You Will Be Found [Rainkit]

Rainkit was most certainly not sulking in the corner again. No. She was simply… thinking. Yes. The small kitten scrabbled about in the dust with her front paw in search of bugs to play with, tail lashing from time to time as she considered how unfair everything was! It wasn’t fair that she wasn’t let out into camp yet, just unfair! She was far more competent than other kits her age, obviously, and could totally defend herself from anything that tried to eat her. One of the queens had told her a story of a swarm of rats invading camp, but that was just plain mouse dung. Rainkit would eat the rats. Yum. She paused her playing for a moment, picturing herself eating all the big bad rats in one gulp and being made leader of ShadowClan and conquering the whole forest all by herself…

It was a good thing that Rainkitstar was never caught off guard, because otherwise she might’ve been a teensy tiny bit startled by the sudden appearance of another cat. A big cat, too! One with a pretty calico pelt and clean wispy fur. Rainkit paused, remembering all the times the queens had been cross with her for one reason or another, and self-consciously licked the dust from her paw. She didn’t want to get in trouble for digging up the nursery again. That was the queens’ fault, anyways, because if they’d just let her out to play, rats be cursed, then she could run around out in camp! And hunt enough for the whole clan, too, more than likely.

“Lilvevalley?” She tried to mew back, ear twitching. That was a kinda hard name. “No, ma’am, and I didn’t do it, promise!” That was probably why the big cat wanted to know where her mother was, but Rainkit wasn’t about to tell her that the queens were all kinda in charge of her. Maybe if she didn’t tell the big cat, she couldn’t get in trouble? And what for? She’d never seen her in the nursery before, so she couldn’t have messed up her nest?

Rainkit attempted her very best winning smile, one crooked fang jutting out of her maw, tail wrapped neatly around her paws. Or was Livallry with the medicine cat? Rainkit had seen more than enough of the medicine cat lately, which was mouse-brained, because she was just as healthy as everyone else in the nursery. “And I’ve never been sick!” She added proudly.

Rainkit straightened up a little at the big cat’s words, preening. This was a good sort of cat, the kind that had brains. Of course she hadn’t done nothing! It wasn’t like she had a history of putting ants in cats’ nests, or playing too rough, or trying to sneak out, or nothing like that. She was the bestest ever, a slim sleek silver phantom in the shadows. “I’m looking for bugs to play with,” she informed Lilehveh, grinning. “Bugs are fun to play with.”

Bugs didn’t look at her funny, and even though kits would be kits and Rainkit was certainly guilty of looking at her clanmates funny herself, especially when they had moss all in their fur or something… she glanced up at Lillyvalley, narrowing her eyes. “I dunno, do you?” She shot back defensively, tail-tip flicking. Oh, she heard the queens, heard them talk in hushed voices when they thought she wasn’t listening, about that poor little kit without mother or father or even all her limbs, and pity? She might not know it by name yet, but pity made her furious.

Lilyvalley continued, making Rain feel a little sheepish, and even though she kinda wanted to go off and look for bugs some more something in the older cat’s voice made her listen. Beetlekit? “I like beetles,” she said. “And Swiftheart is nice.”

Lilyvalley’s words hung in the air for a moment. Rainkit blinked up at her. Cats had told her they’d take care of her, of course, but always sort of tired about it, dutiful almost, if she knew the word. This cat seemed to care. Actually care, or maybe Rain was just chasing daydreams, but… she wanted to be cared about. Her specifically. Not just the Clans’ kits in general.

She grinned, all lopsided with the one fang pinching her maw, and jumped forward, burying herself in that pretty neat pelt without a touch of shame or hesitancy. She liked this cat, her and her long name, and thy was alright by her.