Jaded View: Chapter twelve

Chapter twelve
“Wake up Picklekit! Junglekit’s fine, and Jaystar is coming!” Lilykit mewed, poking her head out of the den, Picklekit drowsily opened her eyes, she got up, shaking all her sleepiness away. “Where is Junglekit?” She mewed, poking her head out of the den, “in the middle of the clearing, look!” Picklekit noticed the golden tom, he was talking to other kits, all of them admiring his cool looking tail. Picklekit went over, “Junglekit! You’re okay!” She ran over, “look at his tail! It looks so cool!” Windykit mewed, “I wanna a tail like that, then the other clans will know not to mess with me!” A she mewed, “if I had that tail like that, I’d be the coolest!” Another she mewed, a smaller looking kit mewed, “but I have a tail like that.” “Yeah right Terrierkit, no one even cares.” One of the she-kits shooed him away. “I bet you’ll get a cool warrior name, like, Jungletail!” Another kit mewed, “pfft, yeah right, I doubt Silkwhisker will want a name like that, when it doesn’t describe you.” Moldkit padded over, flicking his tail, “she’ll want a reasonable name, like Stubtail.” “What kind of a name is that?” Junglekit stared at his brother, “it’s a reasonable name, and mother said she was going to tell Darklight to change your name. Hey look, there she is now, probably heading-” Junglekit had sped away, running towards Darklight’s den. A grey tom was existing the den, he watched as Junglekit ran into the den. The tom shook his head and continued onto where the kits were. “Hello young kits.” The tom meowed, flicking his tail, “hi Greystar” the kits chimed. Picklekit stared at the tom, “now, we need to organise you into two groups. Everyone under four moons, can you please leave.” The younger kits padded away, Lilykit ran over, “now, you two are definitely trainings.” He meowed to Picklekit and Lilykit, “my brother went to Darklight, but’s he’s old enough.” Moldkit mewed. “Okay, well you two are also old enough, and big enough.” Then he turned to Windykit. Windykit wasn’t as big as the other four, he was also scrawnier than the rest. “Are you sure your four moons?” Greystar looked confused, “yeah! My mum had two kits at least a week ago, she said I was the youngest looking four moon she’s ever seen!” The tom mewed, glaring at the tom, “if you say so, but Jaystar might not allow it.” “Then tell her that I may look small, but I’m the right age.” He mewed. Junglekit came running back, “guess what,” He mewed, “your names now Stubkit?” Moldkit grumbled, “no, Darklight said that it would be cruel to name me that, so I’m not getting the bad name!” He bounced around, “are you sure you can be a training, your tail still looks extremely-” “Cresentfeather said I’d be fine, she said it’s a minor injury.” Greystar shook his head, “to her, a minor injury is almost getting mauled.” The tom glanced at the wall of stone, “she’s here!” he called, cats started to freak out around them, “Terrierkit, get back in the den, Jaystar will kill me if she sees your messy fur!” A she dragged Terrierkit into her den. A blue-grey she padded over, her body was covered in scars, her tail battered, her eyes were dull and blind. “Jaystar, it’s so great to see you.” Greystar padded over to the she, “yeah right.” The she muttered, “now, I came here to make some trainings, so were, are they?” She growled, “over there, in a small group.” Greystar flicked his tail over to Picklekit and the others. Jaystar padded over, standing tall over them. “You, what are you doing? You ain’t four moons.” She glared at Windykit, “I am! I just don’t look like it, ask my mum and she’ll-” “Don’t try to lie to me, now go!” She spat, scaring the tom away. “Now, you lot, tell me what you want to be.” The she sat down, “I wanna be both!” Lilykit and Junglekit chimed, “I want to be a prey-hunter.” Moldkit flicked his tail, Jaystar looked over at Picklekit, “and you?” “I don’t know, uh, prey-hunter?” “Good,” The she turned her head, “Snowflight, Silkwhisker!” She called; the two white she-cats padded over. “Choose which kit of yours you want to train.” Silkwhisker placed a paw on Moldkit, “I’ll take Moldkit. Why would I take Stubkit?” She muttered, glaring at Junglekit. Snowflight glanced back and forth from Picklekit and Lilykit, “I don’t know, I can’t favour one over the other.” She dipped her head, “I’ll choose for you, Lilykit will be your apprentice.” Snowflight sighed, sitting beside her white kit. “Bearscar, Firetuft!” The two toms came, Firetuft was a ginger tom, with blue eyes, his tail silky smooth. “Choose which apprentice you want.” Firetuft quickly gravitated towards Junglekit, “we gotta stick together, cousin.” “But we aren’t cousins.” Junglekit mewed, “you sure kit?” Picklekit gulped, she didn’t get a choice in a mentor, and she got the worst one, Bearscar, ''this isn’t going to go well. ''“Now you lot, hurry up, we got to take these kits somewhere else.” Jaystar had turned away, padding back to the stone wall. She swiftly leapt up onto it, slowly making her way to the top. Then she disappeared, falling on the other side. The rest of them followed, Picklekit stared up at the wall. The first time she went over was a struggle, how could she do it now? Lilykit leapt onto the wall, slowly scooting her way up. “Why do we have to climb the wall?” Picklekit looked at Snowflight, “this wall can’t be climbed by most other clan cats, so it’s good defence.” The she nudged her closer, “come on, it’s not that hard.” Picklekit leapt up onto the stone, “can ya hurry up, we ain’t got all day.” Bearscar growled, “don’t be so rude, it ain’t her fault she’s scared.” Snowflight meowed at him, Picklekit slowly climbed up, puffing when she reached the top. “You did it!” Lilykit mewed, as Junglekit poked his head beside them, “it’s a long climb, we know.”

As they waited for Moldkit and the warriors to make it up, Picklekit stared down, “I don’t feel like it’s safe to drop down there.” “It is safe, you gotta land on your feet.” Junglekit jumped off, the rest of the cats peered over the edge, “welp, he’s dead, better skip training today.” Moldkit stepped away, “no, he’s moving, he landed.” Snowflight meowed, “he shouldn’t have jumped though.” She fell onto a small rock platform, then jumped down to the ground beside Junglekit. “Come on, you go firs-” Moldkit rushed past them, falling off the edge. “Come on, look, he’s fine, you won’t die. Just try to land on that platform, then make it to the ground.” Lilykit nudged her closer to the edge, “what if I fall off and die though?” Picklekit mewed, “ya won’t, now get down!” Bearscar pushed her off, as she fell, she pushed her feet under her, closing her eyes. “Now just jump down Picklekit, you’re not dead.” She opened her eyes to her mother’s voice. She leapt down, behind her, Lilykit was making her way down, followed by Bearscar and Silkwhisker. “Now let’s hurry up, since Jaystar didn’t decide to wait.” She looked ahead, nothing but trees stood. The group made their way through the trees, soon coming across a bare streak of sand that cut the area in half. “Now this is the border, where our territory ends. In front of you is Cloudclan’s territory. They have a massive space for a such a little clan.” Snowflight flicked her tail, “where do we go now?” Lilykit looked at Snowflight, “we follow the path, all the way near the edge of Cloudclan and Lightningclans’ territory, and at the start of Fireclan’s.” The group followed the path, on the Cloudclan territory, Picklekit saw a white she, she padded over. “I thought I’d never see the day Bearscar would be a trainer.” She giggled; her quiet voice as soothing as the wind. “What do you want ya rat!” Bearscar spat, the she jumped back in surprise, “hey, hey, I’m not here for a fighter, I’m only a healer training.” The she’s blue eyes stared at the tom, “Bearscar, knock it off, Snowkit isn’t doing anything to us, now is she?” She pushed past the tom, “anyway, how has it been Snowkit, I heard you’d be a full healer by tomorrow.” The training nodded, “I can’t wait, I’ll be able to do so much more then.” “Now why don’t you continue with what you were doing, you don’t want to get in trouble.” Snowflight watched as the she went back into her territory, disappearing into a patch of trees. “Why are ya being so nice, she’s an enemy.” “Well, would you like it if a random cat started to verbally attack you?” “Can you two break it up.” Firetuft meowed, “we got nothing to fight over.” He padded off; in the direction they were meant to be heading. Bearscar simply flicked his short tail and followed the ginger tom. “What was he being mean to you mum?” Picklekit mewed, padding after the white warrior, “Bearscar isn’t the nicest, that’s why Picklekit.” She meowed, “I was hoping you’d get a better mentor than him as well.”

The group reached a large cave, surrounded by trees and shrubs. As they padded in, Picklekit’s vision when darker, the sun light from the outside further from them. “Now, we’ll split up into the roles you want to be.” Firetuft meowed, “Junglekit and Lilykit will do both, and I think they should start with fighting and guarding.” Junglekit’s eyes lit up, while Lilykit’s tail rose, “now come along you two.” Snowflight and Firetuft led them to a large hole in the cave. “Now you two, you only get to learn one thing, so hurry it up.” Silkwhisker meowed, padding into another hole with Bearscar beside her. This hole had faint light flowing into it, unlike the other two. Moldkit and Picklekit padded inside. “Woah!” Picklekit stared around the area, trainings and their mentors were all over the place, some were practising while others were chatting. “Don’t be too excited, mother says that after some training you come in here.” Moldkit meowed, as he left to follow Silkwhisker. Picklekit ran after him, trying to avoid the other cats around. She slid through a gap in the cave and found herself outside, bramble bordering their area. “Now we need a little introduction-” “Hello, now Silkwhisker, I’ll do it for you.” A tortoiseshell she with a pale yellow under belly meowed, padding towards them. “I am going to be the head supervisor of you lot, and I’m Jaystar’s main assistant, Autumnpelt. You two will be learning the basics of hunting until about Summer, or if you learn quick enough, Spring. After that you’ll get into the more complex stuff. Once you’re done, you’ll become hunters.” The she meowed, her voice was loud and cheery, maybe even annoying, but Picklekit saw the kindness in the she. “If wish you were dead, to bad Jaystar gave you an extra-long life.” Silkwhisker meowed, flicking her tail. “Don’t worry, I’ll be dead in about two years.” The she came back over to the trainings, “now, your trainers will help you out, if you need any more guiding, then come ask me. I don’t bite.” She skipped away, over to a young-looking ginger and dark ginger cat. “Let’s get this over and done with, basic hunting crouch.” Silkwhisker meowed, flicking her tail, “you demonstrate Bearscar.” She flicked her tail to the tom, the brown cat crouched, his tail sticking straight up. “Now you do it” Picklekit crouched down, her tail sweeping the ground. “Stick your tail up!” Silkwhisker growled, so Picklekit raised her tail. “Good job Moldkit.” She meowed to her kit, then looked back at Picklekit. “Now, you’ve got to learn how to hunt.” “They made fake mice, we’ll go grab some, and you’ll try to catch them.” The two warriors padded off, “I think Bearscar and Silkwhisker are gonna be mates soon, since Silkwhisker doesn’t talk to dad anymore.” Moldkit mewed, “she literally forgot he existed after they left each other.” He looked down sadly, “if you ask about him, she brushes you off. Wait, why am I telling you this?” He jumped away, “you don’t need to know about my family, ever!” He shook his head, “forget I said anything.” He looked up as Silkwhisker and Bearscar came back, with tiny little fake mice. They dropped them, then stepped away, Moldkit was already getting ready, while Picklekit padded over and picked it up, Bearscar slammed into her, “do you think you can just waltz up to prey and grab it? If that was a real mouse, you wouldn’t have gotten it.” He growled, “now put it down, and pretend it’s a real mouse.” He stepped away, as Picklekit placed the mouse, she looked up at the tom, his golden eyes burning with rage. She backed away, aware that Autumnpelt was watching. The tortoiseshell she bounded over, “what’s going on over here?” She meowed, tilting her head, “nothing, just someone doesn’t know how prey works.” “Maybe she doesn’t know because no one taught her prior.” Autumnpelt wrapped her tail around Picklekit. The she put her muzzle to Picklekit’s ear, “if you need anything, just ask, if your trainer isn’t treating you well, I can fix the issue.” She stepped away, then bounded back to the other cat. Picklekit crouched down, then leapt at the mice. “Too close, if you were that close, it would of ran away.” Bearscar swiped her small tail, “now try from a further distance.” He sat down beside Silkwhisker, the she licked his cheek, Moldkit leapt as his mouse, then looked at his mother, waiting for praise, “that was wonderful Moldkit.” ''How come no one is praising me? ''Picklekit leapt at the mouse from a further distance, then looked at Bearscar, “could’ve been higher, and you would have let it escape with those paws being away from the target.” The tom muttered.

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