Warriors #4: Darkness Awakens

Chapter 13

I picked Swiftkit up in my mouth again and began to bolt towards camp. Through my full mouth, I meowed, "We have to Swiftkit to Jayfeather immediately! Let's go!"

Every cat nodded in agreement and followed behind me as I ran through the forest as fast as I could. Frustration was gradually starting to bubble up inside of me as I began to process what had just happened, and what had been happening over the past moon.

Foxdung! What's next? Swiftkit might as well live in the medicine den until he becomes a warrior! I was still so confused as to how Swiftkit managed to get hurt and get himself into trouble so often. He had managed to sneak out by himself and be attacked by a fox, and he had woken up every once in a while with mysterious injuries.

Is this maybe not the first time he's snuck out? I wondered. If so, why?

I shook my head quickly. Who knows? All that matters right now is getting him back to camp.

Swiftkit, still in my mouth, sighed and muttered, "Great StarClan, Goldenshine, I'm fine! You don't need to carry me."

I rolled my eyes. "Nice try. I'm not buying those words ever again!"

I heard Swiftkit sigh in frustration.

You're not the only one who's frustrated. I said to myself. Oh, the scolding you'll get once Jayfeather gets a hold of you!

Finally our patrol arrived back in camp and ran through the entrance. I immediately heard sighs of relief and cats calling out Swiftkit's name. Some cats started to ask questions to me, but I left them for the other cats on the patrol to answer. I needed to get Swiftkit to the medicine den as quickly as possible.

Before I even got to the den, Jayfeather peeked out, his nose up in the air. He turned towards me. "Swiftkit is back?" he asked in disbelief. "Where did you find him?"

I put Swiftkit down and shook my head slowly. "It's a long story that I will recap once you get working on him!"

Jayfeather snorted and then beckoned us inside the medicine den. Swiftkit and I walked through the entrance, and I watched as Swiftkit slowly padded over to his same nest he had been tended on before. He exhaustedly let himself fall down in the nest as Jayfeather walked over to him with some cobweb.

I sighed as Jayfeather started to dab the cobweb on Swiftkit's wounds. This better be the last time that he is in the medicine den for a while, I thought. I can't let this happen again. I'm never letting him out of my sight.

For some reason, right after I made this commitment in my head, I heard Jayfeather quietly snort. I narrowed my eyes at him but I didn't say anything. He's probably amused at the fact that a mother could let this happen.

Jayfeather shook his head slowly as he continued with the cobweb. "You idiot! What were you doing out there to get this many injuries?"

I finally decided to explain the situation to Jayfeather - how Swiftkit had snuck through the dirtplace, wandered through the forest and had found the fox, who had given Swiftkit a few scratches to remember it by.

Jayfeather snorted again. "Stupid kit," he muttered half to himself. He bent his head down and sniffed the injuries more closely.

"You're lucky," he commented, "That fox gave you a lot of scratches, but they're not deep."

I let out a loud sigh of relief. Thank StarClan!

Swiftkit rolled his eyes and let his head drop down on his nest. "So, what does that mean?" he asked. "How much longer will I have to be in here? I don't want to be here all of the time!"