Moon 2, Part 6
“Why doesn’t Bleakspeckle like us?” Tanglekit muttered.
“Bleakspeckle doesn’t like anyone,” Darkkit said from beside him. They were lounging in the nursery, watching Currentkit, Sparkkit, and Scratchkit play just outside. He paused, then added, “Except Honeypaw, but she’s gone now.”
“Is that why he doesn’t like anyone? Because Honeypaw isn’t here?”
“Nah, he didn’t like anyone way before that.” Darkkit sighed. “I kinda get it, though. Honeypaw was nice.” He lifted his head and leaned into Tanglekit’s space. “You guys met her, right?”
Tanglekit gave him a bat on the head, claws sheathed, to make him back off, making him laugh. “No, but our momma did.”
“She’s not our momma anymore,” Freezekit suddenly said from behind them. He was doing something to his nest. He claimed he was making it better, but Tanglekit didn’t know how that was possible; the nests they had now were already the softest they had ever slept in. “She’s not here anymore, remember?”
“Just ‘cause she’s not here doesn’t mean she’s not our momma,” Tanglekit snapped.
“But she could’ve been, right?” Darkkit asked. He flinched a little when Tanglekit turned his glare on him, but continued, “I mean, doesn’t a real momma stay with her kits?”
“How would you know what a real momma is like?” Tanglekit hissed. “You don’t even have a momma.” He immediately regretted his words as he watched Darkkit’s face crumble.
Darkkit took a breath. “...No, I don’t have a momma. But I know if I did have one, I wouldn’t want her going someplace else without me. That doesn’t feel very momma-like to me…”
“What are you guys talking about?” They all turned to see Currentkit glaring at them. She wore a stern expression as she said, “If you keep talking like that, you’ll make Sparkkit sad again.”
Tanglekit looked behind her and, sure enough, Sparkkit looked like she might cry again. Scratchkit was still trying to play with her, but even she could tell her sister wasn’t in the mood anymore. Tanglekit felt bad; he knew Sparkkit was taking this the hardest out of all of them.
“I’m sorry,” Darkkit quietly said. “I know I don’t really know what I’m talking about…”
Tanglekit shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. It’s not your fault you don’t have a momma.”
He shrugged. “Not having a momma isn’t that bad, you know… Not when you got a whole Clan with you. Before you guys came, Rimepaw used to sneak into the nursery when I got lonely. And Shadetuft likes to tell me stories sometimes. And Gladefur would play mossball with me, before he got sad about Honeypaw. And Twigtooth is always there to tell me things are gonna be okay. So, it’s not that bad.”
Tanglekit buried his face in his paws as he said, quiet enough that he thought only Darkkit could hear, “But I want a momma…”
Unfortunately for him, Freezekit had the best hearing out of all of them. “You know, Twigtooth is kinda like a momma. She’s nice, and she sleeps with us every night, and she makes sure all our bellies are full. And she’s always here.”
“But she’s not Momma.”
“But she could be a momma,” Freezekit argued.
Tanglekit didn’t know what to say to that, so he stayed quiet and watched Scratchkit finally convince Sparkkit to start playing again.
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<- Part 5 Moon 3 ->
