Bluejay's Silence

Chapter 2

A few moons had passed, and it was becoming more and more obvious- Nettletail and Stormfly's close bond had been broken. They never shared prey, or even spoke to each other anymore. By now, the whole clan knew of the she-kits disability, and there were mixed reactions. Many worried about her future duties, others sympathised and offered to help. Few avoided the she-kit as if her muteness was contagious.

"Stormfly, how about I watch the kits and you and Spiderfang go and hunt?" Heartfire meowed.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Her voice was quiet and she headed towards her friend who was waiting by the entrance.

"Heartfire, why is Stormfly so sad?" Mintkit mewed to the ginger she-cat. Sparkkit and Bluekit sat on each side of their sister and listened.

"Well, your father couldn't handle your sister being different from you two, so he assumed that your mother had been with someone else, and that you were not his kits. But Nettletail is overreacting, there's nothing wrong with Bluekit, she's still your sibling and always will be." Heartfire explained to them, resting her head on her chin.

Bluekit felt a pang of sadness, so it was her fault! She tried not to think about it, but it clouded her thoughts.

"Can we go play?" Sparkkit asked, and rushed out followed by his siblings when she nodded.

"Okay, let's play warriors!" Mintkit mewed, "I'll be the warrior and you guys can be the mice."

"Ok but I want to be the warrior next."
Sparkkit said.

Bluekit followed Sparkkit as they prepared to start the game. Mintkit bolted forward, running towards the pair. They ran from her, barely dodging Grassfoot as he left the warriors den.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Larkfern called from the elders den. They skidded to a halt, Bluekit falling over her brother. They padded into the elders den as the elder motioned for them to come forward, preparing for Larkfern to scold them.

"You're disrupting the clan, next time just play in a corner or something." She meowed, she sounded too tired to properly scold us but they simply nodded to avoid any more trouble.

"Can you bring me a mouse?" Viperstrike meowed from the back corner. She was curled up next to Sunpaw, a former apprentice who retired being a warrior after crippling his back leg.

Bluekit nodded and headed for the pile, grabbing a plump mouse in her jaws. Before she got to the elders den where Viperstrike was waiting, a ginger paw blocked her path.

"Where do you think you're taking that prey?" She heard Nettletail's cold meow and lowered her head.

"Oh leave the kit alone Nettletail!" Heartfire growled as she pushed him out of the way. Bluekit quickly went into the elders den, dropping off the mouse for Viperstrike.

"Thank you dear." She said, licking the top of Bluekit's head with gratitude. She hurried off to where Heartfire and her litter mates were waiting and curled into Heartfire's fur.

"Oh don't let him worry you, dear." She reassured the kit.

"Wow, he sure is grumpy." Frogleg mumbled as he walked over.

"I know, it's ridiculous." Heartfire said as she rolled her eyes in annoyance at the ginger tom's behaviour, "I can't stand it."

'This isn't fair, why is it only me and not Mintkit or Sparkkit?' Bluekit thought as she avoided his burning gaze.

Stormfly soon returned from hunting with a mouse and a shrew in her jaws. Spiderfang followed, carrying a pigeon.

"How was your hunt?" Darkpaw called to his mother.

"It was great, feels like forever since we've hunted together." Spiderfang purred.

"Indeed." Stormfly meowed as her kits rushed towards her and mewed in excitement, "Here, I brought you three a mouse and a shrew to share between you."

"Shrew is my favourite!" Sparkkit mewed, grabbing the prey with his jaws.

Bluekit settled down to share the mouse with Mintkit, who was almost silent as she bit into it.

'It feels awkward, I wish she would talk to me but it's not like I could respond.' Bluekit thought and let Mintkit finish the prey off and trotted into the nursery to follow Stormfly.

"What's the matter dear, not hungry?" She meowed. Bluekit nodded and curled up beside Stormfly and soon dozed off, dreaming of a silver she-cat on the High Tree.