7Hey, guys! Here's the next chapter. :) Sorry I haven't updated in so long, I've just been so busy. I was hoping I would have gotten some chapters up this break, but, I was just to busy. Sorry, again. So, please, read, enjoy, and, please, review! Tell me what you think and what I should change. Please, no flames!
Leopardkit woke up to the familiar voices of her mother and siblings, causing her to open her eyes. She blinked as she allowed her eyes to adjust to the nursery's light before looking around with half-closed eyes. She saw that the nest nearest to her was empty, which meant that Icestream, Talonkit, and Duskkit were outside. The two kits were five and a half moons old and Leopardkit knew that, soon they would become apprentices and would leave the nursery.
She wouldn't really miss Talonkit, but she would definitely miss Duskkit. Duskkit had become her closest friend, besides her siblings, of course. Well, she and her brother were the closest, not really she and Silverkit. But, Duskkit had been her friend since the day she had first opened her eyes and they had chosen to become friends.
Leopardkit's eyes went further on to another nest, further back where the dark gray shape of Mistycloud laid curled up. Her kits were now overdue, which had made both of the queens nervous as they watched Mistycloud carefully. She knew that this would be Mistycloud's first litter and that the first litter was always the hardest.
She then turned to look at her mother and siblings. Both Silverkit and Stonekit were sitting in front of Dawnlily, watching her with wide eyes as she seemed to be lecturing them on something. It had been a moon since Leopardkit had first opened her eyes and gone on her 'adventure.' Stonekit and Silverkit had opened their eyes a week after that. As soon as they had opened their eyes and had gotten permission from Dawnlily, they had immediately ran outside to play with Talonkit and Duskkit.
"Leopardkit? Leopardkit! C'mon, let's go outside and play!"
Leopardkit was pulled from her thoughts at the sound of her name being called and blinked as she focused on Silverkit and Stonekit, who were both staring at her with worried blue eyes.
"Wha-? Oh, oh, okay, let's go!" Leooardkit immediately said before turning and racing out of the entrance to the nursery, her two littermates scrambling after her.
She stopped outside the nursery den and looked around the clearing, taking everything in. It looked to be about mid morning and was a rather warm day in the early days of greenleaf. The sky was a light blue and held only a couple of puffy white clouds. She could hear a few birds chirping from outside the camp and the sound of bubbling water from somewhere close.
Leopardkit could see Icestream laying in a patch of sunlight beside Graystar, who seemed to be enjoying some time with his mate. A pale ginger mottled tom sat sharing a fish with a silver tabby she-cat while a little further away a ginger mottled tom and a brown and black she-cat shared tongues.
A grey tom, brown she-cat, and a white tom with black spots laid outside of the elders' den, sunning themselves while talking to one another. Outside of the apprentices' den, a gray she-cat and a ginger tom practiced their hunting crouches together.
The reeds rustled as a group of five cats entered the clearing, each carrying mostly fish, while a couple also carried water voles and a bird. Leopardkit recognized the black tom leading the group was the deputy, Nightfur, who looked around the clearing with his amber eyes. She could sense the raw power and dignity that he held from where she was. All five cats went to the prey pile and laid down their catches before each selecting one to eat.
A small brown tom and a gray and white dappled she-cat each picked up one piece of prey before turning and heading over to the elders who were sunning themselves. She heard the mews of appreciation from the elders. The two apprentices turned and headed back to the prey pile to each take their own piece of prey before turning and padded over to an empty spot to eat.
Leopardkit was drawn from her thoughts as something hit her, causing her to whip around to see what had hit her. She saw the mossball lying not far from her, realizing that that was what had hit her. She looked in the direction from which the mossball had come from, her fur bristling when she saw Talonkit smirking at her.
Beyond him were Duskkit, Silverkit, and Stonekit, who were all watching her with a variety of expressions. She knew, though, that they wanted her to play with them and she knew that she wanted that. She also wanted to wipe that smirk from off of Talonkit's face.
"C'mon, Leopardkit! Toss us back the ball and come play!" Duskkit said, to which both Stonekit and Silverkit both nodded in agreement.
Leopardkit hooked the mossball with a claw and threw it over the head of Talonkit to Duskkit and immediately joined in the game of mossball.
The five kits threw the ball of moss to each other and having a blast at. Talonkit, though, always tried to get the ball from her, messing up her throws and never really tossing the ball toward her. As the tom continued to do this, Leopardkit began to get irritated, which slowly began to turn into anger. She tried to keep her anger in check, trying to ignore the smirks he threw her and the fake 'sorrys' he kept giving her.
She finally lost control of her anger when Talonkit 'accidently' ran into her, causing her to throw the mossball over the heads of the other kits and into the middle of the clearing beforeshe was knocked to the ground.
"I'm so sorry, Leopardkit. I didn't see you there, since you're so little," Talonkit said with a fake concerned look on his face, though his grey eyes showed otherwise.
Leopardkit completely lost her temper and immediately shot to her feet, her gold-flecked green eyes smothering with rage as she glared up at Talonkit. the tom's eyes widened with surprise and a little fear at the she-kit's anger and took a step back away from the she-kit. He immediately stopped and quickly hid his fear and surprise with a small smirk.
"You did that on purpose, you over-grown furball!" She snarled, nearly spitting with rage.
"Now, why would I do that? It was an accident, truly!" Talonkit said, his voice oozing with fake truthfulness.
"No, it was not! You ran into me to make me screw up! You've been trying to make me miss and screw up the entire game!" Leopardkit argued, glaring up at him.
"Well, maybe if you weren't so small, I wouldn't keep running into you! I mean, you were the runt of the litter, and you'll probably always will be!" Talonkit exclaimed, glaring down at the younger kit.
He didn't move an inch when he heard his sister, Stonekit, and Silverkit all gasp in shock at his words, ignoring them as he focused entirely on Leopardkit.
Leopardkit's eyes widened in surprise and he was surprised to see a little bit of hurt enter them, which surprised him. His eyes widened with surprise before hardening again as he resumed glaring down at the younger kit.
He was tired of the she-kit who always hung out with him and his sister, following them around and never really leaving them alone. He put up with it for the first few days until Leopardkit's siblings opened their eyes to join them. He and his sister never got to hang out together, alone, since the she-kit had opened her eyes. He felt his sister slowly begin to drift away from him more and more to play with the younger she-kit and he was sick and tired of it. He wanted his sister back.
He watched with unfeeling cold eyes as Leopardkit's eyes filled with hurt before they immediately hardened with anger.
"Well, I'd rather be the runt than the biggest, meanest kit in all four clans who picks on younger kits just to make himself feel better!" She snarled before turning and racing into the nursery, unaware of all of the cats in the clearing watching her go. She immediately raced to their nest and climbed into it, curling up.
Talonkit watched her go with shocked and a little hurt eyes, still staring even after she had gone inside.
"What you said was really mean, Talonkit," Duskkit said, causing Talonkit to turn around to face her, surprised at the anger in her eyes.
"It was an accident, and, she deserved it!" He argued, causing all three kits to glare at him.
"You're really mean, Talonkit," Silverkit said with a glare as she hurried past him toward the nursery. Stonekit gave him a glare before following his sister as the two went to their sister, leaving the two siblings to argue.
Silverkit and Stonekit slowly approached their nest where Leopardkit lay, curled up in a ball.
"Are you okay, Leopardkit?" Silverkit asked softly as she slowly and carefully climbed into the nest, Stonekit following right behind her.
Leopardkit remained silent, ashamed of how she had reacted. She had run away from him like a scared little kit instead of standing her ground. She had shown him that she was a scared little kit, yet, what he had said really hurt her. Sure, she didn't really like her and, sure, they had got into arguing matches, but… She had never said anything like what he had said to her. He had crossed a line with that comment, and, she never would have thought that he would have…
She continued to remain silent. ignoring her two littermates as they continued to try and get her to talk to them. After a half hour they finally gave uip and turned to return outside, leaving her alone in the darker nursery. Mistycloud had, at sometime, moved outside to sunbathe and Dawnlily and Icestream were no where to be seen, which left her alone.
She was actually glad that she was alone, she didn't want to put up with her mother's endless questions and sympathies or Icestream's sympathetic looks. She just needed to be alone and, as time continued on, she grew very tired. Soon, she was fast asleep, sleeping away her worries and the memories of what had happened.
…
Talonkit sat in the shadows of the nursery, frowning down at the ground, his gray and white tail wrapped around to his paws. Duskkit, Stonekit, and Silverkit, were all ignoring him, and his mother had come over, chastising him for what he had did and ordering him to apologize. He didn't want to apologize, even though he was a little bit sorry.
He knew that what he had said was out of line and had hurt Leopardkit's feelings, and he couldn't forget the hurt in her eyes; but, he wasn't going to apologize. Not now, not ever, he was too proud to do that. Besides, he believed that she deserved what he had said, she had stolen his sister and best friend from him. She was the one who thrusted herself into his life and, he was tired of it.
He couldn't wait until he was an apprentice, which would give him four months of no Leopardkit and, maybe, regain his sister back. He straightened up when he noticed Graystar looking at him, only to slump at the look he had gotten. He knew that he had made his father and leader sad and disappointed, but, Leopardkit had deserved it!
That was what he kept repeating to himself, over and over again, trying to make himself believe it. Unfortunately, he couldn't believe it and, he knew that, if he didn't apologize, Leopardkit would never forgive him.