by Ladyskittels » Tue May 07, 2019 4:01 am
Username: Ladyskittels
Name: Lostflame
Gender: female
Clan: Glacial Blizzard Clan
Age: 30 moons
Rank: warrior
Prompt:
"I won't let anything happen to your kits, I promise sister." Lostflame promised her sister Chestnutfire. "You gave birth a few moons ago, you're going to need to get back to your duties at some point if you want to keep your position in the clan."
"I know," Chestnutfire sighed, gazing down at her napping litter. "They just look so.... helpless. I hate leaving them, you know?" The dilute tortoiseshell cat made eye contact with her littermate and shared a look only they could.
In that moment, Lostflame felt the pain her sister was feeling; the anxious feeling of what could happen when she left the kits, and everything that could happen in the meantime. The cinnamon and orange tortoiseshell exhaled sharply to clear the feeling before nuzzling into her sister's pelt.
"You can trust me," she murmured into the hunter's ear. "The other hunters need you today. You can't miss it..."
Chestnutfire nodded, clear from her body language that she was still on edge. "Alright, but please.... keep them safe."
Lostflame watched as her sister slunk out of the nest where the kits were napping and breathed a sigh of relief. If only they would stay asleep while she's gone, the female thought to herself nervously as she got herself comfortable to keep watch. Luckily the queens were standing by in case something were to happen, which put her mind at ease for now. Maybe I'll be able to get a little sleep? She thought as she stifled a yawn.
* * * * * * *
The cinnamon and orange tortoiseshell female woke to an empty nest and a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach; where were the kits and the queens??? She thought frantically as she bolted out of the den, searching for the kits.
"About time you woke up, dear!" Called Fallowbreeze, one of the queens with a smile on her face. Two out of the four kits were at her feet wrestling while the other two busily climbed on her back. "Not to worry, the little ones are doing just fine. And I'll keep your little secret so your sister doesn't have to find out."
"Thank starclan they're alright," she breathed, a grateful expression on her face. "Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?"
"Oh no, dear. Don't worry about it," the bicolored female said happily. "I'm just doing my job, no need to repay me."
Lostflame smiled sheepishly at the queen, feeling guilty for falling asleep and not keeping her promise to her sister who had been so nervous something might happen to her children. "Why don't you take a break for a while, Fallowbreeze? I think I'm going to take the kits out for a little bit. Get some energy out in a walk."
"Very well," Fallowbreeze replied, reaching behind her to hoist the two kits off of her back. "Just be sure not to wander off too far, the hunters should be back soon."
* * * * * * *
Lostflame followed behind the four bouncing kits who were happily romping down the path in front of them. They were shouting among themselves, arguing about which kit could bounce the highest, which made their aunt smile in remembering when that had been her and her sister. Two of the three boys stopped at a tree and reached up their paws, tentatively gripping the bark with their young claws.
"Don't even think about it," The cinnamon and orange tortoiseshell cat warned them as she approached. "I don't need you climbing trees for a while. Your mom will have my pelt for that."
"You're no fun!" They whined, but obeyed and backed off from the tree in favor of sniffing around a bush.
If I have to be the no fun one to keep you alive and your mother happy, so be it... She thought gruffly with a roll of her eyes. Children, while cute and precious and whatnot, could be some of the most annoying creatures to be around.
Letting her mind drift as she followed behind her niece and nephews, the tortoiseshell was unaware of when her niece went missing until her brothers came up to her and got her attention.
"Aunite Lostflame! Come quick, come quick!" The boys said, their voices frantic.
"What's wrong? What happened???" She replied, feeling her heartbeat quicken with nervousness. "Where's your sister?"
The boys didn't answer her but instead led her to just beyond the bushes where they had been playing just minutes earlier, revealing a cliff face just beyond where the female kit had been seen last.
"Did she go down there...?" Lostflame asked softly, feeling her throat tighten.
The boys nodded and she stepped toward the edge of the cliff hoping to find the kit still alive. Looking down she breathed a sigh of relief; the young female had managed to land on a ledge nearly at the top of the cliff.
"Are you alright?" Lostflame called to the kit who didn't respond. This made her more nervous and she climbed down to tend to the child.
Right when she made it to the ledge, part of it crumbled beneath her weight and caused her to lose her footing. Both cats fell and were caught on a root, the cinnamon tortoiseshell holding onto the root with her paws for dear life, and carrying the kit in her mouth. All of a sudden, the voice of her sister came from above them but the words didn't register in the tortoiseshells mind.
Next thing she knew, her sister had climbed down the cliff and was clinging onto the side next to her. "Hold on a little longer," Chestnutfire said before she took the kit from Lostflame and made her way back up the cliff.
The sister tried to hold on, but shock had taken over her body and caused her to drop the branch as her body trembled uncontrollably. The last words she said before she fell to her death was, "I'm so sorry for betraying you, sister."
[996 words]