Morning Clouds

Chapter 21

Rising Sun yawned, showing her teeth. "I'm going on a walk. Kits, be good for Storm Flight, okay?"

Fox Steps pricked her ears. "Can we go with you?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun!" squeaked Bright Wing.

Rising Sun smiled and nuzzled the kits affectionately, all five of them crowding around her, while Storm Flight watched, eyes bright with amusement. "No, sorry. Maybe another time."

"But we never get to go!" Frozen Stream complained.

"Yeah," Flame Shine added. "We're old enough."

Rising Sun purred. "Not quite. Sorry, kits. See you later, and be good for Storm Flight." She nuzzled each of the kits in turn, finishing with the only one who hadn't spoken, Falling Acorn. The quietest kit almost never participated in arguments, instead she watched with wide amber eyes.

She lifted her tail, and with one last affectionate glance at the kits and Storm Flight, headed out of camp to meet Ginger and Patch. However much she hated leaving them, she thrummed with excitement to meet her new friends.

After a short walk through the forest, she crossed the border and headed over to a large pine just over the border where she had arranged to meet Ginger and Patch.

They weren't there yet, so Rising Sun had time to lie down and stretch on the huge roots of the tree, basking in the sun. She gave her pelt a swift grooming, wanting to not look like she'd just been jumped on by five kits (which she pretty much had).

When she saw the shapes of two familiar cats emerging from the woods as she just finished grooming the last of her tail, she lifted her head and called a greeting, excitement coursing through her veins. Finally, I get to see them!

"So sorry we're late," Ginger panted, jogging up with Patch at her side, breathless. "One of our friends had a situation with one of their kits."

Rising Sun nodded understandingly. "Oh, I understand. I have kits myself, it's fine."

"You do?" Patch asked. "What's it like?"

Rising Sun glanced between the pair. "Are you thinking of having your own?"

Ginger and Patch glanced at each other, and for a moment Rising Sun thought she saw a flash of disgust in Ginger's eyes and contempt in Patch's. But it was gone as soon as it had come, and she was sure she must have imagined it. Patch and Ginger were good friends and mates, why wouldn't they be happy about having kits with each other?

After a pause Ginger replied slowly, "We're considering it." She glanced at Patch for confirmation and he nodded.

Rising Sun grinned at them. "That's great! Kits are a pawful, but amazing."

Ginger nodded. "This friend of ours invited us to come see her three kits. They all seem very sweet, but there's this one kit who's just too smart for his own good."

Rising Sun frowned. "Too smart? You can never be too smart."

Ginger sighed, lowering her ears slightly. "Well, it's not that being too smart is a bad thing in itself, it's that this kit is trying to use his knowledge to harm the group that he and his family live in."

Rising Sun's eyes widened. "That's horrible!" But then another thought occurred to her. "Wait, I thought I was the first Clan cat you'd met."

Patch frowned in confusion. "You are."

Rising Sun blinked. "Then what's the group your friend is from?"

Ginger's eyes widened. "Oh, no, they just live with some other non-Clan cats. It's nowhere near as organized or complicated as the Clans are. They just live in the same camp and share prey sometimes."