Sorry for the long wait. My wifi was dead for a day. :(
Chapter 21
Firestorm
“I can’t help it!” Rockshade wailed in despair. It has been a long time–a very, very long time– since the her mate Nettlesplash went out of the Nursery to find Firestorm’s mother Echomist, another queen Sagewhisker, and three kits, which one of them is Firestorm’s litter-mates, and the other two are Sagewhisker’s kits.
“He will be fine,” Firestorm had said for the tenth time. “I promise and ensure you that!” Rosetail, Firestorm’s sister growled and rolled her eyes. “She cares too much, Firestorm. Do you remember Nettlesplash had kits before Nettlekit?” “Yes.” “Well they died.” “I remember that.” Firestorm turn to her sister. “They died in..” she narrowed her eyes. “I can’t remember how they died, though.”
“Leaf-bare,” Rockshade replied and lay her chin on her paws, staring at the entrance of the Nursery, her blue eyes pools of grief and sadness. “My first litter contained three kits but they didn’t survive their first leaf-bare. Nettlekit is just in my second litter,” “Did they survive their first moon?” Firestorm asked, blinking at the rock-colored queen.
“No,” Rockshade whispered, her eyes tightly closed. “My kits did not survive soon after birth,” Why is StarClan so cruel to let kits die in leaf-bare? Firestorm wrap her tail tighter around her two siblings Wolfkit and Hazelkit, hoping that her body heat would let them sleep deeply without feeling any coldness. Her grief for her younger sister Snowykit still hasn’t past yet.
Firestorm purred when she saw her sister do the same thing to her three kits Mistkit, Hailkit, and Poppykit. Nettlekit, Rockshade’s kit, limped over to Rockshade, whimpering. “Can I eat some of your fresh-kill?” the little brown kit pointed with her nose towards the queen’s half-eaten starling that lay near Firestorm.
I should’ve gotten more prey from the pile, Firestorm thought as she eyed her sister, her half-eaten squirrel, and the half-eaten starling. If I did, we might not all be very hungry. “Wolfkit, Hazelkit, you two are very brave and I am proud to call both of you my litter-mates.” Firestorm gently rest her chin on Wolfkit’s head, then on Hazelkit’s head.
“What about Snowykit?” Hazelkit squeaked softly, staring at the tiny white body. “Snowykit.. well..” Rosetail frowned. She looked away, and Firestorm wondered if her sister was trying to hide her sadness. “She can’t be with us anymore,” Firestorm continued. “But.. why?” Wolfkit whimpered. “I want Echomist!” Hazelkit started to wail loudly.
“Shush!” Firestorm gently nudge her sister. “Snowykit is in a happier place right now,” Firestorm gently rest her muzzle on her Snowykit’s white head. Rosetail did the same to them, and gently drew away to her own kits. “I’m going to take a nap,” Firestorm mumbled. She gently nose Wolfkit and Hazelkit away before curling up.
“You must come immediately!” Nettlesplash ran into the Nursery, the snow on his fur flying out in ice around the Nursery. “Shush! Get down! Can’t you be more careful?” Rosetail snarled at the brown tabby. She started nosing a huge chunk of ice away from her mewling kits. After she was done, Rosetail started grooming each and every one of them, starting from Poppykit, whose fur was full of ice.
“She should be named Icekit,” Wolfkit mews, his green eyes sparkling, as his grief for Snowykit vanished. “Her pelt is full of ice and snow! Wait, no! Maybe she should be named Whitekit or Snowkit or–” “Shut up,” Hazelkit interrupted. “Can’t you see that Rosetail glowering over you?” She whispered to him.
Wolfkit looked up to see his big sister narrowing her green eyes at him. “Sorry!” Wolfkit squeaked. “We must do something!” Firestorm heard Rockshade meowed to her mate. Nettlesplash grumbled in annoyance as Rockshade begun licking his snow-soaked pelt. “Leave me alone, Rockshade. Right now we have very important things to do! Firestorm needs to know about this right now!”
Nettlesplash jumped up from his mate and landed next to Firestorm, who was still fast asleep. “Firestorm, wake up!” Nettlesplash shook her with his one dark brown paw. “Huh.. wha-?” Firestorm opened an eye. “You must see this! You.. you might get.. a shock,” Nettlesplash swallowed. “Only Firestorm,” the tom mews when Rosetail stood up, too.
“You.. ah.. you still need to groom Mistkit,” he meowed, blinking at the dark gray she-kit. “She still has a few specks of ice that is still stuck on her pelt,” Rosetail growled at him. “That’s because you flung it on her!” she spat before returning to the dark she-kit. “Can I come too?” Rockshade stood up, blinking at her mate. “No!” Nettlesplash suddenly shouted angrily and Rockshade took a few steps back, her eyes widened.
“You need to take care of Nettlekit! That is your job, yours! And not mine! Never mine! You are the queen, the mother of our kit! Do you know what your problem is? The problem is that you are overprotective over me! I don’t need you to care for me, just for our kits! You don’t want Nettlekit to end up as Minnowkit, Shadekit, or Splashkit, do you? Don’t forget that the mother has to take care of the kits! I remember you failed to do that job!”
At the mention of their three dead kits, Rockshade gasp in pain. She let out a choking sound and ran to Nettlekit, who was beside Rosetail. She curled up around her kit and begun to whimper as if a sharp rock pierced her heart. “Oh..” Nettlesplash frowned as he took a step back. “I think I have pushed it too far...” Nettlesplash whispered. “Yes, yes you did,” Firestorm growled. “Come on. Just show me.”
Nettlesplash dip his head and took a deep breath. “You might want to get ready,” he meowed. “Here we go!” he hopped out into the blizzard. “Firestorm?” Firestorm turned around. Rosetail sighed. “Be careful, please. I don’t want to lose you.” Firestorm dip her head. “I promise I’d be back,” she whispered before plunging out to meet with the storm, though she couldn’t be certain she might keep her promise to her sister.
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