Flame

Chapter Nineteen

Walking through that wood brought pleasant memories of past travels, and as Dove and Flame reminisced, they were unaware of two pairs of eyes watching them. CRACK! A twig snapped and Dove and Flame whirled around, knowing they had been followed. Flame dropped into a defensive crouch and raised his fur while Dove tasted the air for familiar scents. Flame meowed, “Come on out! We know you’re in there!” Dove started to tell Flame something, but was interrupted by the rustling leaves that told them the spies were coming out of hiding. Slinking from underneath a bush, came two small cats. “Kits!” Flame exclaimed. “That’s what I was trying to tell you!” Dove said. The two kits stared at the ground, too ashamed to say anything. “Where did you come from?” Dove asked them tenderly. “Thunderclan,” they answered meekly.Dove nearly fell over, “Thunderclan? You mean to tell me there’s more than one clan living here?” 

“Duh! I’m Cherrykit, and this Molekit. We are kits from Thunderclan!”  A new thought alighted in Dove’s mind, “Cherrykit, does your clan know you two are out on your own?” 

“Well…No, we sorta came on our own…”

Flame imitated Doves soothing voice as best he could and purred, “Do you know were your camp is?”

Both Cherrykit and Molekit’s mouths dropped. “We hadn’t thought of that…” Molekit marched to the right and stated, “We came from this way!”

“No, it was this way!” Cherrykit argued, jumping to the left.

“I’m sure it was this way!”

“Well, its not!”

“Yeah, huh!” 

“Why don’t we look for it?” Flame cut in, exasperated.

“Oh..” the kits said together

“Yes,” Dove pointed her tail forward, “Lets just go forward, we are bound to hit you guy’s camp at some point. Come on!” As Dove paraded the kits away, she began to pretend that they were on a patrol. “Don’t forget to scent mark that tree, Cherrykit!”

The kits happily joined the game, “Sure thing!” Cherrykit said. 

“Say! We don’t know your names!” Molekit exclaimed.

  Flame smiled, winked noticeably, and put on an air of importance. “My name is Flamestar, and this is my deputy, Dovewing,” Dove blushed at the mention of her old name, but soon forgot as the kits continued talking. 

“Are you a Windclan cat? No, you’re too nice. Do you have kits?” and so on until Dove’s head was nearly spinning. 

Molekit suddenly screeched, “STOP!” Every cat did, except Cherrykit, who ignored him. She trotted gaily ahead, then started to walk backwards, just to prove there was nothing dangerous. Just then, her hind paw slipped. She turned her head to see behind her, and gasped. She was standing on the edge of a chasm. “I…I feel like I’m falling!” she yelped strangely. “Help!” Dove leapt at her just as her paws dropped from under her. A strangled squeak escaped her lips as she pawed the empty air. Dove struggled with the heavy bundle, trying in vain to lift it. Flame saw her limbs tremble with the effort. He realized her kits were weighing her down. He sprung to help her bring up Cherrykit. Dove’s muffled voice came from the scruff of Cherrykit’s neck, “Flame there are cats down there!”