The different one

Brigid leaned back on the Broch wall and watched her brothers and sisters play in the bay beneath the cove. They chased each other, running around in circles, trying to grab each other by the tail.

Her father had always told her she was different than the others, a leader of cats; and she knew in her heart the desire for power would never leave her. She could feel it pulse within her, it made her fur prickle and fluff, she didn’t see that longing in her siblings. They seemed only to want to play in the sun and sleep in the warmth. They would never be warriors, but that was her destiny and she would do whatever it took to be a warrior that her father would be proud of.

Eithne watched the kittens as they played happily, but her gaze soon returned to Brigid, she never played with the others, she only wanted to learn how to fight. As a mother it worried her.

‘You’re too hard on her Cruithne,’ she said as her husband joined her in her maternal watch.

He swished his tail, following Eithne’s gaze, ‘she’s fine, stop worrying.’

‘You’re trying to make her grow up before her time, it will end in tears,’ she replied,

She placed her paw on his arm, ‘let her be a kitten, let her fall in love and break her heart before she follows you into battle,’ she paused, ‘I’ll lose her soon enough, let me have my daughter for now.’

Cruithne looked into his wife’s eyes, luminescent amber, the same eyes that little Brigid had. He found it difficult to say no to either of them, especially when they both wanted the opposite of the other.

‘Fine, I won’t ask her to train,’ he replied, hugging Eithne close, ‘but if she wants to I can’t stop her, no one can stop her doing exactly whatever she wants to do, you know that.’

Brigid looked over as she heard the voices. Seeing her father she jumped up and ran to him, and as he broke away from her mother he scooped her up into a hug and burled her around.

‘Let’s go train!,’ she cried out as she swirled through the air.

Cruithne placed her back onto the ground and without saying a word looked over to Eithne. She shook her head, but her whiskers twitched into a smirk.

‘Go on, off with the pair of you,’ she said, ruffling the fur on Brigid’s head.

Brigid took Cruithne’s paw and ran, half pulling him, towards the Broch.