#molepaw

Molepaw

Yet even amidst death and pain, there is hope. Sorreltail birthed four healthy kits just as the battle ended, and now she and Brackenfur, grieving his sister and her brother, are naming them.

Two of the she-kits have already been named Honeykit and Poppykit. The third she-kit has dark gray fur, just like Brackenfur's sister Cinderpelt, who lies outside in the center of the hollow, fur perfectly groomed, the blood on her fur licked clean, body decorated and surrounded with mourning herbs.

He misses her already.

He nods to the gray kit. "Cinderkit?" he asks.

Sorreltail nods. "Cinderkit." She licks the top of Cinderkit's head. "And..." She hesitates over the biggest kit, the only tom. "Sootkit?"

"Sootkit," Brackenfur agrees.

Each of them has lost a sibling just as they've become parents. But now, at least, they have the comfort of knowing that their siblings live on in the names of their children.

-

As the kits grow, the adult cats note how it's funny, sometimes, that they often act as two litters of two rather than one of four. Sure, the kits play together and eat together and fight together and they all love each other. But usually, Honeykit and Poppykit will play with each other, complaining that their sister and brother are leaving them out. Usually, Cinderkit and Sootkit will play with each other, or talk with each other, or sit quietly with each other, never complaining about being left out.

-

Cinderkit dreams of roaring, giant, terrifying monsters, of a terrible pain in her leg, of fire decimating the forest.

Sootkit dreams of badgers, long brown-and-white faces with bloody teeth and savage snarls, of the sickening crack of bone and his legs on fire, of blood, blood, everywhere.

They both wake up screaming, night after night after night.

-

Cinderkit looks just like her namesake. It's eerie. The same dark fur, the same patterns, the same blue eyes.

She seems to have inherited some of Cinderpelt's wisdom, too. Sometimes she'll say something that all the adult cats say is exactly what Cinderpelt would have said.

Brackenfur knows it's unfair to the others, but he sometimes finds himself treating Cinderkit with extra favoritism than the others - giving her an extra badger ride, specifically looking for Cinderkit's favorite kind of prey when hunting, giving her the biggest piece, and so on.

It's not that he loves her more than his other children; he loves them all equally. He tries to stop himself, and will make a point of finding the rest of the kits treats too if he ever finds himself treating Cinderkit as his favorite. She isn't his favorite. They are all his favorite, as he assures them. It's just that she is so much like Cinderpelt, and treating his kit with a little extra warmth, a little extra fondness, is the nearest he can get to being close to his sister, now.

-

Sootkit doesn't look like Sootfur, not in the same way Cinderkit looks like Cinderpelt. Sootfur had dark gray fur. Sootkit also has gray fur, but lighter, and interspersed with black. But, Sorreltail says, his amber eyes are the same shape and color that Sootfur's were. Sometimes it really, truly feels like her brother is looking back.

She misses Sootfur. Whitestorm died when they were just kits. Then, after Willowpelt died, it was just the three of them, just her and Sootfur and Rainwhisker. Now Sootfur is gone too. He'd been so excited to be an uncle. Finally, their little family was going to get bigger.

And it had, but he hadn't lived to see it.

Sorreltail knows it isn't fair to her other kits, but she sometimes finds herself treating Sootkit differently from the others - paying extra attention to him, believing his word over one of his sisters' in an argument, and so on. She doesn't do it consciously, and she stops herself whenever she realizes. It's not that she loves him more than the others; of course not. It's just that when he looks at her she sees her brother, and this is the closest she can get to having her brother again.

-

Cinderkit takes a drink of water from a puddle near the edge of the camp, and comes back to the nursery looking rattled.

"Do you ever," she asks quietly as Honeykit and Poppykit play moss-ball, water droplets gleaming on her whiskers, "look at yourself in a puddle and think the wrong face is looking back?"

Sootkit thinks about this, giving the question all the careful consideration it deserves. "Sometimes," he admits finally.

-

"Cinderkit is my favorite sister," Sootkit announces.

"Honeykit is my favorite sister," Poppykit returns.

"Poppykit is my favorite sister," Honeykit says, not to be outdone.

"Kits, don't be ridiculous," Sorreltail sighs.

"Sootkit is my favorite brother," Cinderkit pipes up.

"I'm your only brother," Sootkit points out, and Honeykit and Poppykit laugh.

-

Cinderkit and Sootkit like to sit together and talk about things - about what it will be like when they're apprentices, what they think the territory will look like, any dreams they have, what is it like to be in another Clan, what is it like to be a leader, what is a battle like and how do you know you won't die in one, how do herbs work, why do herbs taste so bad if they're supposed to be good to you, what is StarClan like. All the ordinary things kits talk about. Or they think so, at least.

Poppykit and Honeykit don't often find their conversations interesting, though. They like to play their own games. They don't have time for deep conversations.

"They're kits, but it's like they're two old souls," the Clan says fondly of Cinderkit and Sootkit, but Sorreltail and Brackenfur urge them to play more. It's not healthy.

-

When questioned, no one is sure whose idea it was at first to sneak out of camp. Honeykit wanted to be brave, and Cinderkit wanted to be careful, and Poppykit was nervous but Honeykit coaxed her into coming along, and the upshot of it was that all four kits snuck out of camp to explore the territory.

They were four moons old, and they were sick of being cooped up inside the camp. They wanted to go out, just for a little bit. They would be careful. They would just walk around and see some trees. Sure, they'd be apprenticed in two moons, but that was forever! They wanted to go out now!

So they did. They snuck out, all four of them, through the dirtplace, one by one. Quickly enough that no one would start wondering where they were before they'd gotten out of the dirtplace, slow enough that no one's attention was called to four kits going into the dirtplace tunnel at once.

There will be an investigation later, as to how all four kits had managed to leave the camp without any cat noticing. Changes will be made to the daily routine, to never leave kits unsupervised even for a moment. Leaving kits to their own devices could lead to a tragedy, for only StarClan knew what would happen. But by that time, it will be above the kits' concern; the kits will be sleeping inside the medicine den, having been groomed by Leafpool and Sorreltail and Brackenfur, and given half a poppy seed and a sprig of thyme each, and soothed into sleep despite gulping sobs and lingering fear, and a grieving Sorreltail will wrap herself around them, shaking, while Brackenfur will pad into the clearing to pay his respects. But all that is later.

Now, they escape through the dirtplace, wiggling through the bushes that surround it and losing only a few tufts of fur in the process. They run free through the forest, feeling the damp earth through the pads of their paws and taking deep breaths of the forest air and staring wide-eyed at the giant trees. It's hard to believe that the Clan claims this forest as their own. It's just so big.

Then it starts to rain.

"Oh, come on," Honeykit complains. "We just got out! We can't go back now. We'll never be able to leave again!"

"It'll probably stop raining soon," Sootkit says hopefully. "We could just hide under that bush over there and wait for it to stop."

So they take shelter beneath the bush from the rain, which pours down steadily, getting heavier and heavier, and does not show any sign of stopping soon.

They're cold and wet and shivering. It's not fun to be outside the camp anymore. Whose idea was this anyway? All four of them want nothing more than to be back in the warm nursery with Sorreltail, no matter how much trouble they'll be in. But who will find them? Nobody knew they left.

"Where have you four been?!" Rainwhisker demands, shoving his head into the small protective space beneath the bush and making them all shriek. "What were you thinking? Sorreltail's been worried sick about you! Do you know how hard it was to track your scent in this rain? D'you want to catch your death of cold?" He noses them, his whiskers tracing their fur. "StarClan, we were so worried-" He stops, sides heaving, and just stares at them. "StarClan," he repeats quietly. "You're all right. Thank StarClan..." He takes a deep breath.

"You found them!" Cloudtail exclaims as he and Brightheart come walking up. Sootkit realizes that they must be a patrol sent to look for them. Maybe more than one. They're going to be in big trouble. Why had he thought this was a good idea again? "Look, scold them later, we need to get them back to camp now. It's raining."

"I noticed," Rainwhisker remarked dryly with a glance upwards; the rain showed no sign of stopping. "Come on out, you four."

They troop glumly out of the bush. Rainwhisker watches them as though afraid one of them will fall into pieces. He gently strokes each of them with his tail and says, "Come on."

At four moons old, they are too big to be carried by the scruff of their necks, and there are only three warriors anyway. They are old enough to walk back to camp on their own, but young enough for it to be exhausting, especially in the current weather. So Cinderkit climbs on Cloudtail's back, and Poppykit climbs on Rainwhisker's back, and Honeykit on Brightheart's, and they'll be brought back to camp that way, with Sootkit walking right next to Rainwhisker as Rainwhisker attempts to shield him from the wind and rain. Soon they'll switch, and Sootkit will get to ride on someone.

Trudging through the mud as he's pelted by rain and freezing cold is just as awful as it sounds. Sootkit wants to stay in the nursery forever. If this is what he'll have to do as an apprentice, he wants no part in it. He just wants to be home already. He'll take whatever punishment Brackenfur and Sorreltail give him if it'll mean his fur is dry and warm and-

Several things happen at once, or nearly so.

Dimly audible through the rain is a snapping sound. Poppykit shifts position to look around; her small claws slip on Rainwhisker's rain-soaked fur, and with a yelp and much flailing of paws, she falls off his back.

Rainwhisker stumbles back a few steps to be beside her. He glances upward. 

"StarClan," he rasps, and jumps forward.

The falling branch hits Rainwhisker squarely on the head and back of his neck just as he shoves Sootkit nearly two tail-lengths forward. Already off his paws, belly fur soaked with mud, he collapses limply on the ground without a sound, lying on his side, forelegs still stretched out towards Sootkit, head lolling at a very wrong angle.

Sootkit tumbles to a halt lying on his side in the mud, just like Poppykit only moments before. He staggers to his feet, and Cloudtail and Brightheart have turned around, faces full of horror and shock, shouting Rainwhisker's name, and Poppykit is shrieking, but he can only stare numbly at Rainwhisker's limp form. He's dead. His paws are stone and there is a pit in his stomach, but he cannot look away from Rainwhisker's staring blue eyes. He's dead.

Sootkit has never seen a cat die before, so why does this empty feeling of horror and anger and grief feel so familiar?

"Come away," Brightheart whispers, trying to shepherd him toward the roots of the closest tree, where his sisters wait. When had Honeykit gotten off Brightheart's back? When had Poppykit gotten up and joined them? He couldn't remember. All he could think was, Rainwhisker's dead. He died because of me. He died pushing me out of the way. He died to save me.

-

The kits apologize over and over, and Sorreltail assures them it wasn't their fault, but her voice breaks on a sob and she wraps herself around them as they nestle into her fur. Once he is sure everyone is asleep, Sootfur quietly wriggles away from them. Not too far, just to the edge of the nest. He feels like he can't be with his sisters and mother now. He doesn't deserve it. Rainwhisker is dead because of him.

It wasn't your fault, Sorreltail had said, but Rainwhisker had only died because he'd pushed Sootkit out of the way. If he hadn't then he would still be alive. If Sootkit had only been walking a little faster than he wouldn't have been in danger of the branch hitting him and Rainwhisker wouldn't have been worried. If Sootkit had looked up he could have seen the branch falling and jumped out of the way himself. If he hadn't left camp with his sisters-

Dawn finds him a miserable little lump of fur finally settling into an uneasy doze in the corner of the nest.

-

To no one's surprise, Sootkit has nightmares. They aren't of Rainwhisker.

-

"Sorreltail," Sootkit whispers, pawing at her side. "Sorreltail, wake up. Wake up."

His voice rises slightly in panic, but Sorreltail is already opening her eyes. "Sootkit? What's wrong..."

She trails off as the events of the day come back to her. Rainwhisker. Claws wrap around her heart, and she closes her eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath. She can grieve later, but now she needs to stay strong for her kits.

Sootkit is trembling. Of course, this day has been hard for him too. She lowers her head and licks his ear comfortingly. "Are you all right, Sootkit? Did you have a bad dream?"

He nods, whiskers quivering.

"Do you want to tell me about it?" she prompts. She's not sure if she can handle having her son tell her what he's dreamed of her brother's death, not yet, but she'll try. She misses her brother, but her kits need a mother.

Sootkit opens his mouth, and pauses. There are so many turbulent feelings and frightening images he doesn't know how to vocalize. A bright hot day, warm piled rocks, a menacing figure of brown and white just like all the others he's dreamed about, a silver-gray figure clutched in its jaws, being shaken with a sickening snap.

Finally he speaks, and it isn't what Sorreltail is expecting.

"I dreamed you died," he whispers.

-

Sootkit becomes Sootpaw alongside his sisters, and they begin their apprentice duties with enthusiasm. They excitedly talk about how they'll hunt and fight, how they'll all work together to be the best warriors ever, how much fun it's going to be, even the boring jobs like making new nests. Learning how to hunt and catch their very own prey made up for it.

Scarcely a quarter moon later, Sootpaw wakes up coughing and shivering, feeling like he can't breathe properly, like his lungs can't expand all the way without another outburst of coughing. Sorreltail makes him go to the medicine den, even though he insists he'll be fine tomorrow, but Leafpool's eyes darken when she hears him cough.

She makes him stay in the medicine den - "To rest," she says, "and not to spread sickness to the others."

"What sickness?" Sootpaw asks worriedly, but instead of answering Leafpool gives him herbs to eat and leaves the den to speak to his mother while he chews them.

"I don't have catmint," he hears her saying. "I'm sorry, Sorreltail, I'm so sorry..."

He's never felt so frightened.

-

A quarter moon after that, it is all over, and Cinderpaw wails beside her brother's body. Sootpaw was the only one who really understood her, and he's gone to StarClan now.

-

It was not intentional. Only Cinderpelt was to be given a second chance at life, in the body of one of the kits she had died protecting, to live the life that had been denied her.

But as she died, Sootfur died too. Cinderpelt's spirit slipped into one of the kits - one of his sister's kits. He followed her. Cinderpelt was reborn as one of the kits; why could he not do the same?

-

Seasons later, Poppyfrost bears two healthy kits, one tom and one she-kit. She looks wonderingly down at them, and thinks how the tom-kit doesn't look a thing like Sootpaw, with brown-and-cream fur, but she'd like to name her son after her brother who died so tragically young.

He's the quiet, blunt, snarky, sarcastic type. If he says anything, it's probably some snide remark. his relationship with Jayfeather is just two guys taking jabs at each other constantly and his relationship with Mousewhisker is just him telling Mousewhisker how much he needs to stop being a loser. it's kinda generic but i think the name Molefang really works here because of the way he speaks

these three have this weird trio going on. two devils (Molefang, Jayfeather) and an angel (Mousewhisker). it's like a "hey, that's our friend (Mousewhisker), only we can make fun of him" kinda thing.