Whisper: A Warrior Cat Fan Fiction

Chapter two: Sealkit

"Sealkit, get back here!" Driftingheart hissed from her nest, her tail wrapped protectively around Tidekit and Silverkit.

Sealkit rolled her eyes, "I'm just going to see what's going on out there. Look, there's Sandstripe! See, he'll keep me safe." She stepped toward the nursery exit.

"No," Driftingheart lunged forward, placing her paw in front of Sealkit's chest, "We have no idea what's going on out there, and until we do, you will not be stetting one paw outside of this den."

"Your mother's right," Snailflower said softly from the corner, "It would be better if you stayed in here. Just for now." The grey and white she-cat had her huge belly curled around Icekit and Clamkit.

Sealkit, along with most of the nursery, had been woken before dawn by a bloodcurdling scream. Finding Ploversong and Saltkit gone, Driftingheart had gone out to alert Pearlstar of her disappearance and investigate the source of the cry. As they waited anxiously in the darkness, Snailflower took Icekit and Clamkit into her nest and told them all the story of Merlinheart the medicine cat, and all of the cats he had helped to save. Sealkit had heard it a thousand times, and her ears were angled toward the commotion in the camp, not toward Snailflower's whispery voice.

She hadn't been able to make out any of the words, but she could sense the fear and hear the footsteps of hurrying cats. Whatever had happened, it was bad. And bad things usually involved injured cats.

Sealkit hunched her shoulders, "I was just going to see if I could help Sunpool. I'm going to be her apprentice in less than a moon. It's about time I learned to deal with emergencies."

Snailflower shot a questioning look at Driftingheart. "That sounds like a pretty good excuse to me."

Driftingheart glared her denmate. "Sealkit stays here."

Clamkit popped his head up, tiny ears pressed to his head, "Sealkit, do you know where Ploversong is? Driftingheart won't tell me."

"Huh. Driftingheart won't tell me either." Sealkit stalked to the back of the den where there was an open space.

Ploversong's kits were young, loud, full of energy and annoying. And little. It wouldn't be so bad if they were big enough to play and wrestle with, but when a kit a quarter of your size wants to have a one-on-one mock battle with you, well...the queens didn't seem to like it when you tossed them around a little.

Silverkit and Tidekit padded over to join her. Whenever it was raining or cold, the three of them went to the unused nest to get a little bit of space. Tidekit scooped up a ball of moss of tossed it over to Silverkit.

"Moss ball! Catch!" he yowled.

Silverkit leapt gracefully in the air and snagged it on the tips of her claws. Already, it was clear that both of them would be great warriors. Tidekit was lean and strong, with a loyal, confident personality, while Silverkit was quicker than a snake and more charming than a dove.

"Here, Sealkit!" Silverkit mewed, flicking the ball toward her littermate. Sealkit knocked it out of the air and pinned it beneath her paw.

"Would you guys stop that?" she growled, "Aren't you even a bit curious about what's going on?"

Tidekit narrowed his eyes. "Sure. Bit you heard Driftingheart, you're not allowed to go outside. And maybe she's right. She's always been really supportive of your wanting to be a medicine cat. If she won't let you go help, maybe there's a reason." He started piecing together another moss ball.

Sealkit growled. "I'm almost six moons old. We're all almost six moons old. I can handle anything that happens. After all, a little bit of blood has never bothered me."