Warriors: Crow's Carrion

Chapter One

"Osprey . . . ."

". . . ."

"Open your eyes."

     "Do you think Riverflower will let Osprey play today?"

     A familiar voice drifted through the hazy dream-state Ospreykit found themself in. It was hushed, as though the owner of the voice didn't want to disturb them—pointless, they realized, as each passing moment brought them further out of slumber. Sharp, herby scents tickled their nose, mixing with the scents of several other cats they couldn't quite remember.

     "Yeah, they look a lot better now! If not, then they'll definitely be able to tomorrow!"

     Another voice, considerably louder than the previous, spoke in response. Ospreykit felt like they should know the names of the cats speaking; the sounds of their voices scratched at what must have been memories of them. They could feel themself twitching as they crept further into consciousness.

     "Shh, look! They're waking up!"

     "Oh! I'll go fetch Riverflower and Wavedance!"

     The voices chimed one after the other, almost sounding rehearsed. Ospreykit tried stretching their limbs, wincing at the way their stiff muscles screamed at them for it. One set of pawsteps quickly sounded in their ears, then faded as the owner retreated. Though they hadn't yet opened their eyes, Ospreykit could feel the presence of the other cat close to their muzzle somewhere; they could feel the breath billowing obnoxiously against their whiskers, overstimulating the nerves clustered at their bases.

     Finally, Ospreykit ignored their body's protests and forced their eyes open. Hovering in front of them was the nose of a dark brown tabby, his orange eyes wide and glittering with various emotions. His body nearly blocked the sight of the den they were in—reeds carefully woven down together to shield them from any light, though some filtered through the thinner section that must have been the entrance to the den. Ospreykit couldn't quite place a name for the cat in front of them, though they could feel it sitting on the edge of their tongue the longer they stared at him.

     "G'morning, Os!" he mewed loudly, his ears perked. He looked like he wanted to say more, yet he only stared at them expectantly. Suddenly, Ospreykit felt something click as if they had just unlocked a lost memory.

     "Crabkit!" they said his name quickly, recalling him to be one of their littermates. The entire scenario felt strangely familiar, but they shoved the feeling away when the entrance of the den quivered noisily.

     Another kit trotted in the den, his light fawn and darker brown patches quickly pulling forth another bout of memories. Ospreykit met his blue eyes and recognized him as Splashkit, their other littermate, as he rushed forward to stand by Crabkit. Two mollies followed behind him; one, a dark blue-grey with amber eyes, while the other was a pale fawn tabby with blue and orange eyes. As their comforting scents drifted over them, Ospreykit tried to identify them, but they couldn't sort her thoughts with her brothers chattering so close in front of her.

     "Don't crowd them, you two," the blue-furred molly murmured softly. "Give them some space to wake up."

     Crabkit and Splashkit glanced at each other before retreating to sit by the fawn tabby, though they still gazed curiously as Ospreykit. Now that they had more personal space, Ospreykit's thoughts sorted themselves out, and they recognized the other two cats. The molly with bicolor eyes was Wavedance, her mother, and the other was Riverflower, the medicine cat.