The Adventure Begins (Closed)

Blizzardshine’s heart was racing, her fur standing on end as her paws quickly covered the terrain that her nose told her that the kits had walked. Knowing her kits and how curious they were, when she woke from her nap she wasn’t surprised to find them gone from the nest. It wasn’t until she failed to find them around camp and the few cats she had asked told her they hadn’t seen them that she started to enter into a panicked state.

If she hadn’t been so worried she probably would’ve thought her words a bit more when she rushed searching for Marshstorm, given that she couldn’t find Leopardstar in his den at the time. In all honesty she had no idea of what she had told the deputy, just that it was enough to get a warrior involved to share efforts to somewhat calm her down. As soon as the search party was gathered, she basically darted out of camp following the trail one of the warriors had managed to find.

ThunderClanners were usually silent in their territory, moving without letting their position be known. It was only because of her panic that Blizzardshine’s movement caused loud rustling in the undergrowth instead. Flashbacks of her own encounters with predators flashing before her eyes, of the mangled bodies of so many clanmates of all ages she had lost to their ruthless claws and fangs. And on top of that the news of the ruthless killer that came from RiverClan, a murderer still free and lurking that wouldn’t think twice before attacking kits. The usually optimistic she-cat was flooding in pessimistic thoughts as a dark voice in the back of her head whispered all kinds of terrible scenarios she could find her kits in, each one worse than the one before it.

She couldn’t even distinguish the scent of RiverClan from the weak scent of her kits to which she clung to like if her own life depended on it…no, not eve her own life, if she had to compare her own life to one of her kits she would dare to say hers held little to no value in her eyes. Her paws carried her as fast as they could, tufts of fur getting stuck on brambles as she carelessly ran with only one goal in mind. So it was not a big surprise when the terrified queen almost crashed into the RiverClan cats, having to force herself to stop by digging her claws on the ground, throwing bit of dirt and grass on all directions given how fast she was going.

She stared at them for a couple seconds with wide eyes full of panic and frozen in her place, unable to process any information until she saw the small bundles of fur hanging from their muzzles “Ridgekit! Hailkit! Oh, thank StarClan!” She approached Flurryshine and Scorchclaw with tears of joy in her eyes before rubbing against them with a huge smile like if they were long-time friends. She hadn’t even recognized the two nor noticed they belonged to RiverClan instead of ThunderClan yet, and honestly, even if she had done it she wouldn’t had given a rat’s tail about it “Thank you, oh thank you so much for finding my kits”.

Ridgekit looked back at Hailkit with a cheerful grin. She was going to respond but the large brown tom abruptly cut her off. Her head turned towards his to listen, ears flattening in displeasure when her short-lived dreams of swimming were shot down. Uncomfortably, she squirmed to get away before he picked her up, but was unsuccessful as his teeth clamped around her scruff. She pouted, her little paws tucked by her head as she looked up at him as much as she could.
"Aaaaawwww but I just wanted to swim." The pouting was brief until the question of who her parents were sunk into her ears. "Oooh! Our parents? They're Blizzardshine and... Artemis-o-odan!" she pronounced the last name with a bit of difficulty. She turned to Hailkit with an innocent look. "Well since I answered that question, you can answer one of mine." A paw flailed out from beneath him towards one of the willow trees. "What kinda tree is that? Is it a tree or a big bush? Does it sting? It looks really weird." The torrent of questions began.

---

When Blizzardshine approached him, Marshstorm initially thought the kits would have the sense to be within the camp walls. He imagined they all knew it was dangerous outside of camp for kits, yet as he scented around for them he found the trail where it stemmed from a small opening in the camp wall. He sighed heavily. Of course camp had been too quiet, then turned and asked for one of the warriors to patch the hole before he promptly followed Blizzardshine and some other warriors into the forest to search properly. It was difficult to track scents that had been so muddled. By following a well-worn path, they had hidden their scents, but the soft milky hints gave it away. His nose was nearly pressed to the ground when he heard it. The distinct voice of a she-kit who would never stop talking.

He padded towards it, but stopped at the border. Even as Blizzardshine ran up to them, he stayed a respectful distance back. His amber eyes locking on the kits briefly before he breathed in a sigh of relief. The sight of sunningrocks told him everything he needed to know. They must have gotten curious, wandered there and of course been caught. They are just kits after all.
"Scorchclaw, I apologise if these young kits have caused any trouble for you." He meowed calmly with a respectful dip of his head. "Rest assured, they will recieve an appropriate disipline when we return them to camp."

Ridgekit smiled at the sight of her mother. That she had been breaking the rules hardly mattered as the excitement of it sank in.
"Mom! Mom we saw sunningrocks! They're so awesome, so warm and shiny!" She began in excited chatter, drowning out Marshstorm's words in her own head.

Scorchclaw had not expected Ridgekit to take his offhand remark seriously. For a moment, she seemed disappointed by the dashed prospects of learning to swim. She surprisingly did not struggle after he had picked her up, so he felt a spark of hope. Now if she could just keep her mouth shut... apparently not. The little calico perked up almost immediately at the mention of her parents. Blizzardshine? The name was all too familiar to the RiverClan deputy. It was the current name of ThunderClan's former leader. He had almost forgotten about her, now that Leopardstar had taken over. Ridgekit's words brought back his memories. He should have been able to guess. It almost made sense now. Who else would be likely to have such troublesome kits? He didn't recognize their father's name. It was odd, not resembling a clan name. A rouge? Or perhaps ThunderClanners had bad taste in names. His musings were quickly cut off by Ridgekit's voice. Pointing a tiny paw at a nearby willow tree, she began--yet again--asking questions. If Scorchclaw had eyebrows, they would be twitching by now. He grimaced as best as he could without putting the ThunderClan kit down. "I wasn't really asking because I wanted to know." He muttered in annoyance, words somewhat muffled by Ridgekit's fur.

The loud rustling of the nearby bushes caught the fluffy tom's attention. His pale-green eyes snapped in the direction of the noise, narrowing. In the next moment, a large, cat-sized ball of white fur came crashing into the open. Blizzardshine's fur was disheveled and sticking up in small tufts. It took Scorchclaw a few seconds to actually recognize her as the former ThunderClan leader. Before he could say anything, she was rubbing up against him and Flurryshine. He froze and stiffened, her actions totally unexpected to him. The strong scent of ThunderClan wreathed around him. So they really were her kits. Ridgekit had already said so, but seeing Blizzardshine in such a state really drove the point home. Whichever clan they were in, there were parents who loved their kits dearly. It was only common sense.

Awkwardly, Scorchclaw lowered Ridgekit to the ground. "They were found trespassing on Sunningrocks." He addressed Blizzardshine in a stiff tone. "Keep a better eye on them." She wasn't the only one present. Marshstorm had come up as well and was standing respectfully a little distance away. They must have been on a patrol to find the missing kits. At the other deputy's words, Scorchclaw nodded curtly. "I trust that you will, Marshstorm." While not completely devoid of hostility, he kept his speech civil. There was no need for unnecessary actions when the other party seemed relatively peaceful. "Especially this one." Gesturing to Ridgekit with his feathery tail, he frowned involuntarily. "It would do them good to be somewhat wary of cats from other clans. She asked to learn to swim, for StarClan's sake." He must have been quite annoyed, for it seeped through in his tone.



The notion of being picked up did not sit well with Hailkit. Even when Blizzardshine was the one carrying her, the fluffy she-kit usually would not give in without a protest or two. Letting a complete stranger pick her up by the scruff, then, was not allowable. When Flurryshine leaned down, she darted aside. As a kit with comparatively much shorter legs, however, she eventually lost to the RiverClanner's will. Irritated, she sulked in the air. "I can walk on my own!" She argued, "Put me down!" Due to the angle, her tiny claws could not reach Flurryshine. The only thing she could do was struggle fruitlessly. In the end, she gave up and resorted to verbal abuse. When that still did not work, she scowled in silence.

Before long, a familiar scent drifted to her nose. Lifting her head, she was just in time to see her mother's arrival. Her annoyance forgotten, she grinned. "Mom, we're back!" She exclaimed excitedly. A moment later, the ThunderClan deputy also emerged into view. "Gah!" In contrast, she showed a completely different response. Flailing her little paws, she attempted to hide. It was quite impossible, seeing as Flurryshine was still carrying her. The only thing she could do was attempt to blend in, seeing as both had white fur. However, she was pretty sure Marshstorm had already caught sight of her. They were sure to get in trouble now. At the mention of discipline, Hailkit made an 'oh great' kind of expression. Well, even if they did get in trouble, she supposed she had no regrets. She would totally follow Ridgekit out of camp again. They had seen so much, more than their littermates stuck in camp had. Cheerfully, she wondered what kind of expression Gladekit and the others would make upon hearing of their adventure.

Flurryshine placed Hailkit down before her mother, stepping back and allowing the two deputies to converse rather tense words to one another. She then lowered her head to the two kits. "I understand how boring kit life can be, but trust me, it will be better for you to obey the warrior code. Never trespass in RiverClan territory again. Sunningrocks belong to us, not to you. You wouldn't want us trespassing in your territory, would you?" Her gentle green gaze hardened to a much more stern and serious one. "You may not leave unscathed if you trespass again as apprentices, and especially as warriors. You must respect boundaries, or you will get hurt." She lifted her head back up to approach Scorchclaw again, trying to quell the slight sting of guilt in her heart for scolding kits that weren't even hers. She just wanted them to learn so that she or her Clanmates wouldn't have to hurt them.