Cold, it was almost unbearably cold.
Sandkit opened his eyes, and peered around, feeling a jolt of fear course through his pelt, when he saw that his littermates weren't in the nest with him.
Where are they? He wondered, as his heart quickened in his chest, had they decided to do their tests without him?
No, he shook his head, Featherstar would have woken him up too, she wouldn't have just let him sleep on the most important day of his life.
That wasn't even today though, his tests weren't until tomorrow, unless he had slept longer than he thought. But someone would have woken him up, right?
His heart started to slow, when another thought invaded his mind, a thought much worse than missing his tests. What if a fox, or even worse, a wolf, came and got them?
His heart was beating so hard now, that he was surprised that it wasn't bursting through his chest.
No, he fiercely shook that thought away, so hard, it made his ears hurt, if his littermates had been attacked, he would have heard it, and if something had taken them, then it would have taken him too.
He started to pad out of the nursery, to ask his mom, Meadowclaw, where his littermates were, when a solid form slammed into him, knocking him off of his paws.
With a hiss of surprise, he unsheathed his claws, ready to spring up onto his assailant, when he saw that it was his brother, Silverkit.
His heart slowed back to normal, at the relief of seeing him, but then it started pounding hard with anger, at the fact that he had knocked him over.
"You should have seen your face!" exclaimed the silver-furred tom with a mrrow of amusement.
Feeling embarrassment creep into his pelt, Sandkit sheathed his claws, and stood up, shaking out his ruffled fur.
"You just surprised me, that's all, I'm pretty sure anyone would have reacted the same way if they were knocked off their paws by a fat kit."
Silverkit wasn't really fat, in fact, he was probably the slimmest kit in the nursery, but Sandkit couldn't think of any other words to insult him.
"Sandkit! Are you okay? I heard a pretty loud thud when you fell!"
This came from Sandkit's other brother, Stonekit, who ran up to him, with a look of worry in his dark eyes.
"Yes, I'm fine," grumbled Sandkit, trying not to let his irritation show, as Stonekit nosed through his fur.
"I don't see any injuries," remarked the brownish-grey tabby, pulling away.
"He only fell down, it's not like he was attacked by a wolf or something," meowed Silverkit, rolling his eyes.
Stonekit lashed his tail.
"He still could have been hurt you feather-brain, anyway," he turned to Sandkit, "You missed it! Harriertalon told us another story that he had told to him when he lived in his old clan."
"WindClan!" exclaimed Silverkit with his yellow eyes shining, "Those cats were said to be the fastest cats to ever live, and I hope that I one day will be even faster!"
Sandkit rolled his eyes, and Stonekit purred.
"I don't doubt you will be, but can you please not interrupt me while I'm trying to tell Sandkit what happened?"
Silverkit just rolled his eyes, but he didn't say anything, and Stonekit took that as his cue to continue.
"Anyway, he told us about this awesome cat named Sandgorse who was a tunneler! The first part of his name was the same as yours, what if on the tests tomorrow, you get put into the tun-"
Sandkit slapped his tail over his brother's mouth, silencing him.
"Don't even finish that," he meowed with a low warning growl. Just the thought of being underground, with no light, was something that sent a shiver down his spine, he didn't want to experience it ever. He couldn't think of anything worse than being a tunneler, except for maybe being a swimmer. He didn't even want to even begin to imagine what it'd be like if he was a swimmer!
"Sorry, anyway, I hope when we take our tests, that I get made a tunneler! I want to be a tunneler just like Sandgorse, and then I want my warrior name to be Stonegorse!"
"That sounds dumb," snorted Silverkit.
"Yeah, besides, didn't you say a few days ago, that you wanted to be a fierce medicine cat just like Hawkheart, and you wanted your name to be Stoneheart?"
Sandkit turned his attention over to his only sister, who made her way into the nursery, followed by Ratkit and Olivekit, two other kits who were a couple of moons younger than he was.
Looking at them, he found it hard to believe that they weren't littermates.
They looked identical, from their black pelts, down to their hazel eyes. The only difference that Sandkit could see, was in their faces. Ratkit had a pointed muzzle, and Olivekit did not.
Olivekit's mother, Pinesap, and Ratkit's father, Spiderflight, were identical though. So much in fact, that until one of them spoke, he had no way of telling who was who. It didn't help that Spiderflight spent a lot of time in the nursery, much more time than any other tom.
He knew it was because his mate, Lavenderfur, was the overseer for the climbers, and she was very serious about her duties.
Sandkit didn't mind having Spiderflight in the nursery though instead of Lavenderfur, she wasn't exactly the nicest of cats. He couldn't help but to feel a bit jealous, that Ratkit, and his brother, Wheezekit, got to see their father almost all of the time, he only got to see his father, Snowdrift, a couple of times a moon, he supposed he was luckier than Olivekit and her brother, Burdockkit, whose own father, Pecanstripe, hadn't come to visit them once.
Even worse than that, was the fact that Spiderflight had tried to talk Pecanstripe into seeing his kits, but he kept making up excuses. After learning about that, Burdockkit rarely left his mother's side, if much at all, and he often heard Pinesap fretting about how he wouldn't eat.
Like now, Pinesap was trying to get him to eat a small bit of finch.
"I don't know what to do! He won't eat solid food, and he won't nurse either!" wailed the black pelted queen.
Sandkit watched as Stonekit padded up to her.
"Can I try something?" he asked.
"I guess," she sighed, "I don't see what it could hurt, nothing I do seems to be working."
A jolt of sympathy pierced through Sandkit's heart, at the defeat in her tone.
"Thanks," Stonekit sat beside Burdockkit, and started eating the finch.
"How is you stealing his food going to get him to eat?" spat Pinesap.
"Just one minute," grumbled Stonekit, his words muffled by the food in his mouth.
"Fine," sighed Pinesap, as Stonekit dug his claw into Burdockkit's tail, causing the little tom to open up his mouth in a loud screech. Then, Stonekit shot forward like a blur, spitting the food from his mouth, into Burdockkit's, before clamping his paw over his muzzle, until he swallowed.
Everyone stood there silent, with their eyes opened wide, Sandkit saw that Pinesap's paw was raised, as though she was preparing to cuff Stonekit over the head.
Then, Burdockkit meowed.
"I didn't realize that I was that hungry, can I have more?"
Instead of cuffing Stonekit over the head, Pinesap let out a loud, rumbling purr, and nuzzled him instead.
"Thank you," she meowed softly.
Stonekit stared down at his paws.
"Um, you're welcome."
For the rest of the night, everyone fretted over Stonekit, and how he had gotten Burdockkit to eat. As much as he hated it, Sandkit couldn't but to feel jealous.
He was the oldest kit in the nursery, the smartest, he should have been the one who got Burdockkit to eat, he should be the one getting all the praise.
"I think everyone should be getting to sleep, my kits have a big day tomorrow," purred Meadowclaw.
Excitement ruffled Sandkit's pelt, he was so distracted by Stonekit and Burdockkit, that he had completely forgotten about the tests tomorrow!
"I hope I get made a swimmer, Helleborepaw is a swimmer, and she's so pretty," meowed Swankit, as she circled around in their nest, before lying down beside Silverkit.
"I'm going to share a nest with Burdockkit tonight," meowed Stonekit.
"Why?" demanded Sandkit, feeling his anger rise. Stonekit was his littermate, not Burdockkit's!
"Because, this is my last night in the nursery, and I want to spend it with my friend."
"Am I not your friend?" spat Sandkit.
"You are, but you're getting made an apprentice tomorrow too, we'll both be moving into the apprentice's den with Silverkit and Swankit."
"But what if we get put into different groups, then what? You want to be a tunneler, Swankit wants to be a swimmer, Silverkit wants to be a runner, and I-"
Sandkit cut himself off before saying that he wanted to be a climber.
All of his littermates wanted to be in different groups, the thought was like a stone weighing heavily in his belly.
"Oh, don't worry, you might be doing different duties, depending on how you perform on your tests, but you'll still be sharing a den with all the other apprentices," meowed Meadowclaw.
Relief flooded through Sandkit, overpowering all the anger and fear he felt.
Everything will be okay, he told himself, curling up in between Silverkit and closing his eyes, he and his littermates could achieve their dreams, and still stay together.
He couldn't ask for anything more.
AN: Message me if you want the character sheet, or feel free to make your own, just rememebr to put what group you want them to be in, and I really like families, or at least explainations on where their family is, especially if the character is only a kit or an apprentice.
Anyway, thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed.