Prologue~!
"Are you sure?"
Amber eyes flashed indignantly as they locked with a skeptical yellow gaze. "Of course I'm sure!" Oakheart lashed his tailonce, before noting the amused twitch of Raggedstar's whiskers and rolling his eyes. "They're the ones." He insisted again.
"They have potential." Raggedstar grunted, almost reluctantly. "I can't help but to think that their heritage plays into your thoughts though, Oakheart."
The reddish brown tom shook his head. "No. Heritage has no meaning in our prophecies—you of all cats should know that, Raggedstar."
The older tom bowed his head in acknowledgement, before turning his gaze back down to the ThunderClan camp, where the very four kits they spoke of were tumbling and playing. "You're right about one thing," ShadowClan's leader finally rumbled, his gaze dark. "Nothing can prepare them for what's to come."
Oakheart bowed his head in agreement, feeling mixed pride and regret for the fate those four small kits shared. "Now we can only hope that they meet it with great courage."
"Attack!"
Hailkit squeaked, barely moving in time before his brother bowled him over, turning and cuffing the ginger tom playfully over the ears. "You missed!" He teased, dodging back again as Foxkit pounced for the second time.
"I won't!" Featherkit purred, leaping onto Foxkit's shoulders.
"Neither will I." Hailkit suddenly found himself pinned beneath Stormpaw, laughing as he tried to batter the larger kit's stomach with his hind paws. Featherkit was quickly losing her "battle" against Foxkit, and with great regret Hailkit managed to mewl, "Retreat! RiverClan, retreat!"
"You'll never have Sunningrocks!" Foxkit crowed, letting Featherkit up as she scampered to Hailkit's side.
"Let's play a different game." Stormkit suggested, noticing the looks that the older warriors were giving them for being so loud.
"Sure." Foxkit paced around his brother in a wide circle. "What should we play?"
"We could go see the elders." Featherkit offered softly.
"Boring. You're up, Stormpaw, what do you want to play?"
The dark gray kit sighed. "What's wrong with visiting the elders?"
Foxkit rolled his eyes. "Alright Hailkit—what should we play while they go visit the elders?"
"Why don't you play the quiet game?"
Hailkit whirled around, purring as he saw Fireheart strolling towards them.
"Fireheart!" Foxkit cheered, rushing to meet their father. "Where have you been? You smell funny."
Hailkit moved closer, wrinkling his nose as he realized what his brother was talking about. "You do smell funny." He admitted, peaking up at the deputy.
"I was patrolling the ShadowClan border with Graystripe and Bramblepaw." HE mewed, "And no." He gave Foxpaw a stern look even as he opened his mouth. "You can't go. Not until you're an apprentice."
"I want to be an apprentice now." Foxpaw sighed, watching as Sootpaw and Sorrelpaw deposited prey in the fresh-kill pile.
"Me too," Stormpaw added, his amber eyes also following the newly-made apprentices. Sootpaw, Rainpaw, and Sorrelpaw had been apprenticed only a half-moon ago, and Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw had been glad for the help after Ashpaw and Fernpaw earned their warrior names—Ashfur and Ferncloud.
"You will be," Silverstream purred from her place just outside the nursery. "For now, why don't you all go visit the elders like Featherkit suggested? If you get to know them better now, it will be easier to manage them when you're apprentices."
Foxkit sighed again. "Alright." He turned to follow Featherkit as she bounded to the fallen tree, only to hesitate and look back for Hailkit.
"Don't worry," the silver tabby purred. "I'll catch up—I just want to go say hi to Yellowfang."
He watched Foxkit shrug and hurry off after Featherkit and Stormkit before turning the opposite direction and padded to Yellowfang's den. It was a lot colder now, but somehow it was still warm in the medicine den.
"Hailkit." Yellowfang greeted him with a gruff purr. "What brings you here today?"
"I just wanted to visit." He mewed, moving closer to see what the old she-cat was doing. "What do those herbs do?"
"These?" She pushed one of the leaves towards him. "Take a sniff."
Obediently, Hailkit bent and took a deep breath, before opening his mouth slightly and letting the smell waft across his tongue. It was sweet—sweeter than he expected.
"Chervil." Yellowfang supplied. "The leaves are used for infected wounds, and the roots for bellyaches."
"Chervil." Hailkit repeated, committing the name and usage to his memory.
"Exactly." Yellowfang nodded. "Would you mind putting what I've got here back in the store?"
"Sure." Hailkit took as much as he could in his tiny jaws, making his way into the split rock that Yellowfang stored her herbs in. On the way back into the small medicine clearing, he spotted his old nest—a swath of down feather and soft moss where he had stayed, unconscious, for over a moon. The silver tabby shivered at the thought as memories came rushing back to him. Going to Yellowfang's den, cats starting to yowl, the burning amber eyes of the huge rogue tom that had attacked him…
"Hailkit?"
The silver tabby shook his head to clear it of his dark memories, flicking his ears to let Yellowfang know he was fine. He had been unconscious for a long time, his injuries almost leading him to StarClan—but he had woken up.
Hailkit sighed, thinking of the pain he had endured just to wake up again. But Yellowfang had helped him. Cindercloud and the others had helped, too—but Yellowfang had an herb to help with everything, and through his miraculous recovery, Hailkit was inspired.
"Come here, I'll show you how to mix the poultice." Yellowfang beckoned the kit with her tail, and once again, Hailkit shook his thoughts away and padded over to join the old medicine cat.
One day, he thought, watching Yellowfang as she showed him each herb for the poultice. I'm going to be as good of a medicine cat as Yellowfang.
Foxkit yawned as he curled into his nest beside Cindercloud. Just a few pawsteps away, Stormkit and Featherkit were doing the same. There was a rustle in the brambles, and Foxkit sat up again as Hailkit slipped into the nursery.
"Where were you?" He meowed, scooting over for his smaller brother.
"I got caught up helping Yellowfang." Hailkit whispered back. "She showed me how to make a poultice."
Foxkit's eyes softened. "You really do want to be a medicine cat, don't you?"
The silver tabby felt a thrill at just the thought. "I really do."
"Promise you'll still learn battle moves with me?" The dark ginger kit pleaded. Hailkit purred.
"Of course! And we can still go hunting and everything! But I know that the best way for me to protect and defend ThunderClan is by healing."
Foxkit nodded. "As long as we still get to hunt together." He yawned again, and Hailkit did the same. Again, the ginger tom curled up, this time with his dark red fur pressed close against his brother's pale silver pelt.
You'll become a great medicine cat, Hailkit, and I'll become a great warrior, so that you won't ever get hurt like that again. No cat in ThunderClan will ever get hurt like that again…
Alright~! I asked if you all wanted a continuation for the kits and I got a few positive responses, so I thought I would throw a chapter up and see what you guys thought(: I know it's not much, but it's just the beginning, and starts for me are always kind of slow… Anyways! What do you think? Good? Bad? Should I continue, or no? Lots of love, guys~