Whispers and Echoes

Chapter 2

"Wake up! Wake up!"

Echokit opened her eyes to see Yellowkit standing over her.

"Guess what!" Yellowkit squealed.

"What?" Echokit asked sleepily, rolling back over in her nest.

"I'm going to be the next medicine cat! I'm going to be Goldheart's apprentice!" She let out a long pur.

"Really? Congratulations," Echokit meowed, not too enthusiastically. Yellowkit didn't notice Echokit's tone and just dashed out of the nursery.

Echokit pushed herself up from her nest and looked around to see that everyone in the nursery was unwillingly awake too. Their eyes were half-closed and they yawned every few heartbeats. It looked like Yellowkit wanted the whole camp to know she was going to be Goldheart's apprentice.

"She woke you up too?" came a voice behind Echokit. She turned around to see Whisperkit padding over to her.

"Yeah," replied Echokit, yawning.

"Well at least she's excited. I mean, I would be. Not many cats follow that path," meowed Whisperkit.

"Yeah, a little too excited is more like it though."

They both laughed.

"Want to go get some fresh-kill?" asked Whisperkit, "I'm so hungry I could eat a fox!"

"Sure," Echokit replied, purring with amusement.

As the two sisters stepped out of the nursery, Echokit realized that it was still dark out. The sun hadn't even come up yet!

"It's not even sunrise yet! Yellowkit!" Echokit sighed.

"I know. The dawn patrol hasn't even left yet. I wish we could go with them. I can't wait until we're apprentices!" Whisperkit squealed as they reached the old mossy log where the fresh-kill pile was. "We'll get to go on patrols, hunt for the Clan, and defend our borders!"

"And the best part is that we get to actually go to a Gathering and meet cats from all the other Clans!" Echokit joined in.

"I know! I can't wait to meet them! It'll be so cool!" Whisperkit meowed.

Echokit looked down toward her paws at the fresh-kill pile. She chose a nice big sparrow for them to share. They took their prey to the sunning-stones in the clearing, where they heard Yellowkit boasting to Aspenleaf and Prairiefoot, who were two younger warriors.

Echokit and Whisperkit glanced at each other and purred with amusement.

"Goldheart must have noticed my interest in healing and herbs, so he asked me if I wanted to be his apprentice and I said 'Of course!'" Yellowkit was bouncing with joy.

Aspenleaf purred with amusement and teased, "You'll have the whole camp know before sunrise, won't you?"

Yellowkit just beamed but said nothing.

Echokit sat down and watched Prairiefoot, his whiskers twitching with amusement as he listened to Yellowkit.

"I wonder if she woke the elders," Echokit meowed, "They wouldn't be too happy if she did."

"Yeah, Fogtail would be really upset she wouldn't have been able to sleep until the next moon!" Whisperkit joked.

"And Ferrettail would probably claw Yellowkit's ears off because she woke him up for something so 'unimportant'!" Echokit joked back and they both burst out laughing. "But I don't think Spruceclaw would mind, he's the friendliest of the three elders."