Jaggedstar's Twist

Chapter Two:

Furzekit's eyes must've been as wide as moons since Shadewhisker seemed to struggle to keep back his laughter. Duststar and Shadewhisker had explained what they were talking about. Antpaw somehow joined, but he remained silent the whole time. Furzekit was both amazed and horrified by the tunnels. Who would want to spend their time in the pitch black digging out wet mud? And what if the tunnels collapsed?
He could imagine the dirt pouring onto him as he struggled to squeeze out. Furzekit shuddered, pushing back the dreadful thought. All cats are moor-runners. No tunnels involved.

"You won't get trapped. Tunneling was stopped long ago." Shadewhisker murmured soothingly to Furzekit.
"How come?" Furzekit tilted his head.
Duststar replied this time.
"There were too many accidents, and WindClan can't afford losing any more warriors than we have."
"But we have a ton of warriors!" Furzekit squeaked.
Duststar shook his head. "I won't risk losing anymore just from some collapsing dirt." He snorted.
Furzekit nodded in agreement. He shuddered as he re-imagined the mud splatting onto his pelt from the tiny shower. Would it be worse to have a heap of earth collapsing onto a cat?
"Go and play now." Shadewhisker mewed to Furzekit. "We need to discuss important matters."
"I would be pleased to join." Furzekit had forgotten that Antpaw was behind him. The brown-and-white apprentice stared up at Duststar with narrowed eyes.
"Don't you have a job to do?" Duststar glanced at his apprentice.
"Oh, er, yes I do." Antpaw scuffed a paw across the ground. "I hadn't forgotten; I just wanted to check on you."
When the apprentice was out of earshot, Shadewhisker snorted. "He thinks he can join every discussion between us."
Duststar nodded, gazing at Furzekit. "You go and play now." He mewed, gazing over where Tawnykit and Whitekit were at. "Go play with the others."
Furzekit flattened his ears. "Okay."
I wish I was an apprentice, I wouldn't have to play all day! Furzekit thought as he padded towards the two. I wouldn't have to sit around all day and do nothing!
He'd rather be out in the open, bounding through the misty moorlands with the wind racing through his pelt. Energy surged beneath his paws. He couldn't wait to become an apprentice!

Furzekit raced over to the two, then skidded to a stop. Tawnykit was plucking out blades of grass and stacking them into a flimsy pile.
"What are you doing?" Furzekit tilted his head, eying the pile of grass.
Tawnykit glanced over her shoulder at him. "I'm trying to build something we can jump in!" She grinned, then added: "Whitekit, can you help me?"
The white tom that stood beside her gave a soft nod and began to rip away at the earth.
Since there was nothing else to do, Furzekit began to help with the pile. He sank his claws into the dry earth and gripped onto the prickly grass. He tugged it out, then pushed it down onto the pile.
"We need some moss to hold it down," Tawnykit commented. The pile was beginning to crumble as a breeze gently wafted by.
"Furzekit, go get moss please!" Tawnykit mewled, glancing at the tom-kit.

Furzekit nodded, then tilted his head. "Where do I get it from?"
"I saw Rainsong put some out of his den to dry. They're probably still a bit damp." Tawnykit jerked her head towards the medicine cat's den.
Furzekit followed her gaze. "Okay, I'll be back!" With that, he bounded towards the den. It looked like an old rabbit hole but carved into a larger size to be a den. Lichen had begun to grow over it during the Green-leaf season, though it barely hung over the entrance.
Furzekit steadily padded towards the entrance. He spotted the dark green moss laid flat on the ground to dry in the scorching sun.
Glancing around cautiously for no sign of Rainsong, he carefully tore off a strip of moss. After a few heartbeats, he had a good amount that would surely hold the grass down.
Sudden pawsteps made Furzekit jump and drop the moss. It must've been Rainsong.
As if his thoughts were correct, a light gray tom pushed through the entrance of the den. He glanced down at Furzekit.
"What are you doing with that moss?" His pale blue eyes narrowed questioningly.
"Tawnykit wanted me to get some moss to help her." Furzekit mewled bluntly. Lying wouldn't change anything anyway.
"Moss isn't for playing. We need that, now give it back." Rainsong blinked, staring expectantly at the tom to hand back the moss.
Furzekit flattened his ears, then nodded. He pushed back the damp moss to the medicine cat. Rainsong carefully flattened it against the ground, and made sure that it was in the sun.
"Don't take anything without anybody's permission." Rainsong turned to Furzekit. "Understand? You could've take something far more dangerous, StarClan forbid."

Furzekit flattened his ears. "I was only collecting moss."
"The Clan needs it more than just something to play with." Rainsong explained. "Now please go, I need to finish a few jobs."
Without a reply, Furzekit turned and skidded away. Why was Rainsong being so unfair? It was just some moss!
I'll just go in the nursery. Taking a glance at Tawnykit and Whitekit, he turned towards the nursery and padded to it.
He wished that he had somebody to talk to other than Tawnykit. Hailspot wouldn't let him near Mothfur unless he was hungry or he needed to rest. Sharpstream was either out patrolling or talking with the other warriors. And for Whitekit, Furzekit didn't understand why he wouldn't speak to him. Was Whitekit mad at him?
..But I didn't do anything wrong..
Was it possible for his brother to be angry at him for no apparent reason?