Wandered Too Far (Sly/O)

[Pantherpaw]

Something, or someone, was rubbing hard against his coat. Whatever was doing it was rough, and a bit wet. He opened his eyes, and was surprised for a moment as he realized he couldn't see out of one of his eyes. It took only a second or two for him to realize that this was how he always was. He, he. Who was 'he'? He began to panic as he realized he couldn't find his name.

Then he spotted the small she-kit at his side. At her calming touch, he began to calm himself. He couldn't remember how he had gotten in this deep hole, nor why he was near it in the first place. But there was one thing he did remember, and it was this she-kit. Autumnkit. His mind whispered to him, reminding him.

"Autumnkit." He repeated out loud, giving the she-kit a sad smile. And, suddenly, he caught site of the she-warrior, fighting the large dog-fox. His eye widened, and his heart began to thump. He remembered now! He, he was Scorpionkit of Riverclan. And that thing had chased him into this hole. With this realization came the pain he had not noticed at first. It rushed through him, and he yowled out his angst.

[{Snarky}]

Autumnkit's eyes widened as her name came out of the kit's mouth. After his yowl of pain, she quickly returned her tongue to his pelt, licking frantically but trying to be gentle. She wasn't a medicine cat, nor had she ever seen one at work, so she had no idea what to do. She brought her tongue up by his face, licking his ears, cheeks, and around his eyes in an effort to keep him cooled off. She glanced up to check on Shiningstream, but saw that she would do quite fine on her own, so she turned her attention back to Scorpionkit.

His body seemed broken in some way, and it scared her. He was so fragile, such a young kit, and looking upon him brought a wave of guilt crashing over her. She began to cry, knowing he would never be here if it weren't for her. Her salty tears began running along with her tongue, and she was afraid of getting salt in his wounds, so she stood and padded around him to lay in front of his face, their noses touching as she waited for his eyes to open again. She wondered if he would be able to see the guilt swimming in them, and she hoped he couldn't. She meowed, a quiet, desperate sound.

[Shiningstream]

The fox was more or less expecting her. Just as she landed on its shoulders the canine twisted around wildly, snapping at her tail and ears in rage. But, as she had been taught, Shiningstream kept his claws firmly dug into its skin. That seemed to agitate it more. In a single motion the fox twisted around to roll on its back to shake her off, but Shiningstream leaped away at the last second. Just as it's belly was facing the sky the she-cat began clawing and ripping away until the soft, tawny fur was bloody and mangled.

The fox gave another pained and furious yowl before scrambling to its feet. Shiningstream braced herself, her neck fur bristling in case she would have to continue fighting. But the fox had only glared at her dangerously, and when she gave a ferocious hiss, the fox turned tail and ran up the slope of the crater. Shiningstream didn't take her eyes of it until its bushy, russet tail disappeared over the rise.

The kits! The warrior quickly turned around, limping towards the spot where two kits layed together, nose to nose. Huffing, Shiningstream instantly knew that one of them was Autumnkit, who had snuck out of camp. A small wave of anger and relief washed over her, but it slowly turned to sadness and confusion when she spied the second kit, broken and mangled from the unknown fall. "Little one?" she whispered shakily. "Are you awake? Can you walk?"[/color]

[Pantherpaw]

Scorpionkit felt the wave of pain stop, granting him a repreive. He allowed himself to breath, trying to ignore the stabbing pains he felt as he did. When he felt the comforting presence move away, he squirmed in fear. But suddenly the she-kit was back, laying in front of him, her nose touching his. He felt a jolt in his body that was quite unrelated to the pain he was feeling. He opened his eye, and was surprised to see something wet in his new friend's eyes. "Autumnkit? Whats wrong?" He asked, blinking slightly. "I'm ok, really. See?" And he forced himself to his paws. It was a bad move, he realized as pain shot all through his body. He was nearly brought to his front knees, and he pushed his eyes shut. But he wouldn't let himself lie back down, not if it was distressing Autumnkit.

The voice of the warrior startled him, and through a slited eyelid, he looked at her. "I think I can walk..I can try. I-I'm sorry, I shouldn't have been here...I'm from Riverclan." He added lamely, looking guiltily at the warrior.

[{Snarky}]

Autumnkit blinked back the rest of her tears at Scorpionkit's words, and as he struggled to his feet, she jumped up with him. She saw him clamp his eyes shut, and she rushed forward to lean against him in the opposite direction, her head facing his tail, but still allowing her body to be a support to the injured kit. She looked pleadingly at the senior warrior from her clan, begging her to show mercy to the adventurous kit.

"Shiningstream, do whatever you will to me...punish me as bad as need be. Even if it means I won't be a warrior. But don't let anything bad happen to Scorpionkit."

She begged, her calico fur shining in the sun as she made her case. She licked Scorpionkit's flank, hoping to add comfort. She hadn't meant to get him hurt, and she still felt the heavy burden of blame laying on her heart. She felt much more than friendship for this kit, but she couldn't admit it to herself. She was the perfect cat, remember? She couldn't break warrior code...

[Shiningstream]

((Shiningstream is actually very young))

Shiningstream looked at the ground. Her whole body was shaking with pain and fear, but a small warm glow was tingling in her chest, something like relief. The blue-gray tortoiseshell wished more than anything that she could give the little kit's a break, but she knew well from her own troublesome experiences that some form of punishment would have to be taken. Besides, if she wanted to be deputy, she would have to act in the most just way as possible.

But she wasn't responsible for repremanding the RiverClan kit. Autumnkit would be another issue altogether, something Shiningstream really didn't want to do. I guess I could think of something... Shiningstream still knew that Autumnkit would be in serious trouble, but the Clan didn't have to know about her problems with the fox. Shiningstream could easily say she came across it.

"Listen," Shiningstream conceded, "I'm going to take Scorpionkit back to RiverClan. Autumnkit, you best come with me. You're still in trouble, and I'm not letting you out of my sight!" With a gentle wink, she went on. "And by coming with me...I'll think of something to tell the Clan to make your punishment a little less painful. Understood?"[/color]

[{Snarky}]

Autumnkit nodded, relief flooding her young features. She raised her head to look at Shiningstream with grateful eyes, although there was a hint of fear in them she tried to keep hidden. Leaning against Scorpionkit still, she wondered how they would manage to get him back to his camp. More than anything, she hoped he wouldn't be in any kind of pain anymore. Her heart ached at the thought of him being in pain, but she didn't know why.

A sharp wind blew through the area where the three cats stood, and Autumnkit shivered, her fur rising. Shaking her head gently to rid herself of lasting wind-blown fur, she waited patiently for the orders on what they were to do next.

[Pantherpaw]

Scorpionkit glanced gratefully at Autumnkit, and then looked at the warrior. He wanted nothing more then to plead his case. His clan would never let him become useful now! Of course, he knew that he would never have been anything useful anyway. Unless his dream of being a medicine cat ever came true, and he still wondered if it ever would. No, I will likely gain a name, and take an early place amoung the elders. Especially now, after this. What will I become? "You can put it all on me, if you want. Tell them anything, that I lured Autumnkit out of camp. I was never going to be much anyway." He said, a bitterness in his voice that had not been there before.

Suddenly, Autumnkit shivered. And, despite the fact that they were from different clans, and the fact that Scorpionkit was small anyway, he tried to warm her, wrapping his tail around her.

[{Snarky}]

Autumnkit turned to Scorpionkit in surprise when she felt his tail wrap around her. A warm burst of affection blast through her in waves and she almost felt like collapsing from it. She smiled at him gratefully, retaliating the affection with a gentle lick to his flank. Responding to his bitter words, she thought of how no kit should have to feel this way so young.

"Scorpionkit, you didn't lure me out of camp. That would be lying, and it would only get you in more trouble." Wincing at her words and reminding herself of how this adventure was supposed to make her less perfect, she was quick to add, "And you are not useless! You're just perfect the way you are."

She was left wondering about what effects her words would have on her future, especially in front of a ThunderClan warrior. She was hesitant to remind herself about the clan differences between her and the tom...she really, really liked him. Couldn't StarClan make an exception, just this once? She knew she was being foolish, but she couldn't quell the hope that burned in her.

[Pantherpaw]

The lick on his cheek sent a feeling through Scorpionkit. A feeling that, although he didn't know it, Autumnkit had felt when he wrapped his tail around her. He had always thought of himself as nothing but some cripple, someone with disformities. And yet, at her words, And you are not useless! You're just perfect the way you are He knew that he would not rest, never, until his dream was met. Prehaps he would be a warrior afterall. Especially if he wanted to keep these feelings he felt for this she-kit. He could not have those feelings as a medicine cat. It did not matter to him that they were of different clans. He didn't care if other cats thought of this as foolish kit-love. Prehaps it was, but at the moment, he didn't think so.

"Thanks, Autumnkit." He muttered.

[{Snarky}]

"No problem," she murmured back, suddenly keeping her eyes on Shiningstream in fear of being reprimanded for showing such affection to the 'enemy' cat. She felt the need to say something to Scorpionkit, something she felt just had to be said...but the trouble was that she had no idea what was supposed to be said. She didn't want Scorpionkit to go back to his camp...and she didn't want to go back to hers. She didn't want to be separated from these new feelings...she liked them a lot.

Her legs cramped, the feeling unbearable for the young kit who had barely felt physical pain due to being pampered in the nursery. But she kept her ground, knowing Scorpionkit had to be in more pain and caring more about him than anything else in the world right now. Not caring what the other she-cat would say for the moment, she laid her head on Scorpionkit's flank, her breath unknowingly stirring his fur as she closed her eyes to the realization that he could have been killed.

[]

[Shiningstream]

Shiningstream twitched her whiskers in amusement. Honestly, she found kit-love, whether it was forbidden or not, quite adorable. Autumnkit was the perfect one of the litter; something she dreaded more than anything else. And this little Scorpionkit, despite his disabilities, seemed strong-willed in his mind. They would have made a perfect match. If they were in the same Clan... she reminded herself gently.

Shaking away her thoughts, Shiningstream leaned down to give the RiverClan tom a gentle lick over the ears. Now, how to get him home... Shiningstream was a very differently built ThunderClan cat. Unlike her forest Clan, which seemed more broad and bulky due to the dense undergrowth, she was blessed with an odd, lithe, sleek form. She could easily swim across the river, if she took Scorpionkit and Autumnkit with her two at a time.

The tortoiseshell gently picked up Scorpionkit by his scruff, trying to be as gentle as possible. Through his fur, she mewed, "Let's go, Autumnkit. RiverClan is probably worried sick after you, Scorpionkit. We'd better get a move on it."[/color]

((I'll continue this in RiverClan, if that's okay?))

[Pantherpaw]

((Yeah, thats fine. Go ahead.))