Darksong's Struggle

Chapter 3

The afternoon sun warmed Darkkit's back, and he squinted against the glow. Brindlekit and Webkit were chasing a mossball around, playfully rolling around on the ground. Darkkit's paws itched to play with them, but every time he thought about it, the memory of Willowspeck's yowl and Brindlekit's glare played in his mind, and he shuddered at the thought. Brindlekit had looked like he hated him... he didn't want that again.

Sloeleap and Ravendust were laying outside the elders den; a large clump of ferns next to a boulder that they could sun on. They seemed pleased that the stress of being a warrior was lifted off their shoulders, and now they could rest in their new den.

The afternoon hunting patrol returned a bit later, their jaws laden with prey. Darkkit's mouth watered, and he wished he had eaten with Brindlekit when he could. Perhaps he could go share with the new elders? Is that disrespectful? Were kits meant to be sharing prey with older cats? Darkkit didn't want to disrespect anyone.

He blinked as a moss-ball sailed past him, and he batted it back to Brindlekit and Webkit with his left forepaw. He was so bored, and he could feel Willowspeck watching him like a hawk. He groaned... what could he do?

His ears pricked as voices sounded nearby, and the dawn patrol- consisting of Mossfur, Pineflower, Shortheart, and Jaypaw- stormed through the thorn tunnel. "They did it again!" Mossfur yowled.

Eyes were on them instantly, and Applemask, who had started his reign as deputy by sending out the patrol, spoke up. "Who did?"

"ShadowClan," Pineflower snarled. Darkkit's father sounded angry, and his eyes blazed with outrage. "They keep forgetting the moorland next to the thunderpath is ours. And WindClan isn't squeaky clean, either," He added with a flick of his tail. "They've started to cross the thunderpath to hunt near the mothermouth! The Clans swore that was our territory, moons ago, when the twolegs drove us out!"

His yowl was met with caterwauls of agreement. Darkkit sensed Pricklekit and Quickkit wailing at the noise, and Willowspeck ducked inside to comfort them.

Birchpaw bounded across the clearing towards her ginger-pelted sister. "Did they really?"

"Yes," Jaypaw hissed. "Scent markers, all over!"

"Did they hunt?"

Jaypaw flicked her tail. "I couldn't tell. ShadowClan scent covered all of the prey scent."

"They must've hunted," Shortheart was telling Applemask. "They must be scared of the prey shortage in the forest, so they've decided to steal from us!"

"Why us?" Crookedcloud spoke up as she exited the nursery, her gray fur bristling. "Why not ThunderClan or WindClan? Leaf-fall has hardly begun, anyways!" She looked at the fresh-kill pile, still plentiful with birds and squirrels. "Do you really think the Clans need any more prey right now?"

Mossfur nodded aggressively, clearly agreeing with Crookedcloud's statement. "Exactly!" The smoky black she-cat yowled. "They must be worried about the coming leaf-bare, so they've decided to steal from us."

"And what about WindClan?" Pineflower hissed.  "They've got the whole moor to hunt."

Meanwhile, Echostar had emerged from the leaders' den with a flick of his tail. "Enough!" He snapped. The cats instantly quited down and turned to look at their lead. "The land around mothermouth isn't much us, since it's too cold to shelter the prey. The WindClan cats will soon learn that." He raked his warriors with a warning glare. "As for ShadowClan, they must just be as worried about leaf-bare as we are. We are not to worry about the other Clans, as long as they don't start taking our prey!"

"Then we might as well just roll over and show our bellies to them!" Snakesplash howled. "If we don't do something about the trespassers now, then they'll think they can just come and go as they please! Or they'll be well fed while were leaf-bare weak!"