything."

"In that case, to the Carrionplace," Snakekit decreed, padding forward with an air of authority.

Mousebrain, Viperkit thought affectionately, following him. He just wants to fight a giant rat and show off to Frozenkit.

Speaking of which, the white she-cat had fallen into step with Viperkit, padding side by side with the gray tom. "Does he know where the Carrionplace is?" she mewed softly.

"Nope," Viperkit responded. "But hey, either way, it'll certainly be an adventure."