Two Injured Kits

[Ki]

Duskkit blinked gratefully at the she-cat and curled up beside her sister. For a few moments she simply just licked her fur and tried to comfort her. Her sister would wake up. Duskkit had to believe she would. The kits, Spottedkit and Sandkit, said that they were Rivermist's kits. Rivermist...that name seemed vaguely familiar. Duskkit thought she heard it occasionally around camp. Maybe Rivermist was Foxfur's mate? It was well-known he'd had kits with a she-cat in WindClan. Duskkit decided not to press the issue. Instead she mewed, "My name is Duskkit. And I'm from ShadowClan." The little she-kit, though injured and weak, glowed with pride. She believed her Clan was the bravest, strongest, and the best all around Clan in the entire forest. She looked towards the older cats, knowing that now she had to explain.

"Well...last night...while everyone was at the Gathering, my sister and I snuck out of camp. We were wandering around and stuff...and then we saw this tom. And he was real nice to us. He said his name was Alfa, and that he was our father." Duskkit felt anger rise within her again. What lies he'd told them! And they'd believed him! The fox-hearted scoundrel! "He was really nice, and he said that he loved our mother and that she'd wanted us to meet him for a while. He even took us back to camp." That was when Alfa's little facade had fallen apart. All of his lies had come forth and had been brought into the light. "And then it got confusing...cause Smokeheart started yelling and my mommy started yelling and then they chased Alfa away. 'Cause he is a real bad cat, I guess."

Then it got a little harder to tell the story. She inhaled her sister's scent and wished with all her heart that she could be awake. Duskkit needed her sister's support. To know she was there. "Well then when we woke up Fireshadow was hurt by a dog and so a lot of the warriors left to go after the dog. And Mommy and Poppyfrost left the nursery. Then Alfa broke into the nursery." A shudder went down her spine. "He threw Tawnykit at the wall and then he tried to hurt me and I clawed at him. Cause ShadowClan cats can't be pushed around." A little bit of her pride shone through again. She set her head on her sister's back again, feeling a sick feeling form in her stomach. "But he kidnapped us and trapped us in this Twoleg thing. And then he...did something. He...was bending over me...and it hurt...it hurt really, really bad."

Duskkit shuddered. "And then... then he...he hit me and clawed at me and threw me back in the trap and did the same thing to Tawnykit. And...and then the loners came...and they...they chased him off..." As she reached the end of the story she grew increasingly upset. Now all she wanted was her mother. Someone from her Clan. Anyone that could curl up beside her and tell her it would be alright. That she was safe and no one would ever hurt her like that ever again. "I...I don't know what we did...StarClan must hate us...we...we knew it was naughty to wander away at night...and I know we scared Mommy..but...I didn't think we'd been that bad.." At least they'd been rescued in the end. Had that been StarClan's doing? Or sheer luck? Had StarClan abandoned her and her sister?

(( D: ))

[:c a i:]

No-one would have noticed a shadow slipping into the medicine cat's den. Swiftkit had slunk in after his siblings, not wanting to get left with Streamkit and Shadowkit. He slipped in, moving inconspicuously and lingering in the dark, arriving just in time to hear the kit begin to talk. Swiftkit's lip curled slightly at the foul scent of blood and fear and strangers which engulfed him as he arrived, eyeing the two kits from a distance with suspicious eyes. It was not in his nature to be automatically trusting of anyone, no matter who they were or what state they were in. Sandkit and Spottedkit were already talking to the one who was awake, though Swiftkit held back. His brother and sister would notice him eventually, but he was intent on watching from a distance for now.

Those kits seemed so alien to Swiftkit, yet at the same time they were just like him. They were only kits too. He listened to the conscious kit introduce herself as Duskkit and go on to tell her story. Well, that didn't take too much coaxing. Swiftkit listened silently, still sitting apart from the cats inside the den, hearing every word unflinchingly. What had happened to these kits was the fault of their father. Swiftkit's eyes narrowed and suddenly he was glad he lived only with his mother. What if his own father was a piece of foxdung like Duskkit's? Swiftkit felt restless and on edge, given that Stormkit and Silverkit had delivered an unnerving piece of news earlier. He wondered how Sandkit and Spottedkit could be so at ease when they were surrounded by the reek of injury and the tension in the air just the same as him.

Suddenly, Swiftkit edged forwards, eyes slightly narrowed in concentration. He peered at the kits as if he were looking for some kind of physical difference between them and him. He could see nothing, apart from the blood and the obvious wounds. Then he realised that he was going to be noticed and backed off, looking at the two kits oddly. Why were they here? Wouldn't ShadowClan be annoyed when they found out?

((Swiftkit's weird...))

[nightstorm]

Russetfang's eyes narrowed as Sandkit and Spottedkit entered the den, but he didn't chase them out. Instead, he merely said, "Not too many questions, okay? Don't bother them too much...Duskkit and Tawnykit need rest." His eyes flickered to the two kits, and he nosed at Tawnykit again. "Her breathing has evened out," he murmured to himself. "A good sign...I think they'll both pull through just fine." Turning to Duskkit, he told her gently, "You need to eat the rabbit. Your medicine cat - Feathercloud, is it? - would agree with me. You need the strength."

The tom turned to Sandkit and Spottedkit. "You two can help me convince Duskkit to eat the rabbit, okay?" With a small smile, he padded towards Rowanclaw and Finchstep. Dipping his head to the she-cat, then turning to the tom, he said, "I think they'll be fine for now. Tawnykit will probably sleep for a little longer, but come get me if her breathing becomes shallower. I need to speak with Ravenstar. And don't let the kits wear out Duskkit with their questions."

Russetfang nodded towards Crowpaw, and as he passed by, told him, "I need to speak with you after I see Ravenstar, okay? So don't disappear on me." With a gleam of amusement in his eyes, the medicine cat padded out of his den, and towards his leader's, passing Swiftkit, who was entering his den, no doubt to see the newcomers. He briefly wondered whether the queen even knew they were out and about.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

ShadowClan, huh? Sandkit was surprised. From what she'd heard of ShadowClan in nursery tales, they were dark and sneaky and mean. But Duskkit and the other kit seemed the opposite of that. Sandkit sat down to listen to the story, very interested as if it were an elder's story. She remained quiet the whole time, her eyes occasionally widening at parts. Most of the names she didn't recognize but she still remained interested.

By the end Sandkit's ears had drooped and she tried to make sense out of the story. She didn't know what Duskkit was talking about but it sounded horrible. But she didn't linger on it too long. Russetfang had inspected the other kit and Sandkit was pleased to hear they were going to be fine. She nodded at Russetfang and nudged the rabbit. "Rabbit is good, trust me. Better than anything else." She said with a smile.

"Oh, hi, Swiftkit." she suddenly noticed her brother in the den as well. She watched him curiously, wondering why he was being so quiet.

[Ki]

Duskkit began trying to calm herself back down again. She was close to her sister, and the more she inhaled her scent the better she felt. Her sister's scent always reminded her of simple days, back when all they used to do was stumble and squirm around the nursery under their mother's watchful eye. She listened to the medicine cat speak. He said that she needed to eat the rabbit. And that Feathercloud would agree. If Feathercloud were here she would have a frog or lizard for us to eat instead. Duskkit though bitterly. Sandkit tried to coax her into eating it. How could rabbit taste anywhere near as good as a frog? Not only was the prey new and strange to her, she didn't feel like eating much after going through that story. Duskkit shook her head slowly. She noticed Sandkit addressed another kit. One she called Swiftkit.

"I'm not really hungry." Duskkit said, shaking her head slowly. Maybe when Tawnykit awoke Duskkit would feel a bit more adventurous. Though Duskkit knew she'd eventually get hungry and be forced to eat it. Unless WindClan cats knew how to catch lizards. Which she doubted. She looked at Sandkit, Spottedkit, and Swiftkit with interest. "Have you ever had lizard? It's the best."

[. s p o r e l e t t ♪]

Spottedkit gazed as solemnly as he could around the medicine den, hoping not to be kicked out by Russetfang or Rowanclaw. He didn't want either adult to think that he was bothering the ShadowClan kits, but at the same time, he was intensely curious about them. Creeping a little bit closer so that he was crouched at the edge of the nest that the two kits shared, he blinked curiously at them as he took in their strange scents. He didn't say anything, not wanting to be rude, but they smelled awful! Like some kind of unappealing mix of dried blood and herbs, with a strange, stinky scent overlaying it all. Suddenly the fluffy grey kit began reluctantly to speak, telling them all what had happened to her. Spottedkit narrowly kept his jaw from falling open as she continued on with her tale. He didn't completely understand some of what she was talking about, mostly the parts about the cat called Alfa and the mentions of other ShadowClan cats. But at the end of her tale, he knew that she had suffered through something terrible.

"That's aw-" Spottedkit's response to the conclusion of her tale was abruptly interrupted by Finchstep, who seemed even more agitated than usual at the mention of Dusk-kit's trial. The small warrior stared wildly at Dusk-kit, glancing around the den and back to the kits as if she expected something awful to pop out of the very walls.

"Baaaaaaaadness," she hissed, leaping into a string of words so fast it was almost impossible to tell them apart before slowing her speech to a slow coo, "roguesplottingFinchstep KNEW evilnessing kit-neverneverIwouldn't..... it's okaaaaaaaaay, Dusk-kit, Windbreeze warriorsssClan saffffe-"

"Finchstep!" Rowanclaw interrupted his sister, looking directly in her eyes, "The rogue is gone, and WindClan is perfectly safe. Why don't you go wait outside for a bit? We'll be fine in here. You're making Dusk-kit nervous."

Finchstep seemed to deflate, looking very much like a tiny, unremarkable WindClan she-cat. "WindClan saaaafe... saffffffffffe... safesafesssssssssssssafe..." she muttered to herself, still glancing protectively at the kits and refusing to move from her position. Spottedkit blinked from his spot next to Dusk-kit and Sandkit. He was well used to the older warrior's outbursts, but usually he witnessed them from farther away. Rivermist was careful to keep her kits away from the odd she-cat. But if he was a little surprised, then Dusk-kit had to be thoroughly alarmed.

Shooting the fluffy she-kit his best charming grin - the one he usually saved for Sandkit, or for getting out of trouble - Spottedkit blinked warmly at Dusk-kit and leaned closer to whisper conspiratorially in her ear. "Don't worry about Finchstep. She acts pretty weird, but she's not that bad." He twitched his whiskers at the other kit's odd suggestion. "I've never had lizard, but I bet it's not as good as rabbit. Aren't they all small and crunchy, with all those little bones?"

[Mousy]

[OoC:// Have you had sugar, perchance, Spore?]

"They probably are, young Spottedkit," mewed Miststorm to the spotted tom.

He had just come in the Medicine Cat's den, wondering what two ShadowClan kits were doing there, and why they were in WindClan in the first place. But, the Warrior Code said that all kits should be cared for, not matter what Clan they were from. He wasn't one to disobey the aincent orders of his ancestors.

He glanced at the crazy she-cat. He knew she didn't mean little Dusk-kit any harm, but Finchstep could be a very frightening cat if a one didn't know her. Since Dusk-kit and Tawnykit had not only come in shivering and injured but didn't have the faintest idea who Finchstep was, they would be terrified out of their wits, probably. Poor things, he thought as he left the den.[/font]

[OoC:// Fail post.]

[Ki]

Duskkit shook her head in disagreement as Sandkit spoke. She was about to reply when suddenly her rescuer started speaking strangely. She was staring wildly at her, and the more she spoke the more frightened Duskkit became. What was wrong with her?! Duskkit flattened her self lower against the ground and curled tightly around her sister. She could barely understand what the she-cat was saying. Safe, or something like that. Finally the tom silenced her, but the she-cat warrior just stayed in her position looking deflated. What was wrong with her? Had a monster hit her on the Thunderpath and knocked the sense out of her? But the tom kit grinned sweetly at her and whispered that this was usual for her and should not be worried about. At least Finchstep was nice, Duskkit decided. She would always be grateful to her for coming when she did.

"No, lizards are really quite good." Duskkit assured them. She considered what Spottedkit said. "Well, they are a little crunchy. But not as much as you'd expect." How she wished she could have a lizard right now! They were rather salty at times, but they were her favorite food. Suddenly another warrior entered, and Duskkit automatically went into defensive mode again. Thankfully, he left quickly. Duskkit relaxed again. Had anyone from her own Clan seen that reaction they would have been perfectly astounded. Whenever Duskkit saw a cat she'd never seen before, they were usually bombarded with a series of impossible, irrelevant questions. Something within Duskkit had changed.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Sandkit's eyes widened as Finchstep suddenly went into an outburst. As if the quick, jumbled, indecipherable speaking wasn't strange enough, her words were loud and confusing and just plain weird. Being so close to the abnormal cat did nothing but scare her more. The gingery-brown kit was grateful when Rowanclaw calmed Finchstep down. Well, a little bit, at least. Finchstep was still muttering words under her breath. Sandkit scooted closer to the other kits, turning her back to the older cats.

"They don't sound very good," Sandkit meowed, putting Finchstep's outburst out of mind. She knew she would get used to living around her eventually, but not now. "Rabbits are delicious." she insisted proudly. "If you tried it, you'd love it." In fact Sandkit wondered how any of the other Clans could go without rabbits to eat. She supposed ShadowClan were used to lizards if they had always eaten them, but she could not fathom the idea of eating one of those crunchy things. Yuck.

[Sydney]

”What's wrong Tawnykit? Don't you love Daddy?

Shh, it's alright Tawnykit, don't cry, don't cry.

It's alright Tawnykit, daddy's here...”

The darkness, it was inescapable. It lurked in her dreams, clawing at the edges of her mind and twisting her dreams to its desire.

Not even her own dreams were safe.

All she saw in them were darkness and two bright, leering amber eyes.

Amber eyes that belonged to a tom she never wanted to see again.

Never again.

”Daddy's, here...”

“NO!”

Tawnykit awoke with a start, her body lunging forward as the cold rushed into her head, awaking her from the terrible dreams that lurked within her own mind. Her body shook with each long, drawn out breath she took and as her mind registered that she had just waked up (itwasonlyadreamitwasonlyadream) the little kit's eyes blurred from sleep before sharpening out.

Or, at least, they were suppose to.

Blinking steadily, Tawnykit saw several cats from her right eye but, from her left eye she saw nothing.

Nothing but darkness.

Complete and utter darkness.

A cord of terror struck through the delicate kit, her mind trying to sort out what was happening.

Where was she?

Where was her mother?

And then, suddenly, it all came rushing back to her.

Everything that had happened re-entered her mind once more, leaving a print of terror on her pysche that would most likely never leave.

”Dusk-kit!” Wailing, the tiny she-kit swiveled her head around the den, trying to find her sister in the crowd of kits. ”Dusk-kit where are you?”

Please don't let her be alone.

Please.

[Ki]

The coaxing continued, and still Duskkit stared at the rabbit with a glimmer of disgust in her dark green eyes. Her appetite still had not returned. She wondered if she'd ever even eat again. Everytime she considered eating a lizard her made her stomach quiver uneasily. The pain in her body still hadn't gone away either. All of her wounds were still throbbing, and some were stinging a bit from the medicine. She wanted to be back in ShadowClan. Where the mud squished comfortingly around her paws and the frogs croaking could soothe her to sleep. Suddenly there was yelling. Instantly Duskkit's claws were unsheathed and she looked around wildly, her fur bristling. Then she realized the noise was coming from right beside her. Slowly the kit relaxed and curled herself even tighter around her sister.

"I'm here, Tawnykit." Her voice was relieved. Now she wasn't alone! She licked her sister's fur soothingly, a low purr rising in her throat. "Don't worry. We're ok. We're ok." She felt herself growing upset again, her eyes stinging as if she were going to cry. No. No. Not again. Tawnykit needed her! Duskkit could not let her down now!

[Sydney]

Suddenly, a soothing voice reached Tawnykit's ears, making the panic she felt fill her chest slowly die away. Dusk-kit had found her no, she had been here all along. At her sister's comforting words, Tawnykit found her breathing slowing down into a comfortable pace, though, her body did ache with nearly every breath. "Dusk-kit," She started for a moment, before pausing and continuing. "I can't see out of one of my eyes, Dusk-kit." Fear laced her voice, giving away the terror she felt at the notion of not seeing out of one of her eyes.

"It's so dark..." Shaking her fluffy head, the calico kit drew in a shaky breath. She was acting like a kit but, the darkness just wouldn't go away.

She just wanted to be home, back with her mother and snuggled up in their warm nest.

She just wanted to go home.

"A-are we still in WindClan? Why hasn't ShadowClan come back for us?"

With a shaky voice, she turned her head to stare at her sister, her one good eye seemed near tears but, her left eye just stared on unblinkingly, clouded over with scars and scratches. "Don't you think they miss us?"

[Ki]

Duskkit looked worriedly at her sister. Her own injuries were quickly forgotten and she shifted a bit to get a better look at her sister's face. A lump formed in her throat and she rasped her tongue over her sister's cheek. Why had this happened to them? Why hadn't anyone noticed that Alfa was near until it was too late? Why, why, why? "Don't worry. Feathercloud will be able to fix it." Duskkit believed that ShadowClan was superior to WindClan in just about every single way. In her mind they had better warriors, a better leader, and a better medicine cat. It seemed to her like that they could do anything. Duskkit continued to lick her sister's fur in an attempt to calm her. There was nothing that Duskkit wouldn't do for her sister. She would fight to protect her no matter what. Because that was what sisters did for each other. "We're still in WindClan. But Specklestar will send someone to get us."

Her eyes traveled towards the entrance she prayed to see her mother walk in with a bright smile and comforting talk. No matter how mature and grown-up Duskkit was trying to act at the moment, she was still just a kit. She needed her mother as much as the next kit.

[Sydney]

As her sister rasped a tongue of her fuzzy cheek, Tawnykit nodded to herself, trying to convince herself that Dusk-kit was right. Yes, Feathercloud would fix it. Feathercloud could fix everything, she was ShadowClan's medicine cat and ShadowClan could fix anything. ”You're right, Feathercloud will fix it.” She was convinced, wasn't she but, why was there a quiver in her voice if she was convinced?

Maybe... maybe Feathercloud couldn't fix it?

No, no no.

Feathercloud would fix it.

She had to.

Tawnykit couldn't live in partial darkness for the rest of her life.

She just couldn't.

As she listened to Dusk-kit speak, Tawnykit tried to compose herself. She was acting like a silly kit, she needed to be strong. She was going to be ShadowClan's medicine cat one day, wasn't she?

She couldn't be weak.

”O-of course, Specklestar wouldn't leave us to WindClan cats, right?” Shaking her head, as if to convince herself that what she said was right, Tawnykit rasped a tongue over her sister's ears, trying not to shudder as her eyes closed momentarily and the darkness crept upon her. She cringed as she smelled blood, both on herself and her sister, and frowned as she glanced Dusk-kit over, still rasping her tongue across the other kit's body. ”They'll come in any minute now and take us back to Mommy and Feathercloud and, everything will be alright again.”

She paused in her licking, as if doubting herself, but, continued on just as quickly as she stopped.

”Everything will be fine and normal and alright again...”

She could only hope.

[☆ Y e l l o w ☆]

Harewhisker approached the medicine den, wondering if the kits would really be alright to go home soon. They had seemed in pretty bad shape when the chronically insane Finchstep brought them to WindClan's camp. The smell of blood and fear on them had been astonishing. He doubted they would have recovered in less than half a day but still went to check on them and tell them about the arrivals.

Padding into the den, he saw it was much more crowded than he expected. Rowanclaw and Finchstep were still there, probably supervising, but there were also several kits in the den besides the ShadowClan kits. He recognized Swiftkit, Sandkit and Spottedkit. The two ShadowClan kits appeared to be awake, so that was probably a good sign.

"A ShadowClan patrol has arrived," he informed Rowanclaw as well as the two kits. "They've come to check on the kits' conditions and take them home if they're well enough. Ravenstar also says you're free to leave the medicine den, Rowanclaw."



Sandkit stayed quiet and watched with interest as the other kit, a calico, woke up. Soon the two sisters were speaking close and quietly to each other. She wondered why they both seemed so overly scared and spooked. Dusk-kit's story had sounded scary and frightening, but what had really happened? Sandkit couldn't imagine ever feeling or acting like that, whatever might happen to her. Maybe ShadowClan cats were weird like that.

Her ears twitched and perked slightly and she glanced at the den's entrance when Harewhisker came in. Hadn't he left camp earlier to go on a patrol? What she heard him say made her excited and mixed with disappointment at the same time. More ShadowClan cats were here, and she wanted to see them! But did that also mean Dusk-kit and her sister were leaving? They hadn't had any time to talk at all! The sandy-ginger cat glanced at the ShadowClan kits to see their reaction.

((She doesn't really understand what they went through. So she's just like "0.o Weird."))