Jayhaven Chronicles

The next day in class was very awkward. Rapid avoided the others as much as possible, but yet wanted to apologize more than anything.

Like Storm said, Onyx was very nice. He walked through every move step by step, and answered every question a student asked. But he didn’t have the friendly gruffness of Claw, who everyone obviously missed. In fact, the only noteworthy thing there seemed to be about Onyx was that he had ears so large that from a distance you might mistake him for a rabbit.

Rapid didn’t dare look at Sedge, for fear of seeing the hurt on her face. The whole day he spent focused on his books, and he probably did more studying than ever in his life.

When class was over, Sedge came over to Rapid’s desk. He tried to ignore her, but she stayed there, and finally, he looked up.

Sedge had no hurt on her face. In fact, her face was almost unreadable. “Come with me.” she mewed. “I have something to show you.”

Rapid got up and followed her as she padded down the hall. “You mean, go home with you?”“Yes.” Sedge replied. They wove through the crowds of students, exited the Academy, and started down Jayhaven’s alleys.

Rapid trotted forward to stand by her side. “I’m sorry about yesterday. I just thought you should get credit instead of me.”

Sedge stopped walking and turned around. “Did I say I was upset with you?”

Rapid shrugged. “You just seemed like-”

Sedge interrupted him as she started moving again. “It was humble of you, in a strange way. You’ve proved yourself ready to see this.”

They stopped at a very tall, perfectly polished den, covered in lush ivy and the yard sprinkled with flowers.

“This is my home.” Sedge mewed.

Rapid blinked in awe. “You must be rich!”

Sedge shook her head. “My grandparents owned it sun cycles ago, then gave it to us. They, however, were very rich.”

She lead Rapid through a glass door and into a large living room. “Neither of my parents are home. You have to promise that no one will ever hear about this, okay?”

Rapid nodded warily. “Okay.”

Sedge took him into a smaller, well-lit room, and inside was a tiny basket. And inside that, was a tiny, sleeping, calico kitten.

“This is my baby sister.” Sedge said, her voice catching in her throat.

Rapid bent over the basket and stared. “I’ve never seen one so small before!” He breathed.

Sedge cleared her throat and began to speak thickly, “Me and Storm were the only ones in my parent’s first litter. But when they had a second, they were all born very sick. Two out of the three, well, passed on.” Rapid saw a tear fall down her cheek, and his heart ached for her. “This one is the only survivor, and she’s extremely weak. My mother can hardly nurse her, she’s been so busy with her job. My dad too. Storm wants to help, but I think he’s afraid of getting attached. I’ve been missing school trying to keep her alive, my grades dropping, everything falling apart. But she’s still fragile! I’ve tried giving her every possible herb to strengthen her, but it fails, every, single, time.”

She fell to the ground, as if even talking about it exhausted her. She sobbed into her paws, and Rapid was left with no words to say.

“This is why Birch and Lily thought I ditched them. This is why I’m always upset. There is so much I can do to help her, and yet, nothing I can do.” Sedge whispered between gasps.

Rapid felt tears well up in his own eyes. No, not now! But they came. He shrunk down beside her, the weight of reality crashing down upon him like a falling tree. “I’m- so sorry.” He murmured in her ear. “I understand this kind of grief. When my parents...” Rapid forced himself to say it. “...When they died, I felt completely hopeless. Because there was no hope for them, so why should I have any? But there’s hope for your sister. Hope for you. I will help you, Sedge. Through all of this.” He touched his tail to her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder at him. “Thank you so much.” She mewed quietly. “I will always help you too.”

Rapid looked back into the basket. “Does she have a name?”Sedge shook her head. “No. I guess it’s an unspoken rule not to get attached.”

Rapid observed the kit’s fur. It had very vibrant orange splotches, as if a sunset had been splashed onto her fur. That’s it!

“Call her Splash.” he mewed. “That is, if you want to.”

Sedge smiled through her sobs. “It’s perfect. Hello, little Splash.” The kit mewled in response, twitching and opening one tiny eye.

Sedge squealed in delight. “She opened her eyes! That’s more than she’s done in her whole moon!” She blinked happily at Rapid. “She must love it!”

Rapid felt his heart swell. “She must.”