He wrinkles his nose. "Ew, don' eat me. You can 'ave my sister 'nstead, Bravekit's gunna be better tasting for sure." He really only half believed what his leader said, though he had breezed right past that comment. Why was she being so snippy?? It's not like Hollow had said anything wrong. Unless... oh, no! Had she figured out his plans to usurp her power and take control of all four Clans??? Oh stars, he had to back track now, throw her off his trail... where was Bravekit to bail him out when he needed her!?!
"How did ThunderClan get founded, though? You're our leader, you've gotta know everythin', right?" Yes... yes, flattery would do wonders! No one would suspect they're going to be overthrown by a cat who speaks of them favorably... and Hollowkit doesn't really have to pretend to dislike his leader, either. He's had little reason to look down on her and so far she still hasn't given him any.
"Great, I'll go find her later, then." Bumblestar's tail tapped against the ground in barely concealed irritation. "Look, I haven't a damn clue. Go ask one of the elders or somethin'. I'm barely forty moons old, 'n if you keep asking me stuff about this, I'm gonna make up random crap about cats with wings and fire-breathing lizards 'n feed that to you instead of giving you a serious answer. Okay? Elder's den is wide open." She reached out to prod him with a forepaw. "Get goin'."
Oh, was Bumblestar sleeping? Oopsies! Berrykit bent down, ready to pick up the mouse and the flowers she had dropped. She'd come back again later, no problem! But they were hard to pick up, and her mouth hurt...
A grunt and the sound of shifting moss made her mismatched ears prick. Lifting her head, the torbie-and-white she-kit saw that Bumblestar had woken up... and was now staring at her. Jeepers! Those green eyes were, like, super scary! Bumblestar didn't have a nice face like Mama and Papa. It was a scary face. Yes, a very scary face. Was that why she was the leader? Because she scared people with her scary face? Personally, Berrykit wouldn't want someone with a scary face, but hey, she wasn't the Clan leader.
Huh? Berrykit glanced down at the mouse and the flowers. The flowers were a very pretty yellow, quite bright against the den floor. The mouse smelled really good. The flowers also smelled good. Were they edible? Wait, what was she just thinking? Oh, right! Bumblestar had said something that she'd found weird.
Keep them? But... but they were for her! Berrykit stared at her gifts, then at Bumblestar in astonishment. How would someone else "find more use for them"? They were for her! Did Bumblestar not eat mice? Or flowers? Now Berrykit felt sad. Maybe she didn't like the gifts. Maybe she shouldn't have come here at all...
Oh! Her question! Berrykit had a question! She'd almost forgotten. She listened as Bumblestar explained, her blue-and-gold eyes growing wide. "Ohhhh. Cool! That makes sense!" she squeaked. Mystery #1 solved! What were the other mysteries?
Right. #2: Why doesn't Bumblestar like my gifts? #3: Where did Mama and Hornetkit go, and when will they be back, if at all?
Well, now she felt extra sad. Berrykit didn't like feeling extra sad. Mild sad was easy to push away, but not extra sad. Her eyes began to well with tears.
"B-but I got these for you!" She prepared to nudge them toward Bumblestar, then remembered that she didn't like them. What now? "Do you not eat mice? I'll get you a..." This word always threw her off. "A skirrel! Or a jumper-" she did not care that they were called rabbits "-or do you eat plants? I'll get you plants! Even if they're stinky! I..."
Berrykit collapsed onto the ground and began to sob. When she spoke, her voice was choked and blubbery.
"I dunno! I dunno anything! I wanna know where Mama and Hornetkit went! Why did they disappear? You're the leader! You're smart! Where are they? Why did they leave me?"
oh for the love of everything that enabled her to keep the last remaining scraps of her sanity
Bumblestar's ears flattened against her skull as Berrykit broke down into incredibly noisy sobs. One paw reached out, wavered, and then pulled back a split second later. "Okay- great stars, just- quit that. Hush." Pat. Pat. Two very uncertain, very light taps on the top of Berrykit's head, meant to be comforting but probably coming off as the exact opposite.
Bumblestar pushed a breath through her nose. "I don't know where your mom went, or your sibling," she managed awkwardly. "Lot of cats go missing every moon 'n I can't keep track of 'em all. But I- you know, I'm sure they had a good reason for leaving 'n maybe they'll be back soon."
Utter dung and she knew it, but hopefully Berrykit would buy it, because this blubbering was starting to get mildly aggravating.
Not hearing the approaching footsteps, Swanpaw nearly jumped out of their skin when they felt a touch at their shoulder and subsequently a brush past them into the den. ”I’M SORRRYYY DON’T EAT MEEE!” She wailed, jumping back.
Oh, false alarm. It was Bumblestar. There was just one thing…
That was worse.
Pelt burning hot with embarrassment, Swanpaw looked at the ground and dragged her feet as she followed after the clan’s leader. She was cooked. She had messed up so badly and now she was about to be exiled. She wouldn’t see Mommy, Daddy, Sunpaw, or even Elkpaw again! This was terrible, so very terrible…
”B-bumblyst-star.” She cringed inwardly as she once again made that mistake. Ears pinned against her head, she closed her eyes tightly and crouched down to make herself look smaller. ”M-may I a-a-ask you s-something?” She braced herself for the no, for the yelling she was sure to come. She deserved it after all, how could she mess up so much?
If one more cat shrieked or sobbed in her general direction, Bumblestar was going to tie their muzzle shut. With a self-controlling exhale, she dropped what she had been carrying onto the den floor and turned to stare down at Swanpaw, looking very unamused. "Go ahead."
Re: ThunderClan Leader's Den
