WARRIORS - Fading Hope

Chapter 3

Lightpaw's POV (Starlight)

"We're here!" I called out as Breezepaw and I padded through the snow-covered ferns and into the clearing. Strangely, the only sound that greeted us was the crunching of the snow beneath our paws. Breezepaw glanced around, trying to see if the kit was anywhere nearby. Her fur began to bristle with uneasiness, and I knew exactly what she was thinking. This is odd, that kit's always waiting right here..

We both searched the clearing and all around it, but still there was no sign of the little ginger and white kit. "If you're playing hide and seek you can come out, you win, we give up!" Breezepaw yowled, but only silence followed. She cast me a worried look, before continuing to call out, her voice gradually becoming more and more anxious. After a few more moments, I caught a familiar sound coming from somewhere deeper into the forest and alerted Breezepaw. Her ears perked up as we both listened carefully for the sound.

We both heard it this time, more clearly than before- a panicked mew coming from somewhere near the abandoned Twoleg nest, not all that far from where we were. "It's the kit!" I realized, and without another word, Breezepaw and I raced toward it.

We arrived to see the tiny she-cat being pursued by a fox, desperately sprinting around trying to escape. She skidded past a tree and turned back toward it, making a leap for it and climbing as fast as her tiny claws would allow. Although, her size and age made it difficult to grip the bark, and her panic had no part in making that any easier. The fox slashed at her, knocking her out of the tree and hard onto the snowy ground. Breezepaw raced forward and lunged at the fox, keeping it distracted while I ran to the kit's side. She'd luckily only been knocked out, and not too badly wounded, but still enough to need the care of a medicine cat.

"Breezepaw, forget the fox!" I yowled. Breezepaw stared back at me, not wanting to let it get away, and I continued, gesturing the little she-cat. "We need to get her the medicine den- now!" Finally the blue-gray she-cat left the fox and raced back toward me, carefully picking up the unconscious kit and sprinting in the direction of ThunderClan's camp.

When we arrived, Ripplestar wasn't pleased that we'd brought her there, but after some pushing from Poppyheart and her sisters, Hazelfrost and Spottedsong, he allowed us to bring her to Leafwing and Firepaw. As Breezepaw carried the kit into the medicine den, I dipped my head to the three she-cats in thanks before following her.

The two medicine cats worked in silence for several minutes, moving back and forth between the kit and their herb stores. Finally Leafwing padded toward Breezepaw and I. "She'll be fine," the light brown she-cat informed us, much to our relief.

"But not if she goes back to living out there on her own," she went on, "she's far too young for that, I'd say a little over half a moon. I'm certain I can convince Ripplestar to let her stay in the Clan though." She paused and gave us a smile. "He may be stubborn when it comes to outsiders, but the warrior code specifically states that no warrior can neglect a kit in pain or danger, regardless of Clan. He won't deny her a place here if the alternative puts her life on the line."

"I'll nurse her," Poppyheart offered, padding into the den. "At her age, she'll still need milk." Leafwing nodded, and the tortoiseshell and white queen continued. "Now the only thing left to do is name her. I think you two should do that." She looked at us.

"Really?" I asked.

Poppyheart nodded and smiled. "Of course, you were the ones to find her after all." I thought for a moment, looking closely at the little ginger and white kit, focusing on her appearance. The ginger fur and darker stripes covering her torso and half of her legs, her ears, most of her face, and nearly all of her tail, minus a single streak of white halfway down. The more I thought about it, the more familiar she looked, and finally an idea came to me.

"She sort of looks a little bit like Mapleshade, doesn't she Breezepaw?" After a moment, she nodded.

"Yeah, I see it," she replied, "So.. Maplekit?"

Poppyheart smiled. "It's a great name," she purred, "Maplekit it is."