"Ivykit! Dovekit! Come in the nursery- it's time to sleep!" Whitening, our mother, called from the entrance to the nursery. I had just beaten Dovekit for the umpteenth time, and I looked up and realised that the sun was setting. We hadn't even noticed!

"Coming, Mum!" If replied and took the lead, letting Dovekit follow me into the nursery, along with Mapleshade close behind. I looked around. Inside Daisy and Fern loud were sharing tongues, but at the far end I saw Poppyfrost on her side, her quarter-swollen belly only just slightly visible. Beside her was Jayfeather, checking her over.

I glanced back at Mapleshade. My spiritual guardian either hadn't seen the blind medicine cat, or was choosing to ignore his presence. I hoped the latter, but I knew the former was more likely. Mapleshade had almost finished scanning the nursery when she seemed to notice Jayfeather. She stood rigid, as if afraid to move.

Then she snapped put of it, and padded slowly towards me.

"Don't do anything but what your mother tells you. I will speagood measure, k to him when he is done. It seems there is no way of avoiding him if he is doing daily checkups on the queens before bed." Mapleshade whispered in my ear. I shivered. I watched as she padded toward Jayfeather, and whispered in his ear. I don't see why she whispers, nobody but me and Jayfeather can hear her. I shivered again.

"Ivykit, are you okay? You're shivering!" Whitening said, wrapping me in her tail. Jayfeather had just finished with Poppyfrost and a Mapleshade had finished whispering. He came over.

"Is she now? Poor kit. She's probably just caught a small cold. It'll go overnight as long as you keep her warm. But, just for good measure, I'll see her as soon as she wakes up, okay?" Jayfeather asks Whitewing. Mum nods and brings me and my sister closer. I still felt cold, until Mapleshade came back and slept with us too. I hadn't slept better since the day I was born.

XXXX

I stretched my legs out comfortably and gave a yawn. I looked across the nursery and saw Mapleshade licking her paw pads as early morning sunlight seeped in.

"Glad to see you've woken up, sleepyhead!" To my side, there was Dovekit, standing up and shaking her fur, "I've been awake since dawn. I felt like there was something really cold keeping next to me. Probably you."

"Well, I slept like a kit."

"You are one."

"It's an expression!"

"Oh... What's an expression?" Ivykit would have face palmed if cats had palms to put in their faces.

"Little ones, how on earth did you wake before me?" Mum asked, getting up an

"d stretching her muscles. Whitewing's fur was all fuzzy and her eyes told that she was half-asleep. She yawned.

"I was really cold last night, like there was a ghost next to me. It took forever to get to bed."

"Same here! Except that I woke up at, like, dawn."

"You woke up that early? Oh, you poor thing!" Whitewing squeezed Dovekit tight. I smiled. No, I'm not evil. I just found it funny.

"Mum... can't... Breathe..." Dovekit wheezed. Mum let go instantly.

"I'm so sorry, Dovekit!" she said, licking my sister's fur, "Oh, Ivykit, can you skoot on over to Jayfeather while I look after your sister?"

"Okay, Mum!" I smiled, and left the nursery. Mapleshade followed.

"Just tell the truth," she whispered. I nodded, and we entered the medicine cat den.

Jayfeather was awake already, and her was sorting out his herb piles. He spun round when we entered.

"Ivykit. You're here. And you brought your... Friend."

"Guardian angel." Mapleshade chirped.

"Guardian angel... And how did this happen again?"

"I saw the future. There is a great battle between the Dark Forest and the clans, along with Starclan, to come. And I pick the wrong side. I die, and Ivypool- I mean, Ivykit- chooses the wrong side too. Thankfully she does not perish along with me, but it comes close."

"So?"

"I do not wish for that to happen. I wish to join Starclan. After I pleaded with them, they agreed- if I succeeded in saving the fate of Ivykit. So they sent me to be her guardian angel, pointing her in the right direction."

"And when do you go back?"

"When Ivykit becomes Ivystar."

"That is years!"

"No, it isn't." Ivykit stepped forwards, "Mapleshade gave me a leaf. If you chew it then spit it in a lake or pond, it makes the water golden, and as long as you drink from it once a day, you will stay young forever. I wish to create a clan where everyone is the age of a kit, but with immortality and wisdom. And... Without Mapleshade, I can never accomplish that."

Mapleshade smiled down at her, "Thank you, Ivykit." She turned to Jayfeather. "Anything to say?"

"No. But if it is Ivykit's destiny, why can I see you?"

"The water doesn't just keep you young. If you are old, you will very slowly get younger until you are the same age as the person who made the water the way it is."

"Are you meaning to say that I am expected to come with you and become a kit again?"

"Only Starclan knows."

(a/n: that's all I have for now! My iPad is at 4% so I'll end it there. Basically, Jayfeather sees Mapleshade and nothing else except what he can see through her. So she is like a pair of glasses. Everything else is black. I know, wired, but let's cut this short before 4% becomes- wait no, now before 3% becomes 2%!)