Chapter Text
The sun glinted on Ravenpaw's fur, his slim figure casting a dark shadow over the hay covered floor. I stood up, stretching, careful not to wake the black tom. My eyes fixed on a mouse, scampering across the barn floor. I swiped at it lazily, picking it up an giving it a small nip. Well, there's breakfast
I sat at the barn entrance for a while, watching the Twolegs toil out at the fields tending to the cows and sheep. I yawned, starting to groom myself.
"Morning," Raven mewed sleepily, taking a place beside me.
My eyes darted from the Twolegs to Raven. "G'morning," I meowed, pushing the mouse toward him. He dipped his head gratefully, sinking his teeth into the mouse. We sat in silence for a couple minutes, the only sound being the loud whirring of the monsters and the rhythmic crunching of bones between Raven's teeth.
"What're we doing today?" I asked, desperate to break the awkward silence between us.
"Well we could go visit Firestar and the rest. I mean, we haven't seen them in a while," he purred. Starclan when was he this hot?
"Right."
We sat in silence for another couple minutes, but I glance over at him every few seconds.
"Shall we go?" He asked, standing up. Something about the way his fur rustled in the wind made him so...
Focus Barley focus
"Hunh? Oh yeah, I s'pose we should get going," I followed him out of the barn, my eyes adjusting to the bright light. "Looks like rain." The sky was shrouded in a layer of dark storm clouds, as it had been for the past couple days.
"Yep, we can always stay the night at Thunderclan," Raven reasoned. "Firestar said we're welcome anytime."
"I haven't had a chance to thank you for breakfast," Raven purred. "It was delicious." Focus Barley focus.
"Oh I'm glad 'ya think so, it was an easy catch," I replied, almost certain my eyes were flashing with visible pride. And maybe something else...
The forest foliage crunched under our paw steps, the autumn chill rustling both our pelts. The leaves were starting to change to reddish browns and yellows and the birds had all left for the winter. It was almost ethereal.
"We're here!" Raven gasped, rushing into Thunderclan. It wasn't a rare sight to see him this excited, but it was always a delight. Focus Barley focus
Cats rushed out of their dens to greet us. Sandstorm padded over first, her eyes glistening with recognition. "Ravenpaw! It's been quite a while hasn't it!" She purred. Two kits scampered out after her, tumbling their way toward us. "I'll go get Firestar, he'll be delighted!"
Raven greeted all his old companions, a few of which I recognized. "Ravenpaw!" A flash of fiery red fur in my peripheral told me that was Firestar. Raven trotted over to the red tom, greeting him warmly. "Barley, always glad to see you too," I looked up from my spot near the edge of camp. Firestar was padding toward me.
"Oh, uh...hi," my voice came out scarily high. Firestar invited us to meet his kits in the nursery, he led us to the largest den before leaving to tend to clan matters. Two she-kits, one with the same shade of autumn red as her father, and a brown kit, the color of the leaves beginning to flutter down the trees.
"I'm Squirrelkit, that's Leafkit. We're sisters if you can't tell, and that's Sandstorm, she's my mom..." the reddish she-kit squeaked excitedly, her tail flicking from one cat to another.
Sandstorm laughed heartily. "Squirrelkit, let Leafkit speak for herself."
"Fine," Squirrelkit stepped back. Raven chuckled, touching noses with the small kit. I copied the way he dipped his head in greeting. Focus Barley focus.
The brown she-kit stared at Raven and I, seemingly contemplating leaving her mother's warmth to greet us as her sister did. "I'm Ravenpaw," Raven's voice broke through my thoughts. "That's Barley, he's being weird today. I promise he isn't always this quiet."
Weird? I was being weird?
"Wow, you're an apprentice? You're so big for an apprentice," Squirrelkit stared up at Raven in awe. "I wanna be like you!" Raven chortled. "Paw", after all, was an apprentice's suffix. Firestar had offered to change Raven's name to something more fitting for his age but he had declined.
Raven shrugged. "I'm not an apprentice, actually. I'm from the barn, I'm just here to visit."
"You can do that?!" Squirrelkit mewed. "With Firestar's permission, right?"
Raven nodded, it was clear he liked these kits. Or at least Squirrelkit.
"What about you?" The brown she's eyes fixed on me. It was the first few words she had spoken in their interaction with the kits.
Her eyes oddly did not match her parents'. Weird genetics I guess. "I'm from the barn too," I tried to curb my 'farm accent' as Raven called it.
"It's time for your nap," Sandstorm purred.
"Aw, but they just got here!" Squirrelkit complained. Raven motioned me out of the den.
"They'll be here again soon, right Barley," Sandstorm mewed.
"Of course, I'm sure Raven will want to visit his comrades every once in a while," I reasoned.
Raven sat outside the nursery, looking more refreshed than he had the entire day. "That was great! I love kits, they're adorable."
Focus Barley focus
"Yeah," I agreed. "Kits are great. The brown one was really quiet. What was her name again? Leafkit?" Raven nodded, his tail high in the air.
"Smells like rain," Firestar commented, returning to Raven's side. "How long is your walk back?"
"Not too long, but with this weather it might be safer to stay here, what do you think Barley?"
"Staying here is fine," I tasted the air, it truly did taste of rain. "If it's not much trouble of course." I added hastily.
"Oh not at all, we have a spare den for a reason," Firestar meowed. "You're more than welcome!"
<...>
Firestar was right. A few moments after we got into the spare den, it started pouring rain. Lightning split the sky, thunder following to split our eardrums afterward.
"Doesn't look like it'll stop anytime soon," I commented. Raven nodded. I noticed he was staring at the nursery.
"I wonder how Leafkit and Squirrelkit are doing, probably scared half to death," he meowed absentmindedly. The thought had never crossed my mind, but Raven's compassion was far greater than mine.
Wordlessly, he stood up, walking out into the storm. He ducked into the nursery. I contemplated following and made up my mind that it was worth the slight chill I was always prone to after being in the rain.
"Raven?" I called, walking into the safety of the nursery. I was then shushed by Sandstorm and Raven. They both sat over the two shes who were curled up next to each other. "Surprising they can sleep through all that," he whispered. Sandstorm nodded, explaining how her kits could sleep practically anywhere.
~WIP~