Lilykit pounced on a ball of moss, waiting impatiently for Bluepaw and Snowpaw to return from their hunting session so they could play together. She was the only kitten in the nursery now–Lionpaw and Goldenpaw had been made apprentices two moons ago–and as a result, her days were often filled with hours of boredom. Of course, Moonflower played with her whenever she had time, but there was something different about playing with cats her age.

The entrance to the camp rustled and Lilykit looked up from her moss ball hopefully. She scowled, however, when she saw that the cats who emerged from the tunnel were not either of her sisters but Thistlepaw and Rosepaw. While Lilykit didn't mind Rosepaw, over the past few moons, she had grown to dislike Thistlepaw. He was arrogant and self-centered, always boasting about a piece of prey he had caught or a new battle move he had mastered while refusing to allow his denmates to get a word in edgewise.

Get over yourself, Lilykit often wanted to sneer whenever Thistlepaw started talking. You're not doing anything special.

Even worse, there were cats in the Clan validating the conceited apprentice's behavior. Snowpaw was one of the most prominent supporters of Thistlepaw–as much as Lilykit loved her older sister, she didn't think she would ever understand why this was. At least Bluepaw didn't feel the need to stare admiringly at the gray and white tom whenever he walked past her.

"Adderfang says he's going to teach me battle moves tomorrow," she heard Thistlepaw meowing to Rosepaw, an air of great importance about him. "He says I should be earning my warrior name soon. He told me I have the best fighting technique he's ever seen."

"That's great, Thistlepaw," the gray tabby purred. "Tawnyspots told me–"

"I hope I get to test my skills in a real fight soon," Thistlepaw went on, seemingly unaware that his sister had spoken. He dug his claws into the earth. "The other Clans will be no match for me."

Lilykit rolled her eyes and went back to playing with her moss ball. She had seen Thistlepaw practice a few battle moves before, and she had to admit that he wasn't the worst fighter she had ever seen. Indeed, Adderfang's assessment that the spiky-furred apprentice had the best technique he had ever seen probably held some merit. But there was no way he could beat all of the other Clans. He was still just an apprentice, after all; there were better warriors than him out there. One of these days, he was going to get himself killed if he didn't learn to tone his arrogance down a little.

Please, please, don't let them come over here, Lilykit silently begged StarClan. Just let me wait for Bluepaw and Snowpaw in peace.

"Oh, there's Lilykit! Hey, Lilykit!" Rosepaw called out, waving her tail in greeting.

Fox dung!

The white kit let out a sigh through clenched teeth as the two apprentices walked over to her. She forced her expression to look as cheerful as possible, resisting the urge to kick Thistlepaw in the muzzle. He even looked smug and he wasn't saying anything.

"How are you doing?" Rosepaw asked cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to the younger molly's foul mood.

"Fine," Lilykit muttered, glaring at Thistlepaw, who merely smirked at her.

"Someone's grumpy," he meowed condescendingly.

"No thanks to you, Thistlepaw," she sneered back. "I'm surprised anyone in this forest can be in a good mood with you around."

Rosepaw glanced between the two of them nervously. "Okay, there's no need for you two to fight..."

Thistlepaw shook his head. "Yeah, you're right," he agreed with his littermate, sneering at Lilykit. "I don't have time for your petty jealousy, kit."

"Jealousy?" Lilykit scoffed in disbelief. "And just what do I have to be jealous of you for, might I ask?"

"I'm the best fighter in the Clan," Thistlepaw boasted, puffing his chest out.

"Sure, you are," Lilykit retorted, rolling her eyes. Honestly, what did Snowpaw see in this cat? "The only thing you're even remotely close to being the best at is being able to stand upright under the massive weight of your enormous head without toppling over after two heartbeats."

"I'm still a better fighter than you."

"You've been training for five moons and I haven't even started. I would be a little worried if you weren't a better fighter than me at this point."

"Lilykit! Lilykit, we're back!"

Relief shot through Lilykit as she spotted her sisters emerging from the gorse tunnel. Quickly, she bounded over to greet them, her bad mood completely forgotten now that Bluepaw and Snowpaw had returned. Her sisters were each carrying a small load of prey that they deposited onto the fresh-kill pile before coming over to greet her.

"Are you having a good day?" Bluepaw asked, touching her nose to Lilykit's forehead.

"Yeah! Or, well, at least I was until someone showed up," she growled, glaring at Thistlepaw. The gray and white apprentice glared right back before turning around and marching off to his den. Rosepaw glanced at Lilykit apologetically, then turned and hurried after her brother.

Snowpaw shook her head. "Did you two get into another argument?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Maybe," Lilykit muttered mutinously.

"Come on, Lilykit," her sister meowed tiredly. "He's really not that bad. Why can't you just try to get along with him?"

"I have a good reason."

"Which is?"

"I don't like him!" she snapped. "He's so...so full of himself. Every single time he talks, it's always about himself. Guess what? I caught a pigeon today. I learned the front-paw swipe. My mentor is teaching me a new battle move tomorrow. Who cares? And he thinks we should be impressed by him! I mean, he does realize that every single apprentice learns how to hunt and fight and he's not anything special, right?"

"Well, you're not wrong," Bluepaw agreed, glancing at Snowpaw. "No offense, but I really don't know why you like him so much."

Snowpaw let out a sigh. "I know he can come across as arrogant sometimes, but that's just because he wants to impress others. He's a nice cat once you get to know him," she insisted.

"I'll take your word for it," Lilykit replied dubiously. Eager to change the subject, she asked, "So did your hunting trip go well today?"

"It went alright," Bluepaw answered, flicking her tail. "The prey was poorer than usual today, but we managed to catch a few pieces to bring back for the Clan."

"That's good," she meowed. A little more wistfully, she added, "I wish I could go hunting with you guys."

"Don't worry, you will," Snowpaw meowed, giving her an encouraging nudge. "Once you become an apprentice, we'll all go hunting together."

"One more moon," Lilykit sighed.

"Don't worry," Bluepaw meowed sympathetically, tapping her tail against her shoulder. "You'll be training before you know it."

"I know," she agreed. Perking up a little, she added, "I can't wait to see who Pinestar picks to be my mentor. Maybe I'll get Thrushpelt. Or Windflight. Or what about Robinwing? Oh, I know, maybe if you two become warriors before I get a mentor, I can have Sunfall too!"

Bluepaw laughed. "Maybe you will," she meowed.

"What do you think your warrior names will be anyway?" Lilykit asked. "I can't wait to find out what my warrior name is going to be. But I don't know what I want it to be. As long as I'm not called Lilyflower or Lilypetal or anything like that. Will you make sure that Pinestar doesn't name me any of those? I'll help too. I'm going to think of a plan to stop him if I need to."

"Hey now, slow down there a little!" Snowpaw purred, her eyes gleaming with amusement. "You haven't even started training yet. There's still a lot of time left before you'll earn your warrior name."

However, Lilykit wasn't listening anymore. Instead, she turned around and wandered back over to the nursery, talking to herself as she tried to come up with a plan to prevent Pinestar from ever naming her Lilyflower or Lilypetal.