Breath of the Ocean | Warriors

before

The moon hung in the black sky, surrounded by the twinkling stars of Silverpelt. The only sound was the padding of the two warriors' paws as they travelled through the chilly leaf-fall night accompanied by the distant crashing of water. Light chatter and hushed giggles floated through the air.

"Hey, Tussockflame?" The big red tabby asked his mate.

"Hm?" the patched she-cat replied.

"Race you to the waterfall!"

The red tabby took off running, bounding along the grass in the direction of the massive churning wall of water. Tussockflame gasped and took off after him in hot pursuit. "Hey, Redburr, no fair! You're way bigger and faster!"

Redburr laughed heartily as he ran. "You're never gonna catch me!" He looked over his shoulder towards Tussockflame, who desperately tried to catch up. She was gaining on him by the heartbeat. The two of them laughed breathlessly as they galloped along the dew-covered grass, Redburr coming to a halt just ahead of Tussockflame right beside the ridge by the waterfall.

There was a yowl of shock from Redburr.

"What? What is it?" Tussockflame padded to Redburr's side and gasped when she saw what he was looking at.

The clawed-up and bloody body of a she-cat, right on the precipice. She had three kits around her.

Redburr winced. "Looks like that vixen we've been chasing got her. And the kits too. That's rough."

Tussockflame took a step forward. "Wait. One's still alive. Look." They put their heads down close to look at the surviving kit, a little tabby that squeaked when she smelled the two warriors' scents.

Redburr tilted his head. "Lavenderclaw lost a kit, right? She would take in this one. Its mother isn't Clan, and wouldn't have known about the fox. We have to take it back to the Clan and let Deerstar know."

Tussockflame nodded. "We can't leave it here. What kind of warriors would we be if we didn't?"

Redburr picked up the kit, who squealed and wiggled, but relaxed after a few moments. They brought it back to the camp, and were greeted by Daisypool, Clovermask and Owltooth. The three warriors padded right up to them.

"Redburr! Tussockflame! We thought you were gone a while," Clovermask mewed, swishing her tail.

Owltooth nodded in agreement, then squinted. "Is that a kit?"

Daisypool looked equally confused. "How and where did you find a kit? We need to go tell Deerstar immediately!"

"We found it by its dead rogue mother and siblings by the waterfall. We think the vixen got them," Tussockflame explained. "I only saw this little tabby moving after. There was no way we could leave her."

"Is it an Other?" Owltooth asked.

The other warriors all shushed him hurriedly. "Keep your voice down!" Daisypool hissed. "The Others don't exist any more, and even if this one was an Other's kit, we would still have to take it in. It's the warrior code." Everyone else nodded in agreement.

"What's going on?" A voice asked.

Clovermask jumped. "Deerstar!"

Redburr placed the kit down on the ground. "We found this kit beside the waterfall with its dead mother. Fox got her. We had to bring it back here."

Deerstar padded forward to look at the kit. She lowered her nose to sniff it. The kit sniffed back, blinking its still-blue eyes. "Bring it to Lavenderclaw and see if she will accept it. She lost a kit, so she has milk to spare. As true warriors, we need to accept this kit as our own. She will be a true member of RidgeClan." She raised her head. "The rest of you, go back to your den. Tussockflame and Redburr, you can go to the nursery."

"That's settled then," Redburr mewed decisively. He picked the kit back up.

Lavenderclaw and Stormtuft both huddled around their remaining kit. The tiny dilute tortoiseshell mewled and wiggled, looking especially small and alone to her parents. Lavenderclaw looked up at Tussockflame and Redburr as they entered. "Oh. Hello." Her eyes instantly went to the kit.

Redburr dropped it in front of them. The kit smelled the warm scent of a mother and started to make its way over to her. "This kit needs a mother. She was found beside her dead mother and siblings. Only this little tabby made it out alive."

Lavenderclaw watched the tabby kit as she slid into place beside the tortoiseshell. It nestled into her stomach comfortably and squeaked. Lavenderclaw's eyes softened. "Poor little thing." She looked up at her mate.

"She can't replace Robinkit. But she lost her mother and we lost a kit. The stars meant for this to happen. This little tabby kit is meant to be our daughter," Stormtuft mewed, gazing at the new arrival.

"Our little Tabbykit," Lavenderclaw murmured.

Stormtuft smiled. "Our little Tabbykit. Meet your sister, Flykit. We'll take care of you now."

Not so far beyond the RidgeClan camp, off the cliff and below the waterfall, the wild and hungry ocean crashed and swirled and howled, singing its ancient song.