Mintfeather's Secret

Chapter 2

"Ravenkit, stop moving!" Antkit whined as he launched himself at the other kit. Ravenkit ducked out of the way and bounced over to Speckledkit as he cleaned his paw.

"Come on, play with us!" He mewed. Speckledkit rolled his eyes and shook his head stubbornly.

"I'm too tired. Leave me be. Go play with Redkit or something." He mewed. Ravenkit sighed and padded towards the ginger tom. Mintkit scrunched up his nose and shook his head rapidly as a droplet of dew hit his muzzle from a leaf above his head.

"Darkkit, come on! Let's go play!" Flamekit squealed as he bounded out of the nursery with his sister on his heels.

"Hey Mintkit, are you gonna join in?" Robinkit asked, padding towards the grey kit. He opened his mouth to reply but Antkit beat him to it.

"Why would you want to play with Mintkit? He's no fun! He can't see anything!" He mewed. Mintkit shut his mouth and shook his head, turning away and placing his paws down carefully in front of him so he wouldn't end up tripping.

"Antkit! Stop bullying Mintkit!" Darkkit growled. He heard rapid pawsteps approach him and turned his head towards the sound as two distinct scents rolled into his nostrils.

"Hey, Speckledkit and I wanted to show you something. We found it the other day. Want to join us?" Ravenkit asked his brother softly, purring. Speckledkit nodded his head, although Mintkit couldn't see it. He let out a short sigh and nodded his head in compliance. The two kits quietly slipped out through the back of camp, leading Mintkit away from the sanctuary of the clearing.

"See? Isn't it cool?!" Ravenkit exclaimed as Speckledkit let out a mew of amazement. Mintkit could smell the faint aroma of maple trees and sweet grass. Birds chirped around them, creating a sweet melody. What Mintkit couldn't see was the lake in front of the three kits, surrounded by maple trees on the outside and long grass in the clearing around the lake.

"And if you look at it from here-" Ravenkit's mew was cut off abruptly as the sound of something sliding followed by a loud yowl of alarm and a splash entered Mintkit's ears.

"What happened?!" He asked as the sounds of splashing and spluttering grew louder until it drowned out the birds' melodic chirps.

"Ravenkit fell in!" Speckledkit mewed with panic. "I'm going to go in and save him!" He mewed urgently. Mintkit's eyes snapped wide open when he heard another splash and his fur bristled with fear.

"Guys, be careful!" He mewed with fear. The sound of splashing and spluttering went on violently until it stopped abruptly and Mintkit's ears were met with dead silence. He stood, unsure if his brother and friend were alright.

"Ravenkit? Speckledkit? Are you ok?" He asked. There was no reply. Mintkit started to grow uneasy as minutes passed by, and there still was no answer and no scent of his brother or friend came back. Finally he couldn't take it anymore and started wailing for help.

"SOMEOME HELP!" He cried. There was the thundering of paws and Mintkit turned around shakily to catch the scents of Waspflame, Dawnstar, and Speckledfern.

"What happened?" Dawnstar asked his son with concern.

"Why are you out of camp?" Waspflame asked, frowning.

"Mintkit! Are you alright?" Speckledfern asked the shaking tom.

"R-Ravenkit and Speckledkit- they- they're-" he stuttered, trying to tell them desperately what had happened. Speckledfern's tail wrapped around him and soothed him just a tad to where he could actually speak.

"Calm down little one. It's alright. Tell us what happened." He mewed gently.

"Ravenkit and Speckledkit fell into the lake." Mintkit choked out. Waspflame's eyes widened and he dashed to the lake before jumping in and wading around, trying to find his kit desperately. Dawnstar dove in after the tom and started searching alongside him, trying to find his kit as well. The water came up to their chests, and both toms ducked their heads under the water to try to see if they could find the bodies that way. Dawnstar's pelt disappeared for a moment before it came back up, his head resurfacing as he held a tiny, drenched body in his jaws. He waded back towards the bank before Waspflame resurfaced with another body in his jaws.

Waspflame's eyes shone with grief as he carried the limp kit out of the pond and back to camp with Dawnstar behind him. Speckledfern let out a sigh and wrapped his tail around Mintkit, leading him back to camp.

"I can only imagine the amount of grief your mother will feel." He mewed gently. Mintkit didn't understand what was happening.

"Did you find them?" He asked. Speckledfern's eyes flashed with sorrow and he took a deep breath.

"We did."

"Is Speckledkit ok? What about my brother? Why weren't they talking when they were brought out?" The small grey kit asked.

"Mintkit, I'm afraid your brother and your friend... Won't be speaking to anyone for a while. You see, they're not... Here anymore." Speckledfern worded carefully, trying to explain to Mintkit about their deaths.

"What do you mean? They brought them out of the lake, didn't they?" Mintkit asked.

"They brought their bodies back, yes. But their spirits are in StarClan now. There's nothing we can do about that." Speckledfern mewed gently.

"StarClan? What's that?" Mintkit asked. Speckledfern stopped walking and so did Mintkit, who turned towards the tom with curious blind eyes.

"StarClan is a place in the stars where all of our deceased ancestors reside." Speckledfern mewed gently.

"What is 'deceased'?" Mintkit asked again. Speckledfern purred at the young tom's curiosity.

"It's when a cat is too injured to go on. Once they give up, their spirits rise to StarClan while their bodies stay with the living." Speckledfern mewed.

"So I won't be able to speak with Speckledkit or my brother for a while?" Mintkit asked sadly.

"I'm afraid it won't be in a long while, Mintkit." Speckledfern sighed before leading the small tom back into camp, where Larkpool and Pricklenose were wailing in grief. Larkpool spotted Mintkit and rushed over to him, picking him up by his scruff and setting him closer to her so she could groom him furiously.

"Oh my precious kit! Are you alright?! Did you get hurt?! What happened?! Why did you leave the camp?!" She bombarded him with questions as she hastily licked him. Mintkit blinked a couple of times and let out small mews of shock and confusion when he felt his pelt dampening with warm water. Larkpool's tongue had slowed their pace in grooming him, and he looked up at where he believed his mother was.

"Mom? What's wrong? Why are you leaking?" He mewed. Larkpool had stopped grooming him althogether and buried her face into his pelt, dampening it even more with her warm tears. Her body shook as she sobbed into her last kit's fur, confusing and worrying the small tom.

"Mom?" He called her name softly, but got no reply. Dawnstar wrapped his tail around his mate's and bowed his head in grief for his lost kit. The clouds above darkened and the sky rumbled before tiny droplets of water started to fall from the sky. Speckledfern stared at Larkpool and Mintkit with sad eyes before shaking his head slowly.

"There's nothing I can do." He mewed softly.