Currantstar's Legacy ▶︎ The Name (Book 1)

Chapter 2

Silverheart placed Crystalkit gently into her nest and sat next to her with her back to the kit, watching the entrance of the nursery intently with her ears back.

"Silverheart, I'm sorry. It was my fault. I asked for stories..." Crystalkit didn't want blame put on Kinktail; the former warrior was only doing what she had requested.

The queen turned to her daughter with a horrifyingly calm look in her eyes. "My dear, it was not your fault. You're only a kit. The elder should have thought her words through before exposing you to such things."

"But Silverheart, I was going to learn something for once! Never have I felt so connected to my clan! It's a wonderful feeling, hearing about clan life and battles!" It felt to Crystalkit as if the warriors of StarClan inhabited her body and meowed to her mother for her.

"My darling, you are never to experience battles. You are my precious daughter and I will shield you from the horrors of life." Silverheart's mew grew suddenly firm.

"I'm not afraid of what life has to offer me," Crystalkit meowed confidently. "My destiny is laid out; I will be a warrior. The sooner I know things, the better. I'll be prepared!" She wanted desperately for her mother to see her side, and to stop being angry with Kinktail.

"Your words just decided a thought I've been contemplating, Crystalkit." Silverheart grew happier. "I have told Lilystream that I might have you be a medicine cat. That's exactly what I'm going to do. I'm going to talk to her."

The blood drained from Crystalkit's entire body. She highly respected medicine cats and all they did, but she had no desire to be one. She wanted to be a warrior.

"Silverheart, you can't!" Her voice grew desperate. "Please! I'll be better! I'll do anything! Let me be a warrior! It's my dream!"

"You'd be crazy, then, if that's what your dream is! To fight... to starve... to suffer!"

"That isn't my dream!" Crystalkit argued. "My dream is to serve my clan!" She searched for the right words, but her inferior age didn't allow her the knowledge she needed to persuade her mother.

"You are going to be a medicine cat and that is final." Silverheart turned away. "I will speak to Lilystream. For now... rest."

"But I just woke up!" Crystalkit cried. "What about Stormkit? And Sootkit?"

"Those tom-kits are none of my concern."

Crystalkit was appalled. "They're your kits, too!"

"Crystalkit, go to sleep. Now."

The white she-kit laid down and buried her nose in her thick tail, and closed her eyes with no intention of sleeping. She listened for a moment as Silverheart's pawsteps exited the nursery, and she sat back up, mind swirling.

Silverheart is going to ruin everything! It's my dream to become a warrior! She stifled a moan of agony.

Sootkit ran into the nursery just then. "Crystalkit! Are you okay? Silverheart just ran into the medicine den as if she was dying or something."

"Oh, Sootkit!" Grief thickened Crystalkit's mew. "It's awful! She's going to make be become a medicine cat!"

"No, really?" Sootkit pressed. His new was soft and empathetic. "That's horrible! We were supposed to become warriors together!"

Crystalkit nodded. "It's my dream."

Sootkit nuzzled his littermate. "It'll be okay. I promise."

Crystalkit pushed him away. "No it won't. My life is ruined." She turned her back on Sootkit. "I don't want to live my life alongside herbs! I want to be side-by-side with my fellow warriors in battle!"