ONE

Spottedkit looked out over camp, her breath forming in the cold air. She smiled at the beauty of the newly fallen snow.

"What are you doing?"

Spottedkit turned to look at the silver and white she-cat. "Looking at the snow. It's really pretty."

The she-cat let out something that sounded like something halfway between a laugh and a scoff. "Of course you would see a new snowfall and think it was pretty instead of annoying."

A dark gray tabby tom padded up to the pair, paused for a heartbeat, then dashed into the snow, sending the whiteness flying. Spottedkit sighed, her heart sinking a little as the pristine quiet was ruined by the loud tom.

"You okay?"

Spottedkit put on a smile, looking to the golden she-cat behind her. "Yeah, I'm fine. They messed up the snow, that's all."

Lightkit shrugged, smiling at her. "At least it was pretty while it lasted."

"Spottedkit, come on, slowpoke!"

"Yeah, what's taking you so long?"

Spottedkit sighed, glancing at Lightkit again. "They're waiting for me. I guess I should go out there… I'll talk to you later."

"Okay…" Lightkit smiled at Spottedkit one last time, moving through the snow toward the medicine den.

Spottedkit watched her go for a few heartbeats, then shuffled through the path the tom had made, going to the siblings. "Did you guys want to do something?"

Adderkit grinned, crouching low in the snow. "We're almost apprentices, so why don't we practice fighting?"

Spottedkit frowned uncertainly. "I don't know if I really want to…"

Willowkit nudged Spottedkit with her paw. "Oh, come on, mouse-heart. What, you afraid of losing?"

Spottedkit's frown turned angry. "No. I just thought there would be better things to do then wasting our energy out in the snow. Why don't we help Sweetraven with the elders? We don't have any apprentices yet, so she's doing all the work!"

Willowkit rolled her eyes. "Really? We can do that when we're actually apprentices. Sweetraven's good at that stuff and I really don't want to do that. Let's fight. I'm Willowstar! Leader of NightClan! You can be… Spottedfur, my loyal warrior. Adderstar! DawnClan scum! Get off our territory!"

Adderkit smirked at his sister, crouching low again. "Never!" he hissed.

Willowkit leaped at Adderkit, gray tabby and silver and white pelts meshing together. Spottedkit watched them for a few heartbeats, then her gaze drifted to Sweetraven struggling with some old-looking moss.

Spottedkit stood, padding over to the younger warrior. "Do you want any help?"

Sweetraven looked to the calico kit in surprise. "No, this is an apprentice duty. Why don't you go play with your denmates while you have the chance?"

Spottedkit shook her head. "I would rather help you. You look like you need some. Adderkit and Willowkit can play without me."

"Well, if you insist." Sweetraven huffed, gesturing to the moss with her tail. "I need to replace the elder's moss… maybe if you could distract the elders?"

"I heard that, youngster," an ancient voice grumbled from within the honeysuckle bush. "I'm not a young kit to be distracted with a butterfly."

"Oh, sure you aren't, Patchwhisker," a soothing old she-cat's voice hushed him. "Send your little helper in, Sweetraven. I'll make sure Patchwhisker doesn't bite."

Spottedkit padded in, blinking her eyes to adjust to the darkness of the den. She noticed the oldest tom immediately, the white parts on his fur bright with the sunlight coming in.

"Come over here, sweetheart…" the old she-cat urged.

Spottedkit looked to her right, smiling at the golden dappled she-cat and walking over to her. "Morningsong, right? Lionstar's mother."

Morningsong gave a raspy chuckle. "That's right. You haven't visited us very often, Spottedkit. Too busy with your friends to come see us?"

"Good riddance," Patchwhisker muttered, causing Morningsong to give him a harsh glare.

Spottedkit didn't pay attention to the old tom, sighing instead. "Adderkit and Willowkit think it's bad to visit you. They say I should focus on being a warrior instead of listening to meaningless stories from the past…"

"Well, that's a bunch of foxdung," Patchwhisker spat. Spottedkit looked at him in surprise; he looked slightly embarrassed for his outburst. "Even kits nowadays can learn from old cats like us, even if some of us should have joined StarClan long ago."

"Speak for yourself, old timer." Morningsong grinned affectionately at the older cat.

Patchwhisker rolled his eyes, but Spottedkit swore there was a hint of a smile on the grumpy tom's face before it was gone, and he turned his pale green gaze to Spottedkit. "Now, see here, young one. Do you want a tale or not?"

Sweetraven padded into the den, smiling at Spottedkit and taking another load of old moss out of the den. Spottedkit watched her go, then nodded eagerly.

The hint of a smile returned to Patchwhisker's eyes, and he shuffled into a more comfortable position. "Alright… maybe I'll tell you how I met Winterstorm."

Morningsong hummed. "That's a good one." She placed her head on her paws. "Go on, Patchwhisker."

"I would, if you would stop interrupting!" he snapped. Morningsong let out a snort, but didn't say anything. "Alright. Now, Winterstorm… I was… oh, probably a little older than you when I met him," he reminisced, looking off into the distance and not really focusing on anything. "He was Winterpaw then, and I was Patchpaw. It was during a Gathering, and he had come careening through the cover of the willow branches, right into me." Spottedkit's eyes went wide and she grinned. "Winterpaw got angry at me, saying I shouldn't have been in his way, but I told him I was the one who was standing there and he ran into me."

Patchwhisker shook his head. "But Winterpaw wouldn't listen, insisting that I should apologize to him, and that he, an apprentice of SunClan, would never stoop so low to apologize to a NightClan apprentice. But his mentor, Flowerpelt, came through the willow branches then and made her apprentice apologize to me." The dark ginger and white tom smiled. "You wouldn't think that we would become friends after that, but as the Clans were at peace at the time, there was really no need to be antagonistic toward each other. There was one time –"

"Spottedkit, what are you doing in there?" Willowkit's voice interjected, making Spottedkit's heart sink.

"Yeah, come on! Your dad brought prey for us!" Adderkit added.

Spottedkit sighed sadly, looking to Patchwhisker. "I'm sorry about that… Can I come later and hear the rest of the story?"

"Sure. If I'm not napping. You'd better not wake me up." Patchwhisker blinked his eyes, returning to the present.

"He takes his naps very seriously," Morningsong mewed gravely, widening her eyes and nodding, making Spottedkit laugh at her funny expression.

Patchwhisker huffed. "Well, I do…" he growled.

"Go on, sweetheart." Morningsong gestured with her muzzle to the den entrance, where Sweetraven was returning with new moss. "Go enjoy your meal."

"Okay." Spottedkit stood up again, looking back at the she-cat. "Do you want me to bring you something?"

"No, Sweetraven will bring us something. Thank you, though." Morningsong smiled warmly at Spottedkit. "Go on."

Spottedkit nodded, going out of the den and blinking at the bright sunlight against the snow. She squawked in fear and surprise as she was bowled to the ground. Willowkit and Adderkit howled with laughter, and Spottedkit grunted.

"Warn me next time, will you?" Spottedkit mewed.

"Well, then it wouldn't be a surprise ambush then, would it?" Willowkit pointed out.

Spottedkit nodded slowly. "I suppose not…" She looked over, brightening as she spotted her father. "Cloudstorm!" she called, hurrying through the snow toward him.

Cloudstorm turned, catching Spottedkit in a big hug. "How's my princess?" he asked.

Spottedkit grinned. "Patchwhisker was telling me a story today."

Cloudstorm rose an eyebrow. "Was he? I didn't know that old grump tolerated anyone besides Morningsong."

"Maybe I'm special," Spottedkit suggested with a tilt to her head.

Cloudstorm purred, licking her ear. "Of course you're special. You're my daughter! Now, do you want a mouse?"

"Yes, please!" Spottedkit nodded eagerly, bouncing up and down.

"Spottedkit, you're almost an apprentice, stop acting like a kit," a ginger she-cat hissed as she walked up to her mate. "Cloudstorm. How was the hunting?"

Spottedkit deflated at her mother's words. "Yes, Hollyflight," she murmured.

"Hunting was good. Looks like newleaf is slowly approaching. Warmer weather is on the way!" Cloudstorm told her brightly. "I caught a family of mice; would you like one?"

"Please." Hollyflight smiled at her mate. "We can have walks again soon…"

Cloudstorm smiled back. "We can. Once this little one is an apprentice!"

Spottedkit grinned. "Barely half a moon! I'm counting down the days!"

Hollyflight chuckled softly. "What did you spend this morning doing?"

"Patchwhisker was telling me a story of how he met his friend!" Spottedkit mewed around a big mouthful of mouse.

Hollyflight's small smile faded a little, and she glanced at Cloudstorm. "Patchwhisker? I see… Spottedkit, I don't want you talking to him, alright?"

Spottedkit frowned, looking up and glancing between her parents. "Wait, why not? It was just a story…"

"Yes, but you need to focus on becoming an apprentice, and apprentices don't have time for stories in all their training, alright?"

Spottedkit's heart sank. "Okay…" She stared at her mouse, her appetite gone. "I'm gonna go find Lightkit."

"You should finish your mouse. StarClan let your father catch that, so you're going to finish it," Hollyflight instructed.

Spottedkit picked up the half-eaten mouse, padding sullenly toward the medicine den. "Lightkit, are you in here?"

"Spottedkit, hello!" Honeyspark, the ginger tortoiseshell medicine cat, greeted her warmly. "Lightkit, Spottedkit's here!"

Lightkit came out from behind a cluster of rocks, brightening when she saw Spottedkit. "Hey! Ooh, is that for me?" she asked, padding up to the mouse.

"If you want it. I'm not hungry anymore. What are you doing in here?" Spottedkit asked, trying to be happy for Lightkit's sake.

Lightkit glanced excitedly at Honeyspark. "I'm going to train to be a medicine cat!"

Spottedkit's eyes widened in surprise. "Oh!"

Lightkit's smile began to fade. "You don't like it?"

"No, that's not it!" Spottedkit smiled, this time genuinely. "That's great! I'm happy for you. You'll be a fantastic medicine cat!"

Lightkit's smile returned and she seemed to puff her chest out in pride. "I'm hoping so."

Honeyspark chuckled. "I'm sure you will, Lightkit. As long as you listen to everything I teach you, and pay attention. It's a lot to learn, but I know you'll get it; you're a quick learner."

Spottedkit sat and visited with Lightkit and Honeyspark for a while until her mother called her for her afternoon nap. "Are you coming?" she asked Lightkit.

Lightkit shook her head. "I'm helping organize herbs in here."

"Okay… I'll see you later then…"

Spottedkit padded to the nursery, lying down in hers and her mother's nest, Hollyflight somewhere with Cloudstorm. She listened to Adderkit and Willowkit goofing off in their nest until Crowsong, their mother, told them to be quiet. Spottedkit sighed tiredly, slowly falling asleep.

She opened her eyes in a silvery forest, mist wreathing around the trees and underbrush. "Hello?" she called, her voice echoing and making her feel terrible alone. "Is anyone there?"

"The first of many and last of some," a voice whispered.

"Who is that? Hello?" Spottedkit tried asking again.

"This cat will have to lose nearly everything to gain themselves."

"What do you mean? Is this a prophecy? Who are you?"

"But broken and shattered pieces can still be put back together."

"What is broken? Who has to lose what? Where are you!"

"Spottedkit…"

Spottedkit whirled, trying to find the source of the voice. A pure white cat stepped out in front of her, making her stop in surprise. The cat was long-limbed, with piercing blue-green eyes.

"Who are you?" Spottedkit breathed.

The ground seemed to open beneath Spottedkit and she plummeted through darkness, her eyes flying open back in her own nest in NightClan. A single whispered name echoed in her head as she tried to regain her bearings.

"Bloomheart…"

A/N: Alright! The start of a new adventure! I hope that everyone is staying safe in this weird time, and since I guess I have nothing better, might as well start my pet project. This story has been in the works since I made my OC all the way back in... 2014, I guess... that was a long time ago... The OC has had many character shifts, and the story has changed a lot, but I'm hoping this time I'll be able to make a coherent story for you all to enjoy. If you liked this chapter and want me to continue, please review and tell me so! If there's a grammar error or something of that sort, again, please let me know.

Anyway! I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your day/night! Stay safe, wash your hands.

~Adrien