[Fanfic] Warritalia: Chapter One
First chapter~
“Frostclaw, stop that at once!”
Vinekit turned her head to see her father Brightsong crouching a fox length away from them, sharing tongues with her mother Sorrelheart, clearly looking unhappy.
“I don't want them to learn fighting moves already!” He scolded the white warrior Frostclaw, who was playing with her and her sister Tomatokit. Vinekit really liked him, he always spent a lot of time with them, playing with them, teaching them the hunter's crouch and fighting moves! Right now he let them catch his tail tip.
“Aw, come on! They can't learn them too early! They'll be out of the nursery before you can say 'Awesome', so they need to have some basic knowledge! And they want to learn them, so don't overreact, Brightsong!” Frostclaw meowed with a grin, but slightly frowned when Tomatokit bit down on his tail.
“They're three moons old, for StarClan's sake!” Brightsong replied.
Sorrelheart chuckled and gently flicked his ear. “They'll be fine. And don't worry, I keep an eye on Frostclaw.” She meowed with an affectionate glance at her daughters and then quickly glanced at Frostclaw, who then flinched as she bared her teeth.
“I'll be careful!” He defensed himself.
Vinekit sat down and gave her cream-colored chest fur a few licks, before jumping on Tomatokit's back. Her sister let out a surprised yelp and the two kits rolled around, gently battering each other with sheathed claws, however Vinekit noticed that Tomatokit was slightly distracted, her blows less powerful than usual. She had Tomatokit pinned down, ignoring her hind legs softly kicking against her belly, didn't let go of her.
“Get off me, you're heavy!” She complained, trying to get her sister to let go of her. She stared at Tomatokit for a heartbeat, her amber eyes gleaming, before getting off her. Tomatokit shook the dust out of her fur.
“You two really are blessed. They'll be great warriors when they're older.” Frostclaw remarked.
Sorrelheart gave him a long glance. “You could have kits of your own, you're not that old yet.”
But the white warrior only let out a long sigh. “I don't want any.” He glanced at his paws, before getting up and walking toward Nightstar, who was listening to Passionpool's report.
“Come on, Tomatokit! Let's see if we can find something tasty on the fresh-kill pile!” Vinekit meowed, but when she glanced t her sister she realized that Tomatokit had already dozed off. “Wake up, sleepy head!” But Tomatokit only rolled onto her other side, muttering something under her breath. Oh well, let her sleep then.
The sun cast its red light through the canopy as it was slowly setting. The first StarClan warriors began to appear and Vinekit asked herself if her grandmother Romeleaf was among them.
While the tiny she-kit was on her way to the fresh-kill pile, she caught a glance of Smoketail talking to Finstream, who looked very small compared to him and she looked a bit uneasy. Vinekit couldn't catch any words, though.
When she had arrived at the fresh-kill pile, she noticed the two apprentices Snowpaw and Icepaw arguing over the remaining pieces of fresh-kill.
“Come on, Snowpaw! You had a carp yesterday already and the day before and the day before that as well!” Icepaw meowed.
“You know I don't really like mice or anything like that! I prefer fish!” Snowpaw argued.
“It's not good for you if you only eat fish and nothing else! What will you do if there's no fish anymore?”
The white she-cat barely held back a hiss. “Don't tell me what to do!”
Icepaw looked as though he was about to reply, when Dawnpelt trotted over to them with a huge carp in his jaws.
“Stop fighting, you two!” He scolded the apprentices and dropped the carp, which was probably the biggest one Vinekit had ever seen, in front of Snowpaw's paws. “Help yourself.” Dawnpelt purred.
“Thank you.” Snowpaw quickly muttered before happily padding over to the apprentices' den with the carp in her jaws. Icepaw looked after her, his muzzle opened, and snorted before taking a vole and followed his litter mate. Dawnpelt watched the two of them for a moment with an amused grin, then took a scrawny squirrel and brought it to the middle of the clearing to eat together with Nightstar, Frostclaw, Passionpool and Ravenwing who were already eating.
Vinekit took a sparrow and padded over to the nursery, where she settled down to engulf the sparrow with a few hungry bites.
Suddenly the ferns in front of the gorse tunnel rustled and a she-cat with a fluffy pelt stepped out of the tunnel, her violet eyes filled with unease and her thick, white pelt ruffled, although Vinekit could see her rips sticking out like branches.
“Maplewhisper! What are you doing here?” Frostclaw sprang to his paws, his red eyes widened in alarm.
“It's bad... greencough... outbreak in our Clan! So many... cats are sick... have no catmint left...” She explained while trying to catch her breath. Cats began gathering around her and Ravenwing immediately sprang to her paws and raced to her. She sniffed at Maplewhisper. “Please, Ravenwing. I need your help! Do you have any catmint left? One of the sick cats is the expecting queen Ponystep. One of the worst, although she is not my biggest worry. Eaglestar won't leave me alone for a single heartbeat! His mate Firetail is sick, as well, the worst one I've ever seen. She is only a whisker away from joining StarClan, and I don't want to lose her, I couldn't stand seeing my brother heartbroken! Please, Ravenwing! AlliesClan might be wiped out by this outbreak of greencough! I beg you!”
Ravenwing and Nightstar exchanged a long glance.
“We cannot let them die, even though they're our enemies.” The dark gray tom said after a while.
“And we have more than enough catmint, so that we'll still have plenty, even if we share with them.” Ravenwing added and motioned with her tail to Maplewhisper to follow her into the medicine den. Maplewhisper sighed, relieve filled her eyes.
“Thank you, thank you so much!”
After a moment the two she-cats reappeared again, both carrying much of the deliciously smelling plant. Ravenwing laid down the catmint she was carrying. “Nightstar, this is too much for her to carry alone. May I go along to bring it to her camp? I'll be back before moon high.”
“All right, but be careful not to get sick as well. The last thing we need now is greencough.” Nightstar meowed.
Ravenwing dipped her head and after Maplewhisper thanked them again, they left.
An icy leaf-bare breeze ruffled Vinekit's fur and she began to freeze.
“Get back into the nursery, dear, or you'll catch a cold.” Sorrelheart shooed her into the warm den. Tomatokit was already sleeping, a bit uneasy though it seemed, as she thrashed around in her nest.
She must be having a nightmare. Vinekit guessed and laid down in the nest as well, closing her eyes and yawning. She waited for sleep to pull her into a deep embrace, but somehow sleep wouldn't come. It was cold and Tomatokit's constant sneezing and coughing was keeping her awake. But when she poked her sister, she didn't react, only kept wheezing and quietly whimpering. With a pang Vinekit noticed that her eyes and nose were streaming and heat radiated her body. “Tomatokit?” The she-kit's eyes were teary as she whispered her sister's name. Alarmed she sprang to her paws. “Sorrelheart! Brightsong! Something is wrong with Tomatokit!” She wailed. Immediately her parents raced into the nursery. Sorrelheart let out a wail as she hurried over to her daughter's side.
“It's greencough! Tomatokit has greencough!”
“Frostclaw, stop that at once!”
Vinekit turned her head to see her father Brightsong crouching a fox length away from them, sharing tongues with her mother Sorrelheart, clearly looking unhappy.
“I don't want them to learn fighting moves already!” He scolded the white warrior Frostclaw, who was playing with her and her sister Tomatokit. Vinekit really liked him, he always spent a lot of time with them, playing with them, teaching them the hunter's crouch and fighting moves! Right now he let them catch his tail tip.
“Aw, come on! They can't learn them too early! They'll be out of the nursery before you can say 'Awesome', so they need to have some basic knowledge! And they want to learn them, so don't overreact, Brightsong!” Frostclaw meowed with a grin, but slightly frowned when Tomatokit bit down on his tail.
“They're three moons old, for StarClan's sake!” Brightsong replied.
Sorrelheart chuckled and gently flicked his ear. “They'll be fine. And don't worry, I keep an eye on Frostclaw.” She meowed with an affectionate glance at her daughters and then quickly glanced at Frostclaw, who then flinched as she bared her teeth.
“I'll be careful!” He defensed himself.
Vinekit sat down and gave her cream-colored chest fur a few licks, before jumping on Tomatokit's back. Her sister let out a surprised yelp and the two kits rolled around, gently battering each other with sheathed claws, however Vinekit noticed that Tomatokit was slightly distracted, her blows less powerful than usual. She had Tomatokit pinned down, ignoring her hind legs softly kicking against her belly, didn't let go of her.
“Get off me, you're heavy!” She complained, trying to get her sister to let go of her. She stared at Tomatokit for a heartbeat, her amber eyes gleaming, before getting off her. Tomatokit shook the dust out of her fur.
“You two really are blessed. They'll be great warriors when they're older.” Frostclaw remarked.
Sorrelheart gave him a long glance. “You could have kits of your own, you're not that old yet.”
But the white warrior only let out a long sigh. “I don't want any.” He glanced at his paws, before getting up and walking toward Nightstar, who was listening to Passionpool's report.
“Come on, Tomatokit! Let's see if we can find something tasty on the fresh-kill pile!” Vinekit meowed, but when she glanced t her sister she realized that Tomatokit had already dozed off. “Wake up, sleepy head!” But Tomatokit only rolled onto her other side, muttering something under her breath. Oh well, let her sleep then.
The sun cast its red light through the canopy as it was slowly setting. The first StarClan warriors began to appear and Vinekit asked herself if her grandmother Romeleaf was among them.
While the tiny she-kit was on her way to the fresh-kill pile, she caught a glance of Smoketail talking to Finstream, who looked very small compared to him and she looked a bit uneasy. Vinekit couldn't catch any words, though.
When she had arrived at the fresh-kill pile, she noticed the two apprentices Snowpaw and Icepaw arguing over the remaining pieces of fresh-kill.
“Come on, Snowpaw! You had a carp yesterday already and the day before and the day before that as well!” Icepaw meowed.
“You know I don't really like mice or anything like that! I prefer fish!” Snowpaw argued.
“It's not good for you if you only eat fish and nothing else! What will you do if there's no fish anymore?”
The white she-cat barely held back a hiss. “Don't tell me what to do!”
Icepaw looked as though he was about to reply, when Dawnpelt trotted over to them with a huge carp in his jaws.
“Stop fighting, you two!” He scolded the apprentices and dropped the carp, which was probably the biggest one Vinekit had ever seen, in front of Snowpaw's paws. “Help yourself.” Dawnpelt purred.
“Thank you.” Snowpaw quickly muttered before happily padding over to the apprentices' den with the carp in her jaws. Icepaw looked after her, his muzzle opened, and snorted before taking a vole and followed his litter mate. Dawnpelt watched the two of them for a moment with an amused grin, then took a scrawny squirrel and brought it to the middle of the clearing to eat together with Nightstar, Frostclaw, Passionpool and Ravenwing who were already eating.
Vinekit took a sparrow and padded over to the nursery, where she settled down to engulf the sparrow with a few hungry bites.
Suddenly the ferns in front of the gorse tunnel rustled and a she-cat with a fluffy pelt stepped out of the tunnel, her violet eyes filled with unease and her thick, white pelt ruffled, although Vinekit could see her rips sticking out like branches.
“Maplewhisper! What are you doing here?” Frostclaw sprang to his paws, his red eyes widened in alarm.
“It's bad... greencough... outbreak in our Clan! So many... cats are sick... have no catmint left...” She explained while trying to catch her breath. Cats began gathering around her and Ravenwing immediately sprang to her paws and raced to her. She sniffed at Maplewhisper. “Please, Ravenwing. I need your help! Do you have any catmint left? One of the sick cats is the expecting queen Ponystep. One of the worst, although she is not my biggest worry. Eaglestar won't leave me alone for a single heartbeat! His mate Firetail is sick, as well, the worst one I've ever seen. She is only a whisker away from joining StarClan, and I don't want to lose her, I couldn't stand seeing my brother heartbroken! Please, Ravenwing! AlliesClan might be wiped out by this outbreak of greencough! I beg you!”
Ravenwing and Nightstar exchanged a long glance.
“We cannot let them die, even though they're our enemies.” The dark gray tom said after a while.
“And we have more than enough catmint, so that we'll still have plenty, even if we share with them.” Ravenwing added and motioned with her tail to Maplewhisper to follow her into the medicine den. Maplewhisper sighed, relieve filled her eyes.
“Thank you, thank you so much!”
After a moment the two she-cats reappeared again, both carrying much of the deliciously smelling plant. Ravenwing laid down the catmint she was carrying. “Nightstar, this is too much for her to carry alone. May I go along to bring it to her camp? I'll be back before moon high.”
“All right, but be careful not to get sick as well. The last thing we need now is greencough.” Nightstar meowed.
Ravenwing dipped her head and after Maplewhisper thanked them again, they left.
An icy leaf-bare breeze ruffled Vinekit's fur and she began to freeze.
“Get back into the nursery, dear, or you'll catch a cold.” Sorrelheart shooed her into the warm den. Tomatokit was already sleeping, a bit uneasy though it seemed, as she thrashed around in her nest.
She must be having a nightmare. Vinekit guessed and laid down in the nest as well, closing her eyes and yawning. She waited for sleep to pull her into a deep embrace, but somehow sleep wouldn't come. It was cold and Tomatokit's constant sneezing and coughing was keeping her awake. But when she poked her sister, she didn't react, only kept wheezing and quietly whimpering. With a pang Vinekit noticed that her eyes and nose were streaming and heat radiated her body. “Tomatokit?” The she-kit's eyes were teary as she whispered her sister's name. Alarmed she sprang to her paws. “Sorrelheart! Brightsong! Something is wrong with Tomatokit!” She wailed. Immediately her parents raced into the nursery. Sorrelheart let out a wail as she hurried over to her daughter's side.
“It's greencough! Tomatokit has greencough!”