Gingerclaw crept silently through the undergrowth, he didn't want any cat to know what

he was about to do. He sniffed the air and smelled the rabbity scent of Windclan. They

were there. "Hello?" He meowed cautiously.

"Who's that?" Came a small mew. That must have been Smallkit.

"Hush," a tom's voice meowed quietly. Gingerclaw knew that was Blacktail, he'd know

his friend's voice anywhere. He walked through a bush to meet his oldest daughter.

"Who are you?" A tortoiseshell kit meowed with a questioning gaze. Gingerclaw

couldn't believe that her eyes were exactly the same color as his.

"I'm your father, Gingerclaw." He replied shakily. "I'm taking you home Smallkit."

"Yeah, I know. Honeyclaw doesn't want me anymore." Smallkit growled coldly. "It

doesn't matter to me. I cared at first, but she was a wretched excuse for a mother."

Gingerclaw couldn't believe his ears, his kit was only three moons old and she was

already hardened to her own mother's emotions. "Well you will love my mate

Fernwillow. She's partially blind, so she can see everything, but it's really blurry. You'll

also love your brother and sister. They're going to open their eyes in a few sunrises so

you'll be there when we name them."

Gingerclaw wrapped his tail around Smallkit and gently pulled her over to the

Shadowclan side of the border. He led her away and she didn't look back at her old

home. Gingerclaw and Smallkit padded along quietly and Smallkit looked around in

wonder at the dark forest.

"Everything is so closed in here, I kind of like it." Smallkit meowed in amazement. "How

are you going to introduce me to everyone else?"

"I'm going to say that you were a kit that I found while I was out hunting, you've been

eating crowfood for the past moon because you can't hunt for yourself. Fernwillow will

volunteer to be your mother, so she'll take care of you." Gingerclaw explained. They

stopped at the Thunderpath and Gingerclaw motioned for Smallkit to roll in the crowfood

near the Thunderpath. The little kit wrinkled her nose, but laid down in the rotting prey.

She rolled around in it for a few moments and got up, stinking of the vole. Gingerclaw

picked his kit up and ran across the Thunderpath as fast as he could. He carried her all the

way back to camp and dropped her at his leader's feet.

"Who's this?" Stripestar meowed.

"A kit that I found by the Thunderpath, I checked, she's not from any of the clans."

Gingerclaw meowed smoothly.

"Where are you from?" Stripestar asked Smallkit. She shot a frightened glance at

Gingerclaw and he nodded encouragingly at her. "I don't know. My mother is dead, so

I've been living by myself for about a moon. I've had to eat crowfood, yuck!"

Stripestar chuckled. "I know what you mean. What's your name?"

Smallkit looked down sadly. "I don't have one. I've never met another cat until

Gingerclaw, other than my mother. May I please stay with you?"

Gingerclaw was extremely impressed with Smallkit, but she should not have been able to

lie that well. "How about Fernwillow and I take care of her and name her with our kits,

that way she'll be more of a part of our clan."

"That's a wonderful idea Gingerclaw. Take her into the nursery and introduce her to your

kits and Fernwillow." Stripestar meowed confidently. Gingerclaw nodded and led

Smallkit to the nursery. They padded in slowly and Smallkit nearly stepped on

Fernwillow.

"Be careful!" Fernwillow meowed gently. Smallkit flinched back, but relaxed when she

realized Fernwillow wasn't angry with her. Gingerclaw licked her on the head and

Smallkit sat down. "Hey! Look at the gray kit! He has creepy eyes!"

Gingerclaw looked at the tom and explained how his eyes looked to his mate. "Wow!

They're amazing! His eyes are yellow, like marigold! What should we name him?"

"I have no idea! I thought we had more time to think about it! How about you name both

of our kits and I name yours." Fernwillow fretted.

"Okay, how about the tom is Bramblekit? It sort of goes with Shadowclan because we're

supposed to be the prickliest of all the clans."

Fernwillow licked Gingerclaw's cheek excitedly. "That's wonderful! Has the she-cat

opened her eyes yet?"

"Yes she has," Smallkit replied. "They're amber! They look exactly like yours

Gingerclaw!"

"And yours," Gingerclaw meowed to his daughter. "Should we name her Thornkit? It

goes with Bramblekit."

"That's a lovely name." Fernwillow mewed, her eyes filled with love for all three of the

kits. "Smallkit, your new name is Rosekit. That way all three of you will go together."

Sorry I forgot to say that Smallkit is Honeyclaw and Gingerclaw's kit/