Thornheart's Acceptance

Chapter 3

     Thornkit had met Brackenstar before. When all of Crowclaw's kits and her first came out of the nursery, Antpelt had been there to show her around. Her and Owlkit had gotten into a little fight the day before, about whether or not Antpelt was a good warrior or not, which only ended in the two getting their pelt ruffled and Antpelt getting yelled at by Crowclaw. And that only made Thornkit want Antpelt there more so that she wouldn't have to stay with Crowclaw and make her first day out of the nursery negative. She was also a little scared to be out there by herself and not knowing anyone. So Antpelt had taken her out at sun-high, before Crowclaw took out Poppykit, Timberkit, and Owlkit.

First Antpelt took her to the medicine cat's den, to meet someone special.

"So, who are we meeting?" She asked as they walked across the camp, bouncing around Antpelt, amazed at the world outside the nursery.

"You'll see when we get there," he gave an amused purr.

"But why won't you just tell me?"

"Because it would spoil the surprise, silly."

"Would it?"

"Yes, but it doesn't matter, because we are here."

"Where are we?"

"This is the medicine cat's den," Antpelt said, sitting down.

"Medicine cat?" Thornkit asked, looking up at Antpelt.

"A cat who heals injuries and illnesses with herbs, leaves, or a natural cause," a new voice said, coming from the den, causing Thornkit to jump before turning to see a reddish-brown tom with amber eyes. Thornkit immediately went behind Antpelt's foreleg.

"Thornkit, this Shrewpaw. He is my litter mate," Thornkit peeked out from behind Antpelt looking up and down Shrewpaw, then back at Antpelt. Now that she looked at both toms she could see how similar they were. They both had the same short, dark red fur. The only difference Thornkit could see was that Antpelt had forest green eyes and Shrewpaw had amber.

"So you're Thornkit?"

She nodded, coming out a little bit more.

"Some cat told me that today is your first day out of the nursery. Is that true?"

"Yes," she said, coming out all the way, "Everything is a lot bigger than I thought it would be," Shrewpaw purred in amusement.

"Well, that might be Antpelt's fault. He's never been that good at telling stories, but do you want to know who is? Echosong."

"Echosong?"

"Yes, she is one of the elders"

"Elders?"

"Yes, a cat who cannot hunt or fight anymore, because of age. They should be treated with great respect," Antpelt explained.

"Can we go see them next?" Her pelt bristled up in excitement.

"Yes, we can. I need to take Sparrowwing some alder bark for his tooth."

"Can I help?" Thornkit asked, now standing in front of Shrewpaw.

"Yes, let me just wrap it in some beach leaves."

When Shrewpaw was done wrapping, he gave a little to Thornkit and they started walking to the elders' den. As they crossed the clearing, more cats started to come out of the dens. Thornkit stared at everyone in amazement. There were so many cats. When she felt stares on her pelt, she started to look around. She found the narrow dark green eyes of a sleek white tom with black paws and ears. Their eyes met for a heartbeat before he turned his head to a golden-yellow tom.