Bluejay's Silence

Chapter 1

It was a warm day at the beginning of Newleaf when Stormfly and Nettletail of WillowClan became parents. She had given birth to 3 kits while Nettletail was on patrol and he ran straight back to camp the moment he heard the news.

"Stormfly! Are you alright? Are the kits alright? Are-" Nettletail had burst into the nursery and was spitting out his words, breathing hard.

"Calm down, Nettletail." Barkwing half snapped at the tom as she entered the nursery to check on the queen, "She's just fine, I know how to do my job."

"There's nothing to worry about. They're just fine." She assured her mate as she curled her body around her newborns as Barkwing left the nursery.

"Thank StarClan." He let out a long sigh of relief, ignoring the medicine cats comment. He stepped gently over to Stormfly to look at his kits. They were all squirming and mewling at the new scent of their father and snuggled further into Stormfly's grey fur.

"I was waiting for you so we could name them together." She said with excitement.

"Ah of course, what were your ideas?" He asked her.

"Well, I thought Mintkit would suit the little grey she-cat over here." She pointed to the kit with her tail.

"I like that name. And what about Sparkkit for the ginger one there?" He meowed, "She'll be a strong one."

"That's a tom dear, and yes I think it fits him well." She meowed, trying not to laugh at her mates embarrassment, "And for the final kit, let's name her Bluekit."

"Nice and simple, I like it." Nettletail said with a purr.

Two heads poked into the nursery, a pair of amber eyes were staring at the newborn kits.

"Hello Doepaw, Darkpaw." Stormfly smiled at the siblings.

"This is Sparkkit, Mintkit and Bluekit." Nettletail introduced his apprentice to his kits.

"Their names are great!" Doepaw meowed as she looked closer, the tan she-cat was grinning with excitement about the new additions.

"I don't know, Bluekit is a bit plain don't you think?" Darkpaw said but quickly looked away from Nettletail's glare.

"Don't mind them, they're perfect names." His mate reassured him.

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A few days had passed, and Sparkkit had opened his eyes, soon followed by Mintkit and Bluekit.

"Bluekit, Mintkit let's play!" Sparkkit mewed as he put his tiny paw on a mossball that Doepaw had brought them.

Stormfly watched with pride as her kits patted the mossball and pounced on each other. But she noticed something... odd about Bluekit. She wouldn't cry out in joy or growl at her siblings when they got too rough. She was, completely silent.

"Bluekit, could you come over here please?" She called her kit over. She pieced her ears and ran over to her mother, tilting her head on the side.

"Let's go and see Barkwing and Rabbitpaw, what do you think?" She whispered to Bluekit so her siblings wouldn't hear.

She looked over at Sparkkit and Mintkit but nodded and followed Stormfly into the medicine cats den.

The den was a good size, there was a lots of nests on the ground, one of which had Sourheart curled up on top. Rabbitpaw was sorting herbs in the corner, arranging piles of good herbs and dried up useless ones. He looked up to see Stormfly and Bluekit entering the den and walked over to greet them.

"Hello Stormfly." He meowed, "What can I do for you? Does little Bluekit have a thorn in her paw?"

"Unfortunately not. I think she's mute, can you check for me?" She said, her eyes filled with worry.

"Mute? That sounds very serious. I'm not trained enough to check for something like that but Barkwing will be back soon, I'll examine her so I have something when she returns."

He checked inside her mouth and put a paw to the kits neck. Barkwing soon entered the den, her mouth was full of burdock root and catmint.

"Oh, hello Stormfly. Rabbitpaw, can you give Sourheart some catmint for his cough?" She asked her apprentice. He picked up some of the herb and walked over to the elder, "Now, what seems to be the problem?"

She filled Barkwing in on what she told Rabbitpaw.

She checked Bluekit's mouth and neck, before asking the kit to speak, to no avail.

"I can't be positive, since it's hard to diagnose an inside disability from the outside, but Bluekit is mute." Barkwing informed Stormfly. She looked down at the blue-gray she-kit, feeling hollow as Bluekit pounced on a stray leaf.

"But- can she still be a warrior?" She asked, her voice filled with worry.

"I don't see why not, but it won't be easy- she'll have to have someone with her all the time, she can't be alone without a voice to cry for help with." She meowed to the queen, "I'm sorry."

Stormfly picked up Bluekit by her scruff and was leaving the medicine cats den when Grassfoot, Darkpaw, Lizardtail, Frogleg and Nettletail entered the camp. Her mate's eyes lit up as he spotted Stormfly carrying Bluekit and walked over, slowing when he saw the look on her face.

"What's wrong?" He asked her as she put the kit down, "Did something happen to Bluekit?"

"Nettletail..." She said slowly, "Bluekit is mute."

A long silence stretched throughout the camp.

"What do you mean? She can't be mute, there's no way!" He said, raising his voice.

"Well she is, and there's nothing we can do but continue on as normal." She newer quietly, lowering her head slightly at Nettletail's tone of voice.

"No, this can't be right. If she's mute, then she cant be my kit! You must've cheated on me!" He was yelling now. Bluekit let out a small help and hid behind her mother. His face softened at the kits reaction, but still glared at Stormfly.

"How dare you- she's your daughter!" She snapped, "I would never cheat on you and you should know that better than anyone else!"

Cloverstar exited her den, walked over to the pair.

"Enough!" She yowled, making both cats flinch, "Do not quarrel over your kit and her muteness."

"But-"

"Shut your mouth Nettletail!" She growled as the tom lowered his head, "That's enough."