Warriors: Rise of ThornClan

Chapter 5

The she-kit yawned, flexing her claws. In the quiet, peaceful darkness of her mind, she was resting silently. She had no idea of who she was, what she looked like, where she was, or what her name was, but she could feel herself. What was the world like? She pondered, tempted to open her eyes. Feeling bold, she wrenched apart her ignorance of the world and her eyelids in unison.

A vast and bright light was the first explanation that popped into her head. Her eyes wide, she took in the world around her: An endless tundra stretched out before her on every horizon. That was the only thing she could see through the cracks of a nettle bush that surrounded her on all sides. Surprisingly, it was nice and soft, contrary to what she thought it would be like- the she-kit padded the moss beneath her, soft and springy. She dug her claws into the mesh, relishing the cool feeling of the ground beneath her. Growing excited, she raked her paws across the earth and watched the dirt bubble up and crumble around the scars. A gentle pull at the scruff of her neck had her suddenly lifted into the air. 

Mewing with protest, the she-kit struggled, her paws swiping at nothing. A melodic, comforting voice calmed her. "Now, Winterkit," she chided, "Don't tear up our nest now. Firekit, Briarkit, and Shadekit, your siblings, need it too. Also, the apprentices worked quite hard to coat the ground with this soft moss- it was all the way from the RiverClan border."

Winterkit huffed as she was set down, licking her tail bitterly. She looked up at her beautiful mother, Brackenheart. "But mother," she whined, "None of them will wake up. They're still asleep."

Brackenheart purred. "Little bold one, be patient. It'll only be a minute. It's not like they'll wake up after a moon, you know. But you must busy yourself with something while you wait. I'll see if Jadekit will come to play, if she's not busy with Snowpool."

This flurry of names and places swirled in Winterkit's mind, and she blinked to clear her vision. Brackenheart gave her a compassionate lick before exiting the nettle bush, stretching her ginger pelt. 

Once she was gone, Winterkit bounced over and nudged Firekit, her ginger tom brother, enthusiastically. "Firekit!" she whispered loudly. "Firekit, wake up!"

His eyes were still closed, and he mewled pitifully before rolling over. Winterkit rolled her amber eyes and skipped to Shadekit, her silver sister. Winterkit poked her with her paw... to no avail. "Shadekit!" she hissed. "I need someone to play with!" 

It still didn't work.

Winterkit huffed, irritated, and pranced around Briarkit, her dark ginger brother. "Oh, Briarkit..." she sang. "Wake up! Please?"

She prodded him with her paw, and froze.

The blood begin to rush through her ears.

Her brother was ice-cold.

Fear sung through her veins. Her amber eyes narrowed anxiously, and she poked him again, harder this time. "Briarkit!" she hissed, then yowled. "Briarkit, wake up!"

Winterkit burst out of the nursery, her pelt prickling with terror. "Briarkit won't wake up!" she yowled with all her might. Around her, cats of all shapes and sizes froze in what they were doing and turned to stare at her in shock. Winterkit knew what she must look like; a dark grey she-cat, fire-colored eyes wide, fur bristling with fear. Quite a sight for someone they had never met before. After all, it was Winterkit's first time out of the nursery.

Not as exciting and joyful, though, as she had planned for it to be before. 

Brackenheart burst out of the medicine den with a Himalayan she-cat with golden-caramel eyes and dark grey fur at her heels. Behind her was a silver tabby apprentice with green eyes. All of them had deep concern written on their faces, and Winterkit felt another throb of fear. What was wrong with her brother?

Quicker than she could process, the Himalayan, her mother, and the apprentice were at the entrance to the nursery, the dark grey she-cat carrying a bundle of plants and seeds. "What is it, Winterkit?" she spoke urgently, her amber eyes twin to Winterkit's own and filled with terror. 

"It's Briarkit, he's ice-cold!" Winterkit wailed, pointing inside the nursery. Brackenheart emitted a whimpering sound and burst in, knocking over Winterkit as she flew past. With a disgruntled oomph, Winterkit picked herself up, licking her ear sorely. The long-furred she-cat barely looked at her as she hurried past, but the young tabby apprentice glanced down apologetically. "Sorry," she meowed, her mouth full of strange flowers. "It's an emergency." 

"Are you that she-cat's apprentice?" Winterkit blurted, curiousity taking over her anxious fear temporarily. The silver tabby's emerald eyes widened slightly, shocked, but she relaxed and let out a huff of tense amusement. "No, silly kit." she mewed, picking back up her herbs she had dropped to talk. "I'm Jadekit, I'm still in the nursery."

Winterkit's own eyes grew large. "Really! But you're so... big!" she blocked Jadekit's attempt to shoulder past her, wanting badly to talk. Where were they? What clan were they? What were all the ranks? When could Winterkit become an apprentice? What was wrong with Briarkit?

Jadekit's eyes grew annoyed. "Let me past, newborn." She growled sharply, condescending, but not cruelly. "I'm here to save your brother's life, not chatter like sparrows."

Winterkit flinched back, her feelings hurt, but all the same she understood Jadekit's reason. Seeing her shrink back, Jadekit tossed her another apologetic look before hurrying past into the nursery. 

The excitement and possibility of the clan's camp was unbearable. Winterkit tossed a sly glance over her shoulder, but had barely taken a step out of the nettle bush before a commanding voice made her freeze. "Winterkit!"

Scurrying back inside the nursery, Winterkit looked innocently up at her mother, who was carrying Shadekit, Firekit stumbling sleepily alongside her. "Take these two, they just woke. Keep them out of the way of Snowpool and Jadekit. Don't get into any trouble." Brackenheart hesitated a second before whirling around back into the bush.

Winterkit jumped up and down with glee. "Come on!" she cried to her bleary siblings. "Let's go explore the camp!"

Firekit's amber eyes widened, and he lashed his ginger tail. "Ooh, let's! We might find a fox to fight!" 

Shadekit suppressed a yawn. "But I'm so tired. What if we play sleep?"

Winterkit shared a glance with her brother. "Come on, Shadekit. It'll be fun! You'll see. Follow me!"