Battlecats - The Path to the Trees

Chapter 12

Honeykit purred gratefully in the sunlight. Three phases had come and gone very quickly. The she-kit was seated in the clearing, enjoying the rays of sunshine that poured through the pine needles. She thought about how leaf-color was just around the corner, when the forest's colors would be vibrantly enhanced, and the pod would be covered in a thin layer of frost.

Honeykit gazed around the clearing, watching the battlecats as they worked around the podgrounds. Duckfeather and Ferretfoot, who turned a battlecat two phases ago, were tightening the brambles around the barrier and dens with Talonscratch and Willowknot.

She would be a battlekit in less than a phase, and she could feel anticipation thrilling her paws. They itched to be out there, walking the forest and catching prey like a DarkPod battlecat.

Honeykit lifted her head to the sound of thrumming pawsteps only to see Birchkit padding toward her, carrying a fat mole. He muffled past the prey.

"Hungry? It's your favorite!" He meowed. Honeykit shook her head and looked down again. She was too excited to eat. The longing to be out in the forest hunting prey and fighting off invading battlecats made her paws thrum harder. Her brother shrugged, laying the mole down in front of her for later. He then laid down beside her and lapped her golden pelt with gentle strokes. Honeykit purred with gratitude. When her pelt was fully cleansed, her hunger came almost instantly. She'd not noticed until then.

She gazed at the mole that lay in front of her before she took a bite, savoring its tasty juices. She purred heavily. Birchkit chuckled at her. "I knew you were hungry, you starved little she-cat," He purred.

"You've always known me better than myself," She purred in response. The two kits shared a loving look between each other when suddenly, a terrifying battle cry led everyone's eyes to the entrance. Honeykit's fur bristled. The drumming of paws made her jump to her own and unsheathe her claws, ready for battle. Beside her, Brichkit's green eyes were wide with fear.

"Fallenheart! Take it to the camp!" An unfamiliar voice yowled. Then cats began to flood through the entrance of their podgrounds and an attack ensued. Leading them was a large golden tom with a mane of fur around his neck much like a lion. Honeykit watched as the large cat glanced around the clearing before spotting Grass Spirit's den and making headway for it. Honeykit bristled at that. How dare he try and attack their leader! Honeykit thought about racing through the battling cats to confront the tom but something was tugging on her tail. She whipped her head around to face Birchkit, his eyes wide with terror. Understanding her brother's fear, she relented and Honeykit turned tail and fled to the suckle den, Birchkit close on her tail. Mistyfall was waiting for them at the entrance, her fur bushed out to make her look twice her size. She quickly shooed the both of them inside before she stood guard in front of the suckle den.

Suddenly, there was caterwauling buzzing within the podgrounds. Between the splayed legs of Mistyfall, both Honeykit and Birchkit could see Ferretfoot gripped in battle with two other battlecats, an orange tom and a gray tabby she-cat. Ferretfoot had the tom by the tail and the she-cat he was kicking with his powerful hindlegs, sending her reeling into the brambles encasing the podgrounds. She gave a yowl of pain. Ooh, that's gotta hurt! Honeykit winced.

Duckfeather and Dreamcloud were striking a brown tom with white splotches from side-to-side with unsheathed claws like a game of pine prey. They worked in sync with each other as they continued to batter the tom's head. Then, another yowl rang out around the podgrounds but the cats weren't leaving. What felt like an instant later, Honeykit saw more cats flooding into the podgrounds, pushing her podmates back.

Shadowsneak hissed into a large gray tom's face that had him pinned to a tree root. He whipped his black paw around the tom's neck and bit into his left shoulder. The tom gave an agonized yowl and let go of Shadowsneak, reeling backward away from the DarkPod battlecat. But the gray tom didn't waver from his reeling. As soon as he regained his composure, a dark, violent anger became visible in his eyes and he tackled Shadowsneak into the ground, clawing furiously at his belly fur. Honeykit gasped, realizing her podmate was in serious danger, but she could do nothing for him. Honeykit dug her claws into the sandy floor of the den. If only I had been made a battlekit sooner! She thought.