Chapter Text
The soft wind rustled the trees and the stars about gleamed brightly. It was the first few days of Leaf bare and the risk of greencough was high. Soft panting echoed through the sky an Aged Brown and white tom sped through the bushes. slowing down for a moment he collected himself. His heart still racing. He tottered closer to a small oak in the clearing. He was far from any clans by now for he had been running for quite a while. The brown tom lapped at his injuries mindful of the fact that they had been collecting dirt from the dusty forest floor, an infection would seriously be bad now. The Tom had been alone for quite a while, the passage of time quickly aging him from the great warrior he had used to be. Old age was catching onto him quick, sneaking into enemy clans was far riskier than it used to be. and earlier had proved it. Shaking from hunger The tom thought back to this evening's events. He had been close to obtaining a large rabbit in the windclan territory. He had been sure his scent was masked but he foolishly underestimated the scent-carrying properties of the moor winds, a patrol was quick to find him. Laying comfortably on the dirt clearing he stopped for a moment. He knew this place, hed walked a path close to this location multiple times. This was the forest not far from the moonpool. The tom smiled feeling his luck change for the first time in several moons. Some spiritual guidance is just what he needed. The Tom eased himself up, a soft rustling a couple claw lengths away, he heard soft mewls emanating from the leaves. A nice mouse or vole would be quite nice right now Stepping lightly he crouched and pounced swiftly. But instead of a small round mouse in his grasp, he had a small orange kit that couldn’t be older than 1 moon. As carefully as possible the warrior set the small creature down. The kit was a soft cream white with Orange speckles and patches, its eyes still sealed shut and unaware of the looming danger that had just presented itself.
“Where are your parents Little one?” He sniffed the mewling kit. The tom paused, This kit had smelled of windclan, what was a newborn Windclan kit doing in a clearing far from any clan? The Round Kit moved closer to the bushes when the tom realized that there were other sounds coming from inside. There are more abandoned kits? Quickly pawing the rest out he counted 4 kits in total. These three seemed slightly older. The one crawling closest to him was bluish-gray and had deep gold eyes which seemed to gaze through him, gently touching his muzzle to the little one's back, the tom smiled, the kit had the softest fur he’d ever felt, almost as soft as a cloud. He knew that this One is Thunderclan, smelling the earthy pine scent. Gently He guided the stumbling child underneath his soft underbelly
stay under me little one, the air is much too cold for you to handle on your own. Blue silently lay down tucking his cold paws into his downy soft fur. The toms attention shifted when He was interrupted by tiny hisses. The Second smallest, Shadowclan, he noted, Was batting at The other kit who was a lithe fuzzy gray ball. He hadn’t recognized this kit, he thought back to the Queens in shadowclan, where did this kit come from, why is he here, why are they here? breaking up the fight he examined both of them. The Shadowclan kit had spiky fur and soft green eyes. He seemed easily aggravated, especially when placed next to the orange and white kit, he did sort of resemble goosestripe. But she’d been gone for a least a couple of moons now….The Shadowclan kit immediately leapt on top of the little orange one batting playfully. “Calm yourself little one” The tom gently pawed the angry kit under him to next to Blue, “can't you see orange is far too young to be playing so roughly”. He gently took the scruff of the newborn tucking him in between the two eldest. The tom turned his scarred muzzle to the last one, A little gray kit,Riverclan. He was slightly taller than the rest. Intelligent brown eyes searched around and seemed to be taking information from his surroundings.
Now with all the kits softly sleeping beneath him, the Tom lent down himself, listening to the soft breathing of the kits he had acquired by pure chance, may Starclan light your path little ones.he dozed off himself.
The wind Bit At the chipped ears of the brown Tom, with a start he awoke with the realization that he was now technically a new father of Four. Peering down he noticed Blue was already awake this early?! gray, orange, and brown were all still sleeping soundly. Brown had moved In his sleep and had his hind leg right in Gray's face.
“I suppose if your parents are not coming back I’ll have to watch you for now. some names should be in use” batting Blue on the head he licked the kit's soft unruly fur which had been ruffled in sleep “I’ll call you Cloudkit soft one” Cloudkit responded with an affirmative mewl. Nuzzling Brown, he was careful not to wake him, lest he becomes victim to his sharp claws. “I’ll call you Pricklekit, after your prickly fur and attitude”.Orange Woke with a start startling The aged Warrior, The kit got up and immediately started wriggling in place effectively also waking Gray in the process. Eyes still closed shut the kit nuzzled into Cloudkits Side seeking his soft warmth, Cloudkit lapped at Oranges fur to reassure him that he was there. “you’ll be Honeykit, my sweet son”. Gray had been studying the Brown tom's face seemingly trying to remember every detail, “you’ll be called Cinderkit for your short cinder pelt and calculating eyes”. Cloudkit had been the oldest after some examination followed by Pricklekit who was the second shortest, then Cinderkit, and finally Honeykit. Looking at the kits in front of him Ratface seemed to have slight hope for the future. Recalling an old tale from his childhood about a cat named Brokenstar who had trained kits into warriors at essentially birth, if treated right and not as harsh maybe I could use Brokenstars idea. Peering down, Ratface Nuzzled his new children once more. “maybe you, my sons will be able to do what I couldn't” The cold Leaf-bare Wind whistled loudly. And The tom prayed in thanks for the wonderful gift he’d received from starpelt.