Island Territory: Lost Stars (Warrior Cats)

Chapter 15

Photo up there is Icekit, half-drowned

It rained for a very long time, it still hadn't ended when Icekit woke up to the steady leaking of the nursery roof. Drip drip drip...
Sweetkit let out an annoyed grumble, and rolled over, away from their soggy, wet den. "Hasn't Snowkit gotten that fixed yet?" she complained loudly.
Turning over, Icekit blinked apologetically. Snowkit had recent begged Icekit to take her shift of fixing the den, and when Icekit reluctantly agreed, she almost immediately forgot.
"Sorry, I was supposed to do that..." Icekit murmured, before getting up and shaking off her wet fur. Sweetkit ducked away just in the nick of time.
Sweetkit, who looked thoroughly done with everything, plainly ran out of the nursery, and soon returned with a few reeds and fronds. Icekit guessed some of the new, dry, reeds were from yesterday...
Icekit enviously watching, as Sweetkit tried to make another den, that was just to right size for her. Unfortunately though, Sweetkit wasn't nearly as good a weaver as Snowkit, and her new den looked like an utter failure, since it was much smaller, and didn't look that comfy.
But it was dry, and new, and when Sweetkit fixed the comfy problem with a bundle of moss, Icekit's jealousy took over her.
"Hey, you know you have a sister, right?" Icekit asked curtly. Sweetkit looked over a small scowl on her face. "I do." she replied coldly, before settling down on her nest and turning away.
Biting back a furious mew of protest, Icekit shoved her face back into her den, which was a mistake, since the den was drenched and soggy, covering her face with water.
Even Snowkit, who loved splashing in puddles sand catching minnows, seemed rather slow to accept it. Icekit didn't blame her though; her long fur may be beautiful, but the water dragged her down, making her slower.
Icekit tossed and turned, but everytime she moved, she seemed to get wetter. Only Sweetkit looked perfectly happy in her 'den.'
Riverkit absolutely hated the rain, and water. Even though she had shorter fur, wetting your muzzle everytime you poked it out of the nursery was very infuriating.
Longkit hated it, because you couldn't see very well in thick rain, so he kept bumping into everyone on the way to get a pitiful soggy mouse.
The prey pile was also a problem. It was hard to find prey in the rain, since they have all ducked away to find shelter, and if you wanted any piece of prey for a meal, the best you could get was a cold, thin, and soaking wet vole.
After about the fiftieth raindrop landing on her head, Icekit got up, and stomped out the nursery, and onto the roof of it to patch the hole.
But to her dismay, as soon as she had landed a paw onto the hole, the whole thing nearly collapsed under the weight. The fronds were certainly getting weaker; Icekit wasn't sure how long it would be until it completely gave away.
Icekit hurried back down and dug around the nursery, trying to find some strong, dry reeds and fronds to patch up the hole.
But it seemed as if no matter where she looked, even at the driest spots in the camp, that usually weren't even touched by the winds and sky, were soaking wet. I guess all things have to have a breaking point. Icekit thought smoothly.
Icekit continued to leap around the camp, poking her nose in the corners of the camp that were untouched most of the time.
It didn't matter how many places she'd been; All of the fronds and reeds she found were either torn, much too wet, or both.
Icekit cursed under her breath, when she had finally found a decent reeds, but got toppled over by a large splash of water, coming from...
"Riverkit!" Icekit yowled angrily, as another huge splash of water came washing from up upon her. Riverkit looked over, scowling venomously at Icekit, when suddenly, another head popped up from under the water. Unfortunately, it was Longkit's ugly mug.
The reeds Icekit had picked up, tore apart due to the large wave Riverkit had made. They were clearly unfit for fixing any leaky dens now.
"What do you want?" Riverkit asked defiantly, who was sitting in the shallow river, and covered with water. Longkit blinked and looked about, before finally realized what he had gotten into.
"You just destroyed those reeds! I was going to use them to fix your stupid den, but now look what you did." Icekit spat furiously. It wasn't really something to start a fight over, but on a rainy day like this, her temper was already whittled down.
"Great Starclan,you sound just like Flowerfoot." Longkit said as he smirked deviously, just as if he had done some perfect little crime.
Icekit flinched a bit, her face burning. She had never really met, or talked to Flowerfoot, who was just another lazy elder, if you asked her. But most everyone thought she was starting to lose her mind, yelling strange things to everyone and everything.
That was basically what Icekit's common knowledge was for Flowerfoot, although she also knew she used to be a lazy kittypet, joining the clan as a kit.
Riverkit stalked a bit closer to Icekit, laughing at Longkit's joke, but a bitter jealousy in her voice, as if she wanted to be the one who had come up with said joke.
Before the blink of an eye, Riverkit lashed her tail swiftly, skimming the edge of the water surface, and kicking up large wave, splashing Icekit in the face.
Icekit yelped in surprise, as a wave of cold water drenched her pelt, from top to bottom. It was shockingly cold, and for a moment Icekit wondered how in Starclan the duo were able to stay in such coldness.
Longkit roared with laughed, and Riverkit didn't respond but her paws clutched the ground as though she had a terrible pain. Icekit studied her a bit closer, holding her anger. The subtle upward quirk of her mouth told her she was smothering a laugh.
Icekit suddenly burst out, yowling and hissing furiously. Before she could stop to even think for a moment, Icekit lunged forwards at Riverkit, her pelt flaring.
Yelping in confusion, Riverkit's muffled shrieks were soon lost in the water, Icekit tackling her onto her back, in the river.
Alarmed, Longkit leapt forwards, shoving Icekit aggressively off Riverkit. Tumbling backwards, Icekit sloshed around in the cold, cold water.
Her chest heaved with anger, but then, her legs went very numb, as Riverkit sank her teeth down on them.
Riverkit was older than Icekit, and easily flung her aside, landing on the pebbled shore of the river. Stone jutted at her pelt, aching painfully.
In a desperate move to get back up, Icekit pressed her paws deep into the ground to stabilize her as she moved, but when she feebly straightened up, Longkit had dragged her back into the water, dampening her pelt even more.
By then, Icekit could barely feel her paws. It hurt everywhere, and the sharp rocks scratched her pelt. Longkit was holding his grip on Icekit's tail, and she could barely keep conscious.
Panic edged around in her lungs, and Icekit struggled hard, even though she knew it was no use.
But to her surprise, Longkit let go of her tail, which recoiled back sharply. Confused, icekit tried to stand up again, her mind whirling and dizzy.
The water swirled at her paws, cold, and unforgiving as ever. Icekit righted herself, and was about to leap out of the water to safety.
Suddenly, heavy paws sent her straight down again, her head hitting the bottom of the river painfully.
Riverkit was pinning her down, into the water. Sure, it was shallow, but it was still deep enough for her muzzle to go under...
Alarmed, Icekit thrashed around, her mouth opening to hiss and yowl for help, but only river water came in. Icekit panicked even more; she had heard the stories her father told her about this, in his many battles. And she knew just how dangerous it was.
Icekit tried to shriek, or yowl, or do anything, though it was no good, Riverkit's grip was firm. She could feel her breath, giving away, Longkit laughing deviously...
"ICEKIT!" Sweetkit shrieked, racing over to her. She rammed heavily against Riverkit, knocking her over, and could hear Longkit hissing in surprise.
Icekit's head went straight up, shooting out of the water and breathing heavily. Everywhere hurt, and it pained her with every slight movement she made.
A small scratch was bleeding on her side, but it didn't matter, it only mattered that she could get out safely.
Beside her, Sweetkit was fighting like Strongstar, slashing, and biting unforgivingly at Riverkit and Longkit.
They were much taller and bigger than her, but Sweetkit seemed to be faring well, using their size against them. Even in the thick rain, Sweetkit was very fast, dodging and lashing out at almost lightning speed.
It wasn't before long that Icekit could hear more yelps than hisses. Her vision cleared a bit more, and could see Longkit dashing away, Riverkit trailing after him in a mad dash.
Sweetkit's fur pressed into hers, and could feel her getting dragged away, her legs splaying limply behind her.
Icekit shivered, as she could hear Longkit's taunting mews shouting from somewhere distant, father away.
"You'll regret that, you kittypet!" he shouted, his voice coming out ragged. Icekit closed her eyes tightly, hoping it could spare her some pain.
A little later, light pawsteps could be heard from the entrance, and Snowkit's faint white fur appeared. A small gasp of shock, and the silent dashing of paws, to get herbs or something else.
Little by little, Icekit regained her strength, mostly from those rather bitter herbs Snowkit returned with, or the warmth of Sweetkit, giving her fresh, warm moss, and small hugs every now and then.
Icekit opened her eyes a little, almost instantly closing them to the harsh bright green of the nursery. Sweetkit's fur rustled behind her, her head popping up excitedly, and peering over to look at Icekit.
Blood pounded in her ears, as Sweetkit gently licked her pelt, and helping her raise her head up.
Everything looked a bit different. Instead of the clean den Icekit was always used to, it was littered with herbs and many different smells only found in the medicine den.
At first, Icekit thought they were just over-reacting. It was just a little fight, nothing someone would be so alarmed about.
But then, Icekit saw a long jagged scar on the side of her pelt. It wasn't as long as the one Darkcloud had reaching from his ear to her back, but it was at least a mouse-tail long, which was big enough for a kit.
Wincing, Icekit looked away. Sure, she knew warriors got scars all the time, however she never anticipated that she would get one as a kit...
If things had been a little different at the moment, she would have thought it was cool. But the memory of Riverkit shoving her down always bounced up whenever she looked at it.
Sweetkit gave her a hopeful smile, as if to say, 'It's not that bad'. Icekit whimpered a bit and turned away.
It was embarrassing to whimper. Only arrogant kits do it. Icekit thought, angry with herself. The scar itched, and it kept sending little jolts of pain whenever she moved her side.
Was this really what warriors felt like whenever they got a scar? Darkcloud must be tortured with all those... Icekit thought groggily.
Sweetkit's paw gently pushed her head back down, and Icekit recoiled viciously. Her teeth bared at her, until she snapped back into reality.
Sweetkit looked very much shocked, and Icekit bit back the guilt flaming hot in her pelt. "Sorry..." she muttered.
Although, if Icekit was very honest, she wasn't really sorry. It was as if she could still feel Riverkit's paw forcing her against the rocky river.
Head spinning dizzily, Icekit slowly relaxed, though some of her was still rather tense. The nursery and Sweetkit, soon became a blur, mixed with a mysterious white dot spinning around... No wait, that's just Snowkit... Icekit heaved in a sigh shallowly.
Finally managing to close her eyes, Icekit let sleep grip ahold of her, and send her back into her dreams.
The small sounds of the nursery faded into the background, until only the small pitter pattering of the raindrops echoed through her mind. Smiling a bit, Icekit relaxed, and dove into sleep.
Drip drip drip...