Clan of the Eclipse, Amanda and Tabitha [the little red hen ebook txt] 📗

The night was all too hot, even for summer. A full moon shone down upon a meadow. All was quiet; not even insects dared to make a sound. The air was still, without a breeze. Then out of the darkness came a heart-wrenching caterwaul.
"MOTHER!!!!!!!"
Blood splattered on silver fur. The cat lunged at the slender black cat with blazing amber eyes. His hiss revealed jagged, sharp and blood-stained teeth.
"Don't touch them!" Came a snarl as a pure white, long-furred tom rushed between the kits and the murderer. He pushed the kits back.
"Your mother questioned my rules, kits. This is what happens."
"You don't own the forest!" The she-kit who had yowled hissed. "It belongs to the tribes!"
"The tribes are no more, kitten. This forest belongs to me. And now...so do you!"
He lunged, sinking his claws into the neck of the white cat.
The kits cried out and ran blindly into the forest, away from the cat.
"You can't run forever, kittens! This is my home now! I will find you! And then you're both dead!"
The two tiny silver cats with rosette black spots ran until the pads on their paws bled. Limping, they curled up in a hole.
"I'm cold." The tom meowed quietly. "And hungry."
"I know. We'll find something to eat; I promise."
"But Dragon killed mom and dad, and Song of the Moon. How are we gonna eat? We can't hunt."
"We'll find a way, alright, Thorn? We have to."
He made a face. "I don't like that name. I don't wanna be called Thorn!"
She thought for a moment. "How about this? If you don't like Thorn, we'll call you something else. What do you want to be called?"
The kit yawned. "...Claw of the Bear."
His sister nudged him. "How about Bear? Huh? The other name is hard to remember!"
He purred. "Alright. What's your name?"
She looked up at the sky. "I wanna be called Eclipse."
"Why?"
"Because mom says that the Eclipse is a time of healing and unity. One day...I wanna heal like she did...and lead like dad did."
He snorted. "You can't do both!"
An old, rough voice that wasn't quite cat called from deeper in the hole "I can teach you how, cat."
They leaped away from the amber eyes as a huge, lumbering fox appeared. "Fox!"
"It's okay. I won't harm kits. I speak cat."
"W-why."
He gave a rough laugh. "Because I was taught in a dream. Come now, I'll hunt for you. And then I'll teach Eclipse how to be a healer...and a leader."
"W-why?"
The old fox sighed. "We foxes believe that there are many ways to the Ancient Ones who guide us. They want me to help...and I do not disobey the Ancient Ones."
"Who are they?"
He looked to the sky. The kits gasped; he was blind in one eye!
"They are the spirits of the foxes. We, too, work together...just differently. We live alone, yes, but not all the time. And we still help one another."
Trembling, the she-kit approached the fox. "I will learn to heal and lead, fox. What's your name?"
He looked the terrified morsel in the eye. "I am Shatteredsight, and I shall be your Shaman."
"Teach me to hunt and fight?" Bear asked quietly.
"I do not know how to hunt or fight like a cat...but I can give you a mentor, Bear. I know one who will teach you."
"Who?"
"His name is lost. But I will show you to him tomorrow. Tonight...sleep, eat. It is a time for grieving and healing."
Then the old fox slunk into the shadows of the night. The two kits curled up and fell fast asleep, not sure what the future would hold.


The bright day found a full grown silver she-cat with russet spots looking at an old fox den with sadness. Memories played over and over again in her mind, but she knew deep inside there was no herb for keeping a fox as old as he had been alive. Bear paced back and forth. Then he looked up to his sister, a mix of hate and sorrow laid there.
"Is it time?"
"Yes. It's time. Come; let's find Raven. She'll be the first we ask."
"She didn't like Shatteredsight."
"But she liked us. Bear...it's time to go. He doesn't like mourning, you know."
The tom who had grown powerful and muscular stood still for a moment before briefly nodding and trotting after his sister. They would find Raven.

Eclipse scented the air. She was about to rise when Bear and a slender black she-cat with amber eyes slipped out of the den, hidden in the roots of an elm tree by fallen logs. The two she-cats touched noses. Then the three of them moved silently through the forest to a section dominated by pines. There was almost no undergrowth here, but the needles muffled their steps. They found a fallen and hollowed log surrounded by thorns and undergrowth. Bear paused as the she-cats ushered in.
"I'll make sure nobody followed us."
The black cat stood "Should I -"
"I need to speak with you, Raven."
Instantly the she-cat sat down as Eclipse's brother disappeared.
"Did that old fox tell you I was a spy again?"
The silver spotted cat meowed sadly "No. Shatteredsight passed on while I was searching for herbs. Bear and I returned to find him already gone."
She opened her mouth, thought a moment and snapped it shut. For a time they looked uncomfortable. Then the black cat's eyes stretched wide. "Does that mean you're leaving now? To found the clan?"
"Yes."
"Is...is this goodbye?"
"It...it doesn't have to be. You can come with me."
Bear stuck his head in, nodded once, and turned to leap onto the log. He'd keep a look out.
"Nobody followed us." Eclipse told her. "I want you to come with us."
"But...Eclipse...I don't know. There are so many cats out there who won't agree."
"Yet there are those who will. I don't need every cat; only enough. We'll find somewhere safe, where Dragon won't find us and push around or kill our kits."
"Where are you looking first?"
"I'm going tomorrow to the human camp. I collect poppy and catmint there. When the humans can't I help sick or hurt cats. There are some who can hunt or fight - three I know of who can pretty well."
"For a soft-pelt! They're useless."
"No. They can be trained. I'm starting there because they already know how to leave together with other cats. Come with me there, at least, Raven. If you still don't agree, and don't think it'll work, you can at least say goodbye."
She was quiet. Then the cat sighed. "Alright. I'll go. But no promises. And I have to approve of at least one of the cats you will be joining the clan - I want to make sure my friend is safe."
"Hey! Eclipse! I see an injured tom! He's eating a dead rat!"
The two of them rushed out. Eclipse cleared the jump to sit by her brother. She spotted him right away. "I need Raven to get small prey. Bear, fetch me soaked moss and lots of cobwebs."
"What if it's a trap?"
"You two will handle it!"
The silver cat hit the ground running toward the bush. She heard the other two go their own separate ways. It was a long-haired brown tabby tom lying on a bed of moss and needles. Waves of heat rolled off him, and his nose was cracked with dry mucus. The poor tom reeked of the smell of rotten rat flesh, blood and puss. His long fur was matted and filthy, as if he hadn’t groomed in a long time. Otherwise, he looked young. There was a gash along his hind leg covered in puss and both fresh and dried blood. A half-eaten rat lay at his paws.
As she looked him over, her mind made a list of herbs; horsetail for healing the wound and to help the infection, fever weed for the fever and the help with the wound, poppy for pain, comfrey for inflammation, soaked moss and cobwebs. And, of course, he would need proper prey. A feeble hiss came from the tom as he saw her.
“Hey, calm down. Are you thirsty?”
He eyed her suspiciously and said nothing.
“Uh…ok…you know what? I’ll bring back some soaked moss when I come back with the herbs and fresh prey, all right?” She continued, not expecting an answer, and turned back into the forest.
My old herbs are too far away. I'll have to collect new ones, and fast.

The healer found the drooping purple flowers and narrow leaves. She dug it up by the root, as she would need the leaves as well as the root and set the bundle of plants in a leaf wrap. Luck had it that she also found marigolds on her way there. She plucked the flowers, too, and wrapped it carefully with the rest of them. Just on the edge of the pines she found a tall plant with a long, narrow yellow flowers. She broke it off at the stem, needing the leaves. Next to it was a bright red flower, which she snipped off the head for the tiny black seeds. Then the cat returned to her patient.
Bear had scaled a dead tree only a few inches away. At its base was a stick matted with cobwebs perched on a ball of moss sopping wet. Eclipse set down her bundle to fetch them, setting the moss where the injured tom could lap at it.
"Who are you?" He asked weakly after drinking the water.
"Eclipse. That's my brother. We're here to help. Now, no matter how much I hurt you, this is to heal those wounds. So keep quiet or you'll get us in some serious trouble."
He blinked. "Okay."
"Eat these." She gave him two leaves from the yellow-flowered plant and three black seeds from the flower. "They'll take the fever down, take away the pain and make you sleep."
"How do you know?"
"I was taught at a very young age by a very special mentor. Now do it."
He gulped them up. She chewed up the some leaves from the purple-flowered plant and some root from the yellow flowered plant. As she chewed she carefully untangled then spread the cobweb onto the wound. Slowly, the bleeding stopped. He flinched but didn't make a sound. The tom dug his claws into the earth as the silver she-cat licked the herb firmly into his pus-filled wound.
Raven was there just as she was finishing.
"Thanks Raven." Eclipse muttered as the black cat tossed them both mice. Then her and Bear ate.
"I'm Bramble." He yawned.
"Sleep, Bramble. We