Goldstar's past

Chapter 2: "'What happened to my father?'"

       "Goldkit." Darkkit hissed in the dim light of the nursery.

"What, Darkkit? It's almost moonhigh." Goldkit yawned, blinking the sleep from her eyes.

"I need to talk to you..." Darkkit whispered. Goldkit lazily gave her soft ginger fur a few licks then squeezed out of the nursery with Darkkit.

"What is it?" Goldkit mewed, while looking around for other cats around.

"I think I want to be a medicine cat." Darkkit mewed confidently.

"Really?" Goldkit blinked in surprise. Medicine cats are highly respected. They get to share tongues with Starclan. With all of the knowledge they have to learn, she was surprised their heads didn't explode. Also, medicine cats can't have kits. It was against the warrior code. Does Darkkit know she can't have a family? She thought.

"Yeah, what do you think?" Darkkit meowed, anxiously. She was shifting from one paw to the next.

"If you think that is what you need to do in life, then I won't try to stop you." Goldkit mewed encouragingly. She thought it was great that Darkkit wanted to be a medicine cat.

"Thanks, Goldkit."  Darkkit sighed with relief.

"What are you two doing out here?" A hiss from the nursery made Darkkit and Goldkit jump.  Goldkit looked over, and Darkkit's mother, Dawnflower, was standing there.

"Well..." Darkkit looked down at her paws. She didn't like getting in trouble. She was kind of a "goodie-four-paws."

"We needed some fresh air," Goldkit lied, althought she regretted it, she needed to save Darkkit. "It's kind of stuffy in there."

Dawnflower studied the kits. She nodded and flicked her tail. "Well, come back inside. You two are going to catch a cold!" Dawnflower spun around and squeezed back into the nursery. Goldkit looked at Darkkit, who was blinking her thanks to her. Darkkit slipped inside the nursery. Goldkit followed. She laid down beside her brother and fell asleep almost instantly.

     She began to dream. Goldkit was in a lush forest, full of prey scents. But, something wasn't right with this forest. Then, out of no where, a cat with star-lined fur shot out from a bush and crashed into Goldkit. With a squeal, Goldkit tumbled over onto the soft grass.

"Watch it!" The cat hissed. "Oh, sorry, Goldkit!" The cat dipped its head and padded back into the forest. Goldkit was surprised that the cat had known her name. Then she realized that she must be in Starclan hunting grounds.

"Hello, Goldkit." A cream colored tom with black stripes with stars outlining his fur padded toward her. She took a step backward and the tom laughed. "Don't be scared."

"Who are you? A-am I sharing tongues with Starclan? Will I have to be a medicine cat?" Goldkit nervously rambled. She didn't know this cat, but he obviously knew a lot about her.

"Of the sorts, you kind of are sharing tongues with us. And no, you don't have to. Only if you want to darling." He purred. There was something about him that was comfortable. "How's your mother?" The question came out of no where and surprised Goldkit. She wondered why this tom was so interested with her mother.

"She's good..." Goldkit scuffled her paws. She felt like she was supposed to know who this tom was, but she didn't. His green eyes gleamed with happiness. The tom's green eyes reminded her of... Graykit! She thought.

"That's great. It is so good to finally talk to you." The tom mewed, his voice thick with joy.

"You still haven't answered this question..." Goldkit meowed, "Who are you?"

The tom chuckled a bit, then looked at Goldkit, "Well, I'm your father. Hawkstripe."

Goldkit gasped, "My father? You're dead!" She couldn't believe it. She never really paid attention to the fact that she didn't have a father. Guilt swept over her like a wave. She hadn't been think of Hawkstripe at all! She didn't even bother to ask!

"Yes, I'm dead." Hawkstripe sighed.

"What happened?" Goldkit mewed. She needed to know what happened.

"I can't tell you now." He purred. Then he started to fade away. "I love you sweetie. Tell no one of this." Then he was gone.

"Wait!" Goldkit squeaked as she jerked awake. Graykit jumped up, startled, and then he blinked.

"Gosh, Goldkit, were you getting eaten by a badger or something? I bet you scared all of the prey away!" He spat. Graykit was always grouchy when he first woke up. Goldkit sat there, breathing like she had ran from here all the way around the territory and back. Saphirestar licked Goldkit's bristled fur.

"Was it a nightmare? Do you want to talk about it?" She mewed.

Goldkit thought to herself. She knew that this was the perfect opportunity to ask about her father.

"What happened to Hawk- I mean our father?" She mewed quietly. Saphirestar stiffened. She started to tremble.

"P-please go outside of the n-nursery and play..." Saphirestar whispered.  Dawnflower looked up and her eyes widened.

"Come on, lets all go outside." Dawnflower shook her head at Goldkit, signaling not to argue. She quickly scrambled out of the nursery.

"What did you do?" Dawnflower hissed.

"N-nothing. I just asked about father..." Goldkit mewed. She honestly didn't know what she did!

"Your father?" Dawnflower's eyes widened. "Don't ask your mother about him... She-"

"Goldkit has the right to know what happened." Frostpelt interrupted.

"But-"

"No 'buts'. She can handle it."

Dawnflower sighed. Frostpelt padded closer to Goldkit and Graykit, who had just sat beside Goldkit.

"Your father was brave... He... He fought off a badger that attacked us while we were making The Journey." Frostpelt mewed, her voice thick with grief. She was looking at something Goldkit couldn't see. "The badger put up quite a fight..."

"If I was there, the badger wouldn't be alive!" Graykit puffed out his chest. Frostpelt nodded, slightly amused, but she still looked like she lost her whole clan to greencough.

"As I was saying... Hawkstripe, your father, had a lot of wounds..." Frostpelt's eyes started to tear up, "I couldn't save him... I couldn't..." She stopped talking and tears were streaming down her face. Goldkit's sight blurred as tears made their way out of her eyes. She looked over at Graykit, who was looking down at his paw, with tears dripping down from his face. He clutched the grass angrily, then relaxed. He looked up at Goldkit, his face tear-stained. Goldkit rest her muzzle on his shoulder, and he buried his muzzle in her neck fur. Their father had died... protect them.

Would he still be alive right now if Graykit and I weren't alive? She thought. Goldkit knew that she was the reason her father was dead.