"It happened when MountainClan was on their way back from the gathering. They trekked over the rocky ground, silent as the woods in winter. The sparse trees cast long shadows over the moonlit ground. The cats wove silently around them, hurrying back to camp. Truestar was at the front, followed closely by Eaglewhisker, the deputy, and Jadepool, the medicine cat. Truestar leaped up onto the rocky crest they'd just reached, his calico fur blowing in the breeze. He turned to survey his Clan. Satisfied that they were all keeping up, even the apprentices, he jumped down the other side. Just then, there was an earsplitting scream. No one had ever heard anything like it before. The warriors rushed to see what was going on. Truestar was nowhere to be seen! They all scanned the area for a sign of him. No one could see a thing. No one could hear a thing. No one could smell a thing. He'd just… vanished."
Silverkit's deep blue eyes were open wide with awe. "What happened to him?" she asked. Whitebelly looked at his audience of kits. "Well, that's the thing," he told them. "Nobody really knows. It's as if he just disappeared…"
"Now wait a minute," Beesting interrupted. "Eaglestar says that something carried him off." She glanced sharply at her denmate. "You're telling the story wrong."
Whitebelly brushed off Beesting's accusation. "The point is, Truestar hasn't been seen since. You kits asked how he disappeared, and I told ya."
"So what took him?" inquired Rainkit, caught up in the story. Splitkit pricked his ears to listen for more.
"Well," Beesting started, happy with the attention, "no one's certain, but Blackfire says he saw a large, dark shape running off into the night. They think it may have been a fox. Or a badger. Or even a lynx!"
"Whoa…" the kits murmured. They knew that their previous leader had disappeared, but they'd never heard the details. "Were you there when it happened?" Silverkit asked the elders.
Whitebelly shifted his paws. "Well, no… But we've heard the story retold countless times. In fact, I think everyone in the Clan feels as if they were there to witness the event, because we've all heard the tale so often."
Beesting stood up, stretching her back. "Well, that's it for storytime, kits." She nudged the three out of the den. "Why don't you go play outside?"
"Alright," Silverkit mewed as she and her friends left the elder's den. "Thanks for the story!"
The kits bounded over to their favorite playing spot: a hollow log by the entrance to camp. It was perfect for climbing on, and the kits spent most of their day playing there. "Beesting was in such a good mood today," Rainkit observed. "It surprised me."
"Yeah," Splitkit agreed, "She's usually grumpy, especially when we kits are around."
"Well, it was a nice change, don't you think?" Silverkit leapt up onto the log, her tail out to keep her balance.
"Yeah," Splitkit replied.
Rainkit pointed a paw across camp. "Looks like we caught her at just the right time!" One of the apprentices took some fresh bedding to the elders, and Beesting was snapping about how last time, she found a thorn in her nest. "If you try something like that again, it'll be the last bedding you'll ever bring!"
"Aww, poor Mosspaw," Silverkit sympathized. "She didn't even bring the bedding last time."
"Let's invite her to play with us!" Splitkit suggested. "Hey Mosspaw! Wanna play?"
The spotted brown apprentice glanced around to find Eaglestar looking at her sharply. "Sorry Splitkit," she apologized, lowering her head. "I have some stuff to do."
"Maybe later?"
"Um, I don't know," Mosspaw mumbled, and then hurried away.
Splitkit looked crushed. "How come no one ever wants to play with me?"
"We like to play with you," Rainkit reminded him.
"I know," Splitkit crawled into the hollow log. "But everyone else in the Clan seems to prefer that I keep my distance…"
Silverkit swung down from on top of the log and joined Splitkit inside. Rainkit wriggled in beside them. "Is it just me, or does this log seem like it's shrinking?"
With all three of them inside, there was barely enough room to move around. "Yeah," Silverkit mewed. "This log is definitely getting smaller."
A light gray she-cat poked her head into the log. "Ever think that maybe you kits are growing?" she pointed out with a chuckle. "Now, Rainkit and Silverkit, it's time to come back to the nursery." She reached in her paw and pulled out her kits.
"Aww, but we just got here," Silverkit protested.
"Can we just stay a bit longer?" Rainkit pleaded. "Please, Clovertail?"
Clovertail shook her head, casting a wary glance at Splitkit. "Your mother said she's coming for you shortly," she told him. Then she whisked Rainkit and Silverkit away to the nursery.
The den was empty. Clovertail nudged her kits toward their nest. "You know I don't want you two hanging around with that Splitkit," she scolded. "I don't care that he's the only other kit in the nursery. You can play with each other. That's what littermates are for." She started to lick some dirt off Rainkit's cheek.
"Is this because of his paw?" Silverkit asked. One of Splitkit's front paws was torn down the middle, so from far away it looked like he had two thick toes on that foot. But when you got closer, you could see that his paw was just split very severely down the center. Splitkit was learning to cope, though it still hindered his ability to walk and play. Sometimes the apprentices would tease him because of it.
"No," Clovertail said sharply. "This is not because of his paw. He couldn't help to be born like that. Neither could his mother."
"Then what's this about? Why can't we play with our friend?"
"You know how I feel about his father," Clovertail paused, searching for the right words. "I just… I don't trust the son of someone who abandoned us."
"Truestar didn't abandon us!" Silverkit cried. "He was attacked and carried off by a lynx or something!"
"Now, now," Clovertail finished grooming Rainkit and moved on to his sister. "Everyone knows that Eaglestar just made that up to stop you kits from asking all those questions. Face the facts: Truestar deserted this Clan. He doesn't deserve to be respected, and neither does his son."
Silverkit gasped. "How can you say those things? Splitkit hasn't done anything to deserve the treatment you're giving him. You can't judge him by what his father was!"
"Don't talk to me like that," Clovertail snapped. "I'm your mother, so you'll do what I say. And if I say that you're not going to play with Splitkit, then you're not going to play with Splitkit."
Rainkit shot Silverkit a look that said "You know you can't win." Silverkit knew he was right. But that didn't mean that she was going to give up. So, instead of taking a nap in the nest with her family, the little silver tabby tugged some moss from their bedding and curled up by herself near the entrance. Splitkit's my friend. I'm not going to mistreat him just because of who his father was.