Chapter 1

Icekit yawned a rolled onto her side. Bright sunlight filtered through the gaps in the nursery wall, causing a couple of little dots of light on the ground. Icekit felt compelled to chase them but dismissed the thought, as she didn't want to get up yet.

A cold wind blew through the holes in the bramble walls, driving her too her paws and making her shiver. Icekit inched closer to her mother, Palefoot, looking for some warmth. Palefoot must've noticed the Icekit's motives and called out, "Darkcloud, are you almost done filling up the holes? We have kittens who are freezing in here!" As if to end her statement, Palefoot pulled Icekit close to her side.

"I'm almost done, Palefoot. You know there's hardly any leaves right? I mean it is the middle of Leaf-bare so you can't expect much." Her father replied, pushing his way into the nursery. Icekit stared in shock at how skinny and tired her father looked. His legs looked like twigs and his pelt hung loosely on his body.

"Wow. Leaf-bare must really be hard on cats." A voice murmured next to Icekit's ear, making her jump in surprise. She whirled around to see Dawnkit, her sister, facing her with genuine concern in her bright green eyes. "I hope Darkcloud will be okay." She said her voice wavering.

"Don't worry! I know he will. Just wait until New-leaf! He'll be better in no time!" Icekit replied confidently.

"If he lasts that long." Dawnkit muttered. Icekit ignored her and glanced around the nursery looking for her friends, Flowerkit and Rockkit. They were nowhere to be found so Icekit guessed that they were outside already.

"Let's go find Flowerkit and Rockkit so we can play!" Icekit said bolting toward the entrance of the den, not seeing another cat crawling through. She slammed head-on into another cat, and stumbled backward, falling onto her rear.

"Ow!" She yelped, glaring at the cat who she had ran into. Her anger immediately grew when she recognized who it was. It was one of the apprentices, Observerpaw. Icekit felt a weird feeling when she looked at the tom. It was something she had not felt before and it made her feel angry but there was something else that struck her. She never had that feeling before.

"Sorry!" He exclaimed looking apologetic and embarrassed at the same time.

"It's okay." Icekit replied curtly, smoothing her chest fur down with a few strokes of her tongue. Beside her, Dawnkit was giggling uncontrollably, her paws on her mouth trying to stop herself from laughing.

Now, Icekit was never really that fond of Observerpaw because when they were kits, he and his littermate Jumppaw, had coaxed them to go into the warriors den. It was a dare and they had to do it. They had gotten in bad trouble afterwards and had been confined to the nursery for days. Icekit still hadn't gotten over it and was still kind of mad at both of them.

"What do you want?" She asked venomously. "Have you forgotten that you belong in the apprentice's den and not here?"

Observerpaw blinked at her. "I was told to bring fresh-kill to the queens." He motioned with his tail to where a rabbit lay limp on the ground. Icekit lashed her tail but said nothing more.

After a moment of staring, one with angry eyes and the other with a uncomfortable look, Observerpaw shrugged and padded out of the den as if it didn't matter.

Icekit sighed and felt her neck fur flatten out.

"Are you really still mad?" Dawnkit asked her.

"I can't not be. How'd you forgive them so easily after what they did to us."

Dawnkit gave Icekit a searching look. "Because we were all very foolish back then. If you ever want to become friends with them, you need to learn to forgive. Holding grudges won't do you one bit of good at all. And to be honest Icekit, from what I've seen, Observerpaw and Jumppaw want to be our friends. But apparently they won't be yours because you can't let go of grudges." With that Dawnkit gave her sister's shoulder a lick and padded out of the den.

"Having rough times with your sister?" A familiar voice asked from behind. Icekit glanced over to the side, recognizing Flowerkit's tortoiseshell fur color.

Icekit chuckled. "Yeah.."

"Hey guys! I found a Shadowclan warrior! Let's drive him out of camp!" Rockkit called into the den. Icekit was immediately on her paws. She sprinted out of the den and into the clearing.

"Over here!"

Icekit turned her head to see, Rockkit standing in front of the Elder's den. Crouched behind him was Lightstep, one of the elders. "Shadowclan is the best and we'll attack those who oppose us!" The black she-cat growled at them.

"Not today!" Flowerkit yelled, flinging herself at the elder. Icekit wasn't far behind her and jumped onto Lightstep too. After a moment, the kits had over powered the elder and was holding her down. Icekit climbed onto Lightstep's chest and looked down at the old she-cat.

"Do you agree that Thunderclan is the best, or do I have to use my claws to tell you myself."

"I agree." Lightstep replied. She let out a groan, "Well played little ones, but my old bones won't take much more of this."

Icekit leaped off of her chest and all the other kits did likewise.

All of a sudden, Icekit felt someone's gaze burning into her neck and she turned around. Observerpaw was standing there with a amused expression on his face. Icekit's good mood vanished and she narrowed her eyes before turning back to the other kits. Even from over here, Icekit felt the disappointment rolling off the tom in waves.

A thought popped into her mind. If Dawnkit was right and Observerpaw really wanted to become friends with her, why didn't he just ask? She immediately dismissed the thought because even if he did ask, she probably would turn him down. Icekit turned, studying the black tom.

She didn't notice that their gazes had connected and when she did, she squeal of surprise and dashed to the nursery.

How was it? I know, the chapters are short but they will get longer. In issues? Spelling? Grammar? Punctuation? If so, please tell me in the comments. Oh, and thanks to WolfieCat3 for favoriting, reviewing and following! I love your support and enthusiasm.

PandasInMittens, is out!