Chapter 1

It had been a few days since Songheart had given birth, died, and I had made the decision to take care of the children. I'd like to say things were peaceful in the nursery, but they really weren't. Not with Flurrytail and her kits who already had bad opinions of me thanks to their mother. Let's hope the kits I'll be taking care of for six moons like me.

I noticed Tigerkit sit up and look around. "It's so big," he said.

"No, it's not," Meadowkit told him.

"Go outside if you're just going to be rude," I told her.

"You're practically a kit yourself, you can't tell me what to do," Meadowkit said.

"Yeah, we're already bigger than you, and probably stronger too from what I've heard," Darkkit said.

"That's not very nice," Tigerkit said.

"We're just being honest," Darkkit said. "Come on, Meadowkit. We shouldn't waste our time with them."

They left, thank StarClan. "I really think it is big, but I guess I was wrong," Tigerkit said.

Before I could say anything, someone else responded. "It is big," Songkit reassured him. "Like super big."

"Don't listen to those two," I advised them. "They aren't very nice."

"So are you our mom?" Songkit asked.

"No," I answered. What the fox-dung do I tell them? "Your mother, Songheart, is a very long way away even though she doesn't want to be, but she can't wait to meet you all someday." Yeah, I'm not their parent, it's not my job to tell them. I'll leave that to Boulderfang. "I'll be taking care of you all though. My name is Deathfire."

"Okay!" Songkit responded. "Can I go outside?"

"Not yet," I told her. "Once your littermates open their eyes we all can."

"Then tell them to hurry up," she said.

"We can't hurry this up," I told her. "You'll just have to be patient and wait."

"Okay," she said. She looked over to her other two littermates. "You both better hurry up."

It wasn't long until the other two had opened their eyes. I took the kits outside for the first time.

"Outside is even bigger," Tigerkit said.

"I wanna see everything!" Songkit exclaimed.

"I do too!" Puddlekit agreed. The small she-cat was bouncing up and down.

"Okay then," I told them. "Let's go."

We began our tour around camp. These kits sure are excitable. I told them a bit about the warrior life as well. It took a while to herd them around the camp. We arrived back at the nursery.

"I saw you showing these little guys around, Shorty," Tallblaze said, walking over. "I thought I'd say hello."

"You're super tall," Tigerkit said.

"Indeed I am. That's why I'm called Tallblaze," Tallblaze said.

"I wanna be that big someday," Songkit said. "I would be super cool."

"I'm sure you'll be super cool no matter what size you end up being," I told her.

"But being tall is cooler," Songkit said.

"Well, it's definitely possible you'll be this size. Your dad is about my height," Tallblaze told her. "Even if you take after your mom, you'll at least be average height. Much taller than Shorty."

I sighed. Tigerkit looked up at me. "It's okay, you're cool even if you aren't tall," he told me.

"Thanks," I told him.

"Are you a warrior?" Puddlekit asked Tallblaze.

"I used to be, but now I'm a medicine cat," Tallblaze said. "I treat sick and injured cats."

"That sounds boring," Songkit said.

"Yeah, it does," Gravelkit agreed.

"That's why I'm so awesome to make up for the boringness," Tallblaze said. I rolled my eyes. "What? Do you think I'm not awesome?"

"You're annoying, that's what you are," I told him.

"Tallblaze, you better not be corrupting my kits," Boulderfang said, walking over.

"Who are you?" Puddlekit asked.

"I'm Boulderfang, I'm your father," Boulderfang said.

"Are you a warrior or a boring medicine cat?" Songkit asked him.

"I'm a warrior," Boulderfang answered.

"Also medicine cats aren't boring," Tallblaze inputted.

"So have you all been having fun?" Boulderfang asked.

"Yeah!" Puddlekit exclaimed. "We got to explore camp!"

"It was super cool!" Songkit added.

"And big," Tigerkit added.

"Deathfire showed us everything," Gravelkit said.

"I'm glad you all enjoyed yourselves," Boulderfang said.

"I think it's about time to go in for a nap though," I said.

"Why can't we stay out?" Songkit asked. "I don't wanna go back in yet."

"We're having fun!" Puddlekit said.

"Come on, we're going back in," I told them. "Tell Boulderfang and Tallblaze goodbye."

They said bye and I lead them back into the nursery. We settled in and they fell asleep after a few remarks of how they weren't tired. I think I'll enjoy this motherhood stuff.

"Well, you are more cunning than I thought," Lightstar said. "Build the motherly bond with his children to try and win him over."

"That's not why I did it!" I told her. "I know what it's like to have a dead mother, I wanted to help them!" Or did I do it for alternative reasons and I'm just lying to myself?

"You don't have to lie to me," Lightstar said. "It's a good plan. Maybe you aren't hopeless is my point."

"No, I'm not lying and I'm still as hopeless as ever," I said. "Cranepool took me and Limppaw in just to help kits. Why couldn't I do it for the same reasons?"

"Well then, if you insist that wasn't your reasoning you should use it for such purposes," she told me. "After all, you do want to be his mate, don't you?"

As much as I knew it was false I answered it anyway. "No," I said. "Songheart was his mate and I'm not stepping in."

"The question was do you want him," she said. "Think about what you want for once instead of living for everyone else."

"What I want is for you to leave me alone and for Wingstar to believe me and for Flurrytail and her followers to die spontaneously," I said. "That's what I want, but both StarClan and the Dark Forest knows it isn't going to happen. Why? Because I don't get to choose what other cats do and think and what happens to them. So I'm just gonna live my life the best I can and you don't get a say in it."

"But what if you could control it? You could rule over everyone with your friends right beside you if you listened to me," Lightstar told me. "Anyone who stood in your way would be dead and everything your's for the taking. Life would be what you wanted for once. Your life finally perfect. Wouldn't that be nice?"

"You see, I don't want control," I said. "You're trying to push what you want on me. You want to rule with the cat of your dreams by your side and everyone's fate at your paws. I don't. So stop pretending I'm you, you're wasting your time."

"You'll be what I want by the time I'm done with you," Lightstar said. "I will break you."

"You can't break what's already broken," I said.

"Oh, but you can. I'll leave you in shatters," Lightstar told me.

"Try it then," I said. "It'll be harder than you think."

"Bad things are coming," she said. "I might not even have to do a thing. Though I suppose I'll have a little fun too."

My mind went back to Flurrytail saying something similar about bad things coming. "What is Flurrytail planning?" I asked.

"Ah, but what about a little suspense? What's the fun without it? You'll just have to wait and find out," Lightstar told me. "Of course, if you could stake your claim to the Clans first I would tell you and we could make sure you come out on top."

"Yeah, I'd rather be left in the dark than give in to you," I said.

"Well then, we'll just have to see how this plays out, won't we?" Lightstar asked.

"We will," I responded, meeting her gaze. "You'll find I don't give up so easily."

Laughter shone in her eyes, somehow scaring me more than any amount of rage. "I'm counting on it," she told me.

Author Note: The kits are certainly adorable, I love them. Fictional children are superior to real children. Also I love Lightstar's character, she's so fun to write and read about. She is definitely one of my favorite antagonists if not my favorite. Uh, call me crazy I guess. This chapter definitely holds one of my favorite Lightstar quotes. Actually, this book contains some of my favorite quotes period. Uh, anyway, comments are always appreciated so leave one if you'd like! I'll see you all next week!

-Rowan W