Swiftstar's Prophecy - Unofficial version

Chapter Three

Swiftkit and Maplekit eagerly raced to Redstar, who was holding a red fish in his jaws. Swiftkit beat her brother and meowed, "Redstar! Wow! What a catch!"

"Is that for Echoflower?" Maplekit asked eagerly, jumping a bit, and Redstar nodded. "You and your siblings can eat fresh-kill until you are more than three months!" He mumbled to them, and Swiftkit whined. Maplekit only playfully nudged her, before the two kits began off on their race.

The mud in the camp was dry, with promise of green-leaf, and the days began to grow warmer. Swiftkit and her littermates were only a moon old, and Echoflower beamed at them.

When Redstar reached the nursery, Echoflower was outside sitting beside Dapplefur. The pretty she-cat's eyes grew wide and she purred, "Oh, dear!" Her mate laid down the fish, and he proudly meowed, "Just for you! I'm sorry that I can't spend time with you and the kits. Today is my only cheat day."

Ripplekit and Webkit hurried to Redstar, and the leader happily licked their faces. Swiftkit reached Echoflower and she pressed against her black and white pelt. "What are we going to do today, Redstar?" Webkit asked.

His green eyes beamed as he meowed, "A tour around the whole camp!" Swiftkit happily purred, while Dapplefur, who licked her lips for the fish, jokingly meowed, "Redstar, make sure they don't disrupt the sleeping warriors,"

"They'll be fine," Redstar's tail lashed, and Ripplekit purred in excitement. Webkit's tail stuck up like a stick as she asked, "Will we be seeing the Grand River?" That's when Maplekit shivered and pressed up against Swiftkit's pelt, and she licked his shoulder in reassurance. The leader replied, "Not today, my kits. Maybe when you are all older,"

Ripplekit let out a groan. "Awww, come on!" The gray tom prodded at a sprout in the dry mud, while Echoflower looked up at them from her fish. "Listen to your father, kits." she reminded them, a bit sternly. Dapplefur let out an amused chuckle, before she began to feast on the fish with Echoflower. Redstar turned and began over to a fallen oak tree, with some reeds cascading it. "This is the Elders' den, where our eldest warriors rest. Apprentices will have to care for them, and they are the most respected," Redstar meowed, as his tail pointed to the entrance. Swiftkit took a sniff, before she let out a hiss. "Eww! It stinks!" Maplekit sneezed, while Webkit whimpered. Redstar chuckled, "It's just the mouse bile, that's all, for ticks."

Webkit piped up, "Will apprentices be using the mouse bile?" Redstar shook his head, "Only if you're punished." The leader then began over to a den made of reeds. His kits bounded after him, with Swiftkit in the lead. It was not until Webkit bumped into an apprentice that Redstar purred.

"Oof!" The small she-kit ran right into the apprentice's forepaw, and bounced back. The large apprentice didn't feel a thing, as he looked down at her in worry. "Are you alright?" He meowed, his large fangs showing. Ripplekit helped Webkit up and replied, "She's okay. She just needs to watch where she is running."

Redstar purred, "Don't worry about them, Carppaw, my kits are just touring around the camp." The gray-brown apprentice let out a chuckle, before a voice hissed from the reed den. "Agh! Kits! You've got to be kidding me..." A sandy-brown tom crept out of the den, and Maplekit rolled his eyes.

The brown apprentice took a good look at the kits, before meowing, "Tch, why does only one of you look strong?"

"Mudpaw, that is enough," Carppaw meowed strictly to his fellow denmate, but Mudpaw, the brown apprentice, stalked off to the fresh-kill pile. Redstar looked to his kits, "A grumpy apprentice, hm?" But Swiftkit's pelt bristled to Mudpaw. How could he be just so mean?

"This is the Apprentices' Den, where you all will be going to next once you reach six moons." The leader explained, and Swiftkit took a peek in. She could only see one apprentice laying inside, one with black splashes on his white fur.

Maplekit eagerly asked, "Do we get to pick our mentors?" Redstar shook his head as his paws carried him to two dens made up in a single, large tree. "Of course not! Only I get to pick!" The leader meowed. Swiftkit giggled as well as Webkit, before her eyes laid on three she-cats that exitted one of the dens. "Showing the kits around?" A lighter-gray tabby asked, her scarred nose twitching. The black tortoiseshell she-cat beside her awed at Swiftkit and her littermates, "Awww, you all are cute!"

Redstar nodded proudly, "Yes! My kits will one day be great warriors, so why not show them around?"

"That's good! I'm glad your kits are enjoying the tour," a gray she-cat purred, before Swiftkit guessed out loud, "Are these the Warrior Dens?"

"Of course, little one," the tortoiseshell cat purred, and her tail stroked Swiftkit's spine. "My name is Tortoisetail. This one is Lichenface, and this is Mothnose."

Maplekit purred, "Hiya!" To them, and the three she-cats all chuckled. Redstar chuckled as well, before he used a paw to nudge Ripplekit towards the Clanrock. Webkit hurried over to the Clanrock with a purr, and Swiftkit ran after her.

"Only the leader can sleep in here." He brushed the hanging lichen to the side to let his kits peer in. Swiftkit felt the cool sand on her paws, and a lonely nest. Is this what a leader sleeps in? How lonely is Redstar? An idea appeared in her head, and she purred. How about I sleep with Redstar tonight? And bring Maplekit, Ripplekit, and Webkit with me?