Best Friends Forever

Flintkit blinked his sleepy eyes, he shivered as a cool breeze blew by and looked around, beside him was his sister, Cherrykit and...that's it? That can't be right, where's mama?

Flintkit shuffle to the edge of the nest, his sister still sleeping soundly, unaware of her surroundings, but Flintkit was wide awake now, he can hear distant murmurs just outside of the nursery, it sounds like he found his parents.

He started creeping closer, he knew his bright red pelt was a dead giveaway in the darkness, so his best bet was making others think he was still tucked away in bed, sleeping with Cherrykit, not sneaking around and eavesdropping on his parents' private conversations.

"You can't be serious!" Flintkit heard his mama cry in dismay, "You have to stay here with the kits, the clan only wants my head, they'll leave you alone!"

"I'm going with you Flamegust, I made a promise, I'm not gonna break it," His other parent replied stubbornly, "Especially not now, not when you need me the most, if the clan won't listen to reason and this is your only choice...then I'm coming with you."

Flamegust sounded frenzied and extremely worked up now, "What about the kits, Riftspark?! We can't leave them behind, but they're too young to travel that kind of distance!" She started raising her voice during her distress.

"Sush! Someone might hear you!" Riftspark hissed, Flintkit's tail bristled slightly but he remained where he was, pricking his ears forward to hear them better. "And they've already weaned, they technically don't need us anymore, plus Windwhistle isn't the type of cat to neglect a kit in need, they'll be fine."

Flintkit heard his mama let a kit-like whine, "B-but, Riftsp-" "Hun please," They cut her off, "You can't talk me out of this, I've made up my mind, I'm coming with you." They said firmly. "We can sneak away now, it's a moonless night, it'll be easier to hide in the shadows without the moon's glow."

Flintkit started to put the puzzle pieces together and panic fluttered in this stomach, he rushed out and hugged his mama's paw, wrapping his tiny paws around their wrist like a bear, "Mama! Please don't go!" He cried.

The red tabby jumped, her eyes widening in shock, "Flintkit?! What are doing? Why aren't you sleeping?" But he ignored Flamegust's questions, he looked up at his mama, eye round and teary, "Please...don't go! I still need you mama!"

Riftspark and Flamegust fell silent as they communicated to each other through their gaze, the only sound that could be heard was the kit's sobs and sniffles. Eventually Riftspark pried Flintkit away from Flamegust's arm, "Flintkit listen to me," They mewed softly.

Flintkit rubbed away his tears and looked up at his parent, the brown and white tabby gave him an affectionate lick on the forehead, "Me and mama have to go away for a bit, you gotta be strong and take care of your sister for us, okay?"

"But why?!" He wailed, tears spilling out again, Riftspark quickly hushed him, "You'll understand when you're older, but for now you gotta learn how to stay strong without us, be good and take care of Cherrykit."

Flintkit looked glanced at his parents, "Do you have to leave..?" He asked timidly, already knowing the answer before Flamegust could even open her mouth, "Yes...I'm sorry but we have to go soon," She looked up at the sky, "Riftspark, we're running out of time."

Riftspark nodded and herded Flintkit back inside the nursery, "Promise not to tell anyone where we went, okay?" "...okay." It's not like he knew why or where they're going anyway, "Good kit," They licked his forehead again, "We love you and your sister, so very much, please understand that...if things were different...we would never in Starclan choose to leave."

Flintkit looked at his paws, from what he heard it sounded like his parents did chose to leave them, but nonetheless, he mumbled another "...okay." and that seems to satisfied them, and without another look, they took off into the night. Flintkit watched them leave and still stayed still in his spot for much longer than needed since his parents has long disappeared into the night.

He only crept back to the nest when he heard Cherrykit mumble and grunt in her sleep. It only felt like he closed his eyes than less than a second when a sharp yowl woke him up. Cherrykit was beside him but instead of slumbering she was wide awake and rigid, her fur standing on end.

Flintkit jumped awake in alarm, "Cherrykit? What's wrong?" He squeaked with worry, his sister's blue eyes were wide with distress, "Our mamas are gone! They're gone!" She cried, Flintkit's stomach did a flip, he hugged Cherrykit in attempt to comfort her while his mind raced.

Cherrykit trembled in his embrace, whining and whimpering, Flintkit eventually pulled away and told her to stay put while he went to investigate, she nodded and curled up into a spiky ball of fur.

Flintkit already knew he's not going to find their parents, he's mainly curious on how the rest of the clan was going to react, maybe he'll find out why they left, though he doubted it, adults never told kits anything.

Flintkit watched a patrol return, the leader of the patrol stepped up and started reporting to another much older warrior, "We found their scent trail but it went straight past the border." They announced,

"So they're gone? Like for good?" A molly standing nearby asked loudly.

"It seems so..." The patrol leader shrugged, seemingly unaffected by the disappearance of the two warriors.

An elder snorted gleefully, "Good riddance!" Flintkit cringed as a murmur of agreement filled the camp, what did his parents do to deserve this? He looked around and saw an apprentice eating a jerboa alone in the corner, he padded over and couldn't help but noticed the flash of disgust in their eyes when they saw him.

"What do you want?" They growled with hostility, eyes narrowing down at the kit, Flintkit gulped nervously, "I-I just want to know what's going on..." He said in a small voice, the apprentice snorted in disbelief, "Why don't you ask your mom? Oh wait- you can't."

They sneered mockingly, their wide smirk showed all their sharp teeth, making Flintkit step back in fear. The apprentice chuckled, "Why can't you do us all a favor and follow your parents' pawsteps? I can't stand being near you." Flintkit swallowed his fear and stood up tall, "I don't even know what happened!"

They rolled their eyes, "Then bother someone else with your presence, I don't want cats to think you like me or even worse, that I like you!" They gave him a dangerous glare, their claws unsheathing just a little, Flintkit squeaked, "B-but you-"

"Get out of my sight!" They swiped at him, Flintkit luckily dodge just in time so their claws only snagged a small tuft of red fur, he stared at them in terror before running away. He ran into a few more warriors and apprentices, but all of them either ignored him, treated him like an enemy warrior or avoided him. No one was willing to tell him what happened.

The red kit padded back into the nursery in defeat, thinking about how to break the news to his sister, but before he even made it halfway across the den, he was stopped by his denmates, a small spark of hope ignited, maybe his fellow kits could tell him what's going on.

"Hi Brownkit! Hello Thicketkit!" He greeted friendly, hoping that they wouldn't hear the forced cheerfulness in his voice. Brownkit tsked, looking at him up and down while Thicketkit circled him like a hungry coyote.

Flintkit was immediately unnerved but kept the smile on his face, "Um c-can I ask you guys a question? I was wondering if you knew what was happening in camp? I-I tried asking but nobody would answer." In the corner of his eye, he saw Cherrykit's head poke out over their nest.

Thicketkit laughed, "Wait, of all cats, you don't know what's happening?" He broke down in a laughing fit, "Brownkit are you hearing this?" He managed to choke out between his chuckles. The other kit rolled his eyes but seems to be amused, "Yea I'm not deaf Thicket, but wow Flintkit, you really are stupid."

Flintkit's smile dropped, he glanced at them with uncertainty, "So m-maybe you could tell me..?" This only made Thicketkit laugh harder until Brownkit had to hit him on the gut and tell him to shut up before he stopped.

Brownkit gave him a cold glare, "Flamegust is a murderer, she killed Trackstar." He said nonchalantly, "For being their kit, I thought you'd know, guess that confirms my theory that you're just a spoiled little brat." He chuckled while Thicketkit pat him on the back for making a good burn.

"Wh-what..?" Flintkit's eyes widen and his jaws went slack, "Murder..? But- mama would never do that!" He could feel his eyes tearing up again, is this what Riftspark meant when they said 'you'll understand when you're older'? That his mama was a cold blooded killer?

"I don't believe you!" Flintkit cried, Thicketkit had a shit-eating grin on her face, "Awww wittle baby Fwinty is crwing!" She mocked him while getting way too close to his face for comfort.

"S-stop that! It's not funny!" He meowed while hot tears rolled down his face, Thicketkit dropped her act and bared his teeth, "Stop crying before I give you a real reason to cry then!" He sneered.

Flintkit didn't have enough time to react as the air was knock out of him, his back was up against the wall while Thicketkit forcefully shoved his head into the ground. Flintkit cried out in pain, begging him to let go. "Wow! You're weaker than I thought!" Thicketkit snickered, slowly digging his claws into his skull.

Brownkit simply stood back, watching with amusement dancing in his eyes, Flintkit flailed his paws, trying to pry the bigger kit off of him to no avail. Suddenly a sharp high pitched shout made Thicketkit halt, "Stop it! Get off of him!" A black tabby kit shove past Brownkit and stood firmly in front of the two tussling kits.

"Oh look it's Bigears!" The light brown tabby kit cackled in delight, "Trying to play hero, are we?" Thicketkit licked her jowls, looking hungry for battle, but Daykit didn't seemed scared or intimidated, she glared her down with bright green eyes, "Leave him alone."

Brownkit suddenly perked up, "How bout this Bigears? We leave Flintkit alone in exchange for you to be our punching bag, what do you say?" He held out his paw, Thicketkit nodded eagerly in agreement, "Yea! I'm an energetic kit, I need to release all that energy somehow!"

Daykit trembled a bit seeing the two bigger kits gang up on her, but she still met Brownkit's eye unblinkingly, "You shouldn't be beating anyone up! Just leave us alone!" Daykit retorted. Brownkit tsked in disappointment, "You're no fun." He turned to his friend and winked, "You know what to do."

Thicketkit smirked and let Flintkit go, only to crash right into Daykit, pinning her down easily, "N-no!" Flintkit coughed, he tried to scramble up but Brownkit shoved him down again, the red kit stared up at him with wide scared eyes.

Brownkit's body blocked out the light so Flintkit was engulfed by his shadow, "What is wrong with you?" He mewed cooly, "You need someone else to save you? And all of cats, Bigears is the one?" Brownkit let out a hollow laugh, "How pathetic."

Flintkit pressed his back harder into the wall, "I-I think it's noble!" He defended her, but he couldn't keep the fearful tremble out of his voice. Brownkit rolled his eyes, "What you're gonna be friends after Thicketkit's done with her now? You're gonna become mates and live happily ever after?"

He gave another hollow chuckle, "Yea right! Listen Flintkit, I think you have potential, if you join me and Thicketkit, we could be unstoppable!" He gave him a charming smile, but Flintkit couldn't tell if it was genuine or not.

In the distance, Daykit let out a pain filled screech, anger flared up in the red kit, he slapped the brown kit right across his face, "I'm not joining your bullying group! Leave me alone!" He yelled.

Brownkit hissed in pain, anger flashed in his eyes but it went as quickly as it came, he gave him another smile, "See? Potential. And we're not bullying, we're having fun, it's what friends do. You can learn a thing or two from us."

Before Flintkit could finish processing Brownkit's words, he turned around where Daykit and Thicketkit were still fighting, the light brown tabby was clearly winning as he was much bigger and stronger than his opponent.

Brownkit whistled, "Thicketkit! Let's go." The other kit stopped mid swing and bounded obediently over, Brownkit turned to look behind his shoulder and gave Flintkit one last look before stalking off, his friend following close behind.

Daykit panted as she limped over to Flintkit, "A-are you alright?" Her breath was heavy and one of her paws seems to be swollen, but Flintkit's mind was off in the clouds, he couldn't keep his eyes off of the two brown tabbies.

It was only when Daykit nudged him while waving her tail in front of him till he snapped back to reality, "O-oh um...yea I'm fine, thanks." He quickly picked himself up and left the scene before the black kit could say another word.

Cherrykit stared at him with wide eyes, he knew there was a million questions running in her head, but he just flopped down in the nest without sparing her a glance, "I'm tired..." He mumbled, "Goodnight." "But it's morning-"

Flintkit's head shot up and glared daggers at his sister, "I said goodnight!" He snapped, Cherrykit got the message and didn't bother him for the rest of the day while Flintkit sulked in his nest, pretending to be asleep whenever other kits or monarchs passed.

Over the next few days, Brownkit and Thicketkit would come and beat him up, he started fighting back and Brownkit praised him every single time he 'won', they kept inviting them to 'play' with Daykit, saying it's what friends do.

Flintkit rejected at first, Daykit did save him from Thicketkit after all, but after awhile, he started to feel lonely. He only felt at ease with his sister but she had other friends to hangout with, Flintkit didn't get it, how come nobody minds Cherrykit's presence but hated his?

When he asked her, she just shrugged and said, "It's easy, just talk to them." But that never worked for him, his only choice was Daykit herself, but whenever he walked up to her, Brownkit and Thicketkit would always be around the corner.

Taunting her and sometimes getting violent, Brownkit would start his whole 'potential speech' to get Flintkit to be their friend. When he refused Thicketkit would punt him on the walls until he somehow escaped, Brownkit would praise him, tell him this is how friends treat each other and leave.

And finally, one day. He cracked.

The brown tabby kits walked up to Daykit while her siblings and father were away and started mocking her about her big ears, Flintkit walked up to them, standing beside Brownkit, he was so lonely, he just wanted friends to talk to and hangout with.

He was sick of the whispers and glares, at least with Brownkit and Thicketkit by his side, he would be distracted and it would be easier to ignore the whispers over the sound of Thicketkit's laughter.

Thicketkit raised a brow while Brownkit stared expediently at him, Daykit's eyes flashed with relief but that was quickly shattered when Flintkit started to sneer mockingly at her.

"Y'know, Thicketkit is right, you really do look stupid with those big ears, like I'm surprised you haven't been blown away by the wind or something yet." Flintkit snickered, watching the hurt and betrayal flash in Daykit's green eyes.

Brownkit had a smile on his face, he patted Flintkit's back with his tail while nodding in approval, "Glad you finally came to your senses." Thicketkit bumped into his chest with with her head, cheering loudly, "That's what I like to see Flinty!"

Flintkit flushed from all the attention, his chest swelled with pride, "You were right Brownkit, I really did have a lot of potential." Brownkit flicked his ear and rolled his eyes dismissively, "Yea, you should've just listened to me."

Flintkit's smile wavered a bit but he held his head high, he looked back to Daykit and realized that she had slipped away while they were distracted, "Uh Bigears got away." He pointed out.

"What? Ugh we barely had any fun!" Brownkit stomped his paw on the ground in annoyance, "Ugh whatever, we still have you." He stared into Flintkit's eyes, he can hear Thicketkit giggling behind him.

Flintkit shifted his gaze between the two kit frantically, "Huh? What do you mean?" He dared to asked. Thicketkit hooked an arm around Flintkit's shoulder, "Well the point of having friends is to have fun together!"

She suddenly pushed him muzzle-first into the ground, Flintkit rolled to his paws immediately so Thicketkit wouldn't get the upper paw, he knew her tricks, "I-I thought we're friends now! Why are you doing this?"

Brownkit clicked his tongue, "We are friends!" He wacked the red kit in the nose, making him yowl in pain, "This is how friends have fun!" He explained with a sweet smile, "Plus, you still need to work on your fighting skills, we're just trying to help you!"

Flintkit scrambled up to his paws again, his nose throbbing with pain, but he held back his cries of pain and tears, simply nodding in understanding, "O-oh, yea you're right, I...do need training, don't I?" He chuckled.

Brownkit had a satisfied look on his face, "Exactly, we're best friends now." He held out his paw and Flintkit took it without a moment's hesitation, "Best friends forever?"

"Best friends forever."