Brokenstar's Bitterness

Chapter Two

Brokenkit felt three kits' bodies pressed onto him. A black-and-brown tom with yellow eyes backed away from him instantly. The other two kits were as puzzled as Brokenkit was. 
"What's the matter, Deerkit?" asked Tanglekit, a gray-and-brown she-cat with leaf-green eyes.
"Don't come any closer to that badger-stinky thing over there!" he yowled.
"Who are you talking about?" Tanglekit asked, tilting her head to one side. Deerkit pointed at Brokenkit with his tail. Tanglekit sniffed the dark brown tabby tom's fur. After doing so she backed away in an instant.
"You're right. He smells like a badger," mewed Tanglekit, poking her brother, Runningkit, a gray-and-white tom with yellow eyes, who had a constantly runny nose. "What is it?"
Tanglekit came closer to him, whispering something into his ear. Brokenkit could hear it clearly, not knowing why she was whispering in the first place. He saw her pointing her paw in his direction. "Don't come any closer to him. He smells weird."
Runningkit nodded. "Okay," he mewed with a sniff. The kits backed away from Brokenkit and were playing with a ball of moss in the clearing. Brokenkit was left alone, lying on the soft pile of moss. 
They don't like me.
Then he heard a rustling  from the thorn bushes, seeing a pale brown tabby she-cat with a white underbelly and yellow eyes. She was carrying a plump shrew in her jaws. She lay down and grabbed several mouthful bites of the shrew's flesh. Brokenkit poked her with a forepaw. "Can I play?" he asked with a squeak. The she-cat ignored him. Brokenkit wasn't giving up so easily. All he wants is to play like the other kits. "Please, mother!"
The she-cat fixed him with a hostile look in her yellow eyes. "I am not your mother, you useless brat," she hissed, turning away from Brokenkit. Brokenkit felt as if sharp thorns were piercing his little heart. He looked down, trembling with fear.
She doesn't like me. Nor do her kits. Nobody does. 
Brokenkit walked away from the tabby she-cat and padded up to his littermates. "Can I play with you?"
The three kits gave him a hostile look. "We don't want to play with you!" Deerkit yowled. "You smell funny!" The other two kits nodded in agreement and continued to play with the ball of moss. Brokenkit only looked sullen and padded up to Lizardstripe, lying down next to her.
All I want is to feel wanted. To feel liked. Isn't that what every cat wants?
Hearing his belly rumble with hunger, Brokenkit came closer to the she-cat's underbelly and tried to suck milk but she pushed him away. "You're stealing milk from my kits," she spat. Hollyflower, a dark gray and white she-cat rustled through the bramble bushes. "Don't be so harsh on him, Lizardstripe. You're raising the Clan deputy's son, after all. I'm sure Raggedpelt wouldn't be too pleased to hear that his son was left to starve."
Lizardstripe ignored her but knowing that she would be in big trouble if Raggedpelt finds out, she reluctantly let Brokenkit have a few gulps of milk and then she pushed him away. "That's enough for you for today," she mewed with a bitter voice then walked away from him. Brokenkit let out a deep breath.
Maybe I can go explore the camp? he wondered. He twitched an ear to the sound of his littermates' playing, and glanced at them with an unsure expression. He jumped to his paws, noticing how big and strong he was compared to the other kits. He sneaked out of the nursery through the entrance, seeing a huge open area with lots of tall pine trees. Looking down on the camp, he noticed a crowd of cats near a high rock, which was overlapped by the another, creating a small entrance in the middle, with vine hanging off of it. He stalked over to the den, and accidentally bumped into a long-furred gray she-cat with burning yet gentle orange eyes.
"Brokenkit?" the she-cat meowed. "What are you doing here?"
"I-I just wanted to explore the camp," he stammered, trembling in fear while he looked at the gray she-cat. "The other kits don't want to play with me."
The she-cat's eyes were wide with shock. "I'm sorry to hear that, Brokenkit. I'll inform Lizardstripe of that."
The tabby tom ran in front of her, begging, "Please don't do that! She'll only blame me, as always."
The gray cat felt sympathy for the little kit, wrapping her tail around his tiny but strong body.
"Would you like to help me with something, Brokenkit?"
Brokenkit's eyes shone, his frowning expression vanished and turned into a big smile. "Sure!" He exclaimed, jumping up and down, he added, "What do we do?"
"Let's go and look for some cobwebs around camp, shall we?"
Before she could receive a reply, the tabby tom was already running across the camp. The gray she-cat followed him, speeding up her pace the best way she could, until she finally reached the kit poking a corner behind the medicine cats' den, trying to find some cobwebs.
Brokenkit stared at her with wide curious eyes when she reached him. "Wait, who are you anyway?"
"The name's Yellowfang, I'm ShadowClan's medicine cat."
"Medicine cat?" the tom squeaked, "That sounds weird but amazing!"
Yellowfang chuckled, "Yeah, I'd say it's a mix of both."
Brokenkit watched as the medicine cat grabbed some cobwebs with her paw, and he was disgusted by the glance of it. What disgusted him even more was that he also had to grab cobwebs with his paw. "Ugh, this feels weird..." he meowed as he caught a few cobwebs, "What do you even do with those disgusting things?"
"We use them to stop the bleeding," she explained, "they're not the prettiest, true, but they're very useful herbs."
"But," Brokenkit meowed, "how am I supposed to carry this?"
"Don't worry," Yellowfang told him, "I'll carry it back to the den. You can go back to the nursery, it'll be evening soon."
Ears put aside and tail low, Brokenkit reluctantly strolled over to the nursery at the edge of the camp, with Yellowfang following him from behind. He looked over his shoulder, his orange eyes filled with sadness, to see that Yellowfang wasn't as happy either, with what he'd told her earlier about his mother and littermates. He saw her vanish into the darkness of the den.
Why don't they like me? Is something wrong with me? he wondered, reaching the bramble entrance, he saw his three littermates curdled by each other's side. He felt something violently bite his tail which was bent in the middle, resembling a broken branch. He let out a cry of pain. He turned to see no one other than Lizardstripe, the pale brown tabby she-cat hissed at him. "What are you doing around camp in this time?"
Brokenkit was too scared to speak, trembling and putting himself into a more submissive pose, giving the she-cat dominance over him. He shut his eyes tightly, not knowing what else to do out of the fear rippling through him from head to tail-tip. The she-cat snatched him by his scruff and aggressively dropped him on the ground. She gave him one last hostile stare and then turned over to her kits, wrapping her tail around them to keep them warm. Brokenkit tried to join his littermates but Lizardstripe's tail pushed him away.
"Tonight you're sleeping alone," she snarled, "you don't deserve to sleep with my kits."
Brokenkit did as he was told, curling up as much as he could on the cold ground, watching his littermates sleeping tightly by their mother's side. Looking at his tail, he suddenly felt a pang of hatred towards it. It's broken... is that how I got my name? Brokenkit? 
He let out a deep breath, resting his head, his mind filled with many questions he couldn't answer. If Lizardstripe isn't my mother, then who is? And where is she? Why did she leave me? Will I ever find out?