Echo: The Kits Take A Stand

Chapter 6

That night, the kits, along with Leafpaw and Sunpaw, preformed their usual routine of sneaking out of camp at night to do their secret training sessions. But as they reached the middle of PondClan's forest, Leafpaw began to cough.

"Leafpaw? Are you all right?" Sunpaw asked her brother.

"Fine, I'm fine. It's probably just a cold," Leafpaw reassured her.

But the coughing did not stop.

"Leafpaw, you really should go to the medicine den. Just to make sure you're alright," Falconkit advised.

"Okay, so I might have white cough. But if I went to the medicine den now, we'd have to explain why we were out here in the middle of the night. If I'm still coughing tomorrow morning, then I'll go to the medicine den," Leafpaw decided. The group canceled the rest of their training session and returned to camp early.

The next morning, the coughing had not stopped. Leafpaw went to the medicine den. Swanfeather figured it was just a small case of white cough. He was given tansy.

Several days later, the coughing still had not stopped. On top of that, he had a horrible constant bellyache. He was almost always sleeping every time they visited him. It was clear now. Leafpaw had the same sickness that the many other PondClan cats had. For the next few nights, Sunpaw continued to take them out for the nighttime training sessions. But she soon became busy with all the time she spent with her brother in the medicine den.

And then Sunpaw got sick, too. She soon became just as weak as Leafpaw.

Now there was nobody to train them. The kits doubted that they would ever prove to Hazelstar that the rules should be changed back. They were beginning to think that they might just have to wait 10 moons to become apprentices.

But Echokit would not give up. Half a moon after both Sunpaw and Leafpaw had gotten sick and moved to the medicine den, she called a secret meeting for the kits. They all met her behind the nursery at moonhigh.

"What do you want, Echokit? Our training is over. You're not commander anymore!" Blossomkit hissed quietly.

"Our training isn't over," Echokit told the kits gathered around her. "It's too dangerous for us kits to go into the forest alone. So we can't hunt anymore. But remember our goal? It was to defeat a dangerous enemy by ourselves. We can still do fighting training. I say we do it right here at the edge of camp, behind the leader's den every night. We'll have to be much quieter, though."

"But how will we do it?" Questioned Swiftkit and Whitekit's sister, Thistlekit. "We don't have anybody to teach us new fighting moves anymore!"

"We won't be able to learn any new fighting moves, you're right," Echokit admitted. "But we can practice the ones we learned. And we learned quite a few. It should be enough. By the time we're four moons old, we should be ready to defeat that enemy!"

"By the time you're four moons old," Swiftkit corrected. "When you're four moons old, me and my siblings will be six moons old! And Blossomkit and her siblings will be five moons old!"

"Fine. What I mean is, I'm three moons old, Blossomkit and her sibling are four moons old, and you and your siblings are five moons old. So in one moon, we should all be ready," Echokit explained.

"That makes enough sense," Swiftkit agreed.

"Hold up! Echokit and her siblings are the youngest of PondClan's kits! Why is she commander, again?" Nightkit narrowed her eyes.

"Because Sunpaw chose me," Echokit's voice had a hint of anger.

Nightkit rolled her eyes. "Only because you're her favorite!"

But she's right, isn't she? There's nothing special about me that makes me better than the other kits. I'm just the closest to Leafpaw and Sunpaw. If I wasn't, Swiftkit or Blossomkit would have been commander of the kits. Unsure of how to respond, Echokit backed away.

Swiftkit took a step closer. "Nightkit's right. Sunpaw and Leafpaw don't train us any more, so who cares about what their opinions were? I'm the oldest of all the kits! Shouldn't I be commander?" His eyes gleamed. Echokit felt betrayed, but she couldn't disagree. There wasn't any reason for her to be commander anymore. To her surprise, Falconkit went in front of her and met Swiftkit's eyes.

"Let me think, who was the one to step up and take control so that the nighttime training sessions could be possible in the first place?" He snarled. "Who was the one who helped Sunpaw come up with this whole idea? Who's idea was it to protest against Hazelstar's change of the rules? Who made the plan to bring back the training sessions after everybody else had given up?"

He's talking about me! Echokit realized, appreciation for her brother welling up in her chest. I'm the one who did all of those things! I did more to make this possible than any other kit did!

"You're right!" Nightkit exclaimed, suddenly switching to Echokit's side of the argument. "Swiftkit, what have you done to make you worthy of being commander?"

"Echokit might have done some things, but she only did those by talking! I'm the strongest of all the kits!" Swiftkit spat. Echokit noticed his neck fur bristling. Why does he want to be commander so badly?

Thistlekit bared her teeth at her brother. "The oldest and the biggest doesn't mean the strongest! You're just greedy!"

"He is not!" Blossomkit looked ready to claw the gray she-kit's ears off. "He would be a great commander! Look at what he's doing right now! Fighting for the respect he deserves!"

Wetkit snorted. "So what? Echokit's been a great commander all along! We don't need to change commander now!" The blue-gray she-kit slid in beside Echokit and Falconkit. Rockkit and Whitekit followed.

Out of nowhere, Swiftkit's anger and determination to be commander of the kits disappeared, as if Wetkit, Rockkit and Whitekit siding with her had silenced him.

"Never mind! Carry on, Echokit!" He meowed awkwardly.

"B-but-" Blossomkit started, but seeing as she was alone, she gave up. Before Echokit could continue, Whitekit asked, "Wait, where's Alderkit been this whole time?"

Nightkit scoffed. "He's still asleep. I couldn't wake him up. I'll tell him about it in the morning. So, Commander Echokit, when do we start training?"

"Tomorrow," Echokit answered. "And don't call me that."