Rising from the Ashes

Chapter 88

"Can't I come too, Fernshade?" Riverkit asked.

"No," Fernshade answered with a shake of her head. "Now go back to the nursery."

Bramblestripe gave Riverkit a friendly flick around the ears with his tail. "I know it's tough, but we all had to wait until we were apprentices to leave camp for the first time. You've been to an entirely different camp when you were less than a moon old!"

"Yes, but I barely even remember it!" Riverkit protested. She could only watch as the dawn patrol left camp.

Riverkit knew from experience that the camp would slowly wake up but that would take ages! None of them liked being woken up early either. While she might be tempted to follow the dawn patrol, she didn't want to go alone or risk getting caught and landing in serious trouble. Having been back in GrassClan for a moon already, she knew how to entertain herself. She scampered across camp, hopping atop the Meeting Stone to practice her stalking while she waited.

Not surprisingly, Thistletail was the first cat up. He slipped out of the warrior's den and started walking her way. Riverkit crouched and waited for the right moment then pounced! She landed squarely on the GrassClan deputy's shoulders, but he didn't even flinch.

"I caught you!" Riverkit declared.

"Looks like you've caught more than you can handle," Thistletail meowed.

"Aw, you're no fun!" Riverkit complained. "Anyone else would have been caught!"

"I'm not just anyone. I'm the deputy and that means not letting anything get past me."

"Sounds boring!"

Thistletail slipped into the nursery, Riverkit still clinging to his back like a pesky burr. He stopped at Fernshade's nest and unceremoniously dumped Riverkit into it. Riverkit landed on her brother, Briarkit and he shoved her off before rolling over and back to sleep. Riverkit placed her forepaws on the edge of the nest to see what-if anything-was happening in the nursery. Thistletail had moved to the farthest corner of the den where his mate, Swanflight, nursed their kits.

The GrassClan deputy couldn't stay for long, collecting Brightwhisker for a hunting patrol before leaving the nursery. That left three queens-but really two since Swanflight almost never left her nest-two watch eight kits. Not that that meant much. Riverkit knew from experience that Wildbloom and Duskflower were almost impossible to sneak past. They seemed capable of putting a damper on her plans almost faster than she could think them up!

Not that Riverkit let that stop her. She looked across the den to exchange a glance with her best friend, Meadowkit. They met in the middle.

"Your littermate up yet?"

"Nope. Is yours?"

"Nope."

"Wanna get something to eat?"

"Yeah!"

"The hunting patrol just left so I doubt there's anything on the fresh-kill pile," Wildbloom pointed out. "Why don't you play a game?"

"Mossball?" Riverkit suggested.

Meadowkit shook her head. "Nah."

"Hide and seek?"

'The others never come up with any good hiding spots and they'd never find us."

"Why not a scavenger hunt?" Duskflower suggested.

"Yeah!"

"You should work in pairs," Wildbloom suggested.

"I'll take Briarkit. You take Flamekit," Riverkit decided.

Meadowkit nodded.

"Whichever pair comes back first with a feather, a stone and a flower wins," Duskflower meowed. "Ready?"

"Yeah!"

"Go!"

The four kits hared out of the nursery.

"The feather's gonna be easiest but we'll need to really look for a stone and a flower," Riverkit told her brother.

"What about the Meeting Stone?" Briarkit suggested.

"We can't carry that to the nursery!" Riverkit scoffed. "Help me find a stone small enough for us to take with us."

Briarkit nodded and the two of them darted around camp before finding a pebble near the camp entrance. It was a bit big but they managed.

"Next is a flower..." Riverkit meowed, tail flicking in thought. "Where are we gonna find a flower in camp?"

They scoured the camp, but this time came up empty pawed.

"What are we gonna do?" Briarkit asked.

"Can I help you kits with something?"

Hawkstar came up behind them, giving a curious look at their dejected faces and the stone between them.

Briarkit told the GrassClan leader about the scavenger hunt and how they'd gotten stumped. "There are no flowers in camp!"

"Honey always helps me when I can't find the answers I'm looking for," Hawkstar meowed cryptically before strolling away.

"Wait what?" Riverkit exclaimed.

"I don't get it," Briarkit meowed unhelpfully.

Riverkit turned in a short circle. "What does honey have to do with-" Riverkit gasped. "Oh, I know!" She darted off towards the medicine den, Briarkit hard on her paws. "Honeypool!" Riverkit yowled, bursting into the den. "You have to help us!"

The medicine cat jumped, whirling to face them. "What's wrong?"

"We're on a scavenger hunt and need a flower to bring back to the nursery."

"Oh, is that all?" I thought it was an actual emergency." Honeypool walked over to where her supplies were neatly arranged. She returned with a small purple, yellow and white flower. "Here, take this."

"Thanks, Honeypool!"

Riverkit and Briarkit left the medicine den.

"Now we can go back to the nursery," Riverkit meowed.

"But we don't have a feather," Briarkit pointed out.

"We've got loads of feathers in the nursery. We'll just pluck one from a nest."

Riverkit saw Meadowkit and Flamekit near the elder's den with their own stone and flower. In the next instant, the four kits raced for the nursery but got jammed up at the entrance. At last, they burst through landing in a heap. They scrabbled to their paws, but Riverkit stopped as she realized Briarkit had stubbed his paws. Reassured her brother was alright Riverkit was about to make a run for it but saw it was too late.

"Meadowkit and Flamekit win!" Wildbloom declared.

Meadowkit turned back to Riverkit. "I don't mind sharing with you. It wasn't your fault you lost."

"Thanks!" Riverkit exclaimed with a pleased flick of her tail.

"What do the winners get?" Meadowkit asked Wildbloom.

"How about first pick of the fresh-kill pile?" Wildbloom suggested as Brightwhisker entered with a juicy sparrow in her jaws.

"Yum!"