A Frail Creature [Closed]

Leafkit was sick. She was sick and she was scared. It was cold, and her chest hurt. The young kit was desperate to be like one of the big kits, running and playing. She wanted to make her father proud. She was almost six moons, so she would be an apprentice! She figured there was nothing wrong with her joining a patrol. Since she couldn't talk, she just went.... She quickly lost the patrol.

It had been hours now, and her breath had become ragged. She had stumbled around... Aimlessly trudging through the leaves. She was scared.... She was tired. She wanted Tinystar. The she-kit say down to rest.

The forest smelled different now, and the sun was starting to go down. Would her father miss her? Would he come find her?

Finally, the little bit gave up. Her hesrt was fluttering so hard, she felt like it would burst through her chest. She collapsed into a pile of leaves, gasping for breath. She wanted her dad. All she wanted was her dad!

She tried to meow, but that brought out a burst of coughing. The she-kit rolled over and puked up her breakfast from the pain. Someone.... Someone help her.

Leafkit was helpless.

The bright light of the afternoon sun warmed the Earth beneath her paws. The hard shapes of empty branches swaying in a cold breeze brought a bit of a chill to the otherwise pleasant air. The scent of mouse and blood carried from a young she-cat who was travelling towards her camp with freshkill.

An odd scent made her pause. She blinked her hazel eyes and dropped the mouse, clearing her lips and palette with a couple licks before she scented the air with the scent glands of her mouth and nose. Milk, old freshkill... Trees that didn't grow in thunderclap. Curious, she padded towards the scent and found the little scrap of kit.

"Beartooth!" she called out for her clanmate who had been hunting with her. They had split briefly to increase their odds, but now there was a higher priority. Why was this kit here?

The opportunity to hunt with his adoptive sister on such a pleasant day had been a lovely distraction and alotted for a much slower pace than the usual hustle. After managing to catch a couple pieces between the pair of them, a comfortable silence building both cats. Beartooth, despite being the patrol leader, lagged every so slightly behind the she-cat. Her energy was usually unmatched at he had no issue with allowing her to take the lead. As she broke away, the tom's ear flicked in acknowledgment. Likely the she-cat had scented something and was going to catch another creature along the way back. There was no reason for her to stop him, the more prey the better. A cold wind blew, reminding him of the impending leaf fall weather that he had never experienced before. The warm sun was cruelly reminiscent of the greenleaf months he had lived through within the first few moons of life.

Beartooth barely considered the past as he trudged along with the squirrel's fluffy tail dangling from the side of his mouth. His awesome paws scored the earth. For once, the warrior walked at a leisurely canter. But he stopped suddenly as a cry arose from where Ridgepaw had disappeared. Within a moment, he dropped his catch and raced in the direction of his clanmate. Claws unsheathed in preparation for the worst possible situation, ready to strike at anything that dared harm her. But as she came into view it was obvious there was no predator. Curiosity was written over his features. What was going on?

As he slowed his trot, standing next to her, Beartooth took in the sight of the kit there. It was a shock to see a kit just laying on the forest floor. The tiny creature looked so out of place. His eyelids blinked slowly as he attempted to process the scene. After a while, the warrior finally meowed lowly, "It's a kit."

Leafkit was phasing in and out of sleep. Suddenly, her eyes were opened and two very large cats were in front of her. She gasped, her pink little mouth letting out a soundless wheeze. She wiggled closer to the smaller cat, unable to fully walk after her journey. She rested her tiny calico head on their paws, drifting off to sleep again. She was confident they would take her back to her father, of course they would. Her chest heaved again, her heart still thudding. The pain was starting to dull... Everything around her was starting to dull. She couldn't really remember her sibblings faces.... Sleep felt good.

Ridgepaw reached out with a forepaw. Delicately and carefully, she poked the tiny kit as it wiggled close to her. A soft smile on her muzzle as she leaned down to sniff more carefully.
"We can't leave her out here..." The thought was mulled in her head for a moment until a thought occurred to her. "Pricklepaw! We need to take it to Pricklepaw! Maybe he knows who this is." Even though he was the ThunderClan medicine cat, Ridgepaw thought that it'd be easy enough for him to know as she picked up the scrap of fur in her jaws with a wince.

She had never carried a kit before, and she was worried as she tried to wrap her jaws around it's shoulders that it would squirm and hurt itself. With a soft huff, she tried to find the tiny scruff. This was a bit easier, but it was still just so scrawny and little... it hadn't even said a word!.
"'ts goh" She mewed with her voice muffled as she began to lead the way back to camp. The mouse forgotten where the kit had been. It was more important.

As Ridgepaw said something about not leaving the kit there, he was snapped out of a daze of surprise. The little creature was so frail, so small, despite seemingly being more than a couple moons old. His head finally managed a stiff nod. Despite her bounding energy, he was still the warrior and head of his patrol. Before he could say anything more, Ridgepaw in her reactive personality or perhaps having actually seen the twist of his head, was already carefully taking up the kit.

"When we get back, take it to Pricklepaw. I'll get Leopardstar." Beartooth tried to do his duty as the patrol leader but it was likely lost on the young cat. He turned to follow after her and caught sight of the abandoned mouse. The bulky tom quickly doubled back to grab it in an attempt to bring something back, before rushing to catch up to Ridgepaw. He couldn't help but wonder where this kit had come from and how it ended up on Thunderclan territory.