A few moons had passed since the birth of her kits, and Pinekit and Nightkit were getting along well. As Littlesong watched her two kits play mossball in the middle of the clearing, she thought back to her kitting, and how she had lost Swiftkit. Her little kits knew that they had a sister, but they never seemed truly troubled by her death. Littlesong had grieved for her little kit for a few days, but realized that she still had Nightkit and Pinekit.
Blueclaw had been a tremendous help with the two kits. He had kept his promise and acted like a father toward them, but whenever Blackheart was around, he never questioned his authority over the kits. Littlesong would always tell the kits to go play whenever Blackheart came over to see them. She was not going to let her kits be treated the same way that she was by him, and from the way she saw him looking at Pinekit's twisted paw, she never the let the black tom ever take Pinekit anywhere. The clan was starting to question whether Blackheart and Littlesong were ever really mates, and from the way Littlesong shielded their kits from him, they obviously started to wonder about the two cats. Littlesong had been receiving even more beatings as of recently from the cruel hearted tom. He blamed her for the clan's gossip about them, saying that if she would let him see the kits then the clan wouldn't be so v suspicious. The problem with him saying this is that Littlesong knew that he wouldn't hesitate to hurt or even kill little Pinekit, and he might just do the same thing to Nightkit.
"Littlesong!" Littlesong was snapped out of her thoughts as her sister bounded over; her kit had been made into a warrior, and she had since moved back into the warriors den.
"Hey Splashface! How's Lionpelt?" Littlesong asked as she looked toward her sister.
"He's fine. How are your kits?"
"They're both fine. They're playing mossball right now,"
"How's Pinekit's paw?"
"It's fine, but I doubt that she could be a warrior. Plus she says she wants to be a medicine cat anyway," Littlesong proudly stated about her little kit, "And Nightkit wants to be a great warrior, just like his father."
Nightkit was a great brother to little Pinekit. He would always be careful when wrestling with her, and if they were racing then he would always encourage her as she hobbled along. He obviously wanted to be a warrior, but he still encouraged his sister with her chosen path as a medicine cat. Everyone knew that Pinekit could never be a warrior, what with her small size and her twisted paw, but she took their doubting in stride and held her tail and head high.
"Well that's a good choice, Flowerwish has been needing an apprentice for a while; I mean she's a great healer, but she is getting a little older and well..." Splashface mewed quietly, "I've noticed her walking, and when she moves her legs are stiff and her paws are starting to shake!"
"I've noticed too. I mean it's only another moon until the Pinekit and Nightkit are made apprentices, maybe I can talk to Maplestar about it. Pinekit would be thrilled to be made a medicine cat apprentice. Besides she's been helping Flowerwish with her herbs and she has even memorized some and knows their uses."
"Splashface! You're on Leafshine's patrol! They are getting ready to leave!" Thornstripe called out to the grey she-cat.
"Oh okay, Thornstripe! See ya' later, Littlesong!" her sister called over her shoulder as she bounded out of the clearing.
Turning around, Littlesong immediately noticed that her kits were gone.
They're probably trying to get some more moss from Flowerwish. She thought noticing the shredded bits of moss strewn about the clearing.
Padding over to the medicine den, Littlesong inhaled the sharp, sweet scent of all the different herbs. She had always liked that scent, but right now she had a different task then to admire the smell that wafted out of the den. Looking over to where the moss was usually kept, she spotted the pair of kits sitting down watching Flowerwish make a poultice.
"...and the poppy seeds are put in this specific poultice, because why Pinekit?" the elderly calico cat questioned.
"Because they are used to calm and relax the cat's muscles and the cat, so that they rest peacefully, and are spared of temporary pain," the young she-cat answered, her twisted paw set gently on the ground as she looked at the healer for her approval.
"Very good, Pinekit!" Flowerwish answered, calming the young cat's nerves. Eyes shining with pride Littlesong walked in on her daughter's lesson. Licking her ear in approval, Littlesong sat down next to the grey she-kit.
"Pinekit can you go and get me some borage please," the elderly medicine cat asked, her eyes watching the young cat.
"Of course Flowerwish!" leaping up from her spot on the floor and hopping over to the crevice in the wall where the herbs were kept.
"Nightkit could you go and help your sister?"
"Uh sure!" the young black tom answered walking over to where his sister was trying to reach the top ledge.
"Flowerwish, I would like to speak with you about Pinekit..."
"Of course! What do you want me to do?"
"Well I'm certain that you already know that she wants to be a medicine cat..."
"Uh huh," the grey she-cat answered, not even looking up from her poultice.
"And well I was wondering if you would accept her as your apprentice?"
"I was wondering when you going to ask me that, and my answer is yes! Of course! That little she-cat is one of the most intelligent cats that I've ever met! Of course she can be my apprentice!" Flowerwish's eyes were shining with excitement over the thought of having her own apprentice, "The last time that I was this excited was when I was made a full medicine cat myself!"
"I will tell her about it later!" Littlesong mewed, watching Pinekit instructing Nightkit on which herb to grab from the top ledge. After snagging the herb that Pinekit wanted, Nightkit landed back on all fours, but even then Pinekit's head only came up to her brother's back. As they padded back over towards the two she-cats, Littlesong could tell that Pinekit was reprimanding Nightkit. Chuckling to herself, Littlesong padded out of the den being in a much better mood than when she had first walked in.
Padding over to the freshkill pile she chose a plump mouse off the top. This will probably be one of last good pieces of freshkill. The sun had been rising later in the morning and it had been getting dark earlier in the day. Littlesong sniffed the air, it was stale and chilled. Leaf-bare was setting in and by how early it was coming she could tell it was going to be a bad one. Hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as the one they had when she was a kit. The snow was so high that leaf-bare that it had reached the top of the den, so that the warriors had to dig tunnels into it to get in and out of anywhere. I did enjoy playing hide and go seek with Splashface, except for when I got lost that one time. She had found a hole in one of the tunnels of snow and had hid in it from her sister. She hid there from sun-high to when the sun began to sink. Their mother was furious with her, but thankful that she was safe. Her mother took her to the medicine den and had Flowerwish check her over before giving her some thyme for the shock and told her to stay in the den for awhile to warm back up. She never forgot the warrior that found her. He was a white tom with yellow eyes, and one black paw.
His name was Froststrike. He was a nice tom with a good heart, and was pretty handsome. He was a young warrior at the time, a future deputy said some or maybe even leader, but it wasn't meant to be... He died in battle with RiverClan, defending his clan to his last breath. Littlesong had had a crush on him ever since he had saved her, but of course Splashface had to tease her about it every chance she got. Once he died, she was sad for a long time, but eventually got over it and moved on.
Those were some good times. Littlesong thought before walking over to where Maplestar was speaking with Dustfang about repairing some of the older dens.
"Um...Maplestar can I talk to you for a minute?"
"Yes, of course just wait a minute. I'll meet you in my den in a few, okay?"
"Sounds grand,"
As she padded into the den she saw some pebbles on the floor set out in different positions. I wonder what those are for? Probably some kind of plan. Littlesong felt somewhat awkward being in the den by herself. She sat down right inside the opening of the den and waited. She started kneading her paws, looking around the stone walls of the leader's den. Maplestar walked in then, and seeing Littlesong sitting there, she sat down across from her and asked what she wanted to talk about.
"I would like to tell you who I want mentoring my kits," Littlesong stated her chin high and her eyes gleaming with pride.
"Okay then, please tell."
"I want Pinekit apprenticed to Flowerwish. She has been working with her since she was three moons old and knows almost half of the herbs and knows some of their uses. It's her calling, this I know, and she seems to take to the healing naturally. I know that it would make her very happy to become a medicine cat and I think that that is the best job for her!"
"I've been watching her interact with Flowerwish for a while now and I think that that is the best solution for her, and besides, I haven't seen Flowerwish this happy in moons!" Maplestar mewed, then after taking a long pause she spoke again, "Okay, now about Nightkit."
"I do not want him apprenticed to Blackheart and or Blueclaw. Nightkit is a gentle kit, but knows when it is time to use his claws. He has a sense of justice about him and is pretty level headed. I feel that Blackheart would simply be too rough with him but that Blueclaw would be too gentle. I want him apprenticed to an older warrior, one with more experience, but I don't know who. I was thinking about choosing either Cloudstrike or Dustfang, but I don't know which to choose."
"Well Dustfang is our oldest warrior, Nightkit would probably end up being his last apprentice. While Cloudstrike is a younger tom, which means he's more agile and youthful, but it also means that he can be a bit of a hot head when it comes to apprentices. He's more likely to, instead of helping him with his temper, just argue with him," Maplestar mewed advising Littlesong on her choices. Cloudstrike was an excellent warrior and a fine mentor, but he wasn't one to mess around. I remember when he was mentoring Dewleaf. That apprentice probably spent half of his training either helping the elders or running errands for Flowerwish. Maplestar thought chuckling to herself.
"Yes, and while Cloudstrike is a good tom I think that after reviewing my choices, I'm going to have to go with Dustfang. I just think that Cloudstrike would be a little too harsh and Nightkit does have a pretty bad temper when he gets mad. I feel that Dustfang wouldn't put up with Nightkit's antics and temper, but instead of punishing him every time, he would be able to teach him how to handle it and keep it in check. Plus he's got the most experience out of both of them, and that doesn't hurt to have when dealing with young, stubborn toms," Littlesong chuckled at the that last part and Maplestar joined in with her, their laughter echoing off the walls of the den.
"Okay then it's settled. Pinekit will be apprenticed to Flowerwish and Nightkit will apprenticed to Dustfang when they turn six moons old. Do you have any suggestions for a warrior name for Nightkit. I know that is a long ways off, but if you have any ideas now you can tell me."
"I want Nightkit's warrior name to be Nightclaw if you don't mind, and I don't care what Flowerwish picks for Pinekit. But..." Littlesong mewed to the calico she-cat her tone suddenly turning darker, "if she picks out a name that reflects Pinekit's condition then StarClan help me, I will purposely make time to come up here and demand for a name change!"
" I will make sure that her name has nothing to do with her... handicap, and that she gets the recognition she deserves."
"Thank you, Maplestar. I owe you one," Littlesong started walking out of the den then, but before she reached the entrance she stopped and turned her head around, "Please do not tell anybody except Flowerwish about this conversation, and even then tell her not to tell a single soul!"
"But Littlesong, why?"
"Just 'cause..."