The Heart Of A Warrior

Chapter two: The Light Of Hope

   The ginger kitten poked her head out of the thick bracken walls to look outside. It was sunset, and the night was getting colder by the heartbeat. The first warriors of Starclan were peeking out over the horizon, twinkling brightly. A cold, chilly breeze ruffled her neck fur. The kit let out a squeak of surprise as a leaf, scattered by the wind, landed on her fluffy, ginger pelt. The leaf lifted off her pelt and glided to the edge of the clearing, dancing in the breeze, ruffling her ear fur and causing it to tickle on its departure. She scratched at it while watching the leaf. The kit could only stare at it enviously as it was lifted up over the treetops, vanishing from her view.

   The kit stuck her head back in the den, feeling contained and grumpy. Everything else in this world was free to do whatever they pleased, while she wasn't allowed to even leave the den! She huffed in annoyance. Jealous of a leaf.

   An explosion of energy coursed through her, an idea popping into her head. The ginger kit leaped onto all fours, disturbing Brackenkit, her brother. "What are you doing?" he groaned, tucking his head under his paws and lingering on the 'what.'  "Trying to sleep here!"

   "Sorry," the ginger kit grumped, not sounding sorry at all. Brackenkit lifted his head up and placed it on his paws, glaring at her.

   "Shut up, or you'll get us all trouble."

   "I don't care."

   "Fine by me. But if you get in trouble, I take no blame." Then he purred, "I never was here," and tucked his head between his paws, wrapping his tail around him.

   The ginger kit let out a long, droning sigh. "I hate it here."

   Brackenkit popped his head up. "Yeah, don't we all. But, hey, still trying to sleep."

   She rolled her eyes. "What, scared of actually leaving this stupid den? At least I'm brave enough to actually do something!" As soon as she said it, she clamped her mouth shut in fear. She made a big mistake saying it out loud, and she knew it. Though she doubted Brackenkit would tell, someone else might have heard.

   It was her lucky day. No one seemed to be paying any attention to the lonesome kit locked in the nursery. She gave Brackenkit a sideways glance through her green eyes. He had curled up into a tight ball of fur and was snoring loudly. For a heartbeat, the ginger kit felt rather disappointed. It would have been better to have a littermate by her side. You want to go outside, don't you?

   Yes...

   Well, hurry it up.

   Stop being so bossy.

   She felt silly for talking to herself like that. But she was a little nervous. Her mother had warned her over and over about this place... just simple stuff so far. 'They won't appreciate it.' or 'If you go out, you will get in big trouble,' but that might not be true. Besides, she liked the idea of being rebellious. Yet, while her mother spoke to them, there was always a look in her eyes that told the kit it was more dangerous here than her mother had let on. Maybe.

   She looked out of the nursery again. She had never dared to go outside before- it was against her mother's rules. So her and her littermates had never left the den. They couldn't even get away with a quick tussle, it was too crowded for that, so they always ended up rolling onto their mother, resulting in a harsh scolding. They had all been dying to go outside, and the kit felt more adventurous than anyone else- something she took great pride on. She took a deep breath, preparing herself. The tiny kit poked her head out a little more and timidly stuck one tiny paw onto the dusty floor. Small pieces of rock and grit lodged in between her tiny claws, surprising her.