Chapter 2

Orange-red Leaves Crunch beneath the kits' paws as the trotted away from the nursery. Owlkit scrambled out to catch up.

"Where are you going without me?" The striped she-cat asked, making the other four kits stop. "We're going to see if we can work on anything. You want to come?" Icekit explained. Without objecting, Owlkit joined.

The five kits walked over to the deputy just as she was done organizing a patrol. "Um, your Deerpelt, right?" Maplekit mewed.

"Yes, I am. Why do you ask?" The light she-cat answered, confidence in her eyes at the reminder of her deputation.

"We were wondering if we could help." Icekit questioned. Deerpelt thought carefully. Soon she let her own question escape, "Do you even know what's going on in the camp?"

The kits looked down, and Honeykit admitted truthfully, "No. We were at the nursery. But we are almost apprentices, right?" Deerpelt nodded,

"You are right..." The deputy looked with half-closed eyes at the ground. After a long moment of thought, Deerpelt finally mewed,

"Maplekit and Icekit, you can change the elders' bedding. Owlkit, Honeykit, and Robinkit, you can help Snowpool gather herbs. Tell them I sent you." With enough said, Deerpelt padded off to Froststar's den.

"Change the elders' bedding...?" Maplekit asked, disappointment clouding his yellow eyes. Owlkit nudged her brother, "Maybe if you do this, the elders will tell you better stories!"

Maplekit's expression lightened, and he and Icekit scrambled toward the fallen log where the old warriors and queens lay.

"Where is Snowpool's den?" Robinkit squeaked, gazing around the clearing. "Maybe it's over there." Honeykit pointed her nose toward a cave where a white pelt shone. They trotted toward the medicine cat's den.

"Snowpool? Deerpelt told us to help you find herbs!"

"Hm? Oh, hello, kits." The medicine cat's ears pricked as the three kits walked in. He turned from the pile of herbs and observed the kits knowingly. "So... Will you let us?" Honeykit mewed.

"Yes, of course. We'll move near the forest and the lake collecting enough herbs."

"Ok!" The three kits nodded.

"So, what do we need to collect?" Honeykit questioned as the four cats started padding their way across the clearing and out of camp, the white tom taking the lead

"Well, we might need Catnip, but that's too dangerous for you kits."

"Why?"

"Because they only rarely grow in forest, mostly found in twoleg gardens. But maybe we should get Chickweed, since that grows in the forest..."

"Um, what else?"

"Well, some Cobwebs, Coltsfoot, Comfrey Root, and Fennel. We don't have to get everything today. There's still some time until Leaf-Bare."

Owlkit's green eyes shone at all the amazing names Snowpool was ranting about. Being a medicine cat must be very intricate, having to be able to tell disasters and such from StarClan.

But Robinkit wasn't really listening. He was distracted by the feeling if he was being watched from the shadows. Wide-Eyed, he glanced toward the forest, and indeed, two yellow eyes stared ahead at the kit. The black tom swallowed hard, and looked back to the route Snowpool was taking them.

"Hey, you see that little group of kits?" The dark figure sneered.

"Yeah. They could've been easy to take. Right, Thorn?" The other rogue looked behind, where a cat with tufty fur stood. He didn't speak, just walked forward to further observe the red-bellied kit.

"That cat sure has his father's eyes..." Thorn thought with a frown.

The group had collected enough herbs for the day, and was heading back to camp. The kits, mostly Owlkit, asked about the herbs, in which Snowpool answered very knowingly. Robinkit smiled, a clump of Fennel trapped in his mouth, at the enthusiasm his friend was expressing. They made their way to the medicine cat den.

"Here." Snowpool gestured toward a neatly stocked pile of herbs. The three kits dropped the new herbs into the pile.

"Good work kits. You helped a lot today." Snowpool thanked with a smile.

"You're welcome! Um... Can we do this tomorrow, too?" Said the black she-kit.

"Sure. You seem to take quite an interest in Medicine Cat duties, don't you, Owlkit?" The medicine cat mewed with a wise gleam in his eye. Owlkit scratched the ground with her tiny paw, "Yeah. See you tomorrow, Snowpool!"

"You too, little one."

The forest was dark. And bland. The trees were a depressing gray, and the blood red sky shone up above. The kit squealed in terror at this sudden change of setting. He tried to shout, "Honeykit! Mother! Where are you?" Silence. He sat, and began to weep and shiver.

Robinkit woke up. He looked around, and let out a sigh of relief. It was all just a nightmare. He was still at the nursery. He was surprised that Honeykit didn't wake up at the little racket he'd made. He glanced at the forest he could barely see.

"What was staring at me there?" A shiver went up his spine when thinking that sentence. He never had went to see the forest before.

Was it as blood-stained as it was in his dream? But the sky didn't seem red. A courageous smile swept across his face, "That's it! My dream was just trying to scare me! But StarClan wants me to find out what cats those were!" Robinkit snuck out of the nursery and made his way out of camp. The sky was a beautiful teal, speckled white dots spread across. The stars!

Halfway to the forest, Robinkit thought of what might happen if he was caught. His mother had always said that kits should never go out at night. The black kit looked back. Not seeing where he was going, he bumped into a bush, where a feline figure popped out of,

"Heya, buddy!"

Robinkit jumped in surprise, swiping at the Calico, who dodged each.

"It's me, Eagleclaw!" He greeted again.

"Oh. Sorry. Why are you out here?" Said Robinkit.

"I could ask that myself. But me? Um... Well..." "It sure is taking him awhile to... Think." The black tom noticed. "I was out on patrol! Now, why are you out here? You know it's dangerous for kits at this time."

"I was going to explore the forest!" Robinkit said. Eagleclaw was shocked at his courage. He started nudging the kit toward camp territory, "No, no, you can't do that. Not without anybody with you."

"But I want to! There's nothing there, right?" Eagleclaw stopped when safely in their territory, "There are rogues."

The kit turned around, "Is that some kind of Clan?"

"Not really. They're vicious. They're the threat we face sometimes, and they don't stick their necks out to anyone."

"They do sound scary."

"Exactly. Now go back to the nursery before we get caught."

"Wait, what do you mean "We"?" The Calico only shushed him as they took separate ways. Robinkit silently curled up in his spot in the nursery, having a tiny thought, "Is Eagleclaw keeping a secret?"

Hope you enjoyed. Stay tuned.