Snowkit’s Destiny Chapter 3: In the Apprentice Den

Instructions

Snowkit closed his eyes and drifted off into slumber. He dreamt of running about in the snow alongside Jadekit, having snowball fights and building snow cats. A moment later, paws nudged him awake gently, and Snowkit opened his eyes to see the face of Jadekit. “Snowkit, do you feel better now? I’ll get us some prey and then we can go exploring!” Snowkit nodded sleepily, stretching and getting out of his nest. “Okay. Thanks.” As Snowkit looked outside the medicine den’s doorway, he saw that it was very early in the morning; no one else was awake yet. Jadekit returned in a couple of minutes carrying two mice. He dropped one at Snowkit’s feet and began to eat his own hungrily. Snowkit chewed his mouse slowly, imagining all of the things he would get to do as an apprentice. He was nearly five moons old— soon, he would be old enough to start his training. When they both finished their breakfasts, they ran outside, clouds of snow behind them. “Where should we go first?” Jadekit asked, awaiting Snowkit’s answer. “Uh…we could go to the apprentice den?” Snowkit suggested. “I mean, just think how cool it would be to get a sneak peek before we get to live there for real!” “Yeah! Good idea,” Jadekit said, before leading them to the clearing where the apprentice den was nestled in. They tiptoed softly inside, marveling at the open space and sophisticated-looking cats that slept in the nests. Suddenly, one of them woke up. “Hey! What are you two kits doing here?” He snarled, arching his back at them. “Who are you?” Jadekit asked, unfazed by the apprentice’s remark. “Name’s Bristlepaw. Wait a second…ha! Guys, wake up! It’s Nerdkit and klutzy! Aww, they wanna be appwentices too! That ain’t happenin’ today, twerps. Get out of our den!” The two of them walked out of the den quickly. Jadekit was angry, but Snowkit looked expressionless. “So…” Snowkit began, confused. “Who’s Nerdkit and who’s klutzy?” “It doesn’t matter,” Jadekit huffed in frustration. “They think they’re better than you, even though they’re NOT, and so they came up with those STUPID insults to make us scared of them. WELL, GUESS WHAT, BRISTLEPAW! I DON’T GIVE TWO MOUSE-TAILS WHAT YOU SAY! AND WE ARE NOT SCARED OF YOU IN THE SLIGHTEST!” Bristlepaw growled from inside the den and walked out to face them. “Oh, it looks like Nerdkit’s standing up for his new best fwiend! How PWECIOUS!” Bristlepaw laughed mockingly. “Well, guess what? I don’t care! Ha!” He gasped melodramatically and widened his eyes. “Oh, how sad! You’ve never heard those words before, have you! What a shame.” “Have you ever heard the words ‘ta gueule’ before, Bristlepaw?” Snowkit asked. Bristlepaw laughed again. “Ha! And I suppose YOU know what it means!” “It’s French for ‘shut up,'” Snowkit replied with a smirk, trotting back to the medicine den with Jadekit. “Did you see the look on his face?” Jadekit laughed. “He couldn’t BELIEVE that two kits had outsmarted him! Where’d you learn that, anyway?” “My grandma,” Snowkit replied proudly. “Quailfoot. She knows a bit of French, and says that a lot to cats she’s annoyed with.” Jadekit’s eyes widened in awe. “Your grandma sounds awesome. Hey, does your head still hurt, or do you feel better?” Snowkit looked at his paws indecisively. It was true, he DID feel better now, but he wanted to stay in the medicine den and talk to Jadekit. “I’ll stay for tonight,” Snowkit said tiredly. My mother will probably want me back in the nursery tomorrow, anyway.” “Okay,” Jadekit sighed. “Well, I guess that makes sense.” Snowkit smiled at him sympathetically. “Mossball?”