Warrior Cats; Smokeskull's Revenge [ 1 ]

Chapter 11

Smokekit looked over at Willowkit and saw her face twist with curiosity. The two padded forward, as Willowkit smiffed at the dusty rogue cat, then backed up in disgust. "Smells like crowfood!" She scrunched up her nose and looked away with closed eyes.
"That's because he is!" Skystar leapt down from the Highrock, landing like a large, fallen stone and making a loud pound on the grass floor. Her eyes met the rogue's as she glared at him.
Other cats approached, unsure of what to think. Their leader had recognized the dirt-smelling kittypet before any other cat. Had she known this "Adderstrike" from before?
The rogue looked up and gazed sincerely into the leader's eyes. "I seek nothing of you, Skystar." Adderstrike huffed out and flinched at the white leader's furious eyes. "Your Clan is weak, and you know it."
Willowkit leaned in towards Smokekit as her sister forced her to back up. The pale kit's tiny face buried in her neck fur. "I'm scared, Smokekit." She mewed with tightly-shut eyes. Her ears folded back to protect them from stirring in the cold wind.
"It's okay." Smokekit glanced back at the sky, noting to herself of the stages.
At first, the clouds would bunch up into long strips of black. Then they would fade into eachother and causing whirls of stormy wind. The weather had not been this icy since a few moons ago when Smokekit was born. This time it was a small amount colder.
A shock came to them all when the elder's den blew open. Screeching and yowling came from the inside as twigs and nettle clumps flew off the roof and twisted in the sky.
Not long after, Fallowshade, Fernwhisker, and Greytail raced out of their broken home. Fernwhisker -a pretty brown she-cat with brown paws and muzzle- flew into the clearing, her mouth wide with terror.
"The elders' den is gone!!" Fallowshade reported. His big, elderly shape hurling over Fernwhisker. He was clearly not fully retired from being a warrior just yet.
Greytail was not too far behind. He was cold-eyed and whiskering his way through the broken den, looking for his moss bed. "Where's that ol' moss clump?!" He growled in distress, throwing sticks into the air, only to keep flying away.
Fernwhisker's eyes were wide with panic, and the Clan's screeching kept growing louder and louder.
Willowkit grasped herself into Smokekit's fur at once as hard twigs and rocks flew into their pelts. "Let's go back into the nursery." The older sister shouted over the wind. "It's safer there than out here in the cold!" She squinted into the wind and blindedly backed up into the den.
But Willowkit stayed put. "What if the nursery blows apart too?" She meowed over the wind, her tail curled over her paws and her eyes wide and frightened.
"We have to take a chance!" Smokekit replied instantly, taking a hold of Willowkit's scruff gently and helping her into the kit-shaft.
Coalstorm and Whitewind met them inside. They were huddled up in the corner. Coalstorm had her head over Whitewind's belly as she purred lovingly. "Soon?" She asked, purring her greeting to Smokekit and Willowkit as they dashed into the nursery clearing.
"Very." Whitewind replied, looking over her shoulder at the two kits. "We were wondering when you two would come in!" Her stomach grumbled and the queen twitched happily.
Smokekit was out of breath. Storming through tough wind was hard work! "Willowkit, are you okay?" She asked, suddenly circling her pale sister.
After Willowkit nodded her response, Smokekit sat down and sighed. "It is definitely windier than around sunhigh." She meowed and chuckled, swaying her head from side to side.
"Are you okay?" Willowkit asked, completely ignoring Smokekit's utterly awkward statement.
The grey kit's head swung to face her sister. Her vision now blurry. "W-What? I'm f-fine! Heh." She scrunched up her face to look funny and look okay, but then closed her eyes and felt her head thud on the floor.

A paw poked at Smokekit's face irritatingly. She swiped her paw over her ear and stuffed her muzzle into the ground. Her head felt swollen and darkened. All around her were cats; some she knew, and some she didn't. Even though her eyes remained closed, she could still smell their scents.
"Smokekit." A voice as soft as a dove's hum came from the distance. "Smokekit, are you there? Can you hear me?" The voice meowed, more in a delicate new. The she-cat sounded worried, saddened, and scared.
Her head spun in an odd pattern of gentle pain. "I-I can hear you." Smokekit's eyes opened in a flutter. All was warm and calm, but there were lots of cats. Everyone was silent, everyone was calm.
"Good!" The voice called, "Now keep breathing, okay?"
"Why would I not breathe?" Smokekit's head oozed with pain now. Feeling a shortage of oxygen, her head dipped and she curled herself into a ball.
The cat's paw swiped along her head and down her back. "Hush. For it will soon be over."
"For you!" hissed a low, Tom-cat sounding voice. The growl was soon followed by a loud yowl of pain, maybe...death..?
Smokekit's eyes fluttered open once again and she stretched backwards, looking over her shoulder at a dark warior. His fur was ruffled and blood stained his teeth. "W-Who are you?" She murmured, tensing her muscles. She was not ready to fight, in fact she was in the worst condition to, but she would fight for anything-anyone-any cat.
"Adderstrike is my name. Remember it, Smokekit. I am your future, and you are my life." A loud hiss of laughter came from the dark warrior and he bowled his head over Smokekit's, casting a long shadow upon her.
The warrior faded in echoing laughter. His evil, green-glowing eyes gleamed all around her, shining from the outskirts of the outlands.
Another voice came into Smokekit's head as the laughter faded and the darkness came swirling in all around her, closing tightly around her neck. A light freed her as it spoke, "One cat is bold, yet another will hold! The Clan will soon mourn, and so will you; be torn!"
Smokekit's head swung up from her nest. Her wide, green eyes stretched far, as she was forced to peer into the open clearing where the moon dappled the dust floor. She was surprised to see that the rogue was not there. His blood-battered shape was all that was left as traces of him. Smokekit guessed he was either in the medicine cat's den, or Skystar's.
As she turned to look around the nursery, she saw that the elders were sleeping in pride as well. Smokekit noticed the nursery outside; the roofless den with no cats. It looked like a small version of the 'Mothermouth' from the elders' stories.
"Smokekit?" The soft voice called again...again?
The grey kit turned around in her nest, her face painted with shock. But when the voice appeared to be coming from behind Coalstorm, Smokekit's face lit up. Maybe Willowkit can help me solve this. She thought with a sinking smile.
But what if Willowkit doesn't understand? What is she does not comprehend the amount of attention this high task deserves? No. Smokekit knew Willowkit must understand. They are sisters. Sisters who are bonding everlastingly by the heart of them both.
"It's me, Willowkit." She meowed over Coalstorm's shoulder. Her mother's chest rose and fell with every second heartbeat.
The pale kit popped her head up and purred. "What's the matter?" She sounded more serious now that Smokekit's face was worried-looking.
Smokekit didn't answer, but turned and flicked her tail at her own bed across from Coalstorm's. "I had a dream of Adderstrike..." She meowed uncertainly. Her eyes darted back and forth, scanning the ground for the warrior night-guard.
"Are you still worried?" Willowkit asked, tipping her head to the side. "I was. You passed out and kept mumbling to yourself. I thought you wouldn't stop until hedgehogs could to fly." She rolled her eyes, folding her sand-coloured tail over her paws.
Smokekit huffed deeply. Her mind fixed on her dream and what the voice and Adderstrike said. "And for the storm? What happened to it?" She asked unknowingly. But it was some information she wanted to know still.
"The storm just passed. It trashed the dirtplace with trees and destroyed the elders' den with wind." Willowkit reported. Her chin held high as if speaking with the honourable leader of StarClan.
With a sad nod, Smokekit understood now. Adderstrike was here to bring the storm. The storm represented the future. But if Smokekit was Adderstrike's future, then what good was the dumb old kittypet for? The storm was all that was needed?
The cream kit opened her mouth wide and bared her sharp kit teeth in a quiet yawn. "May I-?"
"Go to sleep, Willowkit." Smokekit answered.
Willowkit shook her head and giggled slightly. "It's like you knew what I was going to say."
"I know you better than you know yourself," Smokekit purred, watching Willowkit lay down beside her. She placed her muzzle on Willowkit's lower neck. "And I will always be here for you."
A purr ran through the two sisters as they closed their eyes and sunk into a peaceful, solemn sleep.

As Smokekit awoke, she saw that she was not where she has lay to rest. "Willow-" She paused and looked at her sister at the entranceway.
"Skystar just called a Clan meeting!" Willowkit mewed and glanced back out the door.
Smokekit got up and lazily trudged towards her sister. As she looked outside, all the CloudClanners were already gathered around.
"Last night, I sentenced Adderstrike into permanent exile." Skystar announced, ignoring the gasps and whispers from the crowd, "If any CloudClan cat is to come across him on our territory, you have my permission to kill him on sight."
The leader waited until everyone was hushed once again to continue her statements, "This rule will last for two moons. If any further, you shalt chase him off our grounds or, with my permission, to challenge on sight."
Yowls of agreement arose from the static of cats.
"Good job!"
"Nice move!"
"Smart thinking!"
Smokekit felt a low shock grow within her chest. She bent her head downwards and gave her soft grey fur a lick to calm herself down.
Out of no where, Willowkit burst into the clearing out of her cozy place beside Smokekit. Her warm glow faded and Smokekit felt panick swell in her throat. "Get back here, you!" She hissed, somewhat playful, but somehow full of undisguised worry.
Willowkit came to a halt and turned right after Smokekit leaped after her. Within a heartbeat, the two barrelled into eachother; Willowkit's head fisting into her sister's lighter grey-furred chest as Smokekit tumbled forward into the dirt.
As she plunged into the soil, Smokekit flipped herself upright onto her paws and shook her head. "Sorry, I just a bit nervous. Adderstrike is loose in the forest and no cat knows if he'll attack or not."
Squeaking her amused mew, Willowkit focused right away. "Skystar was very angry with him when he arrived. Maybe he is some cat who she never wanted to see in the first place..." Her words trailed off when Smokekit looked at Skystar near the Highrock.
She was speaking with Darkfeather as if he was the deputy. Her head closed in and peaking over her shoulder. Was Skystar hiding a secret? Smokekit asked herself. Her head bent to the side, peering at the cautious leader.
"I have a bad feeling." Smokekit mewed. Her nose scrunched up in a snort of disappointment.
A sigh burst out of her throat as Willowkit mewed her reply, "Me too. Skystar and Darkfeather seem to be hiding something. Since she didn't tell the Clan why she exiled Adderstrike right off the whisker, it's made me worried about what might happen afterwards...if he comes back."
Smokekit's eyes widened as she looked over her shoulder at her sister. "As if you just said that." She mumbled, her jaw wide with shock. "I just thought the same thing." Smokekit swirled her tail around her paws and sighed once again. Even if she had Willowkit on her side, it didn't explain anything.
"Smokekit!" A Tom growled from behind her. His long shadow loomed over and blocked out the sun from reaching her pelt.
The grey kit turned slowly and gazed up at the warrior above her.