Not Born, But Made {open for the missing kits}

Flamekit had been sitting with the Asylum cats for a while. They seemed like very friendly cats (besides Theron, of course), so he had immediately taken a liking to them. Alright, I'm interested in what they have to say. He wondered what the significance of every name in Asylum meant, but he assumed that he was going to find out later. I can be patient. That's what I had always ever been. One by one, Locust gave the kits new names. The ginger tom's had been Spark, a little different in style from most of the other names that were given, but he just assumed that made him unique from the other Asylum cats. Once the tom walked towards Locust, he broke the slightest of smiles before speaking in a quiet voice.

"Thank you."

For several minutes, nothing mattered to Emberkit but the taste of owl. Once the pangs of hunger had receded, however, he remembered where he was and who was surrounding him and bloodsport, and shuffled back from the prey pile. Now the leader-cat was talking to them directly. She introduced the crowd of older cats around her: first herself, then the dusty cat, then the scary one and the nicer-sounding cat who’d arrived with her, and at last, the one who’d brought them more prey. He’d had never heard names like that before. Somehow, that—the fact that they had names, rather than unfamiliar faces—was the thing that made Emberkit’s fur lie flat at last. To his relief, Eris said the dusty cat (Locust, he recalled with a firm nod) would be the one taking care of them. He seemed…well, he wasn’t Theron. Emberkit couldn’t ask for much more than that.

The attention soon turned to him and the other kits names’—specifically, something Eris called their true names. Maybe it was just because the food and the conversation had started to ease his nerves, but that made sense to Emberkit. His mother had given him a name (at least, he assumed so; surely she’d had him long enough to think of one), and he’d gotten another at the start of his time in ShadowClan. Maybe this would be the last.

As the first kits were named (Ceres, then, inexplicably, Brick), Emberkit allowed himself to sit down. His mottled tail curled at his side. Exhaustion had been taking swipes at his legs almost as long as he’d been walking, but now, it pounced, making him sway dangerously in place. Squeezing his eyes shut until the moment passed proved to be a mistake; when he tried to open them, he found that it took twice as much effort as it should have. But he forced them open, straightened as much as he possibly could, and tried to shuffle less and less the closer Locust got to him. Suddenly, his turn came—and just as suddenly, it passed. As Locust turned to the next kitten, Emberkit—Pyrik—could only blink. ”Py-rik,” he murmured, testing the name out. ”Pyrik. I’m Pyrik.” A name handpicked just for him. It was the best thing that’d happened today by far, even better than the owl.

Berrykit looked at Locust with wide eyes as he named the other kits, words she hadn't heard before. Then, she realized what he meant. New names... She didn't like that. A heavy stubbornness grabbed onto her gut and held on, unwilling to let go. No way would she take a new name! Her green eyes, the same shade as Ivystar's, flicked over to Duskkit, now named Shira. A high whimper rose in her chest as she watched everyone get renamed, and herself being given the name 'Mirae.' That sounded like the name of a fish, and Locust didn't seem open to change. So long as it kept some essence of her RiverClan self, Berrykit-no, Mirae, would accept it. She didn't know, however, that Mirae had nothing to do with riverlife.

Mirae huffed. She'd find a way out. No matter what. She and her siblings would stick together and find their way back to their mother and their clan and never give up, even if the big scary Theron tried to hurt them. Maybe if she didn't eat any food, they would have to send her back! Yeah, that's what she would do. But the instant that the little kit said that, her stomach growled in complaint. Well, a few more bites wouldn't hurt. Mirae started to eat once again.

Following the lead of the larger cat, Burntkit found himself mindlessly trailing behind the cats. Why had he followed them? Because he wanted to go on an adventure, of course. He was told that he would be able to leave camp, and so he followed, eager to see what was beyond the walls of camp. But now, he was unsure of his decision. Throughout the time he was walking he had found himself steadily trailing further behind the group. His paws had grown weary with exhaustion and he was beginning to grow hungry. He felt like the luckiest cat in the world when he finally saw their destination. Immediately he quickened his pace to catch up with the other kits, all of his previous doubts forgotten. This is what he had left camp for, after all.

Emerging into the camp with the rest of the kits, he gazed around, his amber eyes round with amazement. "Woah, this is so much differenter than my old camp!" Alerted by the scent of prey, the tom looked around for the source, even just the scent made his mouth water. He soon spotted what it was, but was unsure of what exactly it was. Without questioning what they prey was, he dug into it, relishing the warmth and strength it brought him.

After he had eaten his fill, Burntkit stepped away and finally took time to think about his situation. The cats seems friendly enough, surely there was nothing to worry about, right? But what about the cats he had left back at home? Raising his muzzle to a cat who called himself Locust, he looked at him with an almost defiant look. "Where are we and what is Asylum?" He hadn't yet gotten that much of an explanation from the cats on why exactly they were there. However, he couldn't say that he didn't like what was happening, it was exhilarating, experiencing something so new. Flicking his tufted ears in the direction of the larger cats, he soon caught onto two words. "new names?" He immediately stood up and dug his claws into the earth, excited over what his new name could be. It wasn't as if he didn't like Burntkit, it was a fine name, but a new name? It was so cool! The young tom-kit watched as the kits around him were giving new names, one after the other, impatiently flicking his bushy tail back and forth. Heart pounding with excitement, he puffed out his chest with pride as he received his new name. "Stag! It sounds so cool! What... what is a stag anyways?" The tabby cocked his head with curiosity, his eyes set intently on Locust.