Not A Bad Cat (short story)
Gorseheart halted mid-groom, his tongue just barely brushing the hairs of his mateâs neck. âFroststorm?â he called, alarmed, at the distant figure running towards them.Â
Emberdawn opened her eyes and, within a heartbeat of seeing her daughterâs expression, shot to her paws and ran to meet her. âWhatâs happening?â she asked while Froststorm gasped for breath. âWhereâs Molechive and Lightswan? I thought you were with them.â
Froststormâs chest heaved. âTheyâŠstayed backâŠI ranâŠ.I had to getâŠyou have toâŠâÂ
Gorseheart ran his tail along her side. âBreathe, honey.â Dread filled the pit of his stomach like rocks. What was happening? Why did Froststorm have to run to them?
âWe didnât know what to do, but you do,â Froststorm explained unhelpfully.
âKnow what?â Emberdawn pressed.
âThereâsâŠthereâs a kitâŠâ
â-
Gorseheart and Emberdawn followed quickly after Froststorm after she took a few more moments to rest. As they moved, Gorseheart felt anger guide his storming paws, claws gripping the earth wherever they landed. Another kit. Another kit rejected by StarClan! Didnât they understand how dangerous it was here? Didnât they understand they were sending kits to a potential second death? For what? Because they were too young to fully grasp their actions?
âHere,â Froststorm told them, slowing.Â
Ahead of them, Lightswan seemed to be standing guard, glaring at the surrounding shadows.Â
Molechive lay crouched, eyes wide and uncertain at what Gorseheart had first assumed to be a dark patch of ground. Then he realized that it was a kittenâa small one.Â
Both sagged their shoulders in relief when they saw Gorseheart and Emberdawn.
Gorseheartâs heart twistedâthis kit was the youngest yet.
The kit had dark grey fur and a white throat. He shivered heavily, though from fear or the cold of this forest, he wasnât sure. He would think both, but the way the kit was pressing against Molechiveâs shoulders had him thinking otherwise.
Emberdawn leaned and whispered into his ear. âHeâs too young to even understand that he should be scared.â She echoed his own thoughts.
Sure, the kit appeared wary and looked at the cats with confusion and disquietness. But that was because these were strangers in a strange land. If this little tom really knew where he was, really understood it, he would have run and hid at the first sight of another cat, and he would be trembling so strongly that Gorseheart would be seeing two of him.
Gorseheart lowered onto his belly and crept closer, keeping a comfortable distance for the tom. âHello, little one. My name is Gorseheart. Whatâs your name?â
âAshkit,â the kit answered, staring at him with green eyes as wide as the moon on a Gathering night.Â
âHi Ashkit,â Emberdawn greeted from her place lying beside Gorseheart. âDo you know where you are?â
Ashkit let out what sounded like a whimper. âSomewhere bad. I did bad.â
Emberdawn let out a gentle hum. âWe all do bad,â she reassured him. âNo one is perfect.â
Ashkit shook his head. âI think I hurt my friends,â he wailed.
That made the family pause for a few moments as they processed that this little kit could have hurt someone, and a little more as they debated how to respond.Â
âDo you feel bad about it?â Gorseheart asked.
Ashkit nodded vigorously.Â
âThen youâre not a bad cat,â he told the little one simply. âBecause bad cats donât feel bad when they hurt someone, okay?â
Throughout their talking, Gorseheart had slowly crept closer and closer towards the kit. Now he stretched a paw, half-expecting the kit to flinch away as he brushed it testingly against his side. When Ashkit showed no sign of wanting to get away or wanting Gorseheart to leave, Gorseheart moved closer until the kit sat between his front paws. âSo youâre a good cat, you just made a mistake.â
âI made mistakes,â Molehchive chimed in quickly, watching the kit.Â
Gorseheart purred, proud of how fast Molechive jumped in to reassure the kit as well.
âI made mistakes,â Froststorm added.Â
Lightswan and Emberdawn followed suit with their own admissions.Â
âI hurt my friends, too,â Gorseheart went on. His heart twisted, and tore a little more when Ashkit looked up at him with those eyes that were so curious and sad and innocent all at once. âAnd I feel really bad about it.â
Emberdawn pressed against his side.
âDo you think Iâm a bad cat?â he asked the kit.
Ashkit blinked, then shook his head.
âWell, I donât think youâre a bad cat either.â He let the words hang for several long, long heartbeats before deciding to humour the kit. âBut you are stinky!â
Ashkit giggled, caught off guard. âIâm not stinky!â he protested.Â
Gorseheart sniffed his fur. âI think you are,â he replied, âvery, very stinky!â
Ashkit batted at his snout.
âI think itâs you!â Emberdawn decided. She made a show of pressing her nose against Gorseheartâs shoulder and taking a long, hard sniff. Then she pulled her head back dramatically, wrinkling her muzzle. âIt is you! Youâre the stinky cat!â
Ashkit giggled harder, little teeth glinting in the red light.Â
Froststorm joined in. âYou need a bath!â
âA big one!â Lightswan added, holding a paw up to stifle her laughter.
âHey! Why am I being ganged up on?â
âBecause you smell,â Emberdawn answered.
âWell, canât argue with that,â Gorseheart sighed. âHey, Ashkit, do you want to come with us to our warm den and help me get all this stink off?â He added, whispering in the kitâs ear, âor help me hide from everyone who wants to give me a bathâew!â
Ashkit nodded, grinning so wide that his mouth practically touched both ears.Â
âI can carry you, if you like,â Lightswan offered.Â
Ashkit paused, thinking with very readable expressions, then ran over to her.
âDo you want to share my nest?â Molechive offered, following beside them. âItâs got the comfiest moss.â
âWell, my den is the warmest,â Froststorm contested.
âIâll teach you all the cool moves!â
Emberdawn and Gorseheart followed behind their kits, purring so hard that their bodies shook. Anger still swelled deep within Gorseheartâs chest. It had been there since they found Lightswanâthen Brokenkitâand he was sure it would be there forever. But as he watched and listened as their kits welcomed and supported who would hopefully be the new addition of their family, he was overcome by immense pride.
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--Since Lightswan, Molechive, and Froststorm were all adults by the time Ashmint joined as a two-moon old kit, they were all very welcoming towards him. It's a mix of "I know what it was like to show up here as a kit" and "I want to be the coolest big bro/sis."
--The siblings were hanging out when by chance they found this kit and pretty much all went "UH UH UH WHAT DO WE DO UH....GET MOM AND DAD THIS IS THEIR EXPERTISE."
--Gorseheart would want it to be known that he does not actually stink.....no more than any other resident.
--
Ashmint belongs to @ambitiousauthor
Molechive and Froststorm belong to @wills-woodland-warriors
Lightswan belongs to @liberhoe
I was originally gonna have Light be the one getting them, but wanted to give Frost some love. Plus something tells me Light wouldn't want to leave the kit.










