RiverClan Allegiances

Leader

Branchstar- tom with dark brown pelt

Deputy

Brambletail- brown tom with darker streaks

Medicine Cat

Berryheart- white she-cat with black spots

Warriors

Rockstorm- dark gray tom

Apprentice, Mothpaw

Fishsplash- light tabby tom

Ottertail- plain brown tom, missing eye from badger

Apprentice, Grasspaw

Eaglestrike- cream tom with amber eyes

Nightleaf- black she-cat with white tipped tail

Apprentice, Sharppaw

Yellowstripe- white tom with yellow stripe

Apprentice, Leafpaw

Lilypool- light gray she-cat

Finchpelt- pale yellow tom with light brown paws

Snowpelt- white she-cat with blue eyes

Apprentice, Deerpaw

Cinderlight- long haired gray tom

Cherrystem- white she-cat with pink tail

Queens

Dawnmist- pale tortoiseshell she-cat, mother of Eaglestrike's kits (Rosekit, Shellkit)

Whiteflower- cream colored she-cat, mother of Fishsplash's kits (Daisykit, Mosskit, Cloudkit, Graykit)

Moonsky- blind gray she cat, expecting Ottertail's kits

Apprentices

Sharppaw- long haired gray tom

Grasspaw- brown she-cat

Mothpaw- dark gray she-cat

Leafpaw- dark tabby tom

Deerpaw- dark brown she-cat

Elders

Blackthorn- black tom with white muzzle

Milkleaf- cream she-cat

Tigerleap- orange tom

Mousefoot- dark brown tom with green eyes

Mosskit

Shellkit. The name leaves a sour taste in my mouth. His rude nature and stuck-up personality make me sick.

I stared at his cream features as he slept. If he was a little older (and maybe a little nicer), I might consider him handsome.

My sister Daisykit squirmed out of the nest to go over to him. I recognised her hazel eyes switch to their familiar dreamy appearance as she gently poked him with her paw.

I rolled mine. Her crush on him was just sad.

"Shellkit! Let's play moss-ball!"

"Huh?"

"Come on, you promised to help me today!"

"When did I say that?"

"Yesterday."

"Somehow, I doubt that."

"Ugh." My sister slinked back to our nest…

But then she leaped on top of him, startling his sister Rosekit, who used to be sleeping soundly next to him.

"Why, Daisykit, why?"

"Why not, Shellkit, why not?"

Shellkit struggled to get up. He shot a look of pure irritation at the brown tabby she-kit, but he surrendered. "Fine. Go get some moss."

Cloudkit's white head shot up from the nest I share with my littermates. "Did someone say 'moss'? Are we playing moss-ball?" he asked.

Shellkit muttered under his breath something that sounded like "StarClan take me now," but he responded, "Are we all going to play? Why don't we just invite Graykit too?"

Cloudkit didn't notice Shellkit's sarcasm. "Great idea! Graykit, wake up!"

"I'm tired." My lazy brother rolled over and went back to sleep.

I got up to stretch my legs, and I noticed Shellkit eyeing me. "And you're coming too?"

"Wouldn't miss it for the world."

Mosskit

By the time the sun was low on the horizon, I was considerably happier. Shellkit was fuming, having lost the last several games to his sister's team. I was only allowed to watch to make the teams even, so Cloudkit teamed up with Shellkit, who refused to work together with his sister or Daisykit.

I was content with sitting against the wall of the nursery and watching Shellkit get creamed. It was the best entertainment I could get, seeing as how I was too young to leave camp.

Shellkit was just about to launch the ball of moss well outside the camp boundaries out of anger when a yowl sounded from the camp entrance.

"ShadowClan is invading the camp!" In an instant, the entire clan was in action. I padded forward with increased interest, but before I knew it, I was being lifted in the air.

"Not yet, Mosskit. Battle is no place for someone your age." My mother, Whiteflower, carried me with her teeth to the nursery, gently pushing Daisykit and Graykit with her tail. I couldn't see, but I saw Dawnmist doing the same to her kits.

We huddled inside the bramble walls of our den. Whiteflower was tense beside me, not even moving a whisker as Graykit and Daisykit play-fought for a good view, obstructing my vision, but I heard yowls of pain from the middle of camp.

Whiteflower got up and stretched, expanding my line of sight. Without a word, she walked out of the nursery as my littermates and I watched in horror. She joined Fishsplash, my father, in battling a brown she-cat. Her face was already splotched with blood and she looked like she was struggling.

My breath started to shake. Whiteflower was definitely a rusty fighter. Most queens were. I had to admit, I was scared.

Daisykit noticed my hyperventilation. "Mosskit. Breathe. She's one of the best fighters in RiverClan. I'm sure she'll be okay."

"Are you sure?" I asked. I looked up again, and she was gone. My breathing pace increased dramatically.

"Positive. Now calm down!"

But that didn't stop me from squirming.

"Hey! Unless you want to be called Wormkit, stop squirming! Some of us are trying to watch the battle," Shellkit hissed.

"I'm sorry, Shellkit. It was wrong of me to subject your superiority to my squirming."

"Really?"

"No. And you know how loud you sound, right? I plan on surviving to see tomorrow, but I can't do that if ShadowClan hears you."

He shut up after that, much to my pleasure.

"ShadowClan, retreat!" Sandstar called. His cats all raced out of the camp cackling gleefully. They left several of their own cats weak from their wounds, not bothering to retrieve their bodies. I saw the last breath of an unrecognizable mottled brown tom before the light went out in his eyes.

After the invaders left, the six of us stumbled out of the Nursery and gaped at the damage to the camp. Moss was scattered everywhere and reeds were flattened. Various dens were damaged. Three cats were walking around with a limp, and one had a twisted paw. I was no medicine cat, but it looked like they would live. Probably. But compared to some of the other warriors, they were just fine.

But I didn't care about them. I hadn't seen Whiteflower among the survivors.

"Cloudkit! Mosskit! Daisykit! Come here!" Graykit stood with wide eyes near the elder's den. I tried to convince myself I was imagining the pain in his voice, but I couldn't.

Whiteflower's fur was dyed red from all the blood seeping out of her body. Fishsplash quickly shielded me to prevent me from seeing "more than a young kit should."

The rest of the night was a blur. I was there when Berrynose, the medicine cat, gasped at the sight and shook her head sadly, and when Fishsplash took me and my littermates away from the scene. But I wasn't there mentally. It was just too much to process.

Mosskit

The next morning, I woke up in the nursery. The memories flooded my mind and left room for nothing else. How could RiverClan go on without her? How could the sun still shine, the prey still run, and how could ShadowClan be so frustratingly triumphant over their kill?

After the battle, I overheard Cherrystem, a new warrior, venting to her older sister, Snowpelt about how scared she was. I wasn't the only one that heard the ShadowClan cats laughing as they ran away and, I learned later that one even yelled, "Don't worry, RiverClan, we'll be back for more!" Everyone thought it was one of the newer warriors or apprentices, having not learned proper battle etiquette yet.

I shuffled through the reeds surrounding the camp. I don't think anyone noticed me, but if they did, they didn't disturb my grieving. Daisykit was the only one to approach me.

"Hey. Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

Daisykit winced, her hazel eyes shining with hurt. "I know we just lost Whiteflower. But we have to be strong. What kind of warriors will we be if we can't deal with loss? It's a part of life."

"I hate it when you're right."

"Now come on. I'm going to force Shellkit into another game of moss-ball, and you're on my team."

"You know what?" I asked, sighing deeply, "I'm just going to stay here. Have fun."

Daisykit left me alone, after giving me a fake sad face as she padded away.

A few minutes after Daisykit left, I heard a curse from the den next to me, followed by a series of loud groans of pain.

I usually stay away from the medicine den, but I guess I wasn't paying much attention to where I was going and wandered behind it. I tried to creep away, but Berryheart saw the movement and came outside.

"Ah! Mosskit! I need your help! I was going to grab Rosekit, but I need some help right now."

"Actually, I'd rather-"

"Nonsense! Come inside." Berryheart pushed me inside with her tail. Why do older cats have the ability to push me around with their tails?

"Now then. Ottertail has a very serious shoulder injury thanks to that piece of crowfood that is the ShadowClan deputy Smoky, and I need you to find me some marigold petals while I stop the bleeding."

"Marigold?"

"Bright yellow flowers. You can't miss 'em."

I wandered to the corner of the den with all of the plants, thankful that the odors of plants masked the stench of blood a little. The flowers were sitting right in the middle. I scooped up a pawfull.

Berryheart wrapped the cobwebs around his broad shoulders. He yowled as she tightened the cobwebs, but she just replied sternly, "Do you want the bleeding to stop or not?"

"I do, but does it have to hurt so much?" Ottertail let out another ear-splitting shriek.

"You're being overdramatic. Calm down." She took the marigold petals out of my paws. "Hold still. It'll be over in a few."

I seized my chance now that both of them were distracted, and ran back to the safety of the reeds.

Whiteflower was everything. But Daisykit was right. I had to learn how to toughen up. My apprentice ceremony was only a few days away, and apprentices wouldn't sulk around camp like this.

I whispered one last goodbye to Whiteflower, and then I pushed her out of my mind. But still, if I got to fight ShadowClan myself, I would make them pay for what they did.


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