REPLY TO REVIEWS

Nova Lioness: Thanks!

Pebblewish: Bingo!

SnowCrystal802: Sorry, I already have kits for Daisy, unless you would like me to put Flamestone under different parents. And I will accept Spotty, I'm just not sure I'll be able to have her join ThunderClan. Thank you!

Amberstorm233: Thank you for your advice! I'm happy you put it in such a nice way. And thank you for submitting Bark!

Winxclubfan1: Yup :)

Yeah, I know chapter seven wasn't to exciting, but this one's better. And virtual cookies to Pebblewish and Winxclubfan1! *Gives Winxclubfan1 sugar cookies with Firestar and Sandstorm frosting designs and to Pebblewish Power of Three sugar cookie frosting designs.* The P.O.V. was. . .(drum roll). . . SPOTTEDKIT! Anyway, ON WITH DA CHAPTER!

Chapter 8

Spottedkit's gaze was fixed on her prey. She pinpointed its position, wiggled her haunches, and pounced.

"Ouch!" Lionblaze turned toward her, his gaze full of surprise.

"I got it!" Spottedkit exclaimed. Lionblaze sighed. "Couldn't you find a different warrior's tail to claw?" Spottedkit sat down with a thump.

"Well, I tried Dovewing, but she heard me. Hedgehogkit bet me I couldn't do it, and he was right." Lionblaze rested his tail on her shoulder. "Maybe next time," he comforted her.

"Well, there's nothing to do now that Dewkit, Snowkit, and Amberkit are apprentices. It's so boring!" she complained.

Dewpaw had been apprenticed to Graystripe, Snowpaw had been apprenticed to Icecloud, and Amberpaw had been apprenticed to Dovewing. "When do I get to be an apprentice?" Spottedkit grumbled.

"When your six moons old," Lionblaze reminded her. "But that's two more moons of waiting!" she protested. Lionblaze nudged her with his nose. "How about you go get some fresh-kill for Sandstorm. Maybe she'll tell you a story." Spottedkit sighed, but bounded over to the fresh-kill pile and inspected it for the plumpest piece of prey. She then saw a nice fat squirrel at the bottom, its fluffy tail sticking out.

That ought to get up Sandstorm's appetite! Just then, her foster sister, Hollykit, ran over. "Who's the squirrel for?" she asked, licking her jaws hopefully. "Sandstorm," Spottedkit replied. "I'm hoping she'll tell a story."

"Ooh, I love stories! I'll help carry it." Together the two kits grabbed the squirrel's legs, and walked over to the elder's den. She heard Purdy rambling inside, and was glad it was Sandstorm's story she was going to listen to, as opposed to Purdy's.

She set the squirrel down at Sandstorm's paws. Sandstorm turned from where she was talking to Dustpelt, and looked at the two kits.

"Is the squirrel for me?" she asked, nudging it with a paw. Hollykit and Spottedkit nodded, and Sandstorm bent down to sniff the prey. She glanced at the kits, who were staring at her with wide, expectant eyes.

"Oh, you want a story, I presume?" she asked. "Yes, please," Hollykit squeaked.

"Now let's see . . . have I told you about the great journey?" "You have," Dustpelt reminded her from where he was munching a sparrow.

Sandstorm's expression turned thoughtful, and she turned back to the kits and mewed, "The Dark Forest battle?" "A million times," Dustpelt meowed.

"What about that one time when your father and his sibling went fox hunting?" Spottedkit pricked her ears. She hadn't heard that one before.

"I want to hear that one!" Hollykit lashed her tail enthusiastically. Sandstorm settled down into a comfortable position, neatly wrapping her tail over her paws, and began to speak.

"When Lionblaze, Jayfeather, and Hollyleaf were almost six moons old, Thornclaw and Spiderleg came back from a patrol, and announced that they found a dead fox near the Sky Oak. Your father was tired of being treated like a kit, so he told his siblings that if they kill or chase away the dead fox's cubs, they might become apprentices early. So they set out to find the fox cubs. But instead of getting rid of the cubs, the cubs got rid of them. They chased Lionkit, Hollykit and Jaykit until a patrol saved them. But Jaykit ran over the tall side of the hollow and fell in."

Hollykit laughed. Spottedkit thought it was funny to picture her father- who could now take on a full-grown fox single-pawed- running from cubs.

"And then Leafpool had to fix Jaykit up. You kits should have seen the lecturing Firestar gave those two. He was not happy." Hollykit giggled some more, but Spottedkit didn't pay attention to her sister.

"What did Firestar look like?" she wondered. Sandstorm didn't pause to think about her mate's description. "He was a bright ginger, and whenever he stepped into the sunlight, his pelt glowed like flame. And he had these deep, emerald eyes, and you could just get lost looking in their depths. . ." Sandstorm broke off.

"You should go back to the nursery now. Sandstorm needs some alone time," Dustpelt told the kits. Spottedkit followed Hollykit out of the den, and cast one last glance at the elders. Dustpelt was mewing in Sandstorm's ear, and she rested her head on his shoulder, a sad expression in her eyes.

Hollykit bounded over to Lionblaze, who was by the fresh-kill pile, trying to decide between a crow and a mouse. "Did you really try to go fox hunting when you were kits?" she asked. Lionblaze sighed. "Sandstorm had to tell you that story, didn't she?"

While Lionblaze was talking to Hollykit, Spottedkit snuck up and quickly grabbed the mouse and turned so she was facing the opposite direction of Lionblaze, so he wouldn't see her. She gulped it down as quickly as she could, and was chewing the last morsel when she heard her father exclaim, "Where's my mouse?!"

He spun around and saw Spottedkit's jaw moving. "What's in your mouth?" he asked suspiciously. Spottedkit swallowed, covered her thick tail around the prey bones, and as innocently as she could, replied, "Nothing." Lionblaze sighed again. "Looks like I'm having crow." He picked up the bird and headed over to the nursery, where Cinderheart was waiting for him. He settled down beside her, and bent down to take a bite.

Suddenly Spottedkit heard rustling at the camp entrance, but her neck fur flattened when she recognized Lilypaw and Seedpaw with their mentors. Seedpaw seemed to be bursting with excitement, and ran over to the first cat she saw, which happened to be Spottedkit.

"Guess what?" Seedpaw didn't give time for her to answer.

"Thornclaw and Toadstep were talking, and they said that Lilypaw and I would have our warrior's assessment tomorrow!" she jumped up and down as if she couldn't contain her energy.

"I know! Your warrior name should be Seedbounce!" Spottedkit joked. Seedpaw gave her a friendly glare. "I believe you meant Seedamazing!" she puffed out her pale ginger fur.

"Seedpaw!" Thornclaw called. Seedpaw ran to her mentor, her tail excitedly flicking side to side. Spottedkit turned around to see Amberpaw watching their conversation wistfully.

"When's your warrior's assessment?" Spottedkit asked her. Amberpaw sighed. "Not for a couple moons at least. But I'm fine with staying an apprentice a little while longer. Dovewing's an awesome mentor."

Spottedkit felt a twinge of jealousy that Amberpaw's mentor was one of the best cats in ThunderClan, and she wouldn't get her as a mentor, but she pushed it away. She was pretty sure she'd get someone just as good.

"Though are you sure you'll have Dovewing your whole apprenticeship? I wouldn't be surprised if she started expecting Bumblestripe's kits any day now," Spottedkit pointed out. Amberpaw shrugged. "I think Dovewing would have the cutest kits in the world."

"If you say so," Spottedkit mewed.

"Hey, Spottedkit!" she whipped around to see her cream-and-brown brother, Hedgehogkit. "You missed out on a really good game of moss toss. Smokekit and I destroyed Shrewkit and Mudkit." Spottedkit rolled her eyes. Hedgehogkit was turning into Berrynose, judging by how much boasting he was capable of. "Is that all you came to tell me?" "No. Cinderheart says it's time to go in the nursery before we freeze our noses off."

Spottedkit fluffed out her fur. She didn't feel cold. But her fur was a lot thicker than her foster siblings, so she reluctantly followed Hedgehogkit in the den. Her eyes slowly got adjusted to the dim light, and she saw Daisy licking Shrewkit as he tried to squirm away. She then noticed how matted and filthy his pelt was. Spottedkit turned to Smokekit, who was sitting beside her.

"How did his pelt get so dirty?" she asked him. "Shrewkit dived for the moss ball into a mud puddle. Unfortunately, he didn't make the moss ball go over the log, but it looked good while he was diving," Smokekit tried to mew cheerfully.

"How many points did the game stop at?" she wondered. "Nine to two," Smokekit drew his paw over his ear. "Poor Mudkit. He doesn't know how to toss correctly," he commented.

"This is only his third time playing. He hasn't practiced that much," Spottedkit defended her brother.

"Spottedkit, here's a shrew for you!" Spottedkit turned to see Cinderheart nudge a shrew toward her. "I don't think she needs it," Lionblaze put a paw on the shrew. "She just had a mouse."

Spottedkit's stomach grumbled. She was a lot bigger than the other kits, and growing fast. She needed as much prey as she could get.

"No, I need it! I'm still hungry!" she protested. Cinderheart exchanged a glance with her mate, and Lionblaze lifted his paw off the shrew. Spottedkit ran over to it and took slow bites, remembering something that Squirrrelflight told her about eating prey slower fills your stomach longer. Smokekit bent over and whispered in her ear, "Badger."

Spottedkit growled. She wasn't going to let him get away with that comment. She suddenly leaped on Smokekit, sitting on him and pinning him with her greater weight.

"What were you saying?" she asked. "Nothing!" he quickly gasped. She jumped off him and licked the shrew's remains off her lips. "Spottedkit! You shouldn't wrestle so roughly with the other kits!" Cinderheart meowed sharply.

"Why?" Spottedkit snapped back.

"They're always wrestling. So why can't I?" Cinderheart leaned over and whispered something in Lionblaze's ear. Lionblaze sighed.

"Spottedkit, come with me." Puzzled, Spottedkit followed her foster father out of the nursery to a small space behind the medicine den.

Lionblaze took a deep breath. "Spottedkit, you know you're adopted, right? That I'm not your real father and Cinderheart's not your real mother?" Spottedkit nodded.

"So?"

"Do you know where you're from and what you are?" Spottedkit tilted her head.

Why is he asking these questions? "I'm a cat," Spottedkit meowed. Lionblaze shook his head, and took a deep breath.

"On the day your foster siblings were born, on Cherryblossom's warrior assessment, a monster dropped you in a cage on the old Thunderpath." Spottedkit still didn't know where this was going.

"So?" she repeated.

"Have you ever heard the tales about LionClan, and TigerClan, LeopardClan? The cats big enough to bring down a deer?" he asked. Spottedkit slowly nodded.

"Well, LeopardClan cats are big. They are golden with small brown spots with a darker ring around them. They have a paler underbelly, and round ears. Just like you."

Understanding suddenly hit Spottedkit as she connected the dots. That's why I'm so much bigger than the other kits! That's why Cinderheart worries so much about me and the other kits safety! That's why the warriors sometimes stare at me suspiciously, she thought bitterly.

"Lionblaze?" she asked nervously. "Yes?" "Even though I'm a leopard, will you still love me?" Lionblaze nuzzled her. "Always," he promised. "Then I'll be the best warrior I can be."

Next chapter's P.O.V. will be from Ivypool's sister's father's mother's mother's sister's daughter's daughter's once-thought-to-be-evil daughter. Virtual cake and Spottedkit plushie for whoever guesses it right! And some kit's will be made apprentices :) Oh! Also last chapter to submit OCs.