Sunlight pierced through the forest like a burning claw of fire. A river ran quietly through the woods, it's clear blue water churning silently. The sunlight covered everything across the land, making young shrews stretch from their holes. Dew covered the grass like snow in the dreaded season of leaf-bare. It glimmered brightly, so bright that some cats might consider it blinding. Deep in the forest lay a small clearing, cats scurried quickly, some slower than others. A bright ginger tom pelted towards the leader den with damp moss full of water hanging from his jaws.
"That was quick, running that fast all the way to and back Flare River." A black tom with a white underbelly purred. The ginger tom's eyes sparkled with amusement and set the moss down on the dew-covered grass.
"I took a short cut by the western part of camp." He meowed. "there's lots of thistles there but it worked!" The black tom nodded and picked the moss up gingerly in his jaws. A scruffy tortoise-shell tom padded out of the den, his ragged pelt made the clearing seem a bit dimmer...
"How's Fernstar?" The ginger tom asked. The ragged tom ignored him and sprinted to his den. Sliding his claws into the willow tree bark he climbed up, a moment later he had cobwebs in his mouth. He then sprinted back to the stone den.
"She's fine." He spat. The black tom rolled his eyes and stared after the ragged tom as he padded back into the den.
"Patchtail's such a mouse-brain..." The ginger tom growled. He twitched his tail, annoyed.
"He's old and should be moving to the Elders den soon, but without an apprentice he can't..."
"Do you think one of Maplesong's kits will become his apprentice?"
"I doubt it, their to full of energy to even stand Patchtail." The ginger cat purred. Suddenly there was a loud mew from the den, and then followed Patchtail's annoyed growl.
"Stupid kits, so loud and annoying..."
Three cats padded quietly over to the entrance of the den beside the black and ginger tom, each of them murmured something to themselves.
"How many kits Blizzardsong?" A dark gray tom asked, tipping his head to one side. Blizzardsong twitched his black ears and shook his head.
"We don't know, she's still kitting."
"Did that old-flea bag even have any idea how many kits there were going to be?" A white she-cat snorted. The ginger tom shuffled his paws in the ground uneasily.
"He said eailer he thought they might be born dead..." The white she-cat's eyes filled with worry, but then another strong mew came from the den.
"He never knew anything, just ignore him Brightflash." A bracken-colored tom mewed, his tone smooth and soothing. Brightflash's gaze softened, it was clear he was assuring. Then another mew came from the den, though it was not as strong as the rest. A few moments later Patchtail emerged from the den and lifted his head triumphantly.
"Three kits, two toms and a she-cat." He rasped. Blizzardsong allowed a strong purr to escape from his throat, three new kits was good news for the clan.
"Has she named them yet?" The dark gray tom asked. Patchtail shook his head and padded towards his den.
"No, but I'm sure she will. Now I'm going to take a nap, oh wait." He turned his head back towards the den. "I had an omen, that black tom has a great destiny, I know it. So I suggested to her that she name him Destinykit. The cats glanced at each other, was it true?
"Blizzardsong, come and see your kits..." A voice quivered. Blizzardsong hesitated, glancing at the other cats he padded in. Fernstar lay on a moss bed, three kits lay at her belly, one was bigger than the rest.
"This is Destinykit." She mewed, her tail pointing to a tom. The kit's pelt was a dark shade of black, his underbelly was as white as snow in leaf-bare. Destinykit's tail twitched with power, it was clear he would be a good warrior.
"And this is Duskkit." She purred. The small kit looked frail, like an elder that hadn't moved in five moons. His pelt was a dusky gray colored, one paw was brown.
"Is he OK? He looks...he looks awfully weak." Blizzardsong mewed in worry. Fernstar's eyes were also glowing with concern.
"Patchtail said he was going to be born dead, I think it was lucky for him to survive..." She murmured, anxiety was clearly marked in her tone. She turned her gaze to the last kits.
"And this is Shimmerkit, the she-cat." She sighed. It was clear why Fernstar had named her Shimmerkit. The young cat's pelt sparkled in the morning light, her gray stripes looking like winding sparkling rivers in the forest.
"They're all beautiful..." Blizzardsong breathed. The gray leader nodded, then put her head down to rest.
"Will you tell the clan for me?" She murmured. He nodded, licked her on the shoulder quickly then padded out. Every cat in the clan had gathered in front of the den. The ginger tom named Hotwind stared at him, his eyes searching for answers.
"Fernstar's given birth to three kits." He announced. Murmurs swept through the clan, then a voice piped up.
"Are they healthy?" The voice was Skypaw, a cat who had been an apprentice for six moons, and probably wouldn't be receiving her name for another two moons possibly..
"Only one isn't, Duskkit is his name." He mewed. Blizzardsong lifted his head to the sky, he prayed StarClan would guide the kits, especially Destinykit. Who according to Patchtail, had a great destiny.