Chapter Text
Tiny stumbled as the kit in his jaws squirmed again, mewing weakly. Setting the kit down to prevent dropping him, Tiny curled around him, trying to offer comfort to the scared and likely hungry kit. They'd crossed some sort of boundary, he could smell it, even as tired as he was, and it couldn't be to long before they'd be found. Another weak mew from his little brother had Tiny tucking the two of them under a bush nearby, trying to avoid the worst of the early newleaf cold, only getting worse as sunset wore on. After a short time the kit fell asleep, kneading against Tiny's belly, likely wishing for his mother.
A rush of scents hit him then, familiar to that border they'd crossed, and Tiny shot to his paws, crouching in front of the bush just in time for a group of cats to appear from between the trees. At the lead was a tabby, a blue-grey she-cat bounding after him with a golden tom behind her.
"I told you I smelled something!" The tabby cried, looking to the two older cats as they observed Tiny.
"Well done Runningpaw." The she-cat meowed, using her tail to push the younger cat back. "What is a kittypet doing on Thunderclan territory?"
"I..." Tiny froze, he didn't really have a plan to be honest. He just couldn't be in the house, not with Rusty.
"Well?"
"I don't know!" He yelped, crouching down further. "My father and our housefolk are gone!" The she-cat looked startled, and the younger tom bristled behind her.
"You're alone?" The tom spoke then, his voice gentle. Tiny nodded, trying to step back subtly as he realized just how big the tom was, but his paw hit the ball of fluff behind him, startling a mew from Rusty, and causing him to freeze again. "What was that?"
"Nothing!" Rusty mewed again, louder, as if to protest his brother's hiding him. Damn kit didn't know they were faced with wild cats.
"Doesn't sound like nothing." Runningpaw spoke up, peering around the two older cats.
"It sounds like a kit." The she-cat spoke then, eyes narrowed.
"And if it is?" Tiny hissed, pinning his ears and placing himself fully between the three and his brother. The two older cats looked surprised, but Runningpaw scowled.
"We wouldn't hurt a kit!"
"You're forest cats, they've hurt kits before." Tiny hissed again. "Spots said a forest cat told his kit to attack him just for being in their territory!"
"No one in Thunderclan would-!"
"Runningpaw, hush." The she-cat spoke then, stepping forward. "I'm sure you've heard quite some tales, but I promise you, we won't hurt you, or any kit with you." Tiny narrowed his eyes, but a plaintive meow from Rusty had him shifting closer, trying to comfort his brother despite his anxiety. "It sounds young."
"He is." Tiny confirmed, eyeing her cautiously. "Papa only brought him home a few days ago, his Mama's housefolk didn't want him, so our housefolk was feeding him."
"He must be hungry." She meowed, and Tiny saw the tom and Runningpaw exchange glances. "He definitely sounds too young to be away from his mother." Tiny hunched closer over Rusty, ears pinned and eyes darting between the three cats.
"We'll leave, just, please, don't hurt him." He mewed, feeling the exhaustion hit him, unsure where they would go.
"Runningpaw, go back to the camp, tell the Queens that I have a favor to ask of them and let Spottedleaf know that we have someone in need of shelter." The she-cat meowed then, sending the younger tom running with a simple order. "What is your name, kittypet?"
"...Tiny?" He mewed, bewildered as the golden tom purred in amusement.
"Well Tiny, we certainly aren't the kind of cats to send a hungry kit into the cold. Come with us, we'll get him fed."
"You will?" Tiny's head shot up, ears pricked and eyes wide.
"Yes." She smiled at him, and looked to the tom. "Lionheart and I will help you back to camp. Can we carry him?"
"No." Tiny felt that fear stab again. "He's my brother, so he's my responsibility." Tiny stated, stepping back into the bush to pick up Rusty again, pushing his sore legs to stand again.
"Of course. Lionheart, let's go." The two cats walked on either side of him, leading the way through the thick forest. Tiny felt himself flagging, belly tightening with hunger and jaws sore from holding the now squirming kit, but refused to put him down even as he slowed, lagging behind the two older cats. After a longer walk that Tiny wanted to think about, they made their way down into a ravine, the sandy soil slipping under Tiny's tired paws as they pushed through some gorse into a large clearing colored red by the deep colors of sunset.
"Bluestar!" A call came from a large bramble bush nearby, a pale grey she-cat trotting out. "You had a favor to ask?" The darker she-cat smiled, touching noses with the newcomer.
"I do, Willowpelt. Do you think you have milk enough for an extra kit?" The she-cat looked confused before she looked to Tiny and Rusty. "He's been separated from his mother."
"Of course, Bluestar." She meowed, stepping around the other she-cat to look at Tiny. "Hello, young one. Do you mind if I take him to the nursery, my kit is there, as are the other queens and kits. He'll be safe." Her voice was soft, and Tiny searched her blue eyes for any sign of a lie before gently setting Rusty down.
"Promise you won't hurt him?"
"I swear." Willowpelt was solemn, and Tiny nodded, watching intently as the she-cat picked up Rusty and disappeared into the bramble bush.
"Willowpelt is a great mother, and has been a brave warrior for several moons. Your brother will be safe." Bluestar meowed to him, jolting him from his thoughts. He nodded to her, and shrunk when he realized that other cats in the clearing were eyeing them.
"Bluestar!" Another voice caught Tiny off guard, scurrying behind Bluestar as he saw a tortoiseshell tom trotting up. Sharp amber eyes glanced at Tiny before looking to the she-cat. "We wondered what was going on when Runningpaw came back alone, talking about kittypets and the queens."
"Sorry to worry you, Redtail." She purred. "We ran into Tiny and his brother on patrol."
"And couldn't leave a kit to starve." The tom finished, smiling. "Suppose we should find a place for Tiny, and perhaps some fresh-kill?"
"That would be wonderful, thank you Redtail." Bluestar meowed, watching the tom trot off, calling over a few other cats. "Redtail is my deputy, his word is second only to mine here." She eyed Tiny.
"I see why his name is Redtail." Tiny shocked himself with the statement, surprising a purr from Lionheart and Bluestar as his ears flattened in embarrassment.
"It is distinctive." Lionheart commented, smiling at Tiny. "How old are you?"
"... six moons?" Tiny eyed the tom, who glanced at Bluestar.
"Barely as old as our apprentices." She nodded, but turned away when someone else called for her, a dark brown tabby across the clearing.
"Lionheart, can you take Tiny to get some fresh-kill?"
"Of course." He nosed Tiny away as Bluestar trotted towards the tom.
"There... there are so many cats."
"Most of them are warriors, those who hunt and defend the clan, like myself." Lionheart stated as they reached a pile of prey. He plucked a mouse and a shrew from the pile, dropping the mouse in front of Tiny.
"I... I've never had fresh-kill." Tiny mewed, pinning his ears with shame as he looked up at Lionheart. The older tom just purred, bending to take a bite of the shrew.
"Give it a try, I'm sure you'll like it." As he bent to take a bite, Tiny eyed the rest of the cats in the clearing. Runningpaw was sitting by a brown she-cat and tabby tom by a tree stump, he and the she-cat wrestling. Bluestar was laying near the massive rock in the clearing, sharing prey with Redtail and a tortoiseshell she-cat.
"I've never seen so many cats living together." He whispered to Lionheart as they ate.
"Have you told him that this isn't even the only clan, yet?" Tiny yelped in shock as another cat stepped up next to Lionheart, a similarly colored she-cat. "Sorry to startle you."
"There... there are more clans?!"
"Three others." She stated, purring as Lionheart gave her a light nudge. She introduced herself as Goldenflower, Lionheart's littermate, and the two explained the clans to Tiny. Finally relaxing with the littermates, Tiny felt himself starting to lull into sleep when someone gently nosed him in the side.
"Come with me, we have a nest for you." Tiny blinked blearily up at Redtail before pushing himself to his paws to trudge tiredly after the deputy as he slipped into a fern tunnel, nosing Tiny over to a nest of moss that the younger tom fell into gratefully. "We'll talk with you in the morning, sleep."