Sootpelt Sniffed The Air

Sootpelt sniffed the air for any traces of a cat that could be lingering by.

The medicine cat's tail was inches away from grazing, or even touching Twistedfoot's whiskers while the stuck apprentice had his twisted paw caught between the rocks still.

"Sootpelt, focus." Thistlestar grumbled in his throat, "Time is of the essence..especially the nearing of their apprenticeships, unless you forgot."

Sootpelt turned back to him and hissed, walking away from Twistedfoot, "Very well, I'll choose his mentor since you seem so inclined to disrespect me any chance there is."

Twistedfoot began to wiggle his paw back out of the rocks forcefully by yanking it which tore alot of his fur off and accidentally clipping off some skin, yet he ignored the feeling of pain that surged in his front paw.

Thistlestar departed from Sootpelt by walking into the badger hole that was fit tightly between leader rock that had the purpose of being the leaders den.

Luckily for Twistedfoot, Sootpelt began to creep away which gave him some time to limp off into the medic den to fix his paw.

The day began for Blackkit was with wide eyes hovering over his head from Firekit and Icekit that stared down at him with the hopes of playing to make up for the night before.

Blackkit slowly looked around for Mothlight with caution to not anger her in anyway.

Instead of expecting to see the sleeping ginger queen usually in her nest beside him, he saw nothing but an empty nest.

"Mothlight went outside to look for Thistlestar." Icekit explained, swaying her tail over Blackkit playfully, "She said before she left that you are supposed to stay in your nest all day."

Moonsong lifted her head from cleaning Bluekit's fur to glance over at her other daughter teasing Blackkit, "Icekit, don't test the poor tom, leave him alone! He scared his mother halfway to Starclan last night.."

Since Starclan wasn't taught too early to the kit's, Blackkit sat up facing the way of Moonsong curiously, "What is 'Starclan'?"

A soft purr rumbled from the silver queen, "What a curious question from such a trouble-maker. Come here and I'll tell you."

Blackkit nervously looked down to his nest then he let his head bow down above his nests' padding.

"Don't worry, I'll tell her you were in your nest most of the day, little kit. It'll be our little secret." Moonsong said with a flick of her tail as she slowly sat up to wrap her tail around Bluekit.

Slowly not to spot Mothlight possibly coming through the nursery entrance to find Blackkit creeping out of his nest, he crawled over to Moonsong eventually.

Icekit and Firekit lazily walked over beside him to sit down since they didn't really want to listen in the first place. Yet they did, otherwise they'd end up sitting in their nests all day too somehow.

The silver queen cleared her throat to prepare herself, "Starclan is a place where non-living cats can go once their lives are over," She continued, "They go there to hunt in the grasslands of Starclan, and to watch over their kin that remains still living down here to protect them from any danger that may come their way."

Firekit began to paw at his tail feeling slightly timid, "Is that where the unnamed kits went?"

Moonsong sighed but nodded, "Yes. That is where your two other kin went the night you and Blackkit were born." The queen sighed again, but this time to herself, "My brother, when we were kits..moved on to Starclan after a terrible accident."

The kits decided to stay silent not to offend Moonsong in her few seconds of grieving.

"Firekit," Moonsong began, slightly changing her tune, "You can name your unnamed kin so that you can remember them always, that is how I carry my brother with me everyday."

Icekit got to her paws immediately, "What was your brothers name, mama?"

"Lovekit. At least that's what I named him because I loved him so much." Moonsong purred slightly with a smile.

Blackkit sat silently wondering if any of this was true; was it possible a bunch of dead cats can be roaming in the stars to go hunting and have all the time in the world to protect their loved ones?

None of this processed for the young black tom.

Instead, he looked up to Moonsong and asked, "Is this true?"

A streak of weariness and vulnerability came over Moonsong, after all these were things she was told all her life.

"Well, Blackkit..uh.." The silver queen trailed off uncomfortably.

Blackkit slightly felt bad once he looked away from Moonsong to catch Firekit glaring at him in the corner of his eye; Firekit was staring at him so wrong in a way that brothers shouldn't look at each other with..it was a look of total pain.

The pain being the two dead kits that Firekit never forgot because they looked like him and Mothlight so well.

Unsettlingly for Blackkit, he was born in the same litter and blood as Firekit, the two of them did get along everyday and that made them happy to be littermates; but what stuck out to Blackkit were the eyes of pain that surrounded every fabric of Firekit's being to be told it wasn't true that his two twins weren't in such a wonderful place. It broke Blackkit's heart to see the eyes facing him, from his own brother.

All heads pointed towards the entrance when Mothlight walked in, "Blackkit, why aren't you in your nest? Go in your nest, now."

The good and bad weighed for Blackkit when his mother walked in, the eyes were gone from Firekit, but he was in trouble.

Blackkit didn't hesitate to remove himself from where he was sitting to then go back in his nest to curl up peacefully, "I'm sorry, Mama. Moonsong was telling us this amazing story about Starclan, that that is where non-living cats go to hunt and play everyday peacefully." He said to his mother as he lied, but also glancing over to Firekit to tell if his brother's reaction would change.

Thankfully for Blackkit, Firekit smiled to him after quickly forgiving Blackkit with a nod.

Mothlight stared in amazement at her son, "Starclan is an amazing place, it is good that you know that, Blackkit." She mewed happily with her mood softening, "Still, you are in trouble for running off last night, now get some sleep. Your brother and friends are going to become apprentices tomorrow."

Even though Blackkit knew that meant he wasn't going to be an apprentice along with the clan-kits he cared for, he didn't mind it because it would had been their special days, where he can watch and praise them after and tell them that he was proud of them.

After curling his tail around himself to prepare for another cold night, Blackkit's eyes began to droop as he stared off at Firekit.

Hopefully, I'll have my brother forever.

And another hope I have is that he'll keep smiling at me, and never, ever get mad at me.

Goodnight, Firekit.