Chapter 1

Moonkit sniffed at the air. It smelled of bracken from the nursery, her mother's milk, another queen, and the scent of many of the cats who visited her sibling and herself. But that wasn't enough. She wanted to see her mother and the bracken, her sisters, and other queens.

She blinked open her eyes to see complete darkness. The night was black, dark. The trees rustled above her in the forest outside the hollow. Her sisters breathed evenly, in and out beside her. Icekit, looked exactly like her, except smaller while Blackkit looked like her complete opposite; black fur, amber eyes, or so she had heard since she before she had woken.

Moonkit squirmed as Icekit's claws punctured her skin.

"What was that for?" She hissed.

"Sorry," Icekit whispered. "I was dreaming I was killing a mouse. It was so juicy…"

"Well do I look like a mouse?" Moonkit hissed angrily.

"Sorry," Icekit replied, as she was drifting back into unconsciousness.

Since everyone was asleep, Moonkit closed her eyes and fell in to a light sleep, still keeping her senses active to tell her when her mother would awaken.

*~*

It was sunhigh and the hollow was busy, and the three kits almost got trampled a couple of times.

"Over here," Blackkit hissed as they raced across the hollow.

"Well, well, well, look who opened there eyes," Gingerstar said as the kits crashed into her.

"Sorry Gingerstar," Icekit replied with waves of embarrassment rolling off her.

"It's okay, little one," Blueheart stated. "Her bark is worse than her bite."

"Blueheart, what is there to report?" Gingerstar asked, ignoring his comment.

"ShadowClan was scented, almost a tail-length past our borders." Blueheart stated.

"Send another patrol please, and a hunting patrol," Gingerstar requested.

"Can we go? Please?" Blackkit asked

"No you're too young, imagine it, Blueheart, not even a day old and they want to go out on patrol," Gingerstar replied.

"Berrypaw, come and give these kits a tour around the camp, and don't let them get under any warriors paws," Blueheart suggested.

"Sure, come on than, and try to keep up," Berrypaw said.

"Berrypaw, what's over there?" Moonkit asked.

"Leafheart's den," Berrypaw replied.

"Cool!" Moonkit howled as she bounded across the clearing to visit Leafheart.

She skidded on the dirt when she tried to stop, making it fly. She flew into Leafheart's clearing, stopping in front of an old, dark brown tom, getting his fur checked for tics.

"Hey, the kit is finally out of the den," Dusttail wheezed.

"You shouldn't be in here," Leafheart warned. "I'm treating Dusttail. The mouse bile will be bad for your nose."

"Can I help?" Moonkit asked, ignoring Leafheart completely.

"Aw, just let the little gal help," Dusttail said, muffling laughter.

Leafheart sighed. "Fine. Go get me… some comfrey. It's the bell like flower that can either be pink, white, or purple. It's in the furthest crack."

Moonkit skittered to the edge of the clearing and found the comfrey in the furthest crack, just like Leafheart said. She gathered it in her mouth and went back to the two cats.

"Alright, now chew it up but be sure not to swallow it! If you do, it'll give you a bellyache," she instructed.

Moonkit did exactly as told and just finished as Icekit walked slowly into the clearing.

"What are you doing?"

"Just helping Leafheart with Dusttail," Moonkit explained. She handed off the pulp to Leafheart who started rubbing them on a sore on Dusttail's shoulder.

Icekit nodded, as if approving. Moonkit smiled at Dusttail kindly.

"Good job, little one," Leafheart said quietly, considering. Moonkit smiled again at the praise and padded out of the clearing with Icekit to see Blackkit and Berrypaw standing there, waiting.

"Ready to come along?" Berrypaw asked.

Moonkit nodded, still smiling.

Icekit cocked her head to the right, looking thoughtful, glancing behind the apprentice to the warriors den where one cat growled loudly.

"I smell ShadowClan!" He proclaimed.

Just then, four cats came stumbling into the clearing, only one of them had a horrible stench, Moonkit realized.

The ShadowClan cat was a she-cat, pure white with the exception of her feet which were an orange-red, like the color of a rose.

She was bleeding profusely from an injury on her shoulder and leg, the blood dripping down her white coat and mingling with the red of her feet. Moonkit shivered and ran up to the she-cat just as Leafheart did.

"Moonkit, go back to the nursery," she commanded.

"But I want to help, and it's too crowded in there!" She complained.

"Alright! Fine, go get me Goldenrod, it's bright and yellow, and cobwebs. Go!"

Moonkit rushed across the clearing and ran into the medicine cat den, grabbing the brightest yellow flower and cobwebs which she had seen some of in the nursery.

She rushed back to find the ShadowClan cat, Leafheart, Gingerstar, and Mintfoot. She dropped the herbs right at Leafheart's paws and backed away.

"Good, Moonkit. Now go back to my den and I'll call you if I need you."

She nodded and bounded back into the den where she didn't have to watch the fixing of the ShadowClan she-cat.

She busied herself by tidying the herbs in the cracks that they belonged. She straightened out the dry moss in which patients slept and Leafheart's own moss, making it extra comfortable with feather she gathered outside quickly. But even after all that, Leafheart had not called her again.

Finally, by the end of the night, Leafheart came stumbling into her den, falling onto the bed that Moonkit made her and snapped open her eyes that were already closed when she remembered Moonkit was still there.

"Moonkit, I'm sorry," she said tiredly. "I left you here all day. I should have sent someone to tell you that you can leave. Thank you for your help," she mumbled as she fell into a deep sleep.

Moonkit sighed. She quietly went back to her own den as she realized that she never knew what happened with the warrior. She sighed again and thought that it would have to wait till morning unless one of her siblings knew. She would have to ask them.