A/N: Hello everyone, so this is a story for one of my may OCs for Warrior Cats. It's my first for this Warrior Cats genre and I hope you guys like it.

Ginger's Kits

A white she-cat with a brown dappled pelt was in her little bed, curled around three newborn kits. They had been born a few hours earlier – before the sun set – and they were even more beautiful than she ever imagined. The first born was a she-cat, who was black, with her father's brown fur coating her underbelly, while she had her mother's green eyes. The second one was a male that was white like his mother, but had his father's mottled coloring around his paws, ears and underbelly, and his father's yellow eyes.

The she-cat's eyes drifted to her third kit, the youngest and smallest. She was tiny actually, now that she studied the newborn. The third was a she-cat, who looked like a spitting image of herself. She had her mother's white fur, and the brown dappled color that her mother did – the brown color seeming to resemble various shades of brown, covering the length of her tail, underbelly, chest, and ears. To top off her resemblance to her mother, she even had green eyes, though they were a lighter shade.

She purred softly and licked each of her kits on the head and nuzzled the tiniest of them. Don't worry little one – I'll protect you and help you grow big and strong.

She thought that she had named their children well. The first one she named, Holly, and the male was named, Brownie. The youngest, she had named, Sage.

Her thoughts concerning their new names were interrupted as they drifted to her first born.

Sedge was from her first litter. He had been born as the only kit: strong and fierce, like his father. He came into the world on the edge of his father's, clan's territory. They had named him together and she brought him back home where she, and later her housefolk, cooed over the newborn. Sedge was already 7 moons old and was living with her mate, in his clan. Sedge reminded her of her mate so much; personality-wise. Appearance-wise, he reflected neither of them entirely, except for his father and only on one aspect. His fur was a light dusky shade of brown and he had his father's yellow eyes.

She missed her first born but knew he was happier with his father and his new clan, but she didn't fret as much now because she would be able to see them soon, especially now that newleaf had begun. She curled around her newborn babies with a soft purr as she dreamt of what meeting her mate and son would be like.

3 Moons Later

Three kits scampered after their mother on small legs as she led them out of their twoleg den and into the pine forest.

"Mother where are we going?" asked Sage excitedly.

Her mother, Ginger, glanced back at her with a gentle purr, "Just on a little adventure my darlings." She said softly. "Do you remember what I told you when you had your first day outside?"

"Oh! Oh! Oh! I remember!" Brownie squeaked excitedly bouncing a little on his paws, "That we would be able to go further one day and see the lake!"

Ginger purred in amusement, "Exactly. That's where we're heading." As she scented the air the smell of water came to her. "Now remember, no matter what you need to be careful around the water." She said in a serious tone. "And don't go near the tree line without me, you never know what could be out there."

Her kits looked up at her with wide eyes and nodded quickly, though the excitement was evident in their gazes.

"Oh! What if we meet wildcats?!" Brownie says in excitement.

"What if we get in a fight?!" Holly chirps in agreement.

As they pad near the tree line Ginger sighs softly in amusement but notices her youngest kit sticking closer, her eyes wide at the thought. "That's awful! I don't want fight anyone!" She squeaks terrified.

"Don't be afraid little one; it will never come to that." She said in a gentle tone, giving her a reassuring lick between her ears.

Brownie let out a mock growl, "Yeah! Because I would fight them all off!" He says with a small jump in the air only to have Holly let our mrrow of laughter and bowl him over.

Sage eyed her siblings uneasily, and resumed her close position next to her mother. Her brother and sister sprang apart before dashing after their mother as she approached the tree line.

They leave the tree line and her kits seem to be frozen in place at first at the sight of the lake. "Wow," They breathe simultaneously.

Ginger purrs in amusement and nudges them forward a little, "Well go on." They scampered off squeaking in excitement, curiosity, and awe at the sand, pebbles, and the water. All three then darted for the water as their mother watched from the shore. "Be careful! And stay in the shallows!" She says sitting down and wrapping her tail around her paws.

The three kits ran along the shore within their mother's view splashing each other a few times, while their mother observed with affection and warmth.

"They're beautiful." A soft purr sounded from the bushes and Ginger turned her head to see her mate pushing through the foliage, and a moment later her son as well.

A deep purr rumbled from her chest at her glee. "Oh Hawkflight, I've missed you so much!" The pair touched noses, before he gave her a swift lick on the ear.

"I've missed you too, but its Hawkstar now." He says, though his tone seemed to be lacking its usual warmth and gentleness he held for her.

Ginger's eyes widened slightly as she rubbed her muzzle gentle against his cheek, "That's wonderful! I know you're a great leader!" She purred happily, before turning to her eldest son. He was much bigger than he had been when he had left with his father, and he looked more sturdy and strong; his eyes more intelligent and calculating. They were warm though when he met her gaze, though there was something else she couldn't read in them.

"Hello mother." He purred as she touched noses with him.

"Oh you've grown! Are you eating enough?" She asks eyeing him noticing how he wasn't that far behind his father in height, before noticing that he looked well-fed, just not as much as she was. "You look a little thin," she fretted.

He purred, "Yes, well, life in the forest is more difficult. Food will be scarcer at times, than it is with the twolegs. The prey has been plentiful now that it's greenleaf. " Despite the purr in his tone she caught what sounded like a gentle condescending tone, as if he were superior. "And I'm Sedgepaw now."

She dismissed his tone, only seeing the kit she had first raised. "I'm so proud of you," she purrs gently licking him between the ears.

Her eyes brightened as she remembered why they had all come here as well. "Kits! Come here please!"

Her kits stopped splashing in the shallows at her voice and ran over, with Sage taking up the rear. They stopped a couple of tail-lengths away from the two older cats.

Ginger padded behind her kits and spoke gently. "It's alright little ones. They are your kin. Meet your father, Hawkstar, and your older brother Sedgepaw." She glanced up at her mate and son, "Hawkstar, Sedgepaw, this Holly, Brownie, and Sage," she says gesturing to each of her kits with a flick of her tail.

Holly immediately bounced up to her father and brother looking up at them both with excited and admiring eyes, "Wow you're really tall! Mother says you're really big and strong! Can you fight foxes? Have you ever fought foxes?" She asked in a flurry of questions, not bothering to make clear who she was speaking to, while Sage padded over nodding a bit eagerly, asking questions of her own as well. Her father purred and surprisingly kept track of most of them, answering with ease. Brownie of course was creeping up on his brother's tail and pounced on it causing Sedgepaw to let out a yelp of pain and spin around cuffing Brownie over the head gently with a paw. A couple of heartbeats later Holly and Sage abandoned Hawkstar – ceasing the barrage of questions – and leaped onto Sedgepaw with squeaks of excitement, while he fell over wrestling with his siblings.

Ginger purred and padded over to her mate's side and sat beside him. "There're perfect aren't they?"

Hawkstar gives a nod, "Yes, they are." His voice lacked the gentleness when he spoke to her. There wasn't warmth either, at least none she could detect that matched the amount he had shown their kits. Now that she thought about, the soft purr that had been in his voice when he first saw the kits sounded more like approval.

"Hawkstar is something wrong?" She asks looking at him, while concern swam around her green gaze.

He let out a breath and when he looked at her she almost felt as if she didn't recognize him. His yellow eyes were now void of most emotion, leaving room for only a condescending one. "Ginger, I know no bounds of happiness when I look at our kits. Sedgepaw's training is coming along nicely and he will be a great warrior when the time comes." He pauses for a moment glancing at them before back at the she-cat. "However, I am the clan leader. I can no longer be seen or be mates who have housefolk to take care of them." He says calmly. "And the clan has dismissed the fact of whom – I'm sorry – what, Sedgepaw's mother is. I've regained their trust and I have their respect. I believe I always did, but finding out that their deputy was mates with a kittypet as well as having kit with one, faltered it a bit. Now that I have it back fully and only minor doubts remain, I cannot risk losing it again." He ignored the pained, shocked, and angry look the she-cat gave him.

"So you can just let me go this easily?" She whispered in a hurt tone. "How…what will I tell our kits? That they can no longer see their father because he must be somewhere else more important?" She snapped.

His eyes narrowed at her last words, "The clan must always come first. Even Sedgepaw knows that now. I cannot have any distractions other than that of my clan-"

"-And any other she-cats who may be loyal with pure clan-blood." She growls, her claws unsheathing while her ears flattened.

He looked at her for a moment before nodding, "At least then my loyalty and leadership wouldn't be doubted." He replies with a growl. "You must accept this Ginger."

"Or what," she hisses, "I can come visit my son if I like, or wait by the border if I need to!"

The tom's eyes darkened as he rose to his paws, "You may try, but warriors will claw your fur off and send you wailing back to your twolegs." He snarls. "It doesn't matter what you try, it won't work. You will be seen as a trespasser in ShadowClan territory." He turns his back on her as she glares at him outraged, her fur bristling. "Another word of advice," He says pausing at the tree line, while beckoning Sedgepaw with his tail, "stay at least three fox-lengths away from the tree line and stick as close to the shore as you can. If you cross that distance by even a mouse-length, you will be treated as an enemy." He says coldly. He stalks back into the bushes where he emerged with Sedgepaw following, his head down slightly, allowing Ginger to realize that emotion she hadn't been able to read in his eyes had been guilt.

She spun around sitting down while her claws pricked the pebbles, her tail lashing in pain and anger - all of this because she wasn't clanborn?

"Mother are you alright?"

Ginger turned her head to see Sage, whose eyes looked a bit frightened, but concerned more than anything. Ginger let out a soft sigh and forced her fur to lie flat, before bending over and giving her kit a few swift licks between her ears. "Of course darling, just a bit frustrated is all." She says gently.

The little-cat relaxed a bit feeling better. "Why did Sedgepaw have to leave?" She asks. "He was telling me about the clan cats and then talked about his training, while Holly and Brownie were playing."

"He had other duties to attend to little one; he can't come any longer because he must focus on his training." She said in a sneer, causing Sage to wonder about the cold tone that had never been present in her mother's voice before. "Never mind him," she says dismissively. "Go and play. We'll be returning home soon."

Sage turned and ran over to her siblings, before glancing over her shoulder to see her mother resting in a crouch and staring at nothing, ears flattened against her head, while her green eyes that held such warmth since the moment Sage opened her eyes, were now chips of ice and brittle. A shiver ran down her spine as she wished she could figure out what was wrong.

The day went on while her mother found a slab of stones near the water to bask in the sunlight on her side. Her brother and sister were trying to catch the tiny fish that zipped past every now and then. Sage was left to herself trying to catch a butterfly.

On her fifth leap – in an attempt to catch it with her forepaws – she heard a rustle, jerked down abruptly back onto all four paws. Her head snapped up and ears pricked as she stood alert, while her neck fur began to bristle. Her gaze raked across the tree line before immediately doing a double-take on a section of undergrowth where wild flowers grew.

Staring back into her eyes were another pair – one green and another yellow. Sage wanted to yowl for her mother, but she was frozen with fear and didn't dare move. It was cat as far as she knew (since she'd never seen or heard of a cat with two different hues of eye color). It was probably one of the wild cats which meant she couldn't call for her mother. Her mother was several fox-lengths away, so if she did call for help and the cat meant to harm her, then her mother wouldn't be able to reach her in time.

The second the young kit finished her thoughts, the eyes vanished. Sage let out a breath that she hadn't realized she was holding. She spun around and dashed back over to her mother and pressed against her belly in a crouch. Her eyes darted to the undergrowth where the peculiar eyes had been, but there was still no sign of them. She let out a breath of relief.

A few moments after, Ginger rose to her paws and licked Sage's head gently, before padding back in the direction, from which they first came. "Come along little ones; it's time for us to return home."

Sage was right on her mother's hind paws, while Holly and Brownie caught up with complaints.

"But mother, it's so big out here! And I was about to catch fish!" Brownie said with a little bounce.

"Do we have to go back inside?" Holly mewed.

Ginger glanced down and sighed softly, "Alright then. You may play outside, but you stay near the fence. I'll call you when it's time to come in and then you use the hold in the side of fence and come back in."

Holly and Brownie let out little squeaks of excitement while Sage remained quiet thinking of the pair of eyes.

When they reached the fence, their mother sat in a crouch with her tail curled around her paws and rested her eyes, while remaining alert. Brownie and Holly began tussling on the ground and chasing each other around.

Sage yawned and crouched by her mother settling down before noticing movement through the trees. Curiosity ran deep within in the kit and she rose to her paws and crept around her playing brother and sister, before scampering off into the woods.

She didn't recognize much but tried following the direction in which the "movement" might have trailed. She was amazed as well though at the smell of pines, the needles on the pine trees, that looked stiff and point. Every now and then she would hear the sound of a frog, but didn't stop to pinpoint it.

She padded into a small clearing where weird green plants were growing. They had really thin green stems. The leaves were flat-shaped, looking a little frilly, but thin. She opened her tiny little mouth and breathed in, as the slight fragrance of a minty smell wafted over her scent glands. She closed her mouth and gave it a few sniffs to find other than the tiniest hint of mint, it smelled normal.

"I wouldn't eat that if I were you."

Sage spun around while jumping back, away from the direction the voice has come from. She was pressed to the ground in a low crouch, her fur fluffed up as she stared wide-eyed up at a cat.

The cat was a she-cat with long legs and a long tail, which Sage noticed was curled up near the end, so a few mouse-lengths of the rest of it didn't touch the ground and make noise. The tabby had light brown fur and a slender figure with long whiskers that seemed like they would move if a mouse sneezed near them. The sight that made Sage even more excited (that she found whatever was moving in the trees and was watching her by the lake) and frightened (that was now at its mercy with no hope of her mother being able to help her now), were the tabby's eyes – one green, and the other yellow.

It's the cat from the lake!She yowled silently to herself.

"Y-You…y-you're from lake," she squeaked after she managed to find her tongue.

To her relief and confusion the she-cat did nothing but purr. "Yes that was me young one." She said gently.

"Why were you watching me?" Sage asked curiously, but received no answer – at least not the one she wanted.

"You didn't eat any of this, did you?" She asked in a concerned and serious tone as she went over to the plants Sage had been sniffing.

Sage frowned, irritated (at the dodge of her question) but curious, "No, I didn't," she said padding to her side, "I was just smelling. They don't smell like much, but if you sniff it closely it smells a little like mint." She informed the she-cat who purred.

"Oh I know. This is chervil." She said bending her head to nip the stems with an experienced motion, as if she had done it many times before. "I'm glad you didn't eat any or else you might have frightened you mother, coming back with a bellyache."

"What do you mean?" Sage asked curiously, her eyes glittering with interest.

"It's used to cure a bellyache or in extreme cases, infected wounds." She informed the kit, glancing at Sage. The she-cat looked pleased at the look of interest and surprise in the Sage's eyes.

"How," The kit asks leaning closer to inspect the plants.

The tabby picks up the stems with the leaves in her jaws and places them to the side. She unsheathes a claw and gently points to the leave, "The leaves are chewed and then you use the pulp. The pulp contains the juice of the leaves, so when you spread on a cat's infected wound, it will use its healing properties to fight off the infection and help the cat heal properly until they're healthy again."

She paused and continued in amusement when she saw Sage listening closely with wide green eyes. "To soothe a belly ache," she says digging down with her claws but gently, "you use the roots." She pulls up the roots of the chervil plant and set them aside. "Asides from juniper berries and a few other herbs, this is will remove the stomach ache. You have a cat chew them and then after a while they will be fine, and their belly will no longer ache." She says finishing her explanation.

"Wow," Sage breathes. "How do you know all that?"

"I'm a medicine cat." She says.

"What's that?"

"A medicine cat is a cat who serves their clan through healing their clanmates and interpreting messages and signs from our ancestors that may provide helpful, whether for better or for worse. So I watch over ShadowClan." She informed the young kit and saw her eyes brighten at the mention of it, but didn't stop explaining to ask if she knew of the clan or not. "A medicine cat will train an apprentice to continue after they have passed on. They will teach their apprentice all they know, so they will be able to continue the duties that the mentor cannot, due to age or…" She trailed off not finished realizing the young kit didn't need to think of life and death just yet.

"Who are you ancestors," Sage asks, obviously having missed the way the medicine cat had trailed off.

Before the conversation could continue her mother's voice drifts through the trees, as she calls her name.

Sage turned in the direction of where her name was faintly being called; sometimes sounding as if it was getting louder. "Uh oh…I have to go; my mother is probably worried about me." She gets to her paws and takes a few paw steps in the direction before turning around. "I really want to hear more, can we talk again?" The young kit asks hopefully.

The she-cat purrs, "Of course. I can come visit your fence if you like, but it won't be every night because I do have a clan to look after."

Sage wanted to yowl her excitement to whole forest, but remembered her mother nearby and decided it wouldn't be wise to do so.

She turns and runs for a bush disappearing through it before her little head pokes back out. "Oh I'm Sage, what's your name?" She asks.

"My name is Lizardwhisker." The tabby she-cat says.

"Oh okay; nice meeting you Lizardwhisker, bye!" She called as she disappeared back into the undergrowth.

She ran along the fence before her mother ran over to her and covered her in worried licks. "Where were you? I thought something terrible had happened!"

"I'm sorry, I just wanted to explore a bit more, especially since I didn't want to mess up Holly's and Brownie's game. I'm smaller and I didn't want them to think-"

Her mother interrupted, "Never think that! Your siblings care for you! They were first to notice you were gone and wanted to come along to find you. Just…" she sighs, "Be careful Sage. These woods aren't as safe as I thought they were. Dangerous things live there and its best they stay there." She hissed the last words, her tone and eyes cold.

Sage felt confused to her mother's quick change of attitude. She had spoken of the woods as nothing but safe, as long as you used caution, and there was nothing but warmth and love as she spoke of it. She pondered the thought as her mother picked her up by the scruff and carried her back to the twoleg nest.

She went through the mini door and set Sage down next her to sleeping siblings. Her mother curled around them and rested her head on her front paws, and closed her eyes after a few heartbeats.

Sage snuggled into her mother's side with a yawn, relaxing more as she felt Holly rest her head on her back. It felt nice to feel warm and safe.

Sage fell asleep that night, but not without feeling guilty and excited. Guilty, because she was going to be meeting with one of the "dangers" of the woods and knew she shouldn't, but her curiosity was stronger than her mother's words. Plus, this particular cat was a medicine cat and seemed to only want to help other cats. Excitement, because she would learn how to help cats, maybe see her father and brother again, as well as learning more about the clan cats. It also helped to know that she had a made a new friend. Who knew – maybe she could join Lizardwhisker and help the medicine cat take care of her clan too, and the come back to tell her mother of her day.

With that contenting thought, the little she-kit soon fell asleep; her dreams were filled with life in a clan and helping others.

In ShadowClan Camp, Later that Night

Lizardwhisker padded back into camp with a mouthful of herbs and blinked at Foxpelt with a friendly gaze, which he returned, before resuming his watch.

She went through the thorn tunnel, with brambles around the side, before padded across the clearing flicking her tail tip as she padded across the clearing to her den. The clearing silent as her clanmates slept peacefully.

She went to the corner of the camp where the medicine den (den made of brambles) was and bushed through the screen of brambles. She placed her herbs in her herb store, pushed them into their piles, which were now full and ready for any cats that might need them.

She glanced up through the brambles that covered the top of the den to see glimpses of the sky. She liked the medicine den because unlike the others, the bramble branches at the top weren't thickly intertwined together, so it gave few to the stars above so she could interpret omens or just study Silverpelt.

Her paws stepped along the sandy, hollowed-out floor that was covered in pine needles. She stepped into her nest, before settling down in a crouch and curling her tail around her, letting the tip rest over her nose, before she closed her eyes.

The old cat was now at content and most of her worries now put to rest. She let out a soft purr before drifting off to sleep, "I've found the small shrub."

A/N: Wow! Alright that's the prologue finished. I suppose it's really long for a prologue, but I need this to all happen, so I could stop doing so many time skips and going back and forth (for now, I suppose).

This story will be long, at least I intend it to be and I promise I'll try to get some more action in as well. These are medicine cats so…yeah.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. I'm in high school and in AP classes right now, so as to when chapter updates will happen, no idea. But I will do my best to not let it get over a minimum of a month and the max definitely won't be a year. I'll update when I have time, until then see you next update.

Oh yeah and for everyone who took the PSAT hope you did well!