Stone Roses

Primroselight was on her way out of camp, lost in thought. She had already been out earlier that day, so she didn't technically need to patrol anymore, but what else was she meant to do? The clan was definitely growing under Asylum rule, not matter how much she wanted to deny it. It's probably just because the territory's normal again, she tried to convince herself. Still, lots of litters were still being born, or were soon on the way. She didn't think that she was the only one to notice Honeycomb's pregnancy, with Dawnhawk as the most likely father. She would be an aunt to the kits, even if she refused to acknowledge that she was related to their father. The kits had done nothing wrong - they hadn't even been born, for Starclan's sake, and she had nothing against Honeycomb.

Her mind was wondering far, and so she wasn't really paying attention to where she was going. A dangerous thing for a cat missing a sense. She tripped over a small, furry thing and at first thought nothing of it, assuming it was a stray piece of prey. Wait. That's a kit! She quickly rushed back over to the kit. You need to stop doing this Prim! Unfortunately, this wasn't the first time she had tripped over a kit. "Are you alright?" She asked worried, at how angry the kit's mother would be.

Even in the midst of leaf bare, Stonekit was able to nap comfortably outside of the nursery. To be fair the day was particularly nice for this season, no harsh winds or freezing snow was raining down. Instead the sky was a beautiful blue hue and filled with nice fluffy clouds. For this reason Stonekit slept outside rather than inside the stuffy nursery, she was also growing tired of hearing the mews of kits anyways.

Stonekit was having a peaceful nap until she felt the heavy weight of another cat abruptly step on her. The grey she-cat was startled and angry especially since the other cat did not even bother to check up on her or even apologize. However Stonekit didn’t mind it, she curled up and once again let her mind enter the realm of sleep. However once she heard a voice she opened her eyes once more and gazed at the towering warrior that stood above her.

One look at the warrior explained the reasoning of how they did not notice her, she distinguished quickly that the warrior was blind. Stonekit ear flickered at her question, she wasn’t exactly harmed but did feel sore. “Don’t worry about it, I’m used to having queens step on me as well.” She mewed in a deadpan tone. Stonekit was able to tell that something was on the warriors mind, she seemed awfully distracted. She decided it was best to let her do what she needed to, “Don’t let me distract you.”

Primroselight was glad that the small kit didn't, seem too hurt, but she still thought that she wasn't letting on to quite how badly she had been hurt. "No, it's alright." There was something about the emotionless way that she spoke that made her a little concerned. Kits were almost always excitable, and even if they weren't they at least... displayed emotion. "What's your name?" She asked. It had been a while since she had got to know the kits that weren't related to her, but, to be fair, most of the clan was her family, whether it was distant or close. She had loads of siblings, and even now, her mother was in the nursery with a litter of kits. 

"Come over here a little," She instructed, "We're sitting in the middle of the camp so we're in the way a bit." Once they had adjusted their seating position, Primroselight struggled for words for a few seconds. How do you talk to kits? "Do you want to hear a story?" When she was younger and still coming to terms with her blindness, she had spent long hours in the elders' den listening to Nighthawk's stories in particular. Even though she was still young, plenty of things had happened to her, and there must be something she could make into a tale.

Stonekit quickly licked down her fur which had been ruffled when she was stepped on, and glanced back at the warrior when she asked for her name. “Stonekit” She mewed, and continued to groom herself again. Honestly she was not interested in conversing, she enjoyed being alone but she did feel that she had to get to know some warriors. She didn’t know who would be in charge of her apprentice training after all.

She swiftly followed after Primroselight, and glanced back at her previous napping spot. It was true that she was in the way, honestly Stonekit was a bit relieved to bump into Primroselight at least the warrior was kind. These days everyone in the clan seemed to be on edge, she had a clue as to why but wasn’t certain.

During the silence the grey she-kit continued to groom herself, she cared deeply for her looks. Her ear twitched as she waited patiently for the warrior to speak, Stonekit was able to tell that the warrior could not converse well with kits. When she did finally speak, it gave her a slight shock. Stonekit was not expecting to hear a story, especially since the warrior seemed to be fairly young. However she was interested in hearing about the Asylum cats, it’s all the queens seemed to be meowing about these days but they were always cautious in not telling to much to kits. “Whats the deal lately?” She mewed, hinting that it was about the asylum cats.

What is the deal? Primroselight wondered. Asylum were here, and by the looks of things, they weren't leaving any time soon. "A while ago..." She said, speaking slowly as she chose her words very carefully. They had nearly killed Bloodstrike for an uprising, so it was clear that the rouges weren't against strict punishments. But she couldn't get in trouble for telling the truth, right? "I was in the medicine den because I had hurt my shoulder. In the middle of the night, we were all woken by Asylum pinning us down." The medicine cat and her sister, Beechface, had had five rouges holding her down. The she-cat had been a mix of strength, size and fury that one cat alone could not hold.

"Some of us resisted. I would've, but I didn't want to make my injury worse. Bloodstrike, my father, who also used to be the deputy, resisted the most." Even now, she could still remember his call to the clan. Of course he had been smothered quickly by countless rouges. "Asylum... doesn't like rebels. I don't really now what's happened to him, only that he lost a chunk of his tail and is now impossible to find." Worried that she had scared Stonekit, she quickly added, "They have promised that he's alive still, but we don't know when he's coming home." Smokefeather certainly hadn't taking the disappearance of her mate lightly, and now with a new litter of kits, she was taking the loss even harder. 

Now the part with Dawnhawk. This was where she had to be very, very careful. Dawnhawk had near unlimited power now. She could probably say what she wanted to his face, but reports from Asylum cats might be exaggerated. "Dawnhawk helped Asylum. And for that he was named deputy. I don't why, but there's nothing we can really do to change that. Some warriors," She added, "Are less opposed to their rule. Somehow they don't realise what they did to Bloodstrike." Like Ashstorm. When her and a handful of her siblings had fallen out, Ashstorm had tried to downplay everything, as if all was well. It had certainly made Beechface mad, and yet the younger cat still didn't seem to realise how much Dawnhawk had lied to her. 

She had missed a few small parts, but she didn't want to overload the young kit with too much information, so she began to finish. "And now we need a rouge on every patrol for 'protection', even though when I ran into a porcupine the other day with Smokefeather, they did absolutely nothing. And again, I fought an owl yesterday, and they did nothing. Occasionally they contribute to the fresh-kill pile. We also can't go to Gatherings or to the Moonstone, which are key parts of clan life and culture." She hoped that one day, she would go to a Gathering again, maybe catch up with Wildflower and Ravenmist, who, the first time she had been at Fourtrees, her mother had introduced her to. They were both blind deputies of WindClan and Shadowclan respectively, and Primroselight hoped that they were alright after the occupation. Unlike our old deputy...