The Five Giants - Book 1

Chapter 4 - Stone

I hate everything. This doesn't come as a surprise, seeing as I've been made quite infamous by my grumpiness, but I can't help it. Everyone around me is an idiot.

The only thing that gives me comfort after that dream is sleep. Which is something I do often. It's fun, and it takes my mind off of things.

My mother tries to be nice to me, but I can't accept her appreciation because she doesn't try to be nice to me to suit me, she tries to be nice in general. Let me rephrase that. She doesn't do things that I like, she does things that people like in general. She tries to do the norms, not the specifics.

My sister was alright, she wasn't mean to me and any way, but I didn't know how long that was going to last from the dream. I would try to be nicer to her, bu again, I didn't know how long that was going to last.

I also don't know why StarClan chose me for the "Protect the Clans" side. I never did anything special. Sure, I fought in a big battle and killed a lot of evil cats, but I'm really grumpy all the time and don't make friends with many people for that reason.

I understood why the other five were chosen though. Maple was smart, Heron was brave, Flame was strong, and Swift was kind. But I don't have a place here. Here's a few adjectives that describe me:

Ignorant.

Grumpy.

Big.

Reclusive.

The only thing that could give me any credit was that I was intimidating. I was big, like I said, and had intimidating blue eyes. No one ever really looked at me for longer than a few seconds, and that was only if they were talking to me. They would avert their eyes after only a few words, and then I'd be left staring at the side of their face while they were talking.

"Stonekit, why don't you go play with the others?" My mother had her eyes down by my face. "You always stay back with me. How about you go try that game they're playing?"

I shook my head, not speaking a word, and turned away from her. I had never played with them, and I intended to keep the streak.

I looked out of the den to see Duskkit playing with Dappledpaw and Tallpaw. They were just chasing each other around the clearing of camp.

Jackalfur, my mother, rolled her eyes, huffed, and then nosed me onto my feet. Her eyes had changed from their usual kindness, and were now serious. "Go. I don't want you back in this den until all of them have gone back to their den."

If there was one person I was not going to disobey, it was my mother. She was normally one of the only ones nice to me, but when she was angry, she was angry.  Real angry.

I had never been punished by her, but I saw one of my older brothers, Acornheart, get punished.

Let's just say... I really didn't want to get punished.

I started padding away, and was almost out of the den when I heard my mother speak, "And Stonekit?" I looked back at her, "Try to enjoy it, okay?"

I gave a small nod, and continued on my way out of the den. Tallpaw was the first to spot me, and he looked somewhat confused. "Stonekit? What a pleasant surprise! Are you gonna play tag with us?"

I rolled my eyes and grunted, "If you teach me how to play."

Dappledpaw came over, confused. "What? You don't know how to play tag? Do you have a life?" Dappledpaw smiled, as if it was a joke, but I didn't like the tone in which she said it. 

I just growled and kept to myself, however. I had promised my mother that I would have fun, and getting into an argument within thirty seconds would certainly not be fun.

The two apprentices explained the game quickly, deciding that I should start out as the "tagger". I was supposed to count, so I did, and then started chasing the others around.

I was still a kit, so I had small legs, meaning I didn't really stand a chance in chasing the others. But I continued chasing them anyways, a small spark of joy igniting in my heart.

Dappledpaw saw my struggle, and slowed down just a small amount, enough for me to catch up to her. As I was running, I bunched my hind legs and sprang towards her, tapping her with my paw. "Ha ha ha! You're it!"

She smiled and started chasing the others, while I lied down on the ground. I opened my mouth and started heaving heavy breaths. For the first time in my very short life, I had experienced joy, and it was exhausting.

Tallpaw was chasing around Dappledpaw now, laughing. Duskkit was over by our mother, being groomed. I rolled onto my back and stretched my legs, then stood up and padded over to the fresh-kill pile. Mother had allowed us to start eating solid food, and I felt like having a mouse.

There was a small mouse resting on the top of the pile, the perfect size for Duskkit and myself to share. I grabbed it between my jaws and padded over to my mother and Duskkit.

My mother looked up at me and smiled, "Aw, thanks Stonekit! I would've gotten the mouse for you two." I rolled my eyes just enough so that my mother wouldn't see, and bent down to where my sister was laying, tucking into the mouse.

"We both hate to hear it," Duskkit was speaking in between bites, "but thanks for bringing this." I gave a small nod a rolled my eyes once again as I bent down to take another bite.

Chewing my latest bite, the flavor of the kill exploding in my mouth, I thought about that weird dream with the other four cats. I already knew them before that weird voice. I had always had the best memory.

Probably because I never focused on small things like having a mate or trying to please anyone, so I was able to notice smaller things. The only one who somewhat shared that was Maple, but he wasn't nearly as good as me.

Maple, Heron, Swift, Flame... Wow, it's been a long time since I last heard those names...

Then I thought to the Dark Forest cats, one of whom is my sister now. They were our mortal enemies back in our first life. There was one to counter each of us, but it wasn't so much of a counter as it was just an equal foe.

Dusk had always shared my strength of noticing small things, memory, and being intimidating. And now she was my sister. Great.

Moon, Lion, Dahlia, Dusk, and Sparrow... It's been awhile, although I can't say I'm pleased to see you've returned as well.

I swallowed my last bite of the mouse, and left Duskkit by herself to finish up the last bit of mouse. 

Heading over to the Medicine Cat's den, I was greeted with the strong smell of herbs.

She must be sorting herbs then. I'll talk to her later.

I turned around and headed back to the nursery, ready to curl up into a ball and drift off.

As I laid down, however, I could fall asleep. I twisted and turned, but my mind wouldn't wander off.

I tried getting into a more comfortable position, and was able to at least keep my eyes closed. I heard someone walk into the den, and they started grooming my fur. This allowed me to finally drift off into that blank, dark holiness.

That felt like it took forever, but that was mainly because I started it  before break and ended it today.

I'm back! Well, at least for awhile. I go back to in-person in two weeks, so after that updates will be less frequent.

This is actually my younger brother's OC, so thank to him for letting me use it.

That's probably the first time I've ever said thanks to him.

Cherish it, Michael.

Okay, I'll stop bein' weird. 

Until the next,

-Maple