Morning Clouds

Chapter 3

"Ready? 3... 2... 1... GO!!"

Echo and Lightning leaped from the branch and straight onto a surprised Flame, who let out a screech and toppled into Flash, who in turn let out an annoyed snort and turned away. "Hey!"

"Got you!" Echo giggled.

Flame glared up at them. "You two are so immature!" he growled.

"Oh come on Flame, quit being a sore loser," Echo squeaked happily.

"I am not being a sore loser!" Flame shot back.

"Yeah, you are," Echo mewed.

"You actually are," Lightning whispered timidly.

To her surprise, Flame gaped at Lightning. "Hey! Whatever happened to the rule of tom?!"

Swallow, walking by, snorted. "It's called the rule of thumb," she meowed loftily.

Flame frowned. "That makes no sense! There's no such thing as a thumb anyway."

Swallow snorted. "It's just an old saying, like right hand man."

"Are there any other sayings like that?" Echo asked curiously.

Swallow sighed. "Yes, well, here's one. I don't know any more off the top of my head."

"Cool!" Lightning squealed.

Swallow yawned. "It can be confusing," she warned.

"Yeah, I know." Flame muttered.

"So it's good to know them," Swallow finished with a sharp glance at her son.

"And it's sexist," Echo added.

"Yeah, well Swallow is a she-cat! Maybe she's lying!" Flame shot back, grinning. "Let's ask Dad!"

Swallow froze for a second.

"Yeah, let's ask Slash!" Lightning chimed in.

Swallow exhaled. "Sure, ask him."

As she padded over with her brothers, Echo frowned, confused. Her mother had seemed so scared. What was wrong? Didn't she like Slash? She had kits with him, right?

//-//

"Morning, Hail Breeze," Swift Minnow purred.

"Good morning!" Hail Breeze squeaked, reaching up to touch noses with his mother. He glanced around the den. "Where are Shining Moon and Stagnant Pool and Reed Tail?"

"They woke up a while ago," Swift Minnow mewed. "You're a sleepyhead."

Hail Breeze blinked in alarm. "Oh no! I have to go! Bye, Swift Minnow!" he called over his shoulder as he raced out of the den.

WindClan was bursting with kits, and Hail Breeze was proud to be one of them.

There was his litter and Clover Petal's and Holly's and Fern Leaf's on the way. That meant a lot of kits.

And they were all gathered near the fresh-kill pile.

"Hey, Hail Breeze! You're awake!" Golden Streaks mewed as he approached.

"Finally," Sun Song meowed irritably. "You took forever!"

"Hi!" he purred.

"Yay! You're here!" Dark Stream squeaked. "Now what?"

"Let's watch Windstar organize the patrols!" Stagnant Pool offered.

"Yeah!" Feather Plume squeaked, bounding over to the spot where Windstar liked to do it.

"Are you joining the patrols?" Eagle Feather teased as they padded over.

"Of course!" Willow Mist mewed proudly.

Eagle Feather laughed. "You can join Fern Leaf's patrol then, I suppose," he joked.

The black she-cat turned at the sound of her name. "What?"

It made Hail Breeze, Golden Streaks, Stagnant Pool, Dark Stream, and Feather Plume all burst out laughing.

Sun Song glared at them. "You're all so immature!"

"Hey, shut up!" Willow Mist squeaked angrily.

"Yeah, quit being mean," Feather Plume mewed. "We all know that you've never laughed."

Sun Song huffed and stalked away to White Tail, one of the apprentices.

"That was mean," Shining Moon meowed nervously.

Feather Plume tossed her head. "She deserved it. She was rude to us!"

But even she looked a little unsure.

//-//

Bright Feather yawned.

"Tired, dear?" Violet Dawn asked, stroking her daughter's forehead with her tail-tip.

Bright Feather nodded. "Maybe a little."

Her mother licked her ear. "Get some rest. I'll fetch Bracken Leaf. He's playing with Maple Pool and Rainbow Rain."

Bright Feather nodded. "Okay." She broke into another yawn and curled into the nest that she shared with her mother and brother. In no time she was asleep.

Bright Feather padded along a twinkling blue stream, tiny fish flashing in its depths. The sun glittered through the treetops. A cool breeze fluttered through the forest.

"Bright Stream! Fluttering Bird! Gray Wing! Quiet Rain!"

Bright Feather's ears pricked at the names, but she didn't recognize any. Gray Wing sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn't think of who he could be.

"Anyone?" called the tom desperately.

"I'm here!" Bright Feather squeaked, but he didn't seem to hear her. "Me! Bright Feather of ThunderClan!"

But nothing happened.

There was no sign that the tom had heard her.

Bright Feather continued yowling, but there was no change except for the world fading to black.

Bright Feather blinked open her eyes. Morning sunlight was streaming into the den. Violet Dawn and Bracken Leaf were curled up beside her, fast asleep.

The birds were chirping and rustles could be heard as cats began to wake. Pawsteps and quiet mews dotted the camp clearing outside.

Bright Feather shook her head, causing Bracken Leaf to snuffle and Violet Dawn to stir.

What... just happened?

She wanted to hope that it was just a dream, but her gut told her it wasn't.

This information hung heavy on Bright Feather's shoulders as she licked a paw and drew it around her ears.

Nothing will ever be the same. I just know it.