Jaded View: Chapter twenty-three

## Chapter twenty-three

Junglekit leapt as Bloodkit tried to tackle him. The
Junglekit fell on top of Bloodkit, as the pale ginger tom was trying to flee.
Picklekit watched, dappled sunlight flowing onto her fur. Above her, a
snowflake started to fall towards her, *the first snowflake of Winter*, it
fell onto her nose, making her sneeze. “Bless you!” Junglekit and Bloodkit
mewed together, then continued scuffling. More snowflakes fell through the
trees, landing gently onto the ground, “look, it’s starting to snow!” Junglekit
mewed, escaping Bloodkit’s sheathed paws, “I wonder what our territory will
look like soon.”
“I bet the beach will be completely white, except for near the water.” Bloodkit
padded over to where the trees, staring off into the blue horizon. “I’ve always
wondered something, not related to the snow.” Picklekit and Junglekit padded
over to him, “is there anything beyond the water?” Junglekit sat down, his eyes
shining, “well, when me and my old friend went to his home, there were books.
One book had a whole page, a map to be exact, of different places.”
“And where were you on the map?”
“I don’t know, but there was a place called ‘England’, and it was surrounded by
water too.” Picklekit flicked her ear, “‘England’? Sounds strange, but kind of
cool.” Junglekit mewed, flicking his tail, “wait, look! There’s something on
the beach!” Bloodkit flicked his tail towards a sleek, black figure on the
beach, with a pale grey figure padding behind it. “I’ve got to get rid of them,
bye!” Bloodkit ran towards the figures, leaving Picklekit and Junglekit alone.
“We should go hunt, come on!” Junglekit ran off, towards Shadeclan, “hey, wait
up!” Picklekit chased after the tom, avoiding tree branches and thorn bushes.
Then something caught her off guard, a large bramble bush had latched onto her
tail. Picklekit came over to where her tail was trapped, and started to pull
away the brambles, once her tail was free, something hit her nose, a squirrel
was sitting in between a bunch of tree roots. Picklekit crouched down, slowly
stalking closer to the unexpecting prey, she leapt at it, barely catching it
with her paw. She stood up, pulling the squirrel from underneath her paw. She
padded away, making her way towards the river. Snow covered the bank; small
shards of ice had started to form on the surface. As Picklekit jumped over the
river, a strange scent filled her nose once more, then something rammed into
her. She quickly got up, staring up at the cat who had rammed her. It was a
black she, with green eyes, with a pale grey tom closely behind her, the tom
was carrying a mouse, while the she had a shard of ice. “What are you doing on
Shadeclan territory?” Picklekit mewed, her voice trembling, as she tried to
stand tall, “Shadeclan? What is that, some made up place?” The she’s voice was
calm, then she continued, “I come asking you a question, do you wish to join
us?”
“Join who?”
“Us, we are a group of cats, living beyond your rules. There are no boundaries
that we live by, we only live to fulfil what we need to do.” The she flicked
her tail, then padded past Picklekit, placing her tail on the brown she’s
shoulder, “no! I don’t want to.” Picklekit shook her head, stepping away, “then
that is your choice, come along.” She flicked her tail towards the other tom,
then the two continued to pad forwards. Picklekit quickly turned towards where
the camp was, then started to run, her paws kicking up dirt and small bits of
snow. Soon she started seeing the bramble barrier that protected the camp,
behind all the bramble was the giant stones that were used to enter the camp.
She ran past the bramble, slowly turning until she got to the stone wall, as
she leapt onto it, a voice caught her ears, “Picklekit, what are you doing?”
She turned her head, just as Tigerfang came, “Tigerfang! I saw something on the
territory!” She jumped back down, running towards the ginger tabby, “and what
was it?”
“It was a black she cat, green eyes, and a pale grey tom, the tom had some prey
while the she had some ice.” Tigerfang nodded then flicked his tail, “where
were they headed?” The tom meowed, “away from the river, right through our
territory.” Picklekit gulped, “I bet it’s those cats that were mentioned at the
Winter Festival. Come on, let’s get back to camp, and tell Moonlight what you
saw.” The tom meowed, running and leaping at the stone wall. Picklekit followed
him, climbing up onto the cold, flat surface. She waited for Tigerfang to enter
camp, then followed, landing gently on her paws. As they padded through camp
towards Moonlight’s den, Picklekit went over to the prey pile and placed her
squirrel on the pile, then ran back over to Tigerfang. The two came towards
Moonlight’s den, inside, Picklekit could barely see the black and white she
cat. “Moonlight?” Tigerfang stepped closer, flicking his tail, “what do you
want?” The she grumbled, padding over to them, “Picklekit wishes to tell you
something.” The tom meowed, padding past the leader, “and what would that be
exactly?” The she glared at Picklekit, “I saw two cats on our territory, one
was a black she, and the other was-”
“Great, so we have a rogue issue now. I’ll send some cats to go deal with those
two.” Moonlight flicked her tail, padding past Picklekit. “She didn’t even want
to hear the rest.” Picklekit mewed sorrowfully, “don’t worry Picklekit, Moonlight
just has her moments. She’ll get better, one day.” The tom flicked his tail,
“why did she change so much after Darklight died though?” She looked at the
tom, staring into his green eyes, “I’ll tell you, anytime, just come to my den.
I could tell you a lot about clan life as well.” He padded off, towards his
den, “hey, wait up!” Picklekit padded after him, following the ginger tabby to
his den, “I want to know why Moonlight changed when Darklight left.” She mewed
as the tom entered, “already? You really like learning things, don’t you?” The
tom chuckled, flicking his thick tabby tail. “You might as well come in.” Picklekit
followed the tom into the den, darkness covering the two. She sat down in a
small patch of sunlight, while Tigerfang sat on his bedding. “What do you want
to learn about first?” The tom meowed, “about what I asked early, please!” The tom
nodded, “Moonlight isn’t the greatest cat, and the issue with her is that she
needs someone to keep her in check. And Darklight was that cat, with him
around, she had to behave, because if she didn’t, some cat would tell Darklight
about it. Then Darklight died, making no cat keep her in check, and now her
aggression and temper are on show, forever, until she dies.” Picklekit gulped, “and
how long is that?”
“It really depends, she might die due to battle, falling, sickness, hunger,
poison or old age.” *I hope I’m not stuck with her forever,* “anyways, why
don’t I teach you a thing or two about clan rules.” Tigerfang meowed, “sure!”
Picklekit leaned forwards, staring at the tom’s shining green eyes, “first rule
of clan life, don’t be mates or have kits with a cat from another clan. Second
rule, protect your clan with your life, even if it means death.”
“I think I’ve had enough of hearing rules for today.” Picklekit meowed, smiling
awkwardly, “well, that’s all the rules you need to know as a training, when you’re
a warrior there are tons more.” The tom chuckled, “if you want to talk about
anything else, I would love to listen and teach you.” Picklekit smiled at the
tom, “thank you Tigerfang, see you later!” She mewed as she got up and left the
den, “see you later Picklekit.” Tigerfang meowed back. Picklekit skipped
through camp, making her way to the prey pile. She picked out a bird, then
skipped back to her den. As she poked her head in, the sound of silence struck
her. Neither Lilykit nor Snowflight where in the den, their scents slightly
stale. She slumped down in her moss, staring into camp. Only a few cats were in
the clearing, two warriors and one kit. The kit bounded after the warriors,
leaping at their tails. Picklekit smiled, then started to bite into her bird.

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