Chapter 2:
“Flamekit, pass!” Flamekit grabbed the mouse in her teeth and passed it to Cherrykit, with Wolfkit’s gaze fixed on the mouse. When Cherrykit’s paws skidded on the cold earth, Wolfkit dashed in and snatched the mouse from her.
“Hey, that’s not fair!” Cherrykit wailed as she got to her paws.
“But I got it!” Wolfkit ran on the frozen surface, and feeling his paws giving way, slammed into the fresh-kill pile and the prey on it scattered all over the floor. A scrawny thrush landed right on top of Wolfkit, and squashed him.
“Wolfkit, that’s the first time I saw fresh-kill attack a cat!” Cherrykit spluttered with laughter and added, “I thought it was supposed to be the other way around?”
“Shut up!” a humiliated Wolfkit squeezed out from under the thrush. Squirrelkit bounded over to him, and mewed anxiously, “Are you alright?” But her whiskers were twitching in amusement and Wolfkit buried his head in his paws.
“Why don’t we eat the mouse?” Flamekit mewed.
“A pretty small share for four of us,” Wolfkit meowed grumpily, lashing his tail.
“I’ll go and get something else from the fresh-kill pile, meet you at the stump?” Without waiting for an answer, Cherrykit bounded off with her tail in the air.
“Let’s go to the stump,” Flamekit mewed to Wolfkit and Squirrelkit, and lead the way. There was a stump near the edge of the clearing where the camp was, and it had soft ferns nearby and was well sheltered. It was their favourite place in the camp, and they liked to pretend to be hunting on a patrol or attacking an enemy patrol there.
Cherrykit trotted over to them with a small blackbird and another mouse, and they shared their fresh-kill.
As Flamekit bit into the meat of the mouse, the warm flavors seeped into her tongue and she purred contently. Leafbare was here, but there still were prey. “Soon I’ll hunt prey for my Clan too!” She thought.
A sudden noise disturbed Flamekit from her meal, and a heartbeat later a cat crashed through the entrance, It was Mousepaw. Flamekit’s fur stood on end as Mousepaw dashed into Summerstar’s den, and a moment later, Summerstar appeared out of his den, looking furious.
“FireClan warriors, MoonClan have crossed the border!” Summerstar yowled.
Snarls and hisses were heard around the clearing and Summerstar raised his tail for silence. “Stormheart and his patrol are already fighting them, and I believe one more patrol should be enough to finish them. Mossclaw, you can lead that patrol, take strong warriors. As backup, Thistlebreeze can lead a patrol of about 5 warriors to keep hidden and attack if we are losing. The rest of the warriors must protect the camp in case Dawnstar sends a patrol here to fight.”
Mossclaw and Thistlebreeze quickly gathered the cats for their patrol and set off. Blueflower hurried towards Flamekit and her littermates and ushered them towards the nursery, eyes gleaming in fear for her kits. “But I want to fight!” Wolfkit complained. Blueflower shushed him and hissed, “You are still kits! You belong in the nursery.”
Flamekit snuggled into Blueflower’s fur as she thought of Stormheart, her father. He was fighting against MoonClan! Flamekit mewed fearfully to her mother, “Will Stormheart be alright?” Blueflower replied, “Stormheart is a fine warrior, he will fight this battle for us.” “He wouldn’t die, would he? He promised that he would watch us becoming apprentices!” Cherrykit wailed. Blueflower meowed softly, “He wouldn’t, my dears, now go to sleep.”
Flamekit twisted and turned in her sleep, her dreams full of blood and death. She kept seeing her father lying unmoving on the bloodstained floor, and no matter how fast she ran, she couldn’t get to him. She woke gasping, her pelt bristling in fear. Blueflower lapped Flamekit’s fur, and her rhythmic strokes calmed Flamekit’s fear.
Suddenly noises were heard outside the nursery, and Flamekit lifted her head. Someone meowed, “They’re back!” and Flamekit grow alert. “Can I go and look?” Flamekit mewed to Blueflower. Blueflower meowed back, “I’ll come with you.” She carefully nudged her littermates, and they were immediately on their paws when their mother told them the battle patrol was back.
Flamekit padded out of the nursery, and scanned the clearing for Stormheart. Her heart lifted when she saw him standing with Mossclaw and Thistlebreeze. She walked quickly over to him and meowed, “Father, are you alright?” She noticed that he had a bloody gash at his side which was coated with dried blood.
“I’m alright, Flamekit,” Stormheart meowed back, and added, “I’m glad I have such caring kits.”
“Stormheart! You’re injured!” Blueflower swiftly padded over to them, and gave his wound a few swift licks.
“I’ll fetch Doveheart!” Squirrelkit mewed, and padded off in the direction of the medicine cat den. Flamekit secretly suspected that Squirrelkit wanted to be a medicine cat, as she always seemed to visit the medicine cat den and was fascinated by the herbs the first time they visited. Doveheart also dropped a hint, and meowed that she should get an apprentice. Flamekit wondered if Doveheart would choose Squirrelkit.
“I’m back!” Squirrelkit’s mew brought Flamekit back to reality, and Doveheart followed swiftly behind. Doveheart headed to Stormheart, and checked his wounds. “You’ll be fine,” Doveheart meowed at last. “By the way Squirrelkit explained, I nearly thought Stormheart’s injury was really severe.” Doveheart looked sternly at Squirrelkit, with a glint of amusement in her eyes.
“So Stormheart’s going to be alright?” Blueflower asked anxiously. Doveheart meowed back, “Yes, but I want to check your wound every day, to check that it’s healing and put more ointment. Come straight to me if the wound opens again, and don’t push yourself. The wound could get much worse.”
“Alright,” Stormheart meowed back, and padded unsteadily to the warriors den with Blueflower at his heels.
“I’ll go and check up on the other cats, would you like to come with me Squirrelkit?” Doveheart meowed hesitantly, glancing at Squirrelkit. Squirrelkit’s eyes shone, and she jumped to her paws and mewed back quickly, “Of course!”
Before Doveheart could walk off, Flamekit padded up to her and whispered, “Are you thinking of taking her as your apprentice?” Doveheart eyes flashed, and meowed back, “I hope so, she’s very suitable to become a medicine cat, but I need to discuss it with her first.” Doveheart changed her whispers back to a brisk meow and meowed, “All right Squirrelkit, let’s go.”
Iceclaw 
Silverstream 
Congratulate them 
