Chapter 1

"Do you think it will snow anymore, Brightheart?"

"Who knows? I just can't keep hoping it doesn't. I don't want my three to get bogged down in this snow."

"We won't get stuck!" A younger voice interrupted.

"Amberkit's right!" One of her brothers added. I couldn't tell whether it was Dewkit or Snowkit.

"I know, I know," Brightheart purred to her kits.

Another she-cat, her mew seeming slightly muffled, as if by thick, soft, fur, "Cinderheart, when do you think Acornkit will open her eyes?"

Cinderheart shuffled her paws next to me. I let out a little mew of annoyance. "I'm not sure, Daisy," my mother finally admitted. "It's only been a few days, so hopefully soon. Jayfeather says it can take awhile."

"I hope she opens her eyes soon!" Amberkit mewed. "Then we'll be able to show her around camp!"

I started to feel myself drifting off into sleep. I didn't do anything to stop it – I liked sleep – but Amberkit's voice swirled around in my head one last time.

I hope she opens her eyes soon…

Believe me, Amberkit, I think before falling asleep. So do I.

Waking up, I felt Cinderheart's tail partly resting on top of me. I didn't mind much. Leaf-bare, as the older cats said, was cold, and it was comforting to cuddle next to my mother.

But I wanted to see what she looked like. I wanted to be able to tell the difference between Dewkit and Snowkit through their pelt colors. And I wanted to see what the ThunderClan camp looked like. The only way to do those things was opening my eyes.

My whiskers twitched, and then, for the first time, I opened my eyes, blinking at the nursery roofed with bramble, and the thick white patches of snow that was just visible through the leaves and stems. I let out a soft mew of surprise.

"Who is it?" I recognized Amberkit's voice from the time my eyes had been closed, yet I still felt a little flicker of surprise when I saw which of the other three kits had spoken.

I could tell which was Amberkit, due to her being to only one to be blinking sleepily around at the nursery. As Amberkit hopped lightly out of her mossy nest, and padded over to me, I quickly scooted out from under Cinderheart's tail. My mother murmered something, then gave a gentle snore.

"Hello," I squeaked, and almost winced at my voice – it was so high, but Amberkit didn't seem bothered.

"Hello, Acornkit," she purred. I felt a sudden rush of tingling delight mixed with happiness, as Amberkit's words seemed to carry a message of friendship.

But, first things first. I had opened my eyes partly to see my denmates, and I was going to do that right now.

Amberkit, I could tell from the dim moonlight coming from the entrence to the nursery, had gray fur. One of her ears was white, and she had white paws. Her fur looked sleek, and shiny.

I glanced down at my own fur. It was light brown, with darker brown lines of fur, and very fluffy.

"You're a brown tabby," Amberkit informed me when she noticed that I was looking at what I was like for the first time. "And you have gray paws, and your tail is pretty. Go on; look." I turned my head, and flicked my tail up from the ground. Most of it was light brown with stripes – tabby, like Amberkit had said – and at the end, there was a splash of golden brown.

"Told you," Amberkit mewed. "Alright, your ears are tipped with golden brown fur as well. Your eyes are green, but they look…kind of fuzzy."

"They feel fuzzy," I mewed. "I can see you, and every cat in the nursery. It's just…I think I'm getting used to seeing."

"It was like that for me, too," Amberkit mewed. "Dewkit and Snowkit were like that too, but they won't admit it."

"Who is who?"

"Wouldn't you–" Amberkit started to say, sounding puzzled, then broke off. "Oh, I know why you couldn't tell them apart! Come on!" She lead me quietly over to her nest she shared with her mother, and two brothers. I stumbled a little over some moss, but for the most part, I managed to not fall over.

"This is Snowkit," Amberkit told me, pointing with her tail to a small white cat nestled next to Brightheart, who I saw had white fur with some ginger patches. Snowkit let out a small snore, and I had to squint to see him, aginst Brightheart's partly white fur. Next, Amberkit pointed to a gray tom. "That's Dewkit."

"He looks like he has darker gray fur then you."

"He does?" Amberkit seemed surprised, glanced down at her own gray fur, then nodded. "He might."

"Acornkit, what are you doing out of your nest?" I turned around, and blinked a few times, to see a smoky gray she-cat stretch, started to pad out of the nest toward me, then stop.

"You opened your eyes!" Cinderheart purred, sounding both relieved and delighted. I just looked up at her for a moment, realizing that my paws – my gray paws – looked like Cinderheart's fur, then ran over to her, as best as I could. Cinderheart's fur was covered with soft gray stripes, and her tail was lined with stripes as well. "Cinderheart!" I mewed. "I met Amberkit, and she showed me her two brothers, and could they show me around camp? Please?"

My mother touched her nose to mine. "It's cold out," she told me. "And you're very young, so I'm not sure…"

I heard a sleepy cat's mew from behind me. "Cinderheart…what's happening?"

"Brightheart, Acornkit opened her eyes!" Cinderheart told her proudly.

"That's great!" Brightheart purred. "Are you going to let her go outside? My three have been wanting to show her around for…how long?" She bent over to smooth down a tuft of Amberkit's head fur, which was sticking straight up. With Cinderheart's tail around me, I squirmed around so I could get a better look at Brightheart.

As I had seen before, Amberkit's, Snowkit's, and Dewkit's mother had white fur, with a few patches of ginger. What I hadn't seen before was her face.

Brightheart's face didn't look out of the ordinary at first. Her one eye blinked at me from where it was – one side of her face. The other side of her face didn't have any fur, and…I think her other eye was missing.

I could tell she seemed nervous, the way she looked at me maybe, like she was tense, or the way she held her tail. I decided to try and comfort her, the best way I knew how.

"Hello!" I squeaked cheerfully, doing my best to squirm my way out of Cinderheart's tail. "Are we going to go outside?"

Brightheart let out a slightly relieved purr. "That's up to your mother, little one, but I'll tell you a secret," she dropped her mew lower, "Cinderheart snuck out of this same nursery awhile after she opened her eyes."

"How do you know about that?" I mewed. "Were you there?"

Brightheart nodded. "I was the one who took her back inside."

"That's enough about that," Cinderheart's purr sounded a little forced. "I'm not sure about letting you outside now, but I'll go see if I can find your father. He'll be pleased to know you opened your eyes."

"Cinderheart, you could stay here," Brightheart urged her. "You need to rest."

"I'm be fine," Cinderheart protested. Turning to me, my mother added, "Stay in the nest, alright? Talk to Amberkit and her brothers if you want."

The smokey gray she-cat slipped outside of the nursery with a flick of her fluffy tail.

Amberkit bounced over to me, followed by her brothers. "Do you want us to explain the camp to you?" Dewkit asked, looking down at me. He had to look down, I suddenly realized, looking back up at him and his littermates, because they were older, taller, sleeker. But they were still the only kits there, and I wanted some friends.

I nodded, and the three kits began to tell me about the camp.

"Well, the leader's den," Snowkit started, "Is this cave just above Highledge – that's where Bramblestar makes announcements from."

"And the apprentices' den is a cave too," Amberkit mewed excitedly. "That's where Molepaw, Cherrypaw, Lilypaw, and Seedpaw sleep."

"Apprentices?" I asked, a little confused.

"They're training to be warriors," Dewkit explained. "Speaking of warriors, they sleep in a dip below a beech tree. It used to be only a big thornbush, but then a tree fell over the side of the hollow, and the warriors had to rebuilt it under some branches."

"Sandstorm – she's one of the elders – taught us how to catch tails out from under the warriors den," Amberkit whispered, making sure that Brightheart, giving herself a hasty morning grooming, couldn't overhear. "She and the rest of the elders live in a honeysuckle-covered den that got rewoven around the beech tree," the gray-and-white she-kit continued in a louder voice.

"And Leafpool and Jayfeather are the medicince cats," Snowkit added. "We haven't been inside their den yet, but it's another cave, with a curtain of brambles across the entrance. Biairlight lives there too," he mewed. "She's their helper."

The brambles rustled, and Cinderheart entered, followed by a golden-brown tabby tom. They brought in a chilly breeze, and I shivered a little. Amberkit and her brothers padded back over to their own nest, eagarly telling Brightheart about telling me about the camp.

I scampered over to Cinderheart, and the tom, who I realized must be my father. "Lionblaze?" I mewed hesatintly, wondering if I remembered his name correctly. I had only heard it mentioned once.

Lionblaze purred, and bent to touch noses with me. I stretched up as much as I could so he wouldn't have to bend far. "Hello, Acornkit," Lionblaze meowed when we broke apart. "I see you've opened your eyes."

"Are they green?" I mewed, gazing up at my father's amber eyes. Lionblaze nodded, then sent a swift glance at Cinderheart, so swift that I almost missed it.

"Your eyes are green," Lionblaze meowed quietly, "As green as holly leaves."

I let out a purr. "That's great! Amberkit and her brothers told me about the hollow…is there really a fallen beech tree?"

Lionblaze nodded, as Cinderheart led me back to the soft mossy nest. "There is a fallen beech tree. It spans the length of the hollow, like the hollow is the body of a cat, and the tree is its spine…"

Something was prodding me in the side. I yawned.

"Acornkit, come on! Wake up!"

I opened one eye, and raised my head a little from where it had been resting next to Cinderheart. "What – Amberkit?"

Amberkit nodded gleefully. It was two moons since I had first opened my eyes, and now my fellow kit-denmates were one moon away from becoming an apprentice. I tried not to think about it to much.

In the dim light of the waning moon – it was only a claw-scratch – I could just make out Amberkit next to the nest I shared with Cinderheart. My brown tabby fur had lost some kit fluff, but not as much as Amberkit had. Her kit fluff was only here and there, and her pelt had grown sleeker, but not as shiny or flat as the warriors' fur.

"So," I whispered when I climbed carefully out of the nest, "Why did you prod me awake?"

Amberkit looked aghast in mock seriousness. "I did not prod you awake, I poked you awake. There's a difference."

I rolled my eyes, amused. "Well, whichever you did, why did you wake me up? It's the middle of the night!"

The gray-and-white she-kit shrugged, but looked a little pleased with herself. "I was bored," she mewed, "And I wanted to wake someone else up, because if I wake up Brightheart, she'll just tell me to go back to sleep."

"Okay," I mewed. "What do you think we should do now? We can't sneak out of camp," I added quickly, as Amberkit got a gleam in her eye I knew well. "It'll be to dark to see anything. We might stumble into a rabbit hole, or get caught by a night patrol."

"Yeah," my friend sighed. "I guess you're right –" she broke off as her belly rumbled.

"We could get some fresh-kill!" I mewed eagerly.

"Good point," Amberkit nodded, then mewed, "You can eat fresh-kill now, right?"

I mewed a yes. "I'm almost weaned. I'll be all right."

"Good," Amberkit replied, then gave her ear a scratch. "What about Dewkit and Snowkit? Do you think we should wake them up?"

"Sure," I mewed, glancing over at Amberkit's littermates. "They might be hungry too…"

"All right," Amberkit whispered in my ear, "Ready?"

"Ready!"

"We can start now," Amberkit mewed softly.

I reached out a paw, and prodded – er, poked Dewkit. He twitched an ear, then snored.

"Come on!" Amberkit muttered to Snowkit. "Wake up!"

Dewkit blinked open his amber eyes. "Acornkit?" he mumbled. "What's going on?"

"We're poking you awake so we can eat some fresh-kill!" Amberkit mewed.

"You do realize how mouse-brained that is?" Snowkit yawned, then scrambled out of his nest, followed by Dewkit.

"I'm bored," Amberkit mewed simply as we headed over the nursery entrance, "Plus, I'm hungry, and I don't want to wait until morning."

"You can't go."

My ears twitched. "Cinderheart?" I whispered, peering into the murkiness of the nursery, wondering if my mother was about to tell the four of us to go back to sleep.

But the meowed statement had come from ahead of us, not behind, and it was deeper. A tom's mew.

A black-furred tom poked his head into the enterance. As he sqeezed through, I could see his chest and some of his chin was white, and he padded in on white paws.

Dropping a mouse, he meowed, "Sorry about the delay. How are you doing, kits?"

I blinked. "Who are you?"

The warrior – at least, I thought he was a warrior – blinked amber eyes at me. "How old are you, kit? One moon old?"

I threw an annoyed glance at him. "Two."

"Oh, two moons old then. Right, as you are the youngest member in this Clan, you wouldn't know all the warriors, I'm guessing." The tom's mew made my fur bristle. Who was he?

"Well, we're five moons old," Dewkit mewed. "Almost apprentices. And my littermates and I know every warrior in ThunderClan."

"Look," the strange tom growled. "Do you want the mouse or not?"

Amberkit glanced at her brothers. They looked uncertian.

She glanced at me. I shrugged, the golden end of my tail twitching, annoyed.

"Eat it!" the tom meowed, sounding less angry. "There aren't any deathberries in it. I promise."

Shrugging, Snowkit took a bite out of the mouse. He swallowed, and then mewed, "It tastes fine. Just a little muddy."

"Muddy?" Dewkit asked as he nibbled on it. "Yeah, it does taste like mud."

"What do you mean, it tastes like mud? It's fresh-kill," the tom muttered. "Kits."

I glanced around at the three queens. Cinderheart and Dasiy were sleeping, but Brightheart was stirring.

Hoping that the mouse really was just muddy, I took a bite. I chewed, I swallowed, I thought, Dewkit and Snowkit were right. This does taste muddy, but a mouse wouldn't get muddy just from being dropped on the nursery floor…

And there's something else too…

I glanced down at the half-eaten piece of fresh-kill, and what I caught a glimmer of, having been stuffed in the mouse, made my belly tighten in worry.

Poppy seeds.

A/N: No, Acornkit! Why are you so fluffy and kittenish?!

Fluffy kittens are fluffy.

Acornkit: Moonbeam141 does not own Warriors… *cute kitten squeak* Only MEE!

We know that, Acornkit. We know.