~Broken~ Chapter One

Instructions

~+~CHAPTER ONE~+~ "Can't catch me, Storm!" yowls Thistle, as he dodges another one of his sister's paws. "I so can!" counters Storm. "Your just faster right now because I just woke up!" "Not true! I'm always faster than yo-AAHH!" Thistle was thrown backwards from his sisters blow, and he rolls away head over tail. "Got you!" laughs Storm. Adder pads up and picks her son up out of the dirt. "That's enough, you two." she growls affectionately. "You father and I have something we need to talk to you about." "Okay!" the two kits exclaim in unison. Storm trots after her mother as she pads out of the bush, still holding Thistle by the scruff. Bramble, their father, is waiting outside by the maple tree. "Hello, father!" greets the small blue cat. "Good morning, Storm." Bramble responds. "Great day for a journey!" "A journey?" "We'll get to that, sweetheart." soothes Adder through Thistles thick tan fur. "But-" Bramble interrupts Storms protest. "Oh, look! You're fledging!" he exclaims. "What? Really?!" Storm twists and turns, trying to see her own flank where small feathers are just beginning to grow. Then, she gives up and glances towards Thistle. "Hey! Thistle!" she yowls. "You are too!" "Cool!" the tan tom starts thrashing in his mother's grasp trying to see his new feathers. "Stop moving, Thistle. Stop!" growls Adder. Thistle stops thrashing, and his mother sets him down on the leafy ground of new-leaf. A soft breeze whispers through the trees smelling of flowers and sap. "Kits . . . " starts Bramble. "You know that we've been living in the forest for a while, since before you were born." The kits nod. "Well, that's because we're in exile." Storm and Thistle gasp. Bramble continues. "When you were born, your mother and I decided . . . we decided that we would go back to the village. For your sake." Storm looks up at Adder. There's a worried, doubtful look in her eyes. "But will they have us back? We don't know what you did to deserve exile . . . what if it's so bad that they won't let us in?" She asks. "They will." Thistle leaps from one paw to the other and his whiskers twitch distractedly. "That's great and all, but . . . when do we leave?" Bramble looks him directly in the eyes. "Right now."