Warriors: Deserve's Beginning (Short Story) (COMPLETE)

Chapter 3

The sun was beginning to set over the fields. Dappled sunlight shone through the cracks in the roof of the barn. 

"I'll get you, Song!" Boost exclaimed as he ran after her across the barn. Deserve pelted after his siblings, his heart racing. They'd been chasing each other and playing tag for a while, and he was getting tired. But he was having too much fun to quit.

"You never will!" Song purred and skidded to a stop in front of a pile of hay, stepping back. Deserve and Boost squeaked in alarm and tried to stop, but went skidding over bits of hay and straight into the pile. "Oof!"

"Hey!" Deserve scrambled out of the pile, shaking pieces of hay from his fur. Boost joined him a moment later, a clump of hay resting on his head. He let out a laugh and pushed Boost over, grabbing a pawful of hay and pushing it onto his head. "Take that!"

Boost let out a playful growl and tackled Deserve, pushing him into the hay and nipping his ear. "Oh yeah, hay-pelt?"

"Kits!" Velvet padded up to them, her blue eyes shining. "It's getting late. You should be resting."

 "Aww!" The kits leaped apart and stared at her.

"But we're not tired!" Boost protested, and Deserve and Song nodded agreement. I want to play some more! He thought, exhilarated as his little heart thumped in his chest.

Song stared up at Velvet hopefully. "Can we play hide and seek?" She asked.

Their mother purred and looked past her toward the entrance of the barn. "Your father will be back from hunting soon. Won't he want to see you resting?"

"Please!" The kits stared at her, eyes round and hopeful.

Velvet let out a purr. "Oh, alright!" Her eyes shone. "But only if I can play too."

"Yay!" Song squeaked and bounced up and down. "Are you going to seek?"

"Of course," She purred and padded up to a post in the barn, facing it and closing her eyes as she began counting. "One... Two..."

The kits looked around quickly. I've got to find a good place to hide! Deserve thought. His gaze darted around the barn and rested on the pile of hay he and Boost had crashed into. There! That's perfect! He raced over and leaped face-first into the hay, flinching a little as the hard pieces poked at his face. Ow! He shuffled forward in the hay until he could just see through and peered out.

Velvet was still counting. "Six... Seven..."

He spotted Song's white tail sticking out behind an old shovel resting against the wall of the barn and chuckled. She'll be caught first! He looked for Boost, but couldn't see him.

"Nine..."

Ah! Deserve shifted further back into the hay, staring out at his mother. She'll never find me! He thought triumphantly. As she moved, he spotted Boost crouched behind the post she'd been counting by. Sneaky!

"Ten!" Velvet finished and turned, looking around the barn. "Ready or not, here I come!" She began padding around, her blue eyes scanning her surroundings carefully. She almost immediately caught sight of Song's tail behind the shovel. She let out a purr and began padding toward it. "Oh, where could Song be?"

Song giggled, her tail twitching as she tried to move it out of sight. Velvet reached her and snatched her up by her scruff. Song laughed and struggled to pull free. "Hey, let go!"

Velvet purred and gently rested her on the floor of the barn. "Got you! You know what that means?" Her eyes gleamed mischievously.

She sat down and stared at her. "What?"