Brokenstar's Bitterness

Chapter Three

Brokenkit woke up, feeling sun's rays  shining on his dark brown tabby pelt. He heard his littermates' playful squeaks who were a tail-length away. Brokenkit narrowed his eyes and left the nursery, seeing Lizardstripe talking to a dark orange tabby she-cat with green eyes. "Brokenkit always steals milk from my kits! That brat!" Lizardstripe spat with anger.
"I'm sure he doesn't do that," Amberleaf mewed. "it's just that you don't have enough milk to feed them, Lizardstripe."
Lizardstripe narrowed her eyes. "Who's nursing him, Amberleaf? You or me?"
Amberleaf flicked her tail and walked off. Brokenkit hid behind the brambles until Lizardstripe was finally gone. That was close. I should be more careful. 
As he entered the clearing, he saw two cats talking. One was a dark brown tabby tom with ragged fur and amber eyes. Is that my father?  Brokenkit wondered. The other cat was a stranger to him, a black tom with yellow eyes. I have to hear what they're saying.
Brokenkit padded up to them, but hid behind a rock, which was next to the medicine cats' den.
"Good morning, Raggedpelt." the black tom mewed. "You should watch out for the kits, they're everywhere. I saw them a while ago, playing with a ball of moss in the clearing, but are out of sight now. Maybe you can do something about it?"
Raggedpelt gave the tom a curt nod. "I'm sure it's no big deal, Nightpelt. They're probably in the nursery."
Nightpelt twitched his ears. "I can hear their squeals. Kits these days." He broke off with a cough. "I saw three kits. Weren't there four?"
Raggedpelt looked worried. "Are you sure there were only three of them?"
Nightpelt nodded. "Was the fourth one yours? The rumors says so. A kit with a broken tail nursed by Lizardstripe without a real mother?"
Raggedpelt nodded. "The rumors are correct. He's probably hiding somewhere."
Nightpelt was puzzled. "Why would he hide from his father who's second in charge to the Clan leader?" He broke off with a cough once again. "Maybe you should look for him since he's not coming out of his shell anytime soon."
"Perhaps you're right, Nightpelt. Good luck with your hunting." Raggedpelt watched Nightpelt go, then searched for Brokenkit. He suddenly stumbled across Sagewhisker, ShadowClan's medicine cat.
"Have you seen Brokenkit, Sagewhisker?" Raggedpelt asked.
Sagewhisker shook her head.
Brokenkit began to panic. Mouse-dung! He'll find me. Then a plump mouse caught Brokenkit's eye. He unsheathed his claws, leaping on the mouse and biting its neck, thus killing it. This is my first catch! And I'm just a kit. I hope Raggedpelt will be proud of me.
He turned to see Raggedpelt, who had a surprised look on his face. "Well done, Brokenkit. You're a kit, but also a warrior already!"
Brokenkit looked at his father with admiration. Raggedpelt smiled. "I'm glad you're my son, you've got it in you. You'll be a great warrior one day."
"What about my tail?" Brokenkit mewed, gazing at his broken-like tail that made him feel embarrassed.
"Don't worry about it. It's the courage that makes a warrior, the strength, the tail is no big deal." Raggedpelt assured him. Brokenkit sat closer to his father, his eyes gleaming. "I want to be a leader one day, just like you."
Raggedpelt let out a mrrow of laughter. "I'm not leader yet, Brokenkit. But I'm sure you'll be a great leader one day," Raggedpelt touched noses with his son, then proceeded to walk away. "Wait!" Brokenkit squaked. "Where are you going?"
Raggedpelt gazed over his shoulder. "Why don't you go play with the other kits? You'll have fun, I assure you."
Brokenkit watched him go then turned away and headed for the nursery. Fun? It's far away from that. He let out a sigh. I know what comes next. I can beat the three of them myself. 
He came up to his littermates. "We don't want to play with you," Deerkit yowled.
"Yeah, every cat says you're a kittypet. Just like your father." Tanglekit added.
Brokenkit felt his fur bristle with rage. "My father's not a kittypet! He's Clan deputy!"
Runningkit let out a sniff. "But... who's your mother?" 
"She could be anyone. A rogue, a kittypet, a badger! Badger-stinky!" Deerkit taunted.
"Badger-stinky! Badger-stinky!" The other two kits joined in.
Brokenkit lashed out a paw at Tanglekit, who backed away instantly.
She's lucky she's quick!  
Yellowfang, ShadowClan's medicine cat intervened immediately, dropping her herbs and feathers, and stood between Brokenkit and his littermates.
"That's enough! Deerkit, Runningkit, Tanglekit, how dare you treat your Clanmate like this. You should be ashamed of yourselves."
Tanglekit and Deerkit looked defiant, while Runningkit put his head down in embarrassment.
"Brokenkit, come with me," she curled her tail around the tabby tom and pulled him out of the nursery. I could've beaten them myself. She didn't need to show up.
"Your Clanmates should learn how to behave. I'll inform Lizardstripe of the happenings."
Brokenkit ran in front of her. "Don't do that," he begged. "Lizardstripe will only blame me, she doesn't like me. She thinks I'm stealing milk from her kits."
"Of course she doesn't think that," Yellowfang exclaimed, shocked.
"Yes, she does," Brokenkit insisted. "She said it to Amberleaf. No one likes me..."
Yellowfang put her thick tail on his shoulder. "I like you," she mewed. "Would you like helping me with carrying these feathers and herbs to my den?"
Brokenkit's sad expression had vanished. She wants me to help her? Sounds fun so there's no way I'd refuse.
"Sure!" Brokenkit exclaimed. Yellowfang's affectionate gaze made Brokenkit feel more relaxed around her. "You're so strong so you probably don't need me to help you!" Yellowfang meowed.
Brokenkit collected as much as he could manage and strode off to the medicine cats' den. Sagewhisker was curled in her nest, she raised her head in surprise as she saw Brokenkit followed by Yellowfang.
"Shouldn't he be playing with his littermates?"
Yellowfang showed Brokenkit where to put his burden. "My littermates are stupid. Yellowfang's my friend now," Brokenkit retorted to the old medicine cat. Yellowfang sat next to Brokenkit.
"Brokenkit, would you like helping me collect some clean moss?" 
Brokenkit nodded. "I can carry more moss than any cat!" he boasted.
Yellowfang led him to a bark behind the elders' den where moss grew. "Now, you hold up the bark while I collect the moss from the underneath," Yellowfang instructed.
"Like this?" Brokenkit burrowed under the bark and balanced it with his paws, a heartbeat later a pile of moss fell on his head. Yellowfang mrrowed in amusement. "Not quite, a squirrel might think that you're a tree and try to climb you up."
"I'm a tree, I'm a tree!" Brokenkit exclaimed, jumping up and down until the pile of moss fell off his head. This is so fun!  Yellowfang truly is my friend now! 
Yellowfang instructed him how to hold up the bark with one paw while she gathered the moss, and when they collected a good amount, they bundled it together and Brokenkit helped her carry it to the medicine cats' den.
Collecting herbs wouldn't be so fun without Yellowfang. Brokenkit thought. She's way different than my stupid littermates.  But I don't understand. Why's she so nice to me?