The two kits were quickly ushered into the nursery for the rest of the day, much to their disdain. Skyheart had led the frantic Melodylight to her kits, and the queen had quickly taken them under her wing, giving each of them furious licks all over until they thought they would suffocate.

"But Momma, I don't want to stay in the nursery all day!" The black and white tom was sitting on his haunches, staring out of the entrance of the nursery like there was no tomorrow.

Melodylight scoffed at him, continuing to groom her daughter. Sunkit said nothing and instead purred as her mother's tongue rasped at her back.

"You should of thought of that before you ran out of camp again, Moonkit. You must start thinking of the consequences before you go through with something," Melodylight retorted sternly, giving the back of the kit's head a glare. "It's not just bravery and power that makes a warrior. It's also a good sense of right, wrong, and when to run away from trouble."

Sunkit looked up at her mother's green gaze, twitching her black whiskers. "I don't like what warriors do. Why do we have to fight the other Clan's, Momma? Then Flowerpelt wouldn't have to be so busy, either."

ThunderClan had recently ended a short period of war with RiverClan, but not without scars. Gorgepelt and his apprentice, Poppypaw, had taken the fall in an ambush a couple of moons ago near Sunningrocks. Humblestar, however angry with RiverClan's immoral, dishonorable attack, had stopped the war peacefully before it went any further, and probably prevented other useless deaths from occurring. Humblestar was always greatly respected for his wisdom and self-control.

Melodylight blinked softly at Sunkit, and though she felt a twinge of pride at her daughter's compassion, she also knew how dangerous such thinking could be. "There have always been four Clans in the forest. If that ever changed, we would no longer have the privilege of being called warriors. Besides, who are we to challenge StarClan's arrangement?"

Moonkit flicked his ears back at the mention of StarClan. For some reason, he always had trouble picturing a bunch of dead ancestral cats watching over four Clans. He turned around and walked away from the nursery entrance, settling down on his belly a tail-length away from the two she-cats.

"Momma?" he asked quietly, looking up at Melodylight. The queen returned his gaze expectantly, as did Sunkit.

"What really is StarClan all about?"


Flowerpelt was busy all morning. At the crack of dawn, Rosefeather had wandered into the medicine cat den, complaining about a tail-full of ticks, and Flowerpelt spent almost an hour dabbing mouse-bile onto the rotten pests. Immediately afterwards, Blackwhisker limped in, needing several thorns detached from his rump, which he had somehow sat on during a dawn patrol. Then as she thought she could finally get some breakfast, at least, Humblestar announced a full camp search for the missing Sunkit and Moonkit.

Flowerpelt chuckled as she munched on her small mouse, which Lizardpaw had brought for her a little while back. The two rambunctious kits were already in trouble for the same exact thing, and then they dare to commit their wrongdoing only a few days afterwards. It was if their sole purpose was to challenge Humblestar's authority.

But Flowerpelt had grown close to the two kits ever since they had been born, especially Sunkit, and she knew that everything they did had good, innocent intentions, even if they were breaking rules knowingly. Of course, there weren't many stories, if any at all, of bad kits who did evil things in their Clan.

Evil things…

She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she found herself constantly keeping a prying eye on the two kits. Every mistake they made, she watched closely, trying to search them for any sign of malevolence in their eyes.

Guilt seeped out of Flowerpelt's ears like a river as she slowly savored the mouse meat. It wasn't fair that she was so skeptical of them. After all, they really were normal kits. A bit more daring than the usual, but normal none-the-less.

But still… Something wasn't normal. She knew there was something there, only because, she was there at their birth. Boundaries had been crossed, and she had sensed it. But who, or what, exactly, was interested in the birth of two ThunderClan kits?

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather beneath the High Rock for a Clan meeting!"

As her thoughts were interrupted, Flowerpelt swallowed her morsel and quickly stood up. Humblestar had just called a Clan meeting, and since she wasn't informed about it, it must be important.

She padded out of her den and gave her legs a quick stretch, before heading towards the High Rock with the rest of her Clanmates. She took a seat near Tigerfang, a kind and warm senior warrior, whom she had become good friends with since the death of her own mentor, Waterfoot. The tom's name suited him sell, since he really looked like a tiger with his white fur and black stripes.

The rest of the Clan was quickly assembling beneath the towering rock, sharing the same curiosity as their medicine cat. Flowerpelt looked around, only to smile as she saw Moonkit trying to scramble with the rest of the Clan. His mother had quickly pushed him back inside of the nursery, and she wandered over to sit next to a she-cat named Hawkfur.

With her attention focused back on Humblestar, Flowerpelt studied her leader and quickly caught on that it was indeed urgent. Though he was a good at staying calm and keeping his posture, Flowerpelt had learned enough to know when he was even slightly worried. One look at his tensed shoulders was enough to tell her it was so.

"I would like to inform you all, incase you haven't heard, that Moonkit and Sunkit have been brought back to the Clan safe and sound. I thank you for your efforts, and as a reward I give permission for all of you to boss the two kits around whenever you see them."

The tom smiled wide, glancing at Melodylight with a kind gaze, to make sure the protective queen knew he was just being both humorous, and in a smaller portion, fair.

Flowerpelt could almost see the two kits reactions as they listened to Humblestar's announcement. Surely they wouldn't be too ecstatic about that piece of information.

Humblestar continued, "The punishment I gave them for violating the warrior code yet again, is constant care of the elders." He searched the crowd and stopped on two cats when he spotted them. "Treeleaf, Rosefeather, keep them busy for me, alright?"

The two elders purred and nodded respectfully, though everyone could tell that they were going to enjoy the constant attention from the two kits. Rosefeather and Treeleaf had a reputation of mentally tormenting young kits. With all due respect, it was good-naturedly.

Humblestar stopped smiling, however, and the air filled with apprehension.

"However, the two kits did do some good for the Clan, because it turns out that they ran across the path of a two-leg dog."

A couple of gasps came from a few warriors, one of them being Flowerpelt. But all was made clear in the next minute, as Humblestar looked down at his deputy.

"Nimbleclaw, go ahead and explain to them what happened, since you were there."

The dark tabby tom gave a quick nod and stood up, his amber eyes searching the crowd for no one in particular.

"As you know, Skyheart and I were the ones who came across the two kits at the Sandy Hallow, but we also discovered in the process the scent of a dog, with two-leg scent mingled with it.

"Just as we were about to bring Sunkit and Moonkit home, we watched a small pup come rushing out of the bushes towards the two kits, who were at the time wrestling in the hallow, completely unaware. Thankfully, though, I chased the dog off while Skyheart went to the kits, and they were spared."

A voice called out from the crowd, "It was just a pup? Are you sure it was owned by two-legs? It's not a stray?" The voice was of a tom with a black pelt and green eyes, whom was actually the father of Moonkit and Sunkit.

Nimbleclaw calmly and surely answered him, "I'm almost positive it was owned by two-legs. The scent was too powerful for it to have just been a stray."

"I agree, but of course, we can never be too sure. Two-legs are strange," Skyheart agreed, glancing up at Humblestar.

The gray and white tom nodded his head. "Skyheart is exactly right, which is the point of this meeting. I am ordering an extra patrol at dawn and sunset, but I want at least three warriors in the mid-day patrol. Keep a sharp eye out for any signs of dogs or two-legs, and most importantly, stay safe. Dogs can be our worst enemy if they discover our camp. Any questions?"

Every cat shook their head, except for Flowerpelt, who commented, "I'll probably need to restock on my herbs, just in case. I'm running low especially on Goldenrod."

"Very well," Humblestar replied. "It'd probably be best for you to take a warrior with you for the next couple of days, just in case. With that, this meeting is dismissed."

With the excuse, all cats parted and went back to their activities, while Flowerpelt went back into her den to finish her mouse.

So, a dog was on the territory today, and it could have killed Moonkit and Sunkit. The thought sickened her, almost enough for her to lose her appetite. Almost. The fresh-kill was, after all, a very late breakfast.


"Keep them busy for me, alright?" Moonkit mocked out loud, slumping down on the ground.

Sunkit merely groaned, only needing to think about all of the ticks she would be picking off of Rosefeather for the next several days. And that was more than likely going to be a lot of ticks.

Rosefeather was actually Moonkit and Sunkit's grandmother. Many seasons back, when Rosefeather was a young warrior, she had taken a mate amongst ThunderClan and given birth to Shadowheart, who later fell in love with Melodylight. Shadowheart's father had since died, but the colorful she-cat was still living strong.

"Well, at least we got to see the Sandy Hello. Oops, I mean, Hallow."

"Yes, that's right, why don't you two tell me about that?"

The two kits practically jumped out of their fur as the voice came from nowhere, but recognition settled in and so they quickly hopped up and rushed towards the cat who was now settling down on the nursery floor.

"Dad! Hi! Did you hear? We were attacked by a humongous dog today at the Sandy Hallow!" Sunkit said it all in one breath as she hopped up and down in front of the ebony tom. Moonkit nodded, not bothering t repeat his sister.

"Well I sure did, my little Sunkit, and I'm mighty glad you came home alive today," Shadowheart answered, giving his ginger daughter a swipe with his tongue. His green graze traveled to his son, who was smiling up at him. "And I'm sure my brave warrior was protecting his little sister, am I right?"

Moonkit furiously nodded his head, and Shadowheart wondered how he didn't have whiplash by now. "Of course I was! I was ready to die for her! Just like a warrior would do!"

Shadowheart nodded his head slowly, closing his eyes for a moment as he thought of what to say. The two kits were surprised to see his expression change from pride, to seriousness.

"Listen, you two. I'm not proud of what you did today. I want you two to know that. It was very un warrior-like, and you had Humblestar, your mother, and I worried about you."

Both kits looked down at the ground and, having already heard this speech, nodded their heads meekly.

"One day, you two are going to be great ThunderClan warriors, respected by the whole forest. But you can only get there by following the warrior code and listening to the rules of the Clan. I had to do it when I was your age, too."

He flashed his teeth in a quick smile and licked each kit's forehead. He stood up on his legs and said a little more before leaving.

"Behave yourselves and listen to Rosefeather and Treeleaf. They were once brave and strong warriors, too."

"Those two old cats? I doubt that very much," Moonkit said, pouting.

Shadowheart merely laughed and turned away, heading out of the entrance of the nursery. Over his shoulder he called, "Get to work on those ticks now, and maybe you'll be done by sunset!"