There was a noise. Someone was talking.
Squirrelkit squirmed as the noise disturbed her sleep. Blindly, she scented her way closer to her mother's belly, wanting to bury her face into her sweet milk-scented fur and block the annoying sound away. Bumping into her sister who made a mew of protest, she quickly mewed back an apology before turning back to her task and eventually, successfully buried her nose into her mother's soft fur.
"Isn't she adorable?" It was that voice again. Ferncloud's voice… Squirrelkit was not amused. She heard a pleased purr rumbling in her mother's throat.
"I want to sleep." She raised her squeaky voice, trying to get a word in and hopefully, they would let her get back to her precious nap.
She felt her mother's soft tongue licked the top of her head and Leafkit squealed in jealousy. "You two should open your eyes soon. After that, I doubt you will ever want to sleep again." Sandstorm meowed teasingly.
Squirrelkit pouted before an idea popped up in her head. "If I open my eyes now, can you be quiet and let me go back to my nap?" She offered quietly, already rubbing her paws on her closed eyes, readying to open them so that she could get back to her sleep.
Slowly, she stretched open her eyes, wincing against the brightest of the light piercing through the bramble roof. It took a moment or two for her to regain her sight as she was temporary blinded by the light.
When the world around her sharpened; she let out a loud squeal of surprise. "It's huge!" She exclaimed in her high pitched voice, eyes darting around, studying the nursery.
There were brambles supporting the roof and though they sheltered the cats from the weather, Squirrelkit could see through some gaps, which were strangely blue in her opinion. There were a few cats in the nursery, Ferncloud, a gray with dark flecks she-cat bathed in milk scent, was curled up in her nest with two kits who was near six moons old, peering over her shoulder.
Brightheart, a white with ginger patches she-cat with a face that didn't look like Sandstorm's or Ferncloud's, was grooming her little white kit, who was ironically named Whitekit in their nest, she smelled quite different from Ferncloud and Sandstorm, a mixture of milk and a very familiar scent, which Squirrelkit could remember as her father's from the times he had visited them before, before she had opened her eyes, though it wasn't as good as his. Sandstorm said it was because Brightheart's mate was kin of her father so they smelled quite familiar.
"Your eyes are so green." Whitekit squealed in pleasure from her nest, dodging her mother's tongue to get closer to the nest where Squirrelkit crouched in with her mother and sister. "I bet Leafkit's eyes are green too! Like Sandstorm's and yours."
Squirrelkit was so busying studying her mother that she ignored her white denmate. No cat could blame her. It was the first time she saw Sandstorm after all. "You are so big!" She meowed in awe as she had to crane her head up to see her mother's face.
Sandstorm was a big pale ginger cat with really pale stripes and kind green eyes which held an invisible strength in them that had Squirrelkit blinking admiringly at her. Her mother was the picture of perfection.
"My, aren't you a little Firestar?" Her mother chuckled before bending down to nudge Leafkit, a bundle of brown tabby fur, curled up near her belly. "Your sister has opened her eyes, Leafkit. You should open yours soon." The queen assured her lightly, before turning to Squirrelkit again with a proud gleam in her eyes.
"Can I go out now?" Squirrelkit asked, still in awe at how big things were when she had actually seen them, not scented. "I want to see what is outside!" She meowed excitedly, her fluffy tail puffed up with thrill.
Sandstorm nuzzled her fondly before replying. "No, not until your sister opens her eyes." She said sternly before drawing Squirrelkit closer to her belly with her sister. "And let's give you the nap you were meowing about earlier."
Pouting, Squirrelkit closed her eyes; envisioning what it would be like when she and Leafkit finally leave the nursery. Somehow, she fell asleep in the middle of her day-dreaming.
Noises woke Squirrelkit up, again. Oh, and a tiny paw poking her in the side. It must be Leafkit.
Grumpily, she cracked opened her eyes and met with clear amber ones staring at her. It took a moment for it to sink in that Leafkit had finally opened her eyes as well until Squirrelkit squealed and looked at Sandstorm hopefully.
"Can we go out now?" She asked, nudging her sister for support, who nodded along enthusiastically. "Can we? Can we?" She started bouncing up and down, hoping the queens would find it noisy enough to send them outside. She had heard Spiderkit and Shrewkit being sent outside by Ferncloud whenever they got too noisy.
Sandstorm purred as she got up, shaking the moss from her pelt. "Of course! Run ahead you two, I will be out with you in a heartbeat." The queen meowed warmly and began to do a swift grooming for herself.
Buzzing with excitement, the two sisters stumbled outside of the nursery through the narrow entrance, hardly caring to groom themselves. Whitekit was padding behind them, determined to keep an eye on her youngest denmates while Spiderkit and Shrewkit were already outside, stalking leaves.
Blinking, Squirrelkit studied the vast space in front of her eyes. It was so big! And there were so many cats, all focused on their own task. There was dark brown tabby near a fallen tree with a golden brown tabby, both struggling with some branches in their jaws. There was also a heap of birds and mice, where cats occasionally stopped by to deposit the prey they caught, which was exactly what a light gray tom was doing.
Beside her, Leafkit gasped, astonished. "It is so big!" She sounded giddy with excitement, her little brown tail waving happily behind her. "Where do you think our father is, Squirrelkit?" She asked, scanning the place for the father they had only scented before.
Whitekit laid her tail on the younger kit's back with a mrrw of amusement. Sandstorm slid out of the nursery and sat next to her kits, purring amusedly as she caught the last part of their conversation. "Your father is a very important cat." The queen meowed lovingly at her two daughters.
Whitekit nodded eagerly. "Yes! He is the Clan leader!" She meowed proudly. "Brightheart says he is my kin, you know? Because Cloudtail is his kin too!" The little white kit bounced up and down on her paws.
Sandstorm rested her muzzle briefly on the white kit's head. "Why don't you show them around?" She suggested warmly. "I would like to have a word with Firestar without kits around." She ignored the pouts she got from her daughters.
Whitekit nodded importantly as she ushered Squirrelkit and her sister away from the ginger queen. "Come on, let me show you the apprentice den." The white kit meowed, trailing toward a clump of ferns behind a tree stump with two kits padding after her. "When you are apprentices, you will sleep in here." Whitekit noted warmly as the kits trembled with excitement, their fluffy tails were stuck up high in the air.
"When can we be apprentices?" Squirrelkit asked eagerly, peering inside the den, her small nose twitching as new scents hit her nose. The scents weren't stale. Clearly the apprentices were only out not long ago.
"When you two reach six moons." Whitekit promised, already drawing them away with her tail. Squirrelkit whined, wanting to explore the apprentice den but Leafkit followed their older denmate quietly, prompting her sister pouted and padded after the two kits.
Whitekit led them into a tunnel and stopped before a bush that smelled of cats. Her white tail waving excitedly behind her as a white tom slid out of the bush. With a squeal, Whitekit bounded over to him, leaving Squirrelkit and Leafkit looking after her in confusion.
"What was that?" Squirrelkit pouted as she watched the white kit touched nose with the tom, mewing happily. She nudged her sister lightly, making the brown tabby kit looked at her with her head titled. "Let's go without her."
Leafkit started meowing protests as her sister nosed her away. "But Sandstorm told Whitekit to show us around!" Her little sister wailed as Squirrelkit tried to push her into the tunnel. "I don't want to get Whitekit into trouble!"
Apparently, Leafkit's wailing had caught Whitekit and the tom's attention as Whitekit stepped between the two, separating Squirrelkit and her sister. "Squirrelkit, don't push your sister!" Whitekit chided them as a mother would chide her kits before nosing the two of them toward the big white tom. "Cloudtail! Meet Squirrelkit and Leafkit!" She announced cheerfully.
From Squirrelkit's point of view, Cloudtail was big! A little smaller than Sandstorm but regardless, he was big. His fur looked so fluffy and clean, like Whitekit, that Squirrelkit had half a mind to ask him for some fur to line her nest with. However, he didn't have green eyes like his daughter nor did Brightheart, which made Squirrelkit wondered how Whitekit got her green eyes.
"Firestar's kits, not tiny scraps of fur anymore." Cloudtail nodded, unimpressed. "At least you look better than you did a few sunrises ago." At this, he flicked his ear in annoyance. "But still noisy." He grumbled before turning to his daughter and gave her a small lick before padding away. "If you are looking for Firestar, I reckon he is beneath the Highrock with Graystripe." He called over his shoulder as he was about to disappeared into the tunnel. "He is quite easy to spot, being the only dark ginger cat in the Clan. Just look for some cat like that bushy tailed nuisance."
Leafkit blinked after the white tom. Her amber eyes were round with surprise. "He is so rude!" She pouted at Whitekit, who brushed her tail softly against her denmate's flank. "He called us tiny scraps of fur and called Squirrelkit a nuisance!" She wailed sadly.
Squirrelkit pressed closer to her sister while Whitekit comforted the brown tabby. It was hard to image that the rude white tom was Whitekit's father. He seemed so unlike her gentle denmate, personality wise. "Don't worry, Leafkit." She meowed to her sister. "I will make sure he will never be rude to you again."
With that, she marched toward the tunnel, her nose twitching the picked up the white tom's scent and followed it into the clearing. Her eyes fixed on the white tom beside the heap of birds and mice, talking with a dusky brown cat. Determinedly, she marched over to the tom, her pelt puffed up, and ready for a confrontation.
"Hey!" She yowled, head-butting the white cat, but as she was too small, seemed to be nudging him instead. It took a moment but as soon as she got his attention, she jumped back and made herself look twice her size. "How dare you say those awful things to Leafkit!" She howled, hearing her sister's little pawsteps approaching her and felt her pressing into her flank.
"Hush, Squirrelkit!" Her sister hissed before turning to the white warrior. "I will get her away from you in a heartbeat." She meowed hastily, trying to nudge her sister away.
Squirrelkit stood her ground, shaking her sister off before turning to Cloudtail with a growl. "Well? Are you going to give her a nice apology?" She demanded, growing angrier and angrier as amusement danced in Cloudtail's blue eyes.
A purr rumbling in the warrior's throat, making Squirrelkit felt like yowling with rage and frustration. "You better get back to the nursery, kit." He meowed with a lash of his tail. "A fluffy bundle of fur like you could be trampled on by unsuspecting apprentices and warriors."
Squirrelkit growled deeply, bunching her hindlegs together, ready to pounce on the white tom until a tail snaked itself across her flank, drawing her away from the tom. "Let me at him! He was rude to Leafkit!" She protested fiercely as Sandstorm bundled her kits together with her tail.
"Squirrelkit, behave yourself!" Sandstorm scolded the little ginger kit who defiantly met her mother's eyes. "What would your father think about this? Arguing with one of the senior warriors?" The pale ginger queen growled; ushering the kits to the nursery, ignoring her kits' protests, which were mostly Squirrelkit's as Leafkit trotted to the nursery with her head down, tail trailing behind her.
The warriors in the clearing looked on with amusement as Sandstorm marched her two kits into the nursery, Whitekit trailed embarrassedly toward Brightheart who stood near the entrance of the nursery, whiskers twitching amusedly.
Firestar came by to meet his mate and kits later with a plump vole dangling from his jaws. He nodded to Goldenflower, who purred amusedly as the dedicated tom, who ducked his head embarrassedly, hurrying toward his mate, who watched him with twinkles in her green eyes.
Squirrelkit was tumbling with her sister, growling softly as they played until Sandstorm shifted and she scented a familiar smell. She untangled herself from Leafkit, fur bristling as she stared at the strange tom who was touching noses with her mother and sharing tongues with casually. "Hey, what are you doing?" She demanded with narrowed eyes.
The tom was larger than Squirrelkit with darker stripes ran across his sleek ginger pelt. His eyes were green, a few shades darker than Sandstorm's and Whitekit's. And Squirrelkit hissed when she heard a purr rumbling in his throat as he gazed lovingly at Sandstorm.
Firestar looked down at the ginger she-kit, who had been tumbling with her sister a few heartbeats ago and an amused purr rumbling in his throat as he saw Sandstorm's fiery spirit inside the small kit. Her sister, however, stared at him with confusion, head cocked to one side, her gaze searching. She looked much like his sister's Princess, who was also a light brown tabby with white chest and paws, though she didn't have Princess's brilliant green eyes. Instead, she had amber eyes which none of them knew where she had inherited them from.
"Hello, little ones." He murmured softly with pride flickering in his green eyes. Leafkit and Squirrelkit were the most adorable kits Firestar had ever seen and to be honest, he couldn't think of another queen who looked half as beautiful, inside and outside, as Sandstorm in that moment.
Squirrelkit spit, shielding her sister from the tom, puffing up her fur until she was twice her size. "Don't you dare hello us! How dare you do that with my mother? You are not mates! Just wait until Firestar knows about this!" She hissed daringly, twitching her short whiskers in annoyance as Sandstorm meowed with laughter.
The tom looked taken back for a moment but he recovered quickly, a purr rumbling in his throat. His tail twitched happily behind him as he gazed at the tiny kit. "Little one, I am sure that it is within my right to be affectionate with my mate, isn't it?"
Leafkit pushed pass her sister, approaching the tom cautiously, her little pink nose twitching as she sniffed at his pelt warily. "You do smell familiar." She mumbled softly as she drew away, padding back toward her sister and pressed herself closer to Squirrelkit's flank.
"You are Firestar?" Squirrelkit meowed, glancing at her amused mother, whose whiskers twitched happily as she curled herself around her two kits.
The tom purred as he leaned down to nuzzle her gently. "Yes, Squirrelkit." He replied amusedly as the small kit leaped away to avoid contact with him and puffed out her ginger fur, growling in her throat, thrusting her sister behind her while Leafkit let out a meow of protest.
"Squirrelkit!" Leafkit squeaked, pushing against her sister. "What are you doing? He is our father!" She frantically smoothed down her sister's pelt with her tongue, looking up at Sandstorm worriedly between a few licks. "Sandstorm, do something…"
Squirrelkit glared at the tom. "I did nothing wrong! That mangy-pelted mouse-brained tom was rude to Leafkit!" She snarled, her neck fur bristling despite Leafkit's effort. Her sister was so small and delicate. How could Cloudtail say those things to her? How could he hurt her feelings?
"Cloudtail is rude to everyone." Her father retorted, meeting her green eyes with his own. He flicked his ear when he heard a meaningful cough from Brightheart. "Well, Brightheart and Whitekit are the only ones who haven't felt his ire." He amended as the white-and-ginger queen lifted her head proudly; her white kit ducked her head shyly.
"So?" Squirrelkit demanded, pressing against her tabby sister protectively. No cat was allowed to hurt her precious littermate. "If he does it again, I will be happy to give him a few scratched ears." She flexed her fluffy paws, half wondering if she could even claw a cat when she had only opened her eyes for less than one sunrise.
Firestar purred as he flopped down next to his mate, nuzzling her fondly. "We have such brave and thoughtful kits! They will be great warriors one day, like their mother." He murmured, obviously pleased, while Squirrelkit meowing protests as her parents shared a loving look between them.
Sandstorm leaned on her mate, eyes shining with happiness. "Though they need to learn some disciplines first." She meowed, a little too brightly as Leafkit gently nuzzling to her side, Squirrelkit pouted and pressed against her side.
His mate nodded, green eyes shining brightly. "I am sure they will." He let out a mrrw of amusement, his tail flickered back and forth. "After all, you are their mother." Lovingly, he drew his tongue over her ear, watching their kits meowing happily.
Life couldn't be better.