Lemonkit slowly opened her eyes to see Frostflight leaning over her. She jumped at the sight of the she-cat, and she watched as Frostflight gave a little laugh.

"Good morning, Lemonkit," she said.

Lemonkit smiled. "Good morning," she said, rising to her feet. She slowly stretched, letting out a loud yawn. She turned, looking at Frostflight. The she-cat was smaller than most of the other warriors, and she was very pregnant. Ambershine, the medicine cat, claimed her kits would be coming any day.

"Is everything okay?" Frostflight asked.

"Fine," Lemonkit said. "When are your kits going to be born?" she asked.

Frostflight smiled. "I don't know, Lemonkit, but I want you to know that even when the kits are born, Hailfrost and I will still care for you and love you very much," she purred.

Lemonkit smiled. "Thanks. Frostflight, do you know what happened to my parents?" Lemonkit had been raised knowing that she was orphan. No cat had told her anything about it though, and she was curious to know why.

She watched as Frostflight frowned. "I don't really know too much about your parents. But I'm sure they loved you very much."

Lemonkit frowned. It felt as if everyone was hiding a secret from her.

"Why don't you go play with Daisyfeather's kits?" she suggested.

Lemonkit sighed. "Fine," she said, padding over to the five kits. She had to admit, she was great friends with all of Daisyfeather's kits. They were like her siblings, and they were very close to her.

There were five-Raspberrykit, Thymekit, Mangokit, Koikit, and Windkit. Raspberrykit was a dark ginger she-cat who was the largest out of the litter, and certainly the loudest. Thymekit was the runt of the litter. He was a shy gray tom with a twisted ear, and he was certainly Lemonkit's favorite playmate.

Mangokit was a bright ginger she-cat who was also a great playmate. Koikit was equally as loud as Raspberrykit, and with her tortoiseshell pelt, she could certainly be spotted out of the litter. The last was Windkit, the other tom. He was a pure white, and a lot of fun.

"Hey, Lemonkit!" Mangokit said, waving her tail as Lemonkit padded over.

Lemonkit smiled. "What's up?"

"We're just about ready to play a game!" Raspberrykit announced, bouncing up and down with excitement.

"Hopefully it's a fun game this time," Thymekit murmured.

"Oh, it will be!" Lemonkit giggled, shoving him. He smiled back at her, a smile she loved.

"Hey, Mangokit! What are you doing?" a voice came.

Lemonkit turned, seeing Arcticpaw, one of the apprentices, walking into the den. He had pure white fur and blue eyes, resembling his mother, Winterfrost.

"Playing catch the leaf!" Mangokit told him, swiping one of the leaves in the air. Autumn leaves still continued to fall, and Lemonkit knew leaf-bare was well on its way.

"Wanna play?" Arcticpaw asked.

The tom had been stopping by every once in awhile now to play with the kits. Lemonkit loved how he found the time to still be a kit while his siblings stayed in the apprentice den during their freetime.

"Of course!" Mangokit exclaimed.

Before any cat could speak, Raspberrykit leapt onto Arcticpaw's head. "I'm the king of the castle!" she shouted, laughing.

Lemonkit laughed with Thymekit, watching as Arcticpaw trotted around, even pretending to make a "neigh" here and there.

Lemonkit turned, seeing Mangokit frowning. "I want a turn!" she complained.

Koikit sat to Lemonkit as they watched Mangokit cling onto Arcticpaw's back as he ran around the nursery. Lemonkit laughed with Thymekit and Koikit, watching as he continued to race around. Lemonkit felt bad for Frostflight who just wanted to get some sleep.

Raspberrykit still hung on Arcticpaw's head, and she leaned over, looking at Arcticpaw. She suddenly dropped to the ground, easily recovering. "Guys! I have a game!" she announced.

Lemonkit smiled. Raspberrykit always had a game.

"It's called 'Don't Fall'," she said. "We line up some sticks and try to walk across without falling!"

"Sounds fun!" Lemonkit purred.

Together, all the kits grabbed sticks and lined them up in the nursery, excited to play the new game that Raspberrykit had made up. Once the sticks began to line up, cats began walking across, laughing as they went across.

Lemonkit began to walk over the sticks, tripping in mere seconds. She fell over, laughing. Turning, she spotted Thymekit sitting next to his sleeping mother with a frown on his face.

"What's the matter?" Lemonkit asked, padding over to him.

"Nothing," he grumbled.

"He's too chicken to try!" Raspberrykit spat.

"I am not a chicken!" Thymekit spat back at her.

"Then prove it!" Raspberrykit yowled. "Go into the forest until you can't see the camp anymore! I have to watch you to make sure you don't chicken out."

"FINE!" Thymekit spoke.

Lemonkit didn't like Raspberrykit's idea. Frostflight had told her that it was dangerous in the woods, especially for a bunch of kits.

"I-I don't know about this," Lemonkit said, looking over at the sleeping Daisyfeather. Frostflight was asleep too, and she watched as Arcticpaw bit his lip in uncertainty.

Before anyone could say anything, Thymekit burst out of the den, and Lemonkit immediately burst after him. She watched as he ran into the woods, and she gulped, running in. She had never been in the woods before, but something was familiar about the woods. Something felt good about the wind blowing her fur and the leaves falling from the trees. It felt nice.

She watched as Thymekit stopped near a hill. "Thymekit!" Lemonkit called, not wanting her friend to continue.

"Lemonkit?" he asked, turning his head. Suddenly, he slipped on a stick, and she watched in fear as he tumbled down the hill into a river.

"THYMEKIT!" she gasped, running down the hill. She watched as the tom floated at the top of the river unconscious. She looked, seeing a blood spot on a nearby rock. He must've hit his head on there!

Lemonkit had to grab the tom, but she had no idea how to swim. How would she ever manage to save her friend and herself?

She heard a gasp, and she turned, seeing Raspberrykit with fear in her eyes. Lemonkit edged into the water, grabbing Thymekit. She lugged him onto the shore, horrified as she saw the cut on the top of his head. Blood was all over the top of his head, and she felt Raspberrykit rush towards her.

"This is all my fault," Raspberrykit whimpered.

"Lemonkit? Is that you?"

Lemonkit turned, gasping as she saw the familiar face of Hailfrost. She knew at that moment she was in a lot of trouble, especially for being out in the woods all alone.

The tom gasped as he saw Raspberrykit and the injured Thymekit. "Come on, kits. We need to head back," he said, grabbing Thymekit. Lemonkit rushed back with Hailfrost and Raspberrykit, knowing she would be getting a lecture from her "father" afterwards.

She rushed into the medicine cat with the three cats, and she saw the look of concern on Ambershine's face as they set Thymekit down on the moss. The tom was still unconscious, and Lemonkit worried he wouldn't make it.

"He's hit his head," Ambershine said, beginning to clean off his wound. Lemonkit watched as the calico she-cat rushed back and forth, trying to help the tom.

Suddenly, Lemonkit sighed in relief. She had seen Thymekit's eye twitch, and though it was not much and hard to notice, it was enough to let her know he was alive. Soon, his eyes opened, and he looked around at Ambershine. His gaze then turned directly at Lemonkit, and he opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

There was a sudden gasp from Ambershine. Daisyfeather who had shortly arrived gasped too.

"I'm afraid there's been some brain damage and he's…"

"He's gone mute!" Daisyfeather exclaimed.

Lemonkit felt as if her heart had just split into a million pieces. No, this couldn't happen to her best friend. They were going to train together as apprentices, they were going to hunt together…

"Will he ever speak again?" Lemonkit whimpered.

She watched as she saw the sorrow in Thymekit's eyes. He could obviously hear well and see well, he just couldn't speak.

"It depends," Ambershine told her. "He may or may not. I can't tell how damaged his head is. We need to get him immediate help though."

"Bluefur knows sign language," Hailfrost suggested.

"Perfect. Lemonkit, you and Thymekit's siblings will have to come to his sign language meetings. Since it is unknown if he will speak again, it is good to know sign language in order to communicate with him."

Lemonkit nodded, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry, Thymekit," she said.

He shook his head, as if saying it was not her fault. She watched as Hailfrost sighed.

"Come on, Lemonkit," he said.

Lemonkit looked at Thymekit one last time in sadness as she exited the den. She turned, looking at Hailfrost.

"Why were you in the forest?" he demanded.

"It wasn't my fault!" Lemonkit argued. "Raspberrykit sent him in there to prove he wasn't a wimp. I went after him because I knew it was wrong, and he fell into the river."

"You should've sent a warrior there. Where was Daisyfeather?"

"Asleep," Lemonkit said, looking down at her paws.

"Frostflight?"

"Asleep as well," Lemonkit whimpered.

"Please, be careful, Lemonkit. I don't want to see you in the woods again. Do you understand?" he asked.

"Yes, Daddy," she said. It felt odd calling Hailfrost her father and Frostflight her mother, but technically, they were her parents for the time being.

"Back into the nursery," he told her.

Lemonkit nodded, slowly padding back into the nursery. She sat down near the corner of the den away from her mother, and she silently cried. She knew Mangokit, Koikit, Windkit, and the others were watching, but she didn't care. It hurt so much to see her best friend lose his voice and personality in a few moments, and it hurt even more to know that he might never speak again.