Chapter One- Kits
Bluekit played around in the nursery with Silverpool watching over her, Smallkit, and Onekit (her true kits) carefully.
"My turn to be Clan leader!" Bluekit squealed. She scampered up a rock and looked dramatic. "I, Bluestar, need to appoint a deputy."
Smallkit and Onekit eagerly scampered around her. "Choose me! Choose me!" They cried eagerly.
Bluekit appeared to be thinking hard. "I choose… Smallkit as my deputy! Wait no… I chose SmallEAR as my deputy!"
Smallkit frowned a bit, she didn't like it when people made fun of his small ears, but then he remembered that he was deputy and smiled.
Onekit slumped down. "HEY! Why can't I be deputy?"
Bluekit jumped down from the rock and batted Onekit with her paw. "You can't because Smallear is deputy, silly. But you can be medicine cat!"
"I don't WANT to be medicine cat!" Onekit complained. "They're boring."
"Then you are my apprentice." Bluekit decided.
Onekit thought. "No!"
Bluekit frowned. "Then what do you want to be?"
"I'll just be… a warrior."
"Okay. My senior warrior, Oneclaw, is going to lead a patrol across the Riverclan boundary."
Onekit nodded and trotted away.
Silverpool arose and picked up Onekit by the scruff of his neck. Putting her kit down, she told him: "You aren't going to lead a patrol for many moons, and especially not now, Onekit."
Onekit frowned. "I'm not Onekit, I'm OneCLAW, and a senior warrior!"
Bluekit smiled at what she knew to be her siblings.
Patchkit, Brownkit, and Dapplekit trotted over. Flowerheart and Crimsonleaf watched warily.
"Give us warrior names too!" They cried.
Bluekit thought. "Patchkit, you are Patchfur. You can go play with Oneclaw. Brownkit, you are Brownpelt. Dapplekit, you are Dapplefoot. You guys can play with Smallear. And I will rule."
Bluekit sat importantly on the stone as the other kits batted at each other's tails and scampered about. Finally, Bluekit got bored and scampered down.
"Being clan leader is boring." She proclaimed. "I don't want to be leader. Smallear, you can be the leader now."
Smallkit shook his head and pounced up on Brownkit.
"Okay, but we'll have to be rouges if no one's leader."
"You be leader, Bluekit, and just play with us."
After a bit of persuading, Bluekit consented to be leader. At last, she made a proclamation that leaders could play with the other warriors.
As Silverpool watched the kits play, she overheard Flowerheart and Crimsonleaf talking in hushed voices.
"Do you know how Hollytail died then?"
"Flowerheart, I've been telling you, I have no clue. Cederpelt said that Hollytail had a scent of blood… the kind you get from when kits come out wrong… but that's impossible. No loyal cat would fall in love with a medicine cat, anyhow, and even if they did, where would the kits be?"
Flowerheart sighed. "Nothing makes since anymore, Crimsonleaf. Maybe a cat snuck into camp?" Her voice faded, she knew as soon as it had escaped her mouth what a mouse-brained idea that was.
Their conversation made Silverpool nervous. She quickly glanced at Bluekit, hoping no one would figure out the real story. Bluekit had a blue-gray pelt, which made it more believable that Silverpool was her mother, but there was still always a risk.
Silverpool remembered when Runningclaw had came inside the nursery not so long ago at the dead of night with a little kit who's eyes were barely open in his mouth. Putting the kit down, he explained that Hollytail had died giving birth to 3 kits, but only the strongest blue-gray one survived. The tom had begged Silverpool to take in the diminutive kit as her own. Silverpool finally consented; she had just given birth to a litter of kits the day before so it wouldn't be that hard to lie and say that the kit was her own.
Silverpool nervously glanced at her kit. Suddenly, at the entrance to the nursery, Specklestar entered the nursery.
Glancing up eagerly from their game, the six kits eagerly scampered around the clan leader. "What is it?" The kits all squealed.
Specklestar smiled at the little kits. "Bluekit, Patchkit, and Onekit, you are ready to be apprenticed. Silverpool?" He nodded towards the silver queen. "Can you take your kits out for a clan meeting?"
Bluekit, Patchkit, and Onekit were ecstatic. "I've waited forever for this!" Bluekit squealed. "Come one, let's go!" The three kits scampered out of the nursery ahead of their mother.