A Kestrel Catches a Trout and Picks a Flower

Kestrelkit walked next to his father on the damp ground of PitchClan territory. His sister, Flowerkit, walked next to him while Troutkit rode on Tangledstar’s back. His long feathery tail twitched nervously behind him, and his bright yellow eyes glanced back towards where they had come. All he could see were the pines. He got a nudge on the shoulder from Flowerkit who smiled at him and nuzzled his cheek fur playfully. He giggled a little and pushed her away slightly. She was always in the mood for some fun, and he supposed she only saw this as an adventure. Kestrelkit saw this differently however. When would he get to see Q-Tip, his mother, again? He looked ahead towards where he assumed the camp was. Would the cats like him there? Would they try to hurt him? He looked back up to his dad. He was a big cat; Troutkit could practically run around on Tangledstar’s back. Surely he would protect them.

Tangledstar finally spoke. “We’re getting close to camp. I’m not sure how my clanmates will receive you three, but know that you’ve done nothing wrong alright? And if anything is amiss you can come to me or go to the Queen I will introduce you to,” he murmured softly. Kestrelkit nodded and so did his siblings. It was then that the small kit saw a cat waiting at the entrance to a dense bush. Tangledstar nodded to the she-cat, “Birchfall, would you mind taking these three to the nursery, I need to call a clan meeting.”

The young warrior seemed surprised to say the least. “I didn’t know there were three!” she said excitedly. “Of course, come along, I’m your big sister, Birchfall,” she greeted. Kestrelkit stiffened slightly. Who was this cat? He didn’t want to go with her.

“D-dad. Wait, where are you going?” he asked fearfully.

Tangledstar glanced back at the small kit, licking the tuft of hair on the top of his head, “I’ll be back in a few moments. I need to tell the clan of your arrival. I’ll be back, I promise.” Kestrelkit nodded and turned to Birchfall who happily took him and his siblings into camp.

~~

“All those old enough to sneak through the pines gather by the fallen tree!” Tangledstar yowled. Even as the tom sat upon the fallen pine, he seemed rather nervous, his tail twitching constantly. As soon as everyone was gathered and those who had just came in from the patrols settled down he began. “Some of you may have seen them already today. I brought them in this morning, hoping to keep them secret until later today, but it seems news of them has already spread across the clan. I’ve brought three kits from beyond our borders.” Murmurs of curiosity and confusion spread across the warriors as they glanced back at the nursery. Tangledstar waited for them to die down only to hear a voice speak up.

“They reek of Kittypet!” Tangledstar’s eyes narrowed as he followed the sound to Lichenfang’s maw. The leader practically had to swallow his tongue.

“They were kittypets, but they’ve chosen now to come to PitchClan. I gave them that choice, because they are mine!” he said seriously. The clan broke out into exclamations of surprise and unease. The whole clan seemed perturbed as their voices hushed to quiet whispering.

Honeypool, the elder, spoke out next. “The leader of PitchClan has chosen a Kittypet as his mate?!” she asked, her tail lashing about.

“Do you have bees in your brain? They’ll never be true warriors; they’ll be cowards the rest of their lives!” Darkheart yowled.

Then Berrysplash spoke up. “Did someone put dirt in your freshkill, or are you just being plain disrespectful!” Tangledstar looked to him and realized the old tom was directing his words towards Darkheart. “Just because a cat loves another cat doesn’t mean he’s suddenly the most worthless one in the clan, this is your Leader you’re talking to,” he rasped.

“But it’s against the warrior code!” Missingpaw called out, a cold harshness lining her voice.

“But now PitchClan has three new kits! Isn’t that something to be excited about?” Peachpaw asked.

There was silence for a while as the cats mulled over all of these new facts. Suddenly another voice came from the nursery. “I think that Tangledstar knows that what he’s done may have not been the best choice, but I think he should also be able to trust his clanmates not to turn their back on him when he does stray from the warrior code.”

All eyes looked back to see Sorrelfrost sitting in front of the nursery, her belly full of her own kits as Kestrelkit, Flowerkit, and Troutkit all looked wondrously at a butterfly that seemed to just hover in front of their noses. None of the kits seemed to even notice the argument going on about them until Sorrelfrost spoke up.

“I-I think Tangledstar should be forgiven,” Milkspots piped up. Birchfall and Bumblebee nodded in agreement, and one by one the cats seemed to relax. Although, a few that had spoken up against him still seemed agitated by the whole scenario.

Tangledstar let his fur lie flat and let out a small sigh, “all I ask is that you don’t blame the kits for my misgivings. If you have a quarrel it’s with me, not the little ones,” he explained. He looked over to them, “Their names are Kestrelkit, Flowerkit, and Troutkit. I welcome them as true members of PitchClan.”