Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Batkit's P.O.V
"I want to leave the camp too!" Batkit complained, glaring up at Nightwing. The Deputy was about to take Redpaw out to train. He would test the apprentice's hunting skills, which Batkit believes should include him as well. Even if he's never hunted or even had fresh kill before. He's a quick study. He had a thing or two to teach these soft kittypets. There was nothing tougher than a Deathclan cat, except maybe his father.
"Batkit, it isn't safe for you outside the camp. Do you want Pearlshine to flay my tail?" Nightwing mewed his patience slowly draining.
"Yes! I am no kitten, you sorry excuse for a deputy!" Batkit hissed, his fur spiking furiously as he slammed his paws on the ground in anger.
"Batkit! Respect your deputy!" Batstar's booming voice sounded from his den. Batkit flinched at the sudden noise and solemnly watched his father's imposing figure approach them. Nightwing's tail flicked, his paws digging into the dirt.
"I can hold my own against a kit, Batstar," Nightwing mewed in mild annoyance. Batstar regarded Nightwing with an emotionless stare before looking back at Batkit.
"Come, let Nightwing continue his duties," Batstar mewed, padding back towards his den. Batkit perked up and followed his father eagerly, ignoring the hardening in Nightwing's eyes. Batkit has been desperate to earn his father's respect. Showing his strength in and outside of combat. Though he hasn't been allowed to participate in any battles because he's a kit. Which is ridiculous, of course. How can he show Batstar he's worth being in the clan if he can't fight or hunt prey? Mother always said that he needed to earn his place in the clan and prove that he was worthy of being the clan leader.
Batstar scruffed Batkit and carried him over to his nest, tucking Batkit against his belly. Batkit grew tense, flinching when Batstar loomed over him. The warm tongue raking over his head made him pause. The feeling was new and strange. Comforting and gentle. It wasn't a show of dominance or a promise of later pain. Deathstar had never allowed him into his nest. Batkit remembered getting close once and Deathstar swiped him across the head, one of his claws piercing a deep cut above his eye. His mother took him to her nest after he had been to the medicine den. She hid her anger in front of Deathstar, but had cursed his name when they were alone. Everyone in Batclan always said that the way Deathclan raised kits was wrong, and he decided to stay in Batclan, but Deathstar's training made him strong. It was necessary to make sure he was strong enough to lead a clan. Batkit looked up at his father, who glanced down at him mildly.
"Father, when will I be allowed to leave the camp?" Batkit asked. Batstar huffed in exasperation.
"When you are 6 moons old!" Batstar mewed firmly. "You will be a kitten until you are apprenticed to a Warrior!" He continued fervently.
"I don't need anyone to teach me, I already know everything I need to," Batkit boasted.
"You have a lot to learn, Batkit," Batstar mewed sternly, giving Batkit no room to disagree. Batkit pouted grumpily, scrunching up his tiny face. "You need to learn to care for others, leading a clan isn't just bloodshed."
"I care..." Batkit mewed weakly, sadness and anger twisting inside of him.
"I do not see that you do," Batstar mewed. "My parents, do you know what happened to them?" Batkit's heart picked up, his fur feeling suffocating.
"No."
"When I was a kitten, my parents and I went hunting together. They were teaching me how to catch my own prey. However, we strayed too close to Twoleg-place. Two dogs came out of the garden of a green coloured house. They rushed my parents. I-I can still hear the sound of my mother's pearl collar splaying on the ground," Batstar's voice was thick with emotion. The leader stood from the nest and turned to face Batkit. "Death isn't so simple. Loss should hurt. In Batclan, we mourn, we care for each other, and we certainly don't let our kits get hurt!" Batstar mewed firmly.
Batkit scowled, he couldn't believe he had to wait until he was 6 whole moons before he could start his warrior training.
"Even now, you care little for our ways," Batstar mewed, turning away from Batkit sluggishly. Batkit's anger fell from his face, guilt taking its place.
"I'm sorry, father," Batkit mewed, pawing at a moss clump. Batstar shook his head.
"Come, the Superclan border needs to be re-scented and I know you won't stay put even if I tell you to," Batstar mewed mildly.
Batkit sulked from atop Batstar's back, watching Blackbat pad behind Batstar. The she-cat gave him a smile, purring even as he scowled at her. Batkit glanced behind him, checking if the Superclan border was near. It wasn't. He looked back to see that Blackbat was still staring at him.
"What are you staring at, mangy she-cat!" Batkit hissed, embarrassed enough to be lugged about by his father without the she-cat warrior gawking at him.
"Batkit! What did I say about respecting your clanmates!" Batstar scolded fiercely, stopping his pace for only a moment. Batkit flinched, his ears drawing back. When Batkit looked back, the she-cat didn't seem to be put off by his insult, still gazing at him fondly.
"Batkit, you can get off now, but please behave," Batstar mewed. Batkit jumped off of his father's back, watching him and Blackbat scenting the Superclan border. He eyed the sloping valley that made up the superclan border, imagining the invisible line between the clans. His silent surveillance came to a halt as his eyes caught figures moving towards the border, towards them!
"Batstar! We are being invaded," Batkit mewed in a manic whisper. He looked to his father for orders before remembering what he had said earlier. No fighting. No battles. No honour. No way to prove himself useful and earn his place beside his blood kin.
"It's just Superclan, Batkit!" His father scruffed him and plopped him against his stomach, raking his tongue over him fervently. His fur was smoothed and scented, his whiskers straightened and his tail fluffed. Batkit's eyes grew wide, gazing up at his father in confused suspicion. What was he doing? This was different from normal grooming sessions. It was almost like Batstar was going to present him to someone. Batkit's heart skipped a beat. Was his father giving him away? Had he been that bad?
"Batstar! It's great to see you!" A voice sounded from the other side of the border. Batkit shifted uneasily as the huge tom approached them, tailed by two other cats and... a kitten. Batkit froze, his eyes fixed on the tiny, pathetic-looking creature.
"Batkit, this is Superkit, son of Lotusleaf and Superstar," Batstar mewed proudly, encouraging him forward with a paw.
"Our little Superkit has heard a lot about you, he's been so excited to meet you!" Mewed a calico she-cat. Batkit tilted his head, his muzzle scrunched up in confusion.
"Why would he want to meet me? We're from rival clans!" Batkit hissed.
"Batclan and Superclan will never be rivals. Our kin have fought alongside each other since the dawn of the Clans," Batstar mewed, sharing a proud look with Superstar. Batkit withered with relief. He wasn't being handed off like a piece of crow food again. He was just getting used to his new home, and he didn't want to leave it.
Batkit approached the Superclan kit warily, scenting the air around him. He smelled like milk and fish, probably from living on an island in the middle of a lake.
"You smell like fish," Batkit said matter-of-factly. Superkit purred in amusement.
"You smell like adder and..." The kitten grew quiet, eyes slitted in concentration as he scented him.
"Death?" Batkit spat, smirking evilly at the fear in the Superclan kit's eyes.
"So he is of Deathclan," a whisper spoke from the Superclan she-cat, a hint of distaste in her voice. Batkit glanced at the other Superclan cats warily, disconcerted by their judgment of his birth clan. He may not be a part of Deathclan physically anymore, but there will always be Deathclan blood in him.
"Whoa! I heard that your mama is a kittypet. Is she still in your clan, or did she go back to her twolegs?" Superkit asked. Batkit bristled, his back arching in fury that accompanied a familiar insecurity.
"Don't talk about Pearlshine like that!" He screeched and tackled the Superclan kit into the grass.
"Batkit!" Batstar scolded, yanking the hissing kitten off of Superkit by the scruff. Batkit could hear voices around him, but he was too blinded by anger to hear. He just closed his eyes, letting his father carry him away from the Superclan cats.