Deja Vu {CLOSED, possibly open later}

Faint streams of pale sunlight - barely heated this early in the leaf-fall morning - filtered down through the balding branches of the forest canopy to land upon Leopardstar's golden pelt, reflecting stripes onto his already spotted complexion.  The large tom-cat crept through the undergrowth of his territory, each cautious step placed with utmost care and concentration.  He was on the hunt, a mouthwatering scent of rabbit having managed to draw him out of his concerned mindscape.  The slitted hazel eyes of a predator narrowed as he caught sight of the dusky brown form that signaled his prey and the ThunderClan cat's muscular haunches bent low in a perfected hunter's crouch.  His tail twitched patiently, raised safely above the deep covering of leaves that had begun to coat the soil, and when for just a moment the rodent's eyes had foolishly turned to its meal of damp green clovers, he leaped.  Landing squarely on the back on the large cottontail, a deep growl radiated from Leopardstar's chest as he twisted his head around to sink his jaws into the rabbit's throat; and just like that, it was over.  Without even a frightened squeal to disturb the peaceful forest, the leader held fresh-kill in his jaws, and with a satisfied twitch of his black-tipped ears, he began to half carry half drag it back towards the ravine.

A different noise though had come to his attention, and instantly the thick fur that made up his scruff began to prickle.

What was that...kits?!

Dropping the catch with an abrupt parting of his jaws, Leopardstar lifted his nose high into the air, feeling a cold breeze rustle between the separated sections of his torn left ear.  Unconsciously, a forepaw quivering with concentration lifted off the ground, as he tried frantically to pinpoint where the sound had come from; even if his fatherly instincts had been false, he had to know for sure.  Giving up half-way in the search for a possible lost kit went against every fiber of his being.  It didn't take long though before he heard the sound again, but this time it was slightly different, more high-pitched.  Two?  His eyes quickly shaping into round orbs of deep-set fear, the spotted tabby tom began to run in the vague direction of the scared cries, heart beating rapidly.  Not again...please, not another one...  Pushing through a wall of wilting ferns, he stepped into a dewy clearing bordered by young birch trees and emitted a sharp gasp as he finally caught sight of not one, not two, but five kittens nestled underneath an old juniper bush, their shivering pelts sparkling with water droplets.  

"Great StarClan...!"  The tom's raspy voice rang out across the clearing as he quickly trotted over to the large litter, seemingly alone.  His jaws parted, trying to pick up the scent of their mother, but only found the soft, milky aroma usually found in the nursery, though in this case it was also joined by the rank of Twolegplace and grime.  Though he wanted to rush up and wrap his warm body around the probably freezing kits this instant, he also didn't want to scare them.  He could tell that they were still young and in need of their mother's milk, but also big enough to walk and talk, and the last thing he wanted was for five vulnerable kits to flee deeper into the woods, where a fox or badger would possibly be waiting for them.  Instead, he bent down so that he could meet their gazes, while still keeping an adequate distance away; "H-hello little ones, are you okay?  Where...where is your mother?"  His soft words faltered, and he dreaded the answer to his probably dumb question.  Why would a queen leave her litter in a nestless den in the middle of clan territory, for - what it seemed from the blue hue that tinged their noses - more than a couple of hours...unless she wanted them to fall to the same fate his own mother had wanted for him?

"Who wants to know?!" A small tabby tom with almost comically large tufted ears scrambled forward, his jaw jutting out in a scowl. He sniffed, glancing behind him at his younger littermates with a worried expression. Stay there... his eyes seemed to say.
A cough wracked his body, his narrow chest trembling as he struggled to breathe. When he finally regained himself, he focused his attention back on the cat in front of them. "She'll be back soon." His thin voice trembled- with fear or cold he didn't know.

OOC: @ school, I'll edit later

Soon after, a kit of similar size unhesitantly rushed out from behind his kin, his once dull fur beneath the shade now shining underneath the small spots of light that seeped through the trees. Despite the circumstances, with his shiny orange-red fur messy and tangled, it still seemed to glow underneath the sunlight. 
The tom's golden eyes nearly disappeared under his widened black pupils, shaking and trembling but still holding his ground. A look of hurt seemed to spread across him as he heard his littermate briefly speak about his mother's return, and his eyes seemed to dull a bit, as if he knew, or highly doubted. Refocusing on the much larger tom in front of them, his tiny claws started to unsheathe. "I don't know what you want with us, but I won't let you do anything to any of my siblings!"

Another small kit, this one pitch-black in contrast to the two who had shown themselves thus far, poked her head out to see what was going on. "Who are you?" she asked, clearly curious about the stranger who had come to inquire about their mother. She was coming back, of course she was. She wouldn't just leave them all here! "Why do you want t-to know?" She was too small to actively shield her siblings, but she still stood with the two who had come forward first. Her attempt to stand strong with her littermates, however, couldn't quite hide her shivers.

Another black kit, slightly bigger than the first one, went into what she hoped what a threatening position. "Leave us alone, our mother's coming back so you better leave!" Her fur raised to try and cover up her shaking.

Sparkling green eyes peered up from behind a gaggle of siblings, white and gray tufts of fur sticking out in every possible direction. "Y'all don't know what you're talking about, do ya?" Yet another kit piped up, the last of the bunch yet still the most pronounced as she spoke to her siblings. Smaller than the rest, but still the most bold. She spoke with an air of confidence, likely shocking to the spotted tom that had stumbled across them. She shivered a little as she met his gaze for the first time, and wondered for a moment if it was from the cold, or something else entirely. Shrugging it off, she thought back to what she was saying. "Mama... Mama ain't coming back. She's been gone too long." She looked down at her paws, covered in droplets of dew. She felt it in her gut. Or... Maybe that was hunger. A tingling awareness resonated throughout the youngest kit of the litter as she suddenly realized that it'd been far too long since they'd eaten. The rumbling in her stomach was a stark reminder of that. "Hey, stranger. D'ya think you've got any food for us?" Shot through the dark, but there was no reason not to ask?

The second black kit's eyes went wide. "W-what do you mean? Mama has to come back! She loves us, doesn't she!?" She felt an empty, painful feeling in her stomach, reminding her of her hunger. "She wouldn't just leave us like this..."

His whole body seemed to shiver as his white and gray sibling spoke the truth about their mother. The orange kit's golden eyes were filled with sorrow, despite almost knowing the facts that their once caring figure would never return. The sorrow turned to anger, and the tom kit had to force himself not to lash out at his siblings. 


"Stop... stop calling her that. She was no 'mama' of ours to decide to keep us and then realize we're trash and throw us out like nothing." He could only bare it through snarls- what should be the most adored figure in a cat's life was now gone, from him and his siblings- that was what he hated most. 

The tom could only stare at his youngest sibling in astonishment. He was thankful that she had clarified it before they would all slowly start to realize. Her next action surprised him even more- to ask so boldly for food. His gaze turned to the large tom before them, and he waited for his answer.

OOC: FGHFGHF OOPS POSTED AGAIN BEFORE RAINY DID SORRY

((I'm on a trip to a place five hours from my home to where my bf lives because I moved so I will be on somewhat sparsely because you know we play a lot of video games and stuff together while I'm here because we rarely see other and five hour drive back home on Monday so yeahhhhh...))

The black she-kit pulled herself together, not giving herself time for tears. She knew she had to stay strong for her siblings. "Y-yes, we do need food... M-mama, I mean... She hasn't come back for a while..." She glanced at each of her kin before turning back to Leopardstar.

OOC: Lil' Bump~

IC:
The little tom scowled as his siblings squabbled behind him. "Hey!" He cried, his tail stump twitching as one of his sisters brushed past him. "Listen, whoever you are." He grumbled, turning his eyes towards the golden-spotted cat in front of them. "You better stay away from us, or I-I'll, I'll..." He stumbled over his words, struggling to come up with a threat that he'd actually be able to follow through with.

(occ: I'M SO SORRY FOR THE WAIT GUYS! D:  Also Fandom, please remember to wait until everyone else had posted in a topic before posting again C: )

Leopardstar watched with wide eyes, still, a bit dumbfounded, as the kits, one by one stepped forward to reveal themselves as two black-furred she-cats, a vivid ginger tom, a brown tabby tom with large tufted ears, and another small patched she-cat.  They were obviously defensive, aggressive, and scared...but also very, very vulnerable.  Despite their strong words, if they stayed out in this kind of weather much longer they would catch colds - or worse, greencough.  They addressed him, but also spoke to each other, until it was a whirlwind of small voices filled with fear and rejection.  Before anything got out of hand, Leopardstar lowered his ears and softly hushed them until he could speak, hazel eyes round and soft.  "Shhh, it's okay little ones, I'm not going to hurt you, I'm here to help you.  My name is Leopardstar; I'm a clan cat...actully, I'm a clan leader.  ThunderClan is my home, and this is our forest.  It's a safe place, no one will hurt you here, but if you stay out in the cold much longer you kids might get sick, and none of us want that."  He hesitated, before heaving a deep sigh.  "Your sister is right...I don't think your mother is coming back. Just like mine...  It's okay!  I caught a rabbit earlier, let me go grab it.  Stay right here, don't go running off okay?  Though the cats might be safe here, there are still predators.  Don't move."  Flashing them a warning glare, the golden spotted tom dashed back off the way he came, until he found the carcass he had brought down earlier.

"Here."  Placing the large feast in front of the probably famished kits, he began to strip small pieces of meat off and pass them out to the kittens.  They were still young, and solid food would be a new experience.  Still, in their state with no milk to provide it would have to do.  Once the kits finished their small energizing meal, he bent down once again and purred in a melancholy sort of way.  "Listen...do you five want to come back with me to ThunderClan?  We have a nice warm nursery at the bottom of a ravine, lots of prey, and nice cats who will be your friends. We...I can be your family, me and my mate.  I promise I will never abandon you as your real mother has done...I know exactly what that kind of rejection feels like, and I vow that I can give you a better life, a fulfilled life!  You can grow up and become warriors, learn how to fight and hunt and guard our borders...you can belong here.  We can be your home."  He smiled; he wasn't quite sure why he was asking for their permission...but it just felt right.  Even if they refused he would never leave them out here in the cold, but if they gained five new members today, he wanted them to walk into camp with their heads held high, confident that they were safe and about to be accepted for the first time.

The bold little tom leaned against ginger brother for a moment, seeking what little solace he could find in his thick fur before tottering as best he could to the front of the pack once more. She's gone now. Exhausted and freezing, the little kit could barely keep that thought together. I need to protect them, just like she did. "I-I..." The kit stared up at the golden cat's hazel eyes, his cream-colored chin dropping to his chest as he shifted his gaze to his paws. What could he say? He was tiny, barely a scrap compared to the cat standing in front of them. He couldn't take care of them on his own. Besides, this stranger was offering something that he couldn't refuse.
Food.
Still struck dumb, unable to even glance at their golden savior, the brown kit managed to nod.
"I wish you wouldn't talk so much like her," He mewed, turning to his youngest sister the moment the golden tom left. Now that he could speak again, he wasted no time sharing his opinion. "Y'know... y'know she left us. All we've got now is eachother, a-an..." The kit found himself overcome by emotions he didn't yet have a name for as he found himself slipping back into his mother's soft accent. Something in his chest burned, and he blinked rapidly as the feeling spread towards his throat. "An' there's nothin' we can do about that now." His voice was thick, his eyes were stinging. This was a new kind of hurt, one he had never experienced. He sniffed loudly, sitting down where he had been standing.


The kit's tiny, needle-sharp milk teeth had some difficulty chewing the small pieces of meat that had been set in front of him, but with some determination, he finally managed to swallow his first bite of meat. Instantly, his blue-turning-green eyes widened in an expression of pure bliss. What...? His mouth was full, and even then, he wouldn't have been able to speak. What is this?
He resumed his meal with gusto, tearing away doggedly at the warm, sweet-tasting substance in front of him. As soon as it was gone, he sat back, blinking slowly at his surroundings.
For a little while, surrounded by his family, feeling comfortable and warm for the first time since his birth, the little tom felt at peace. His large, tufted ears twitched as the golden cat spoke after a long stretch of silence. Immediately, several questions popped into the tom's mind. "Thunder...clan?" He repeated, his voice odd-sounding as he struggled to speak without his mother's accent. "A family... I-I..."
A short while ago, they had been on their own. Abandoned, forgotten, all because of her. But now...
The young tom studied the cat in front of them, taking in his warm eyes, his smooth voice. But the kit's belly was full, and he suddenly found he could barely keep his eyes open. All he knew now was that the tom offered safety, something that he had never been able to give his siblings.
"Okay. As long... as long as we can all stay together." He finally managed to mew, his thin voice heavy with sleep but determined all the same.

Feeling his brother's warm press, he leaned back into the touch, practically being able to feel his devastation from realizing their mom was not going to come back. He watched as his brown counterpart moved to the front of the group with sorrowful eyes, and the orange tom just seemed to seethe his anger more. If they ever found their mother again, by god he would-

His thoughts were interrupted by a soft shushing, and the tom curiously returned his gaze back to the larger cat in front of them. Clan... leader? ThunderClan? All these concepts were new to the small ginger tom, but maybe their former mom had told him about them once or twice. 
His eyes widened when the golden tom mentioned food, and only then did the kit realize how hungry he felt. His actions rejected his thoughts of suspicion, and he immediately nodded.

The tom looked at his only brother and nodded. When he started to break down, all former hurt that the kit might have felt was replaced with nothing but a new, passionate, burning feeling. He rushed over to his brother to reassure him with a few actions of care. Staying near his brother, the tom bent down and ate his share of the meal- it wasn't like his mother's milk, but it was all he had at the moment. As he started to reflect on the times he was in a nice den with his mother, pressing against her for milk... a sudden rush of anger coursed through his veins and he yelled loudly.


"I... I... I hate her! I hate mama! She hurt you all. She abandoned us. You... none of us deserve this. Why..." He started to break down in sobs and sniffles. He knew what he said wasn't completely true, and he still felt some affection for his mother, but he was overwhelmed. His sobbing was interrupted by the golden tom's comforting voice again, and he looked up at him once again. The tom's offer seemed so tempting, and at that moment, his golden eyes burned back into the tom's opposing ones. He really wanted to accept his offer, but simply blinked and replied, "I'll go where my littermates go."

The realization hit the black she-kit and she looked away. "She's not coming back..." Why would she leave them like this? Was there something... Wrong with them? Wrong with her? Her brothers were right, though, regardless of the answer. They still had each other, even if they didn't have anything else. And... Well, the promise of food was tempting, even if the stranger's words were confusing. The food placed before her, for instance: she looked at it for a moment with suspicion, but then ate it as fast as she could.

When their savior spoke again, she regarded him with curiosity and suspicion in equal measure. After all, if their mother had left him, how could she be sure he wouldn't? The offer, though, of a home... It was tempting to accept, but she still didn't know if she could trust this stranger, and besides that there were the others. She was conflicted momentarily, but nodded at her brother's words. "I'll stay or go wherever they decide," she agreed, gesturing to the rest of her littermates. Their mother had abandoned them, but they wouldn't dare to abandon each other, right? She wouldn't, at least.

The second black kit sniffed suspiciously at the piece of meat in front of her, then nibbled at it. She was surprised at the delicious taste, taking more bites and eating until it was all gone, swiping her tongue around her jaws to catch any remaining flavor.

She listened with interest as Leopardstar spoke of Thunderclan, of a new, better home for her and her littermates, being cared for and kept in warmth in safety and being trained to become warriors. She only understood half of it, but she got enough to know that this would be better for them. She took a step forward with an excited look in her eyes. "I'll come as long as my littermates can come!" She looked back at them. "It'll be better there, I can tell! Better than being stuck out here in the cold, anyway..." her voice turned angry at the last part, recalling memories of their mother, who used to be their protection, their warmth, their everything, and then she had left them here to die, saying 'I'll be back' and 'it'll be fine', but it hadn't happened.