Of Kits and Queens - #Wattys2016

Chapter Five

The corner of the warriors den was piled high with new moss for bedding. Pieces drifted off, carried away by the occasional wind that blew through the old and broken window.

It was already sunhigh, and wisps of cotton flew by the buildings from CentralClan territory. The sun broke through the cracks of the buildings, warming random spots in particular. There were buzzes of flies from the dirt place, and the birds' wings flapped loudly.

From outside came the thuds of Fallowpaw training, and Clawscar yelling things like "Faster! Stronger!" or "You weakling--try harder!"

Only Halfkit was in the nursery. He sat in a corner by himself, pawing and sniffing at the ring. A ball of moss lay near, and he nuzzled it, for it was soft. A dead mouse lay by, and Halfkit went to it.

"Why did you have to die?" He whimpered, pawing at the dead mouse. "I only wanted to play..." He said, remembering how he had only sniffed it before lightly padding its head. "Maybe Mama won't let me be an apprentice!" He gasped.

He picked up the small mouse in his jaws and climbed up to the windowsill. He let it drop, then turned away as he heard it fall and hit the ground. He sniffed.

"Mama always yells when I do something bad...I'll be in trouble!" He whispered to himself. "It's gone now," He reassured himself. "But Mama knows--she always knows!"

"And now, I won't get to become an...an apprentice," He managed to squeak.

Raincloud turned the corner into the nursery. Her fur was thoroughly groomed, and her claws were sharp and tidy. She came close to the small kit before he looked up and saw her.

In panic, he quickly moved away from the window, looking up at her.

"What were you looking at?" She asked.

Halfkit shook his head. "Nothing," He lied. From their height, you couldn't see the speck of dead mouse either way. "But Mama doesn't want me to talk to you," He sighed. "Or I won't become an apprentice."

Raincloud scowled. "Well I never!" She frowned, teeth baring. "What kind of a threat is that?"

Halfkit slowly stepped back, squeaking as he fell over in fright. Trying to seem strong, he shakily got up.

"Listen," She said, sitting in her nest and beckoning Halfkit to sit in front. "It's mid-day, and at dusk, all the warriors will eat and head out for Nightly Leaps. And no one will leave until it's over! Right now, they're on patrols, training, sleeping, great StarClan--some are probably leaping from the tall buildings right now! Why can't I talk to a little kit? I get quite lonely, and you're just a kit--you won't tell and I wouldn't say anything bad to you."

"Well, I'm not supposed to talk to you--Mama said so."

"I get lonely," She repeated. "You can talk to the older warriors, the elders, even Fallowpaw! But I can't talk to them, because Emberglow gets angry with me. He'd claw at me, make me bleed. And he'd threaten to push me off the building! How would you like to live in fear?" She said, her voice getting shaky.

Halfkit replied, "Well, I'm not supposed to talk to you. Mama is scared I'll get in trouble with my questions..."

Raincloud sighed and changed the subject. "What's that?" She asked, nodding to Halfkit's shining ring.