Prologue

In a nursery, a grey she cat writhed in pain. She panted heavily with a stick set in her jaws. Pain rippled through her body and the stick between her jaws gave way, snapping with a loud crack! The grey tabby tom with unseeing blue eyes that crouched beside her set a paw on her stomach.

"It's alright, Cinderheart," he soothed. "You're almost there. You have one to go."

Cinderheart lifted her head and let out a loud caterwaul. "It hurts so much," she screeched. "Get it out of me!"

A golden tabby tom pushed his way through the bramble entrance, cringing at Cinderheart's yowls of pain. He crouched down beside her and looked up at the grey tabby tom.

"I'm sure Jayfeather will appreciate it if you took another stick from Sorreltail," he mewed calmly as he licked her ear several times.

Jayfeather nodded his agreement and moved his paw around Cinderheart's belly. "It's almost ready to come out to join it's sister and brothers." Cinderheart gasped in pain as she sqeezed her eyes shut. "Sorreltail," Jayfeather snapped. "The stick!"

The tortoiseshell and white queen quickly moved across the den with another stick in her jaws and placed it by Cinderheart's nest. Cinderheart grabbed it as soon as Sorreltail set it down and let out a screech as, yet again, the stick splintered in her jaws. A small kit slid into the nest, unmoving in the protective sack.

"Lionblaze, nip open the sack and start licking it's fur the wrong way," Jayfeather ordered. The golden tom hesitated, looking at the unmoving kit with horror. "Now!"

Lionblaze gulped and stood up, moving towards the kit. Nipping the sack open, he started to lick against the fur, trying to warm the kit up. After many long and excruciating heart-beats, the kit squirmed underneath Lionblaze's licks and let out a small mew. Cinderheart sighed and plopped her head back down as Lionblaze set the small kit by the others in the crook of Cinderheart's belly.

Jayfeather moved close to the kit and gave it an expirimental sniff. "It's a she-cat," he purred. Lionblaze felt pride shoot through his body, then it vanished and was replaced with a pang of longing for his sister. Hollyleaf was killed in the battle with the Dark Forest and wished that she was here to see her kin. "Two she-cats and two toms. Good job, Cinderheart."

Lionblaze forced out a purr as he watched his sons and daughters fight for a spot by Cinderheart. "What shall we name them," he asked, looking at each kit closely. He pointed his tail at a bright ginger tom then ran his tail lightly down his back. "How about we name this on Sunkit?"

Cinderheart nodded. "Sounds great. And this one-" She pointed to a mottled brown she-cat. "-can be called Nettlekit." Next she ran her tail down a ginger and white tom's back and the kit let out a mew, nuzzling closer to Cinderheart. "This one shall be called Eaglekit."

Jayfeather sat down and wrapped his tail around his paws. "What about the small one," he mused. It was a white and grey tabby she-cat. "What will you name her?"

Lionblaze inspected the kit carefully, watching every movement. He noticed that even though the she-kit was small, she was feisty, for she was pushing her siblings to get to the milk easier. The golden tom narrowed his eyes and a certain Dark Forest cat came to his mind.

"Why don't we name her Thistlekit?" Lionblaze looked at the kit for a long time, realizing how much she looked like Thistleclaw, who was her kin. Cinderheart paused a moment, glancing up at Lionblaze before looking back down at the small she-kit. "It seems like a good match...don't you think?"

With pride flashing across her eyes, Cinderheart nodded. "It's perfect. Welcome to Thunderclan, Thistlekit."