Owlflight's Kits (Book One)

Chapter Ten

The kits did not want to leave. Neither did Owlflight, but he would never ignore his mate's last wish. The kits, however, would. All except Robin, of course, who would go anywhere his father went. He said that he didn't think clan life was for him, anyway.

"We have to leave, Stonekit. We're in danger.." Owlflight explained. Cloudkit glared it him, ears flattened.

"I don't want to leave!" Stonekit spat, and Cloudkit nodded in agreement.

"Me neither, but we have to, okay? We'll die if we don't. Do you want to end up like Echokit?" Owlflight asked. That shut the two up.

The first cat Owlflight said goodbye to was Spiderpaw. He explained why he could not stay, then shared tongues with her one last time. Spiderpaw was hurting just as much as he was with the loss of Firepelt.

"Come and visit sometime. You and your kits will always be welcome in MudClan, Owlflight." Stripedstar was saying. Owlflight nodded.

"I hope to visit often, Stripedstar. I'll miss all of you a lot.." He sighed.

"Hopefully you'll find that rogue that killed Firepelt and teach him a lesson!" Flamefur put in. Owlflight blinked gratefully at his brother.

"Goodbye, Flamefur. I'll miss you a lot.." Owlflight sighed. "All of you! But we should get going now." He turned and padded out of the cave, trying to ignore the fact that it was no longer his home. Robinkit followed at his side, while Stonekit and Cloudkit traveled behind more reluctantly.

"Where are we going now?" Stonekit asked.

"To GreenClan, to say goodbye to my parents." Owlflight decided.

"We should change our names." Cloudkit said. "To Cloud and Stone and Robin, because we aren't kits anymore and we aren't clan cats. We'll sound more like loners that way.."

"Okay! Call me Stone, then." Stonekit said.

"What do you think, Robin?" Cloud asked.

"Okay." Robin said simply. Owlflight sighed. They were really putting clan life behind them now.

"We should visit Rainpaw!" Cloud said. The others nodded in agreement.

"Okay!" Owlflight felt a bit better. He wanted to see his old friend. "We'll go there first."

*

"This is yummy fish!" Cloud said as she took another bite of Rainpaw's fish.

Rainpaw chuckled, "It's nice to finally meet your kits."

"Do you really think we should leave?" Owlflight asked.

"It's what Firepelt wishes.." Rainpaw muttered. "I think it'll work out for you in the end. Stay the night here and StarClan will walk with you in your dreams tonight. You can visit Skywing tomorrow."

"Okay." Owlflight curled up in a ball, knowing that the sun was already setting. Cloud and Stone cuddled together, while Robin settled down next to Owlflight.

-

Owlflight was standing in the mooncave again, but this time, Rainpaw, Thorncloud, and the kits weren't there. In their place sat two she-cats, whom Owlflight recognized at once.

"Echopaw! Firepelt!" A purr erupted from his throat. "Oh, StarClan... What should I do? Should I really leave?"

But no answer came. Instead, Owlflight found himself falling into a pool of darkness. He'd seen this before. The images!

Three pools of mist formed his kits. Then jumped and played, seeming simple and happy. Then a fourth cat appeared, a sleek white one with grey ears. Shadeclaw? Or the kit I saw in my last dream? Owlflight wondered.

The white one walked next to the mist that represented Cloud, swirling around her until the two became one, and then three. The new ones, now smaller, danced together just like his kits had. Owlflight blinked rapidly, and they were gone.

He opened his eyes to see that his kits were already awake, eating again to prepare for the possibly long journey off the island. Rainpaw ate with them, while Thorncloud still slept. "Good morning." He greeted Rainpaw. He stood up, stretched, and yawned.

"Your kit is very lazy." Rainpaw flicked his tail towards Robin, who hadn't moved since last night. "Is he okay?"

"He's fine. Always been like that.." Owlflight muttered. He nudged Robin, "Wake up."

"Not yet." Robin groaned. "I'm so tired."

"We have to get moving if we want to get to GreenClan territory before sunhigh. Get up! Have some fish." He pushed a fish towards Robin, then turned to Cloud and Stone. "Are you full?"

"Yes." Stone said, while Cloud nodded.
"Then we'll leave as soon as Robin and I have eaten." He bent down and took a bite of his fish.

Soon they were finished, and with a final goodbye to Rainpaw, they were on their way through the mountains. Owlflight tried to catch Skywing's scent near the river, but she wasn't there. He felt uneasy about going into GreenClan territory with such young cats, but he assumed they were welcome by the all too friendly Hawkstar.

Several GreenClan cats growled as Owlflight approached their camp. Coldstream, who sat in the center of the camp, stood up and flattened his ears. "What do you want?"

"I'm leaving MudClan. If you don't mind, I'd like to speak to Skywing.." He said. "Is she here?"

"Why are you leaving?" Skywing gasped, coming out of the warriors den. "Come with me. We can talk on the beach."

The beach, Owlflight learned, was a huge sandy bed beside the ocean. As him and his mother sat out of the way of the waves, Owlflight told her everything about Firepelt's death and her wish for her kits to be safe.

"I know where you can go. See that island not far off?" She flicked her tail towards it. "It's full of loners. That's why we call it loner island.. It used to be a twolegplace, but the twolegs have abandoned it, and now it's been taken over by loners."

"Go there? I thought we would live alone.." Cloud said.

"We will. We'll go to loner island first and see where we go from there." Owlflight decided.