Shaken Sky

Chapter 4

Prinklekit above! ;)

Amberkit opened her eyes to find herself, once again, in the Starclan meadow. "Ugh. Why do I always end up here when I dream?"

"Because, Amberkit, I call you here."

"You're just going to tell me to get over Frostkit's death again, aren't you, Skystar?"

"Yes. In fact, he's here to tell you himself." Skystar mewed.

Frostkit padded out behind Skystar and dipped his head.

"Frostkit!" Amberkit cried with delight. She dashed over to him and touched noses with him.

"Amberkit! It's so good to see you." Frostkit said, sounding much older than he actually was. "Listen, you've been trailing around in the dust for over a moon now. You need to understand that you have a great destiny ahead of you. I will always be with you, Amberkit. I will help guide you through the hard times in your life."

"Okay, Frostkit," Amberkit mewed gently dipping her head. "I promise I'll try harder to be the kit I was before...you know..."

"Thank you Amberkit. Remember, I will always be here with you, may StarClan light your path."

Amberkit awoke, feeling much better after her talk with Frostkit. She scrambled out of Cloudmist's nest and bounded out of the nursery and across the river to the fresh kill pile. She chose a fat vole and dragged it to a sheltered spot by the river. She heard the sound of tiny claws on wood and looked up to see Fernkit climbing up onto the tree bridge to cross the river. She also heard the faint flapping of a bird's wings and looked up to see a Heron.

"Fernkit!" Amberkit screeched, "Watch out!"

At that exact moment, the giant bird swooped down, stretching out its talons, getting ready to seize its prey. Fernkit shrieked in surprise and tried to race to the other side of the tree, but slipped and fell. She landed with a splash in the river and the Heron just dived right after her, keen on getting what it wanted.

"Fernkit!" Amberkit shrieked. She watched as the Heron flew up out of the water, making cold droplets fly everywhere. In it's talons was a small heap of tortoiseshell fur flailing desperately. Feeling more alive than she had in moons, Amberkit sprang to her paws and raced after the bird. She wasn't allowed out of camp since she was only a kit but right then, she didn't care one little bit. She ran after the Heron and Fernkit as fast as she could, glancing up a few times to make sure she was still following it. She ran and ran. The blood pounding in her ears was drowning out Fernkit's shrieks. Suddenly the thought of losing another littermate gave her an extra burst of strength and she pulled ahead of the Heron, who was still firmly gripping Fernkit. She raced faster than she had ever run before, maybe even than she ever would again, until she reached a tall tree. She leaped and landed a few fox-lengths above the ground. She swarmed up the tree like a squirrel, her surroundings blurring. She reached the highest branch that could hold her weight and gazed around. She spotted the giant bird heading straight at her. Perfect. She thought. When the Heron was close enough, she pounced. She felt like a bird and willed herself not to look down. She landed on the Heron's back and clawed the life out of it. She could feel it growing weaker by the heartbeat as they steadily floated toward the undergrowth below them. The Heron let go of Fernkit, who, screaming, fell to the ground with the wind whistling around her. Squirreltail, Bellaleaf, and Macgyver were on a hunting patrol and they all glanced up where Amberkit was clawing the bird, they didn't notice Fernkit falling to the ground. Amberkit and the bird swirled down closer and closer to the ground until they landed with a thump in the middle of a juniper bush. She climbed off the bird, which was now dead, and dragged it from the bush.