Chasing Thunder

Disclaimer: I do not own, or claim to own, warrior cats.

Chapter 7

Twigkit awoke when a small paw kicked him in the face. Blinking open his eyes, squinting against the light, he looked up to see a small, snowy white kit lying beside him, its back paw balanced on the tip of his nose, still snoring softly, curled up against its brothers and sisters. Peering over at the other kits, Twigkit slowly dislodged the paw and stepped backwards, only to find himself tripping over something else, this time, a larger shape that sent him crashing in a disgruntled heap to the ground, his face buried in the dust as he looked up to see Burrkit smirking over him, her short tail flicking side to side teasingly.

"You should watch where you're going. You never know where I might be lurking!" The she-cat crouched down to the ground, her eyes wide and wild with excitement. Twigkit chuckled slightly and pulled himself upright, using a paw to dust off his nose, shaking out his fur to remove scraps of moss and dust from both the nest and his trip.

"You're in a better mood today." The tom purred slightly, then licked his small pink tongue over his teeth. "I'm hungry! Breakfast?" Burrkit nodded affirmatively.

"Breakfast." The two kits padded from the nursery and into the sunlight, the cats of Thunderclan just beginning to stir, Bramblestar sitting out on the rocks by the camp wall, Thornclaw and Sandstorm lying lazily in the sunshine a little way away from him, talking to one another in hushed whispers. Lionblaze was standing by the camp entrance, probably waiting to assemble the Dawn Patrol. The whole camp seemed happy and full of life, however there was one thing out of place. And that was the body. Sitting by the fresh-kill pile, body decorated with herbs- lavender and mint- Lilyflower was positioned as if she was asleep. But no cat slept so still, and not even herbs could disguise the scent of death. Sitting by the body was the shapes of Poppyfrost and Cinderheart, mourning the death of their younger sister, their eyes closed and heads bowed. Twigkit couldn't help but feel sorry for the two she-cats. He knew what it was like to lose a sister, and had also heard tales of Honeyfern, a littermate of the two cats who had been killed by a snake, moons before even Pigeonwing and Featherleap were born. Trying to push the sight of the body to the back of his mind, Twigkit padded over to the fresh-kill pile, and selected a Pigeon, caught by last night's hunting patrol, bringing it back for him and Burrkit to share.

"I hope that you're gonna let me have some of that." Looking up in surprise, Twigkit was met by the milky blue gaze of Ashkit, his pelt now free of cobwebs and poultices, although he still stood awkwardly on his back legs, as if they caused him pain.

"Hey Ashkit!" Twigkit grinned at the sight of his brother. "Did Jayfeather let you out?" The grey tom nodded, and Burrkit bounded in beside them both, her line of sight falling hungrily towards the Pigeon.

"Yeah, he seems to think that I'm good enough to head back to the nursery tonight! I can't wait to get out of there- it's made my fur smell so weird!" Burrkit chuckled slightly and nudged Ashkit with her shoulder.

"You smell weird anyway!" The grey tom glared at his sister, then lunged forwards, obviously trying to grab the pigeon off the ground, but missed completely and slipped, falling face first into the earth. Burrkit seemed to find this hilarious, and burst out laughing, as Ashkit looked up, a look of annoyance on his features. "Score two to the She-Cat! I'm the only one of us that hasn't fallen flat on their face today!

"Hey, you aren't half blind! Just give me the damned pigeon, I'm hungry!" Twigkit laughed and pushed it over to Ashkit, before leaning over and whispering in his brother's ear.

"I say we don't let her have any." The grey kit laughed, and nodded in agreement, before stooping over and taking a bite, followed by Twigkit, who did the same, letting the flavors flood over his tongue. The two continued to eat, earning a contemplative whine from Burrkit.

"Hey, greedy guts! Give me a bit!" smirking to eachother, the two toms pulled the pigeon in closer, blocking their sister from it. Letting out a sigh of exasperation, Burrkit tried to force them out of the way, but gave up pretty soon and whined in an irritated tone. "Hey you two... Give me a bit." When they didn't relent, she flopped down onto the ground and lay there, flipping onto her back and stretching out a paw to her brothers. "Come on... I'm hungry and my side hurts. Gimmie a bit." Twigkit glanced over at Ashkit, but the grey tom was looking in confusion towards Burrkit, sniffing the air.

"Burrkit, why can I smell blood." The she-kit's eyes widened slightly in panic, and she glanced over at her side, drawing Twigkit's attention to a long scratch, hidden previously by her fur, but now fully visible, stuck with dried blood and fur. The tabby tom retched quietly at the sight and turned away, not wanting to look at it. "What did you do?" Ashkit's voice was serious, taking on a tone that Twigkit hadn't really seen before, his scratched out eyes wide and unblinking. Burrkit still seemed to be in a state of panic, but coughed to herself and flipped back the right way around, pupils narrowed and fur standing on end.

"I-I hit the side of the den last night. I must have hit a thorn in the nursery wall." Burrkit's voice was monotone and scared, and Ashkit narrowed his eyes, but moved aside, pushing the pigeon towards his sister.

"Okay. You might want to see Jayfeather about that. You wouldn't want an infection." The spiky-furred she-kit leaned over and sunk her teeth into the flesh of the pigeon, chewing it awkwardly under the harsh stares of both of her brothers.

"What?" She spoke, her words muffled by the food in her mouth, causing Twigkit to break the silence with a loud snort. A sudden shadow fell across the three kits, and they all looked up to see Deeppool staring down at them, his eyes tired from the night before's drama, although his face was marked by a weary smile.

"Now, Burrkit. What has Featherleap told you about talking with your mouth full?" The she-cat swallowed sheepishly, then sat up to look towards Deeppool better.

"Morning, Deeppool!" Twigkit greeted the Medicine cat, curling his short tail around his paws. The grey tom dipped his head in response, a yawn stretching to his jaws as he responded.

"Never thought that it would come! Last night was a busy one." The Medicine cat cast an involuntary glance towards the body of Lilyflower, flinching slightly, before he turned back to the kits. "I'm heading through to check on the new arrivals now. They should be opening their eyes some time in the near future, so now is a pretty crucial time for them." He looked down over the small, five moon old kits at his paws. "Do you want to come with me? I'm sure they'd like to meet their denmates." Twigkit nodded vigorously, and jumped to his paws, followed by Ashkit and Burrkit, the three siblings following Deeppool into the nursery, abandoning the half-eaten pigeon in the middle of the camp. As they walked, Ashkit stumbled slightly, tripping over his own paws, and Twigkit pulled back to help him, guiding the near-blind cat towards the nursery, earning himself a grateful nod from the other kit.

"Have you seen the kits since they moved into the nursery?" Twigkit questioned his brother, and Ashkit shook his head.

"I haven't been allowed out the Medicine den, remember?" The brown kit nodded, then grinned widely.

"They look so cute! I can't believe that we would have been so small too!" Letting out a small apology as he pulled quickly away from Ashkit in his excitement, causing the tom to stumble again, Twigkit darted back into his place of guiding his brother. "Sorry. They get in the way a little bit though- I tripped over one this morning!" Ashkit let out a small laugh as the two padded into the warm thicket of the nursery, where Burrkit was already waiting.

"Come on, Slow slugs! They're all awake now!" Twigkit grinned and made sure that his brother was stable, before running over to where Featherleap sat in her nest, the kits feeding at her stomach, mewling quietly, their eyes still sealed shut. Featherleap opened her eyes as Twigkit approached, and bent over, rasping her tongue over his head, the tom reeling backwards, spluttering slightly.

"Hey! Stop it!" The queen chuckled, then looked over to Ashkit, a wide smile lighting up on her face.

"Ashkit! You're out of the medicine den!" The grey she-cat purred, then turned back to the kits as one of the two snowy white ones flopped over and toppled out of the nest and opened its mouth as if to meow, but no sound came out, its head snapping side to side in confusion. Deeppool let out a confused sound at the kit's inability to make noise, and moved over closer to it, pulling it forwards with his paw. Pressing a claw against the kit's throat gently, the frown on the medicine cat's face deepened, and Featherleap looked up in concern.

"Is something wrong?" Deeppool placed the kit back down in the nest, where it opened it's mouth in a silent yowl again, then continued feeding, its snowy fur ruffled.

"It seems that this kit might not be able to speak. It might not be permanent, just a temporary effect of a traumatic birth, but then again, she might end up mute..." The Medicine cat trailed off in thought. "I guess we'll just have to wait and see."

A/N: New chapter! I hope that you enjoy! And, for question of the day: Which of the siblings do you think has the best brotherly/sisterly relationship? For me, it's probably Ashkit and Twigkit!

Storm