"She'll be the last in her litter," a voice complained. "Yeah!" meowed another, softer voice. Like the voice of a kit. "And I want to go outside!" "Shush, Russetkit!" came in another voice scolding the kit with gentle authority. "Why don't you play with Windkit and Frostkit?" the voiced mewed again. "Ok," said Russetkit eagerly. "When do you think she'll open her eyes, Moonwhisker?" meowed the first voice again. "When she's ready, Berrywing. You're as impatient as Russetkit," Moonwhisker teased Berrywing. I wanted to know why they were called what they were, so I opened my eyes. The first cat I saw was a she-cat, presumably Moonwhisker. Then I saw a molted tabby tom, with a tear out of his left ear, which was black. Then I looked back to Moonwhisker. She was pale white with darker gray patches in the shape of a rabbit on the side facing me, her right side. Then I turned my head and saw three kits play fighting. The first one was dark russet colored, but had some black spots on his pelt. After who was presumably Russetkit, There was a light gray tom with white marks that looked like they might be blowing wind, hence the name Windkit. The next kit was a she-cat who was a light blue with white specks. This had to be Frostkit. I looked back at Moonwhisker, who was meowing something to Berrywing. "Berrywing, look," she meowed. "She opened her eyes!" Suddenly Berrywing swirled around from his conversation, and shoed the other cats he was talking to out of the nursery. He bent down and nuzzled me. I purred. "I think I'll call her…" Moonwhisker looked like she was growing wings and flying into space. "Sparklekit." She had zoned back in. I found my voice and mewed, "I like that name." I then started being groomed. I was a ginger tabby kit with sparkling amber eyes. I had ocasional flecks of red. It wasn't long until my coat was just as sparkling as my eyes. I said, "Are Russetkit, Windkit, and Frostkit my littermates?" Moonwhisker purred with amusment. "Curious, are we. I remember when Berrywing and I were just kits. He was just as curious. Yes they are." Then she asked me if I wanted to play with them. But I was already fighting with them.
The next day I woke up before my littermates. I wanted to go outside, and luckily Dawntail was awake. She looked as if she were in pain. I ran over to her. "Are you okay, Dawntail?" I asked. "I need you to see if there are any warriors awake that aren't on a patrol. If there are, ask them to accompany you to Nightpelt's den." "Is there anything special about Nightpelt?" I asked. "She's the medicine cat," Dawntail replied. "Tell her that I'm having pains." I nodded and ran out of the den. As soon as I got into the clearing, a cat bigger than me appeared at the nursery. He looks like a warrior," I thought. "Are you a warrior?" I asked him. "Not yet," he mewed, "but I will be soon. I'm Darkpaw, an apprentice." "Oh," I meowed sadly. "I need a warrior." "I'm almost a warrior," Darkpaw said. "Crowstar said told me that tomorrow I'll have my warrior ceremony." Darkpaw seemed really excited, and I needed to find Nightpelt soon. "Ok," I meowed, "I need you to lead me to Nightpelt's den. Dawntail has a message for her." Darkpaw nodded and started making his way across the clearing. I had to run to keep up. "Wait up," I panted. "This is my first day out and my fourth day alive!" I put emphasis on alive. After that, Darkpaw slowed down a bit and I caught up. "We're almost there," he told me. "But be careful. Dovepaw doesn't like it when we come to visit Nightpelt." I nodded, saving my questions for later. Soon I saw a pearly white cat, about the same size as Darkpaw. "Is that Dovepaw?" I asked. He nodded. "What do you want?" spat Dovepaw when we got to her. "Hi!" I stepped up to the cat. "I'm Sparklekit, and this is my first time out." Dovepaw rolled her eyes. "And I came because I have a message from Dawntail," I finished. Dovepaw's eyes grew wide. She led us inside. I saw a dark black and dark dark gray she-cat with her head in some herbs. She looked up as she heard approaching pawsteps. "Dovepaw," Nightpelt said, "who is this kit that Darkpaw is with?" "This is Sparklekit," Dovepaw replied eagerly. "She has a message from Dawntail. You know, the one that you said would be kitting soon." Nightpelt nodded. There was a pause, then Nightpelt meowed impatiently. "Well?" "Dawntail said to tell you that she's having pains," I said, realizing that she'd wanted me to speak. Nightpelt motioned for Dovepaw to follow her. "Thank you, Sparklekit," she mewed, "this means that she will be kitting soon." Dovepaw was practically yowling with excitement at this point. "This will be her first time kitting," Darkpaw answered her unspoken question. They followed Nightpelt and Dovepaw to the nursery. "This is also Dawntail's first litter," Darkpaw said, "I guess there will be new experiences all around!" I kindly smiled at his joke. When we got to the nursery, Moonwhisker looked very worried. I quickly forgot everything I'd seen. "Sparklekit!" Moonwhisker rushed up to me. By now my littermates had woken up. But I couldn't see them through Moonwhisker. "Where have you been?" she meowed angrily. "I have been worried sick! You can not just wander out of the nursery like that!" "I" "No! No excuses. You are confined to the nursery for the next week!" "So Dawntail didn't tell you where I went then?" I asked, ignoring my punishment. "No," Moonwhisker mewed, "how could she? She was to much in pain. And for that matter, why did you come back with Darkpaw, Nightpelt, and Dovepaw?" "I was out because Dawntail needed me to get a message to Nightpelt because I was the only one awake." "It's true," meowed Darkpaw softly, coming to my defense. "Dawntail had been having pains, so she sent Sparklekit out to find a warrior to show her to Nightpelt's den. But instead, she found me." Moonwhisker nodded. "I'm sorry, Sparklekit," she mewed, "but next time, now that it's okay to wake me up to tell me where your going, okay?" I nodded. "And because you didn't, you're still confined to the nursery