The picture is what Swiftkit looks like XD

~Gingerr

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After being disowned by his mother, Lionkit was like fresh-kill. Most of the clan threw insults him, pushed him around. He didn't particularly enjoy it and as his anger built, so did his self doubt and guilt.

"Leave me alone!" he screamed. The entire group of warriors surrounding him were silent for a moment, then all started laughing, except for one kit.

"You heard him!" Swiftkit stood beside Lionkit, her white pelt easily spotted in the crowd. "He's just a kit, you meanies! You should be ashamed of yourselves!" she screeched at the group. She stood beside Lionkit, her tiny tail waving in the air angrily.

"Swiftkit..." Lionkit whispered, his ears flat.

"Let's go." Swiftkit looked at Lionkit. "I'm coming with you."

"No, stay with your family." Lionkit protested.

"I don't have any except you. Now let's go while we can." She led him out of the huddle and to thecamp entrance, where Lionkit's mother and brothers were already gathered, along with Swiftkit's littermate Berrykit.

A warrior stalked up behind the two and swatted at Lionkit, knocking him down. That's when Lionkit snapped. He flung himself at the warrior, his teeth and claws bared.

"I'll kill you!" he shrieked, clawing the warrior as hard and as fast as he could.

"LIONKIT!" Leopardcry shrieked, pulling the kit off of the warrior.

"Don't touch me!" Lionkit snarled, wildly thrashing to get himself free.

"We're leaving. Now." Leopardcry's teeth sunk into Lionkit's shoulder, and she carried him out, running. Darkkit and Skykit were on her back, and Swiftkit and Berrykit were running to catch up.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That night Leopardcry sheltered in a small burrow that reeked of stale fox scent. She didn't have much choice, since it was raining outside. She kept Darkkit and Skykit well away from Lionkit, excluding him from any conversation that was shared.

Swiftkit and Berrykit finally arrived soaking wet and exhausted. They'd had to follow Leopardcry's scent to find them. As Lionkit was licking his shoulder wound, the soaked ball of fur that was Swiftkit barreled into him, squealing in relief.

"Hi Swiftkit." Lionkit replied dully, a small smile on his face.

"Lionkit! Finally!" Swiftkit giggled.

"Yes, finally." A familiar voice sounded behind them. Lionkit just about jumped out of his pelt.

"W-what are you doing here?" Leopardcry asked, shakiness in her tone of voice.

"You left me." Scruff stalked into the den, snarling. "Now you'll be punished." Scruff unsheathed his claws, and clawed one side of Leopardcry's face, rendering her eye on that side useless. She screamed in agony as the searing pain raced through her, and shrank away from Scruff.

"W-who's that?" Swiftkit whispered to Lionkit.

"That's... That's my father." Lionkit replied with a small sigh.

"Who's this?" Scruff whipped around, facing Lionkit and Swiftkit. He made a move toward Swiftkit, but Lionkit stood in his way.

"She's my friend. And you're going to leave her alone." Lionkit growled. He had grown, but was still much smaller than his father.

"Am I?" Scruff raised a brow and shoved the kit aside. He pushed Swiftkit down to the ground and inspected her. "I don't like her. Not pretty enough."

"Leave my sister alone!" Berrykit hurled himself at Scruff. He was a considerably large tom, but was still not big enough to takcle Scruff. Scruff simply grabbed Berrykit by the scruff and shook him. There was a terrible snapping sound, and Berrykit went limp.

"How dare you!" Lionkit hissed, swiping his father's face with his claws. Four angry lines of blood appeared and an unearthly growl rose from Scruff's throat. He reached his jaws for Swiftkit, his fangs bared, but Lionkit was quicker.

In one quick motion, Lionkit bit his father's throat, stretching his small jaws around as much as he could. Blood flooded into his mouth, making Lionkit gag, but he held on and tugged with all of his might. He felt something break and fell backwards, covered in blood. A horrified scream left his mother's lips as Scruff's body went limp. Dead.

"I-I didn't mean to..." Lionkit whispered hoarsely.

"You're a monster." Skykit hissed. Even Swiftkit looked terrified of him.

"Look what you did now, mouse-brain." Darkkit hissed, padding up to Lionkit. "You ruined everything. And now you're a murderer. I hate you more than I did before." he hissed. Lionkit felt more alone than ever. Before any of them could say anything else Lionkit would be hurt by, Lionkit ran outside in the pouring rain, the blood streaking his pelt red as the rain washed it out.

Tears fell from his eyes as the kit ran. He was afraid, so afraid of what would happen next. Would his family abandon him? Would Swiftkit still be his friend? Would his mother kill him for what he'd done? He didn't know, and that alone terrified him. After a while he became exhausted and stumbled up to the edge of a river. He fell on the muddy bank, turning his belly fur dark brown with mud.

He laid there for what felt like days, all by himself and soaked. He didn't bother looking for food, knowing that he wasn't knowledgeable enough to find food by himself. He didn't have any kind of training, and wouldn't be able to hunt anyway. So he just sat beside the water, staring into the depths while dreaming of an entirely different world.

"Lionkit...." a voice came to his through the thick fog of his thoughts.

"W-who's there?" Lionkit asked in confusion.

"Come to the forest, Lionkit. You have proven yourself worthy..." the voice enticed him. It was like Lionkit was in a trance. All other thoughts faded from his mind as he was taken away to this forest place, drifting out of consciousness...

"Lionkit...?" Swiftkit's voice broke him from his trance, and Lionkit's head shot upwards in surprise and almost disbelief.

"What do you want?" Lionkit answered, his voice hoarse. He averted his eyes shamefully from Swiftkit's.

"I want you to come back..." She shuffled closer to Lionkit.  "You're all I have left now that Berrykit is dead. I need you. Darkkit tries to bully me and take advantage of me. I... Help me." she whispered, her amber eyes glittering with fresh tears.

Lionkit growled, a spark of rage igniting within him. If there was one lesson Darkkit could've taken away from the murder of their father, it should have been not to mess with Swiftkit. He himself wouldn't admit it, but he did have a bit of a crush. She was pretty and nice, and they got along.

Lionkit quickly rose to his paws, but slipped backwards, into the merciless current of the river.