Treestar sat at the entrance to his den, his clanmates busying themselves with the day's work.
"Hey! Treestar!" An apprentice skidded to a halt in front of him. "Firecloud wants to see you!"
"Very well, I'll be right over." He said, striding past the little cat and heading for the medicine den.
"Firecloud?" He poked his head into the den, only spotting the form of Bluestream, who prompty woke up.
"Eh, Firecloud? I reckon she's in the nursery." Bluestream mewed, before thumping her head back down into the nest. Backing out of the den, Treestar headed over to the nursery, his sister meeting him coming out.
"About time." She growled, setting down a bundle of herbs. "She's ready to see you, you've got three."
"That's fantastic!" He meowed excitedly, quickly brushing past Firecloud.
"Hmph, I don't know why you'd want 3 little terrors." She muttered, but Treestar couldn't care to retort.
"How are they?!" Treestar burst into the nursery, earning a hiss from the other queen there, Mistyeye.
"Sorry." He apologized, before turning his attention back to his mate. She purred and looked up.
"They're beautiful." Leafheart said, her eyes shining with love at the three squirming kits.
"Have you named them yet?" Treestar asked, sniffing the sandy-brown tom, who mewled and wriggled closer to her mother's belly.
"I've thought of Birchkit for the little tom, and Oakkit for the other tom. But not this one." She nosed the dark brown tabby kit. Treestar sat down, tilting his head. He thought for a while. "How about... Sprucekit? For her pelt."
"I think it's wonderful. Hello, my children." Leafheart said, before settling down to sleep with them. Treestar stared for a while, his mind only thinking of his family.
"I vow to protect each and every single one of you, to the end. No matter what it takes." He thought, before turning to organized patrols.
"Hey, Treestar." Nighteyes padded over to where the SkyClan leader had just padded out of the nursery. "Up for a patrol?"
"Well, I wanted to spend time with my kits... but perhaps I can." Treestar said tentatively.
"Great, I'll round up Minttail and Brackenfeather, make this a real patrol." Nighteyes meowed. Treestar waited until all three Warriors were with him before setting out into the forest.
"Ugh. Did we really have to go out NOW?" Brackenfeather whined. Nighteyes butted her in the shoulder.
"I don't think you should be complaining right behind the leader anyways." Amusement rising from the group as Brackenfeather scowled. The patrol continued rather smoothly, the cats casually cracking jokes and meowing about clan news. Soon enough, they reached the ThunderClan border. Treestar signaled the patrol to keep an eye out, ThunderClan hadn't been the best of friends lately, and Treestar was "attempting" to keep the peace. The borders were marked, but as the patrol moved out, Brackenfeather let out a yowl.
"Hey, Treestar! Over here!"
Treestar bounded over, Nighteyes and Minttail trailing him.
"What is it? ThunderClan scent? Fox? Squirrel?" He asked, but Brackenfeather had stuck her head into a hole. She reappeared shortly after, a scrap of fur hanging in her jaws.
"It's a kit. Looks about half a moon old, I think." She mumbled around it, the kit squeaked and feebly pawed at her.
Nighteyes sniffed it, reeling back with a hiss. "ThunderClan scent! But… what's it doing here?" He sat down with a confused look.
"We should probably take it back to its clan." Minttail picked the kit up, but Treestar halted her with his tail.
"Don't." He meowed evenly. "We'll take her in."
"Say what?!" The rest of the patrol meowed in shock.
"Well, they must not want her, to leave her like this." Treestar said. Nighteyes looked at him with a narrowed gaze.
"You have a point there, but you WILL announce her at the next gathering, right?" He said, a growl edging his voice.
"Perhaps, though Leafheart might not want to give her away."
Brackenfeather meowed in disbelief. "You're stealing a kit?" Her eyes grew wide as Treestar nodded.
"Look, our ranks aren't nearly as big as ThunderClan's, we need all the warriors we can get, even if they are kits right now." Treestar explained. The rest of the patrol agreed quietly, though their eyes betrayed their uneasy feeling.
"Good. Now, let's get back to the clan." Swishing his tail for the patrol to move, he grabbed the kit up in his jaws, whispering.
"Hello there, I'm your leader Treestar. You must be… Redkit. Yes, that will be your name. Hello, Redkit." Treestar smiled, his green eyes unreadable, save for the glint in his eyes as he padded away from the ThunderClan border.