Snowkit's Destiny (Chapter 3)
Jun 18, 2015 20:28:22 GMT -5
Post by ✞~Spottedleaf ~✞ on Jun 18, 2015 20:28:22 GMT -5
Snowkit's Destiny
Snowkit's Destiny is a fanfiction about as if Snowkit, the kit who got carried away by a hawk, had survived and had a different destiny chosen out for him. In the fanfiction, he is still deaf, yet he can hear by feeling the vibrations from the throats of other cats, and he can talk. I didn't know how else to make that work, so that is what I came up with. However, I cannot claim all the credit for this story. Lily~Myth is my writing partner, which means that we are writing this together, just like we wrote The Untold Story together two years back. Comments and thoughts are welcome below, as always! Thank you for taking the time to read this and share your thoughts in advance!
~Chapter 1~
It was a peaceful and a gorgeous morning in the early season of leaf-fall as a clump of white fur was spotted in a pile of fallen leaves. The sky appeared beautiful with its various shades of orange, red and yellow, as the sun peaked its head over the horizon. Although the season was young, the trees’ leaves had already started to turn to their marvelous colors of autumn. The weather was almost perfect with the sun promising a comfortable day, aside from a rather chilly breeze that blew by.
The clump of fur started to move as the leaves moved away to reveal a small, yet sturdy white tom with blue eyes that looked around his new-found environment. Where am I? he thought to himself. The last thing he remembered was playing in the clearing of the ThunderClan camp when he was suddenly picked up by a large bird with sharp talons. He remembered the rest of it in parts, but not in full. He certainly did not recall the bird dropping him off in whatever this place was. All he knew was that he was a very large distance away from all that was familiar to him. He knew that despite his strong desire to find his way back, that it was almost entirely impossible. He felt chilled as the cold wind blew the leaves burying him away and ruffled his pelt.
The young white kit looked around at the environment surrounding him and suddenly felt frightened. Being in an unknown environment was not exactly pleasing to him, for he knew that as a kitten, he was very vulnerable to predators. Soon he saw a bush move before him as he darted backwards into a tree. A creature about his size jumped out from the bushes. It had long ears yet a short, fluffy tail. Seeing the creature only reminded him of his hunger. He couldn't remember how long it had been since his last meal. All he knew was that it was with Speckletail, his mother. The kitten stared at the creature for a moment until it eventually scampered away. He looked around once more to try to get a sense of direction to go, for he knew that he would die of starvation if he remained here forever.
Therefore, the little kit padded away from the place he was when he awoke and looked for shelter. The young kit found an old beaten path and followed it. Eventually, he found himself still lost in the forest, yet he could scent that another cat was near by. The cat came into view and appeared to be a large, dark orange tabby tom with green eyes. Feeling frightened, the white kit slowly backed away, his eyes widening as they met the larger cat’s narrowed hazel eyes.
Then, suddenly, he was pounced on by the tabby. He let out a squeal in fright as he felt the weight grow heavy on his side. He stared up at the tabby and at his unsheathed claws that were a whisker away from clawing him, and upon seeing this, he shut his eyes and braced himself for what was about to come until the weight was suddenly pulled off of him. Feeling relieved that help had arrived; he scrambled to his paws and looked to see who had saved him. From what he could tell, a small calico she-cat along with a larger female cat with blue-gray fur had together pulled the orange tabby off of him.
Although he couldn’t hear what the cats were saying to each other, he could tell that conversation was being made between the three of them. From his observation, he could tell that the two she-cats seemed furious and angry with the tabby, who seemed to be standing his ground and most likely arguing back at them. Finally, the argument seemed to settle down, for the blue-gray furred she- cat turned towards him and glanced at him with her bright yellow eyes.
“Sorry about him,” the she-cat had said, obviously not knowing that he could not hear her. The calico she-cat gave the tabby a quick glare before looking at the white tom as she waited for the kit’s response that didn’t come, "I don't think he heard you Luna," she pointed out as she sat down with her paws neatly in front of her. After glancing at the kit for a moment, Luna had remembered something special about a white cat with blue eyes. She had been told before that cats with this description were known to be deaf. “Oh,” she simply said, not knowing how else to communicate with him.
Although she had been told about the fact about white cats with blue eyes being deaf, she had never personally met a deaf cat. The white kitten hesitated for a few moments longer, but after deciding to trust them, he stepped up and leaned towards Luna’s throat. He was feeling for vibrations. At first Luna was a taken aback by the kit, but then she relaxed, "I think we should take him back to camp," she suggested as she looked at the deaf kit before looking at the calico and tabby who nodded in agreement. The kit wasn’t sure whether or not to go with them at first, but he knew better than to argue.
The patched cat padded to him to where he could feel the vibrations off of her throat. “What’s your name, little one?” she asked him. “Snowkit,” the white kit said at last. When Snowkit had responded, the tortoiseshell cat had at first thought that Snowkit was an odd name but she said nothing about it. Instead, she went ahead and introduced herself and the rest of the group. “Well, my name is Patch. The blue-gray she-cat who first spoke to you is Luna, and the dark ginger tabby’s name is Red,” she told him. Snowkit looked at the three cats as he could feel the vibrations from their throats, "Nice to meet you," he mewed, but he was interrupted by his stomach. He was still famished from earlier.
“I’m guessing you’re hungry, Snowkit,” Patch said, for she had been close enough to the kit to hear his belly roaring at him. She couldn’t imagine how long it had been since Snowkit’s last meal. “When we get you back to our camp, we will give you something to eat. We have prey,” she then told him. Red stood back onto his paws as he looked at them, "I'll met you back in camp," he mewed before running off in a different direction. Patch nodded to Red and looked back at Snowkit, while still remaining near enough for the kit to feel the vibrations off her throat. "Follow us, young Snowkit. We don't have that far to go," she promised him. Snowkit stood back up on his four paws as he nodded and meowed, “Okay.”
Once Snowkit had responded, Luna followed behind Red along with Patch slowly behind her. Snowkit did his best to keep up as he followed the group back to wherever their camp was. As they traveled, his mind began to soar with curiosity. He was wondering about certain things of their camp, and yet while he was curious, he couldn’t help feeling slightly anxious. What if the other cats there didn’t accept him not only for being an outsider but from his disability? He remained silent for the majority of the trip back to their camp, as he was lost in thought. Soon enough, Luna reached the camp, and she squeezed through the circular bramble bush, which served as the camp’s entrance. Red had gone through there before Luna, and Patch scrambled through there right after Luna. After watching the three other cats go in front of him, Snowkit pushed himself through the bush and into the camp. Upon reaching the camp, he looked around to see what was going on. While he couldn’t hear what was being said, Red had said, “Let’s go find the head of our camp” to the others. Patch nodded to Red and meowed, “I’ll go get him.” With that, the pretty calico padded off toward a tree with a hollow carved into it. Snowkit assumed similar to what he had known as the leader’s den back in ThunderClan, for moments after Patch stepped inside the hollow, she returned with a large tom with sleek black fur, along with a scar on his muzzle.
Despite the large cat’s appearance, Snowkit for some reason felt that he could trust him. Therefore, he wasn’t afraid when the tom approached him. "Welcome to the camp, my name is Raven, and I apologize for Red's attack on you." the black tom spoke as he looked down at the kit. “Nice to meet you, Raven. My name is Snowkit, and I understand why I was attacked. Where I’m from, outsider intrusions are not welcome,” Snowkit explained. Although he had only been a member of ThunderClan for three moons, he had learned a lot about how things worked in a Clan. As Raven listened to the kit’s explanation, he began to wonder about the kit’s past.
However, for now, he pushed the thought aside and he said to him, “While I am curious about where you came from and how you ended up here, that story is for another time. Right now, I would like to see that you are fed. After your meal, I will introduce you to the rest of our rogue group.” Snowkit was already prepared to share his past, but from prior knowledge, he knew better than to protest against the words of anyone with higher authorities than himself. Therefore, he only nodded before Red gazed at the kit and flicked his tail at him for him to follow. “Come with me, kit, and I will show you where you can get something to eat,” Red told him. Snowkit was a bit hesitant on whether to go with Red or not after his early behavior, but he could tell that Red was trying to make up for it. So, without any further hesitation, Snowkit willingly followed Red toward what he assumed was their fresh-kill pile. When they reached the pile, Red turned to him to where Snowkit would understand what he was saying. “Feel free to help yourself to what’s in the fresh-kill pile, but remember that there are other cats who have to eat too,” he told him. Snowkit nodded and stepped toward the fresh-kill pile.
Not wanting to take too much, he selected a large and plump mouse, sat down, and began to munch on the prey. As he ate, he noticed that Raven had climbed to a high branch of a cedar tree, which was the same tree that his den was carved into. Even though Snowkit was deaf and couldn’t understand what was being directly said, he guessed that Raven was summoning the rest of the group to gather around. He watched as cats aroused from their nests and made their way to the center of the camp. Out of earlier habits, Snowkit carried his mouse and sat down next to Patch, for he didn’t feel comfortable with sitting next to cats he hadn’t met yet before. Snowkit kept his eyes glued on Raven as everyone patiently
waited for him to speak.
~Chapter 2~
After a few moments had passed, Raven stood up tall on the branch he was on and spoke, “Earlier today, Luna, Patch, and Red met up with a kit who is not from around our territory. We are unsure of where he has come from, but we know for a fact that it was somewhere far away, since his scent does not belong to any scents around here. They have returned to the camp with the kit, for there is something unique about him in a way that you would not want to imagine. This kit is deaf,” Raven explained as he caught the attention from his group of cats. He stopped talking for a moment to allow them to take in everything he had said.
Although Snowkit couldn't hear Raven from afar, he assumed that he was talking about him; he could see the expressions on the cats close to him. Some of them seemed to show concern towards him, while others seemed rather hostile. Snowkit knew that it would be unwise to show fear, but he couldn’t help it with some of the dirty looks the other cats were giving him. He wanted to say something to them, but he knew better, since he would not be able to hear their responses anyways. Just as his fear was beginning to get the better of him, Patch at him and stepped closer to where he could feel the vibrations from her throat.
“Don’t worry, Snowkit,” she meowed soothingly, “Raven is only introducing you to the rest of the group, and explaining what happened earlier. He also explained about your deafness. Most of these cats will be welcoming of you, even though there are few others whom might object to your presence. It will be okay, I promise,” she meowed. Since Raven looked like he was getting ready to pick up with the conversation, Snowkit only nodded and returned his attention to the black tom. Even though he couldn’t hear anything, he knew from prior knowledge that not giving a speaker eye contact was rude and disrespectful.
Just as Snowkit laid his eyes back on him, Raven continued on with the conversation. “I know that some of you may not be pleased with this decision, but it would be heartless to turn a helpless kit away. We must take him in and raise him like our own. He may be different, but a kit is a kit,” he carried on. Snowkit continued to look up at Raven as it reminded him of how his leader had done speeches and so forth.
To his surprise, these cats reminded him of home, in a way. He wasn’t even surprised at some of the looks that he was given. He knew that back at home, many cats didn’t respond well when it came to taking outsiders into the Clan. He remembered what he had been told by the elders about how Fireheart had joined the Clan, and also how many cats were not as accepting of him at first, but now he was the leader of the whole Clan. That was inspiring to him, and especially now, since here he was in a place that was unknown to him, with a group of cats that were not familiar to him, and some were unpleased with his presence there, despite his disorder. He looked around and noticed that most of the cats had returned their attention to Raven, so he too did the same. When he did so, it appeared like Raven was getting ready to say something else. Everyone was now waiting on Raven to say whatever he had to say next. “There will be consequences if I see anyone do anything hostile towards him. Make him feel welcome. With that being said, you are dismissed,” he concluded.
After the meeting was over, a white tom with dark green eyes trotted over to Snowkit. “Welcome, Snowkit. My name is Artie,” he meowed in a friendly tone, once he had gotten near enough to where the young kit could feel the rumbles from his throat. Snowkit seemed startled at first, but after a few moments, he knew that it was okay to trust this cat. With this thought in mind, the white kitten lightened up and simply meowed, “Thank you, Artie.” The older cat chuckled, “No problem, kit,” as he sat on the ground. As he sat there, he turned his head and spotted Luna walking toward them.
Snowkit watched Luna approach them as another large blue-gray cat with a white underbelly joined them at their spot. “Hey there, young one,” he meowed, “I am Falcon.” Snowkit respectfully dipped his head to the large cat and meowed, “It is a pleasure to meet you.” After a few moments, he noticed that Falcon and Luna seemed to resemble each other quite a lot in appearance. Upon noticing this, he wondered if the two cats were related in any way. He purred as he saw an amused, yet annoyed expression on Luna’s face, as Artie was trying to talk to her.
Snowkit thought about asking them if they were related in any way, but he hesitated, since he felt like he would be judged for asking a silly question. However, after considering it more, he remembered how kind the two cats had been when he met them, and with that in mind, he decided that he might as well go ahead and ask them. After all, he was just curious, and it was not like he was already expected to know that. He still hardly knew the cats, so how was he supposed to know if they were family related?
With his curiosity getting the better of him, Snowkit started to go ahead and ask. He padded over to where the cats had gone after Falcon had introduced himself and waited a few moments, for he did not want to interrupt the conversation going on between Luna and Artie. As their chatting ceased, Luna turned and noticed Snowkit’s presence.
“Hey, Snowkit,” Luna greeted as Artie looked at him with a grin on his face. “Hey, Luna and Falcon,” the kitten meowed in response. “You may think this is a dumb question, but are the two of you related somehow?” he asked, suddenly not feeling nervous anymore. Falcon nearly sighed in relief as he heard Snowkit question them about their relationship between each other, feeling somewhat happy that the kit had observed it all on his own. “We are siblings, yet I am from an older litter,” the tom replied at last. “So that means that you are half-siblings?” he asked. “That is correct,” Luna answered. I knew they were related somehow, Snowkit thought to himself and not out loud. Not knowing how to stay on the current subject anymore, he hesitated for a moment before he asked, “What is going to happen now?”
Luna was about to answer Snowkit’s question when suddenly, the clouds in the sky began to darken into an ominous gray color. Lightning began to strike, thunder began to roar, and rain was not too far away. With her eyes widened, Luna said, “Hurry inside before it starts to rain. There’s about to be a storm.” Feeling just as frightened as Luna seemed to be, the kit obeyed and headed for the dens. Many of the other cats were doing the same, all looking worried about the approaching storm.
Snowkit hurried into one of the many dens as he bumped into Red from earlier. "Sorry," he squeaked as the tom turned his head to look down at him, "No problem kit," Red said in a rather friendly tone as he saw fear expressed in the kit’s voice; he assumed that the kit was afraid about the incoming storm. He softened up a little more before he said, “It will be okay,” rather gently. After hearing Red’s gentle words, Snowkit relaxed. Today was quite an adventurous one for him, and it was now beginning to catch up with him. He hadn’t noticed how exhausted he was until he began to yawn.
Red must have seen him yawn, for he told him to rest. “Go ahead and rest,” he had said, “who knows how long it will take for this storm to blow over.” The reddish-colored tom gestured toward one of the empty nests in the den they were sheltering in, and Snowkit padded over there and curled up. Within a matter of minutes, the little white kitten was fast asleep.
~Chapter 3~
Suddenly, Snowkit woke up in a place that he did not recognize. It was not the place where he had fallen asleep, nor was it back home in ThunderClan. . To his surprise, he could actually hear what was going on around him. Where am I and why am I suddenly not deaf? Snowkit wondered to himself. The white kitten gazed around the territory to try to pick out at least something that was familiar. However, he had no luck in doing so. Then, a long-legged tom with brown tabby fur and copper-colored eyes appeared in the dream. "Who are you?" he asked as the tom began to approach him.
"My name is Spiderfang, I was a former medicine cat of ThunderClan." The tabby introduced himself as he stared down at the white kit. "Am I in StarClan, then? Did I die?" Snowkit asked Spiderfang. The tabby let out a purr in amusement and replied, "No Snowkit, your not dead; I'm coming to you in a dream." "So is that why I can suddenly hear?" Snowkit wondered out loud. "Yes," Spiderfang mewed as he sat down with his tail wrapped nearly around his paws.
“So why am I here, in the first place, if I didn’t die?” he asked him. Spiderfang didn’t mind all the questions Snowkit was asking him. He actually admired his curiosity. So, he willingly answered the questions that he was asked. "I'm here to tell you about your destiny," the tom replied. Snowkit gave Spiderfang a puzzled look. He wasn't sure what the former medicine cat meant by what he said.
"What do you mean?" he inquired. "I mean that there is a reason why you survived being carried away by that hawk," Spiderfang explained. Snowkit's eyes widened as he remembered getting carried away by the hawk before getting dropped on the ground but everything had gone black when he was taken away.
“Why am I here? I have no clue about where I am. How far am I from home, and will I ever see my clanmates again?” he questioned. Spiderfang looked at the Snowkit sympathetically. He could not imagine how much the small cat missed home. However, he knew that it would be better to be straight forward with him with this. “I am sorry, Snowkit,” he gently spoke, “but I am afraid that you will never be home again. As far as they are concerned, you are dead.”
Snowkit froze; he couldn't believe what he the former medicine cat was saying. "Bu-But...." he started to protest. Spiderfang gazed at Snowkit in sympathy as he listened to his complaints. However, he soon shook the sympathetic stare away and said, “Don’t worry about it. You have been chosen to carry out a very important mission, and it involves the group of cats you are with.”
Snowkit looked up back at the tom, "You mean Raven and them?" he echoed a little, "What is the mission?" Spiderfang hesitated for a moment, for he was thinking of the best way to explain the mission to such a young cat. After giving it some thought he responded, “You are currently in what used to be a clan. Hardly any of the cats who are there now were around when the clan separated, for it was ages ago. However, you are to rebuild this Clan.”
Snowkit nodded slowly and asked, "How did it separate? What was the Clan called?" "I do not have much time to explain everything," Spiderfang answered as he saw Snowkit’s frustrated look. Snowkit frowned when the brown tabby didn’t answer his question, but he didn’t argue about it. Instead, he just nodded, while remaining silent and not knowing what to say.
Spiderfang was just about to say something else, but Snowkit suddenly felt a gentle nudge on his shoulder. He woke up to see that Patch was beside him. "Patch?" Snowkit mewed as looked at the calico she-cat. "Sorry Snowkit, I didn't mean to wake you up, but you were mumbling in your sleep. I wanted to make sure you were all right” Patch said to him.
Snowkit stood up from the nest. He was a little angry that he didn't get the chance to hear what Spiderfang was going to tell him as he shook his head, "I'm fine," he mewed as he saw the den was filled with empty nests. “How long was I asleep?” he suddenly asked, seeing that the sun was up and the sky was bright, unlike when he had fallen asleep. "A pretty long time; it's almost sunhigh now." Patch mewed as she glanced outside before looking at him.
Snowkit seemed to show an expression of guilt on his face, for Patch looked at him and said, "Don't worry about it. You had quite an adventure yesterday." He nodded, although he still felt a tang of guilt haunting him. "Since you are awake now, would you like to meet the other cats here?" The calico mewed as to cheer the kit up with something new.
Snowkit perked up at the thought of meeting other cats. "Yes please!" He eagerly pleaded. Patch purred loudly in amusement. "Let's go then," she said to him, before she stepped out of the den and began to lead the way out of the den and toward another den. This den was like the other den, except it appeared to be more sheltered and secured. Snowkit scented the air as he walked with her.
Snowkit peeked from behind the small calico to see two queens looking up at them as several smaller heads of kits peeked lazily behind their mothers. The older queen, nearest to Snowkit, with short brown fur and yellow eyes was the first to greet them. "Morning Patch,” she said. "Good morning Deer, I've brought Snowkit with me to-" Patch started to say before getting interrupted by one of the kits.
"He's the new one right? That's amazing! I'm Otter!" a sleek-furred, dark brown tom with light yellow eyes mewed excitedly and squeakily, jumping over to his mother and walking over to them. “Exactly, Otter,” Deer responded to her son. “His name is Snowkit,” she then told him.
Deer purred as she watched Otter bounce over to the newcomer. “Hello,” he meowed, as an attempt to greet him. However, as he said this, he was not aware of Snowkit’s disability. Patch slowly explained Snowkit's disorder to Otter, and she explained how to communicate with him. Otter looked puzzled at first, but then he nodded to show that he understood.
Then, he padded closer to Snowkit so that he could feel the vibrations from his throat. "I'm Otter." Snowkit nodded and turned his head to look at the brown tom just as the other kits began to stir in their nests. Otter and his siblings were larger then the other queen's kits, indicating that they were older, while they were still around the same age.
Snowkit was about to introduce himself, but then, a smaller calico kit padded closer to him. She seemed to have overheard Patch’s explanation, for the calico cat was up against Snowkit so that he could understand her. “My name is Speckle,” the small she-cat meowed.
A small gray tabby tom was the last to approach him. "I'm Stripe, welcome to the camp- or well the nursery," he purred. “I am pleased to meet all of you, and it is especially wonderful to know that there are cats here around my age. My name is Snowkit,” Snowkit said to them as he met their eyes.
"Nice to meet you, Snowkit, and is great to meet someone new!" Otter said excitedly with his yellow eyes slightly shining. "I almost forgot, that's my mother Deer, and the gray-and-white tabby is Tuft,” he added in, introducing the two queens who looked up in response. They nodded their own greeting to Snowkit.
Snowkit returned the greeting to Deer and Tuft, when he suddenly came up with an idea. “Would you want to play a game?” he asked his new friends. “Sure!” Otter happily replied. Speckle and Stripe gazed toward them, and they both simultaneously asked, “What type of game?”
“It is a game that I used to play back where I am from called Warriors,” Snowkit explained to them. As the white kit explained, not only did the other kits seem interested, but Patch and the queens also seemed to be engaged in the idea of the game. “The game sounds fantastic!” Stripe purred. “How does it go?” Speckle then asked.
“Well, back at home, we had a leader, deputy medicine cat, warriors and apprentices, in addition to elders and kits,” Snowkit began. Otter smiled and nodded. "That sounds awesome," he commented.
"Since I know how this game works better, I will be leader for this time," the white kit decided. He didn't want to seem selfish, but he thought that it would make things run more smoothly for the first go round.
"I want to be the deputy!" Otter mewed while bouncing up and down with enthusiasm as a huge grin extended across the tom's face. “I will be the medicine cat,” Stripe eagerly replied, "and I want to be a warrior," Speckle purred thrillingly.
Snowkit was unable to prevent himself from purring as his friends willingly agreed to play his game, and he was even more unable to keep from purring when they so easily selected their positions for the first round of the game. “That is perfect then,” he finally spoke, “Who is ready to play?”
To be continued