Chapter One

Brightkit peeked his tiny little head out of the nursery. He had just left Orangepelt's belly to see what all the commotion outside was. More cats than he ever could have imagined were all grouped together at one end of the clearing. He had only just been allowed to look outside the nursery a sunrise ago with Heatherkit, Loudkit, and Lionkit. He looked on in awe as he noticed two cats at the front of the group.

"I, Deepstar, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. These two have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn." Deepstar was looking up at the setting sun as he addressed Willowpaw and Moonpaw beneath him.

"Apprentices, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and protect the clan, even at the cost of your life?"

"I do."

"Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior names." He bent down to Moonpaw.

"Moonpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Moonwake. StarClan honors your wisdom and gentleness, and we welcome you as a full warrior of RiverClan." Deepstar tapped his muzzle on the warrior's head as she licked his shoulder in respect.

"Moonwake! Moonwake!" The clan began cheering.

"Moonwake! Moonwake!" Brightkit loved this. He had never watched a ceremony before. He was only born a few sunrises ago, in fact. He had no idea what was going on yet, or what any of this meant.

"Mama? What are we cheering for?"

Orangepelt dipped her head down and nuzzled the kit, waking Loudkit and Heatherkit.

"Moonwake and Willowpaw finished their apprentice training. Now they are full-time warriors for our RiverClan! Isn't it exciting?" It was very exciting. He couldn't wait for his first warrior ceremony. Do you only get one? It would make sense. Loudkit and Heatherkit were right next to him now, chanting along with the group of assembled cats. Lionkit was still suckling milk from Orangepelt. He didn't seem to care about the noise.

Deepstar repeated the same process with Willowthorn. "Willowpaw, from this moment on, you will be known as Willowthorn. StarClan welcomes your bravery and strength in not just the battlefield, but in the fishing river as well. We welcome you, too, as a full warrior of RiverClan."

"Willowthorn! Willowthorn!"

"That's your sister, my dears." Orangepelt whispered to her kits.

"Willowthorn is our sister?" Heatherkit repeated.

"That's so cool!" Loudkit squeaked.

The three kits began to chant louder, now knowing that their kin was important to their clan now. Lionkit remained warm at his mother's belly, finally aroused by all of the commotion.

"I wanna be called Heatherburn when I'm a warrior!" The she-kit puffed out her chest as she addressed her mother.

"What an interesting choice, dear. But we don't pick our names, StarClan will give Deepstar your warrior names."

"Well, I'm gonna get the best name!" Lionkit hopped up and started pacing the nursery, swiping at invisible enemies, "Because I'll be the best fighter in all the Clans!"

"Not if you sit around all day getting milk!" Loudkit teased.

"You're just jealous because I'm growing faster than all of you."

"You'll look like a kittypet if you grow too fast, dear." Orangepelt nosed a moss-ball over to her kits. "Now go get some exercise."

Lionkit jumped over Loudkit and landed square on the moss, pelting it with furious hind-legs. Heatherkit grabbed it from under him and tossed it outside the entrance of the nursery. Loudkit bounded outside and raced his littermates to it. Brightkit sat still, staring up at Deepstar.

"Why aren't you playing, Brightkit?" Orangepelt became puzzled. Brightkit was usually exploding with energy.

"How old is Deepstar, mama?" His gaze never left the cat's pelt. Orangepelt chuckled.

"Many, many seasons old. Why do you ask?"

"Wow! That's a long time!" He looked up at the sky. "How old are you, mama?" His gaze snapped away from the clouds and landed on Orangepelt's eyes.

Her expression faded to thought. "Quite a few seasons, I suppose. Not as old as Deepstar. He's lived for many generations."

"What's that?"

"A generation?" Brightkit nodded. "Well, when a lot of kits-"

"Who is the oldest cat?" Brightkit interrupted.

"Well, cats have lived for countless moons, Brightkit. You can't expect me to know that. They might have even lived before StarClan's time, long before the Clans."

"Then who's the oldest RiverClan cat?" Brightkit started bouncing up and down.

Orangepelt chuckled again, "Why do you want to know so badly?"

"Well, you are pretty wise. And Deepstar is really wise. And the elders are really really wise. So, wouldn't the oldest cat be the wisest cat?"

"Not exactly, dear. All cats have lived around the same amount of time. A lot of age doesn't necessarily make you any wiser. For example, Leopardspots is just crabby, and she's the oldest cat we have!"

"But if the wisest cats taught the un-wisest cats their wiseness, wouldn't they be even ... wieserer?" Brightkit started confusing himself.

"I suppose, dear. What brought this conversation up?"

"Well, everyone either wants to be the best warrior, or the best leader, or whatever. There's no way I can beat Lionkit at best warrior, and Loudkit would make a great leader, so that would leave me as a boring old normal warrior. I don't wanna be normal, mama!"

"Well, I'm a boring old normal warrior, and I'm very happy being it." She smiled down at him as he felt his pelt get hot. He hadn't meant to be rude. "So what does this have to do with who the wisest cat is?"

"If I can't be the best fighter, or leader, than I wanna be the smartest cat there ever was!" Brightkit puffed out his chest and stuck his tail straight up.

"Well you better decide which one, because there's a difference between being wise and being smart."

"There is?"

"Well, a wise cat is someone who has a lot of experience in ... life. A smart cat is someone who is great at planning a battle strategy, or finding new, better ways to do things."

"Then I wanna be the smartest cat!"

Orangepelt bent down and licked Brightkit between his ears. "And I know you will be."

"So who is the smartest RiverClan cat ever?"

"Ever?"

"Yeah!" Orangepelt thought for a moment.

"Probably River. We're named for him, after all. He chose a great spot abundant with fish, hidden by reeds, and surrounded by water. I'm sure he was brilliant."

Brightkit's eyes shone. He wanted to be just like River. I'm gonna be smarter than River one day! He bounded outside to catch up with his kin. He wanted to play before they ruined the moss-ball.

"Stay in camp! I'll come out and play after I clean the nest!" He ran into Willowthorn's paw as he scurried out into the clearing.

"Willowthorn! Willowthorn!" Brightkit continued chanting her new name.

"Thanks, Brightkit!" She giggled for a second.

"Mama told me that you're our sister! Is that true?"

"It is, little one. Orangepelt is my mother, and Whiskertail is my father."

"So you were born alone? You don't have any sisters or brothers?"

"No, but I was born around the same time as Moonpaw. Er, Moonwake. She didn't have any sisters or brothers either, so she feels like a sister to me."

"Do I feel like your sister to you?" Willowthorn broke out in laughter.

"No, silly, you are a tom. You would feel like a brother to me. Besides, you are my brother. Unless there's some hidden secret that no one knows about. Maybe you were really a fish when you were born and we adopted you because of how cute you are!" Brightkit's nose scrunched up.

"I don't wanna be a fish! Fish are smelly!"

"You'll like the smell of fish soon enough. Once you stop getting milk." Wetwhisker padded up to them.

"Ready for your first dawn patrol, Willowthorn?"

"Yes!" The she-cat hurried towards the camp entrance with a few other cats that Brightkit has yet to meet. Wetwhisker looked down at Brightkit. The white tom looked massive to him with his muscles lean underneath his thick pelt.

"You must be one of Orangepelt's new kits! What's your name, tom?" Brightkit stopped for a moment. What was my name again?

"Brightkit!"

"It's nice to meet you, young Brightkit. I am Wetwhisker, deputy of RiverClan." Brightkit looked up in awe at the tom. He's the deputy! I had no idea! Brightkit kneeled down in a bow.

"I'm sorry! I didn't know you were the deputy. It's nice to meet you, too." Wetwhisker looked down at him, confused.

"Why are you bowing to me? I'm not a StarClan cat. I just tell everyone what to do for the day."

"Oh." Brightkit sat up and started licking his chest fur, embarrassed. There are so many cats to meet! How will I ever learn all of their scents? Or remember their names?

"See you around!" The tom padded off to meet the group of cats at the entrance. A mossball rolled up and stopped at Brightkit's flank. He turned to see three kits hurtling at him, full speed.

"Watch out!" He squeaked jumping out of the way. Heatherkit got to it first and tossed it up again, ready to pounce on it as soon as it landed. Brightkit jumped over to it and grabbed it in his tiny jaws. It wasn't that heavy at all.

"Bet you can't get it from me!" he mumbled through his full mouth. The ground was still pretty slippery since all of the snow had just melted last night. He knew it would slow the other kits down a bit. Scrambling paws sounded behind him.

"Oompf!" Lionkit tripped over Loudkit, who slid a tail-length to the side. "Sorry!"

Heatherkit remained only a fish-length behind Brightkit's tail. He could feel her breath on his tail-tip. The reeds! Brightkit had made it to the reed wall surrounding camp. Kits were not allowed to leave camp, especially if they were not being watched. I have to stop! He skidded to a stop after a short slide in the mud. Heatherkit snatched the moss-ball in her little claws.

"Why did you stop? I was having fun!"

"We're not supposed to leave camp." Brightkit shook a few mud drops off of his pelt.

"You're no fun! What's wrong with leaving camp? We were just going right outside."

"We're not supposed to! We'll get in trouble! It- it's wrong!" He couldn't believe that his sister would say such a thing. Heatherkit sighed and slowly padded outside past the reeds.

"Look! I'm perfectly fine! No danger, I'm not in trouble, There's no … ah!" Brightkit's heart started pumping furiously.

"I'll save her!" Loudkit pounced after her. "Ah!"

Brightkit could hardly hear anything besides the blood in his ears. They're in trouble! Lionkit caught on. He ran after them.

"Help us, Brightkit!" Brightkit looked down at his paws. He had to leave camp. They would die if he didn't go save them from whatever was happening. Surely Deepstar wouldn't punish me for saving them, right? They could be getting attacked! Or maybe they fell in the river! What's happening? He tried to peer through the reeds to see. Maybe they're just playing? But what if they weren't? He couldn't risk it. StarClan help me! He shut his eyes and rushed through.

"Brightkit help! It's the moss-ball monster!" He stopped dead in his tracks as moss hit his face. They had fooled him into leaving camp! Think of how much trouble he could get in!

"That's not funny! I thought that you were all gonna die!" Lionkit padded up to him. Brightkit gazed out into the open world. He felt like he could see for forever!

"Heatherkit's right. You aren't any fun. Come on guys, let's get back inside before he goes and tattle-toads to Orangepelt." Heatherkit hurried after Lionkit.

"I'm sorry we scared you," Loudkit padded up to him. "I thought it would just be funny."

"It's okay." Brightkit smiled at him and went back into the reeds, Loudkit at his tail. Brightkit managed one last glimpse outside before reeds blocked his view again. He noticed how cold he was for the first time since he talked to Willowthorn. My sister is a warrior! He heard angry squeaking ahead of him.

"How'd you manage that?" Lionkit was looking up at the moss-ball that somehow got stuck on top of the apprentice's den. "Get it down!"

Heatherkit's tail started lashing. "I got it last time, it's your turn!"

"Brightkit, you can climb well. Get it!" Brightkit looked up at the ball. It was really high up. I think I can get it. He looked around. No one was watching them. But should he climb the apprentice's den? I don't wanna knock it over, or rip a hole in the side. He began looking for paw holes. Lionkit cleared his throat.

"Brightkit? Hello?" Lionkit started circling him, lashing his tail. "We haven't got all day to play! It's almost naptime! Why do you think so much about everything?"

"I dunno," he began getting nervous again, "It's pretty high up. I think I could get it, but I don't wanna damage the den. Can't we just get a new ball?"

"Are you serious? Fine. I'll get it myself." Lionkit began to shimmy onto the side of the den. There was a lot of moss on top of it. Imagine how many moss-balls we could make with all that!

"What exactly do you think you're doing to my den?" A young she-cat pranced up, clearly cross with the kits.

"Our moss-ball got stuck up there." Loudkit apologized.

"Then tell a warrior to get it! At this rate, I'll be sleeping outside!" It was true, Lionkit had already knocked two reeds over and dislodged some feather-weaves. Heatherkit looked up at the the mad cat.

"Who are you?"

"Are you a warrior?"

"Do you play moss-ball?"

"What's your name?" Smallpaw clearly didn't expect a barrage of kit-questions, the worst kind of all.

"My name is Smallpaw. I'm not a warrior yet, but I will be soon! I've been an apprentice for nearly five moons!" She puffed out her chest in pride. Heatherkit sniffed at Smallpaw's paws.

"Your paws don't look very small. They're twice the size of mine!" Smallpaw shooed her away.

"The 'paw in my name is because I'm an apprentice. Haven't you ever wondered why your names all end in 'kit?" Brightkit thought about it. That was a very good question. Maybe I'm not as smart as I thought? His tail drooped.

"Why isn't your name Smallapprentice, then?" Loudkit piped up. Another good question.

"Wha? I- I don't know. Go bother someone who's not busy." Smallpaw stormed off.

"She's as grumpy as Leopardspots!" Lionkit mumbled. Heatherkit jumped on Loudkit playfully.

"Sneak attack!"

"What was that for?" Loudkit struggled underneath Heatherkit's light weight. He kicked her hind-leg, making it collapse. She fell and rolled off of him with a surprised squeak. He hopped on top of her. Brightkit felt the wind fly out of him as orange fur pounded into his flank. Lionkit's fighting me now! He rolled up onto his paws, gasping for air.

"Get out of my camp, ThunderClan scum!" Lionkit hurtled himself back at Brightkit. Brightkit dove under Lionkit's belly, turning, and sent a weak kick at his belly fur before he landed clumsily on the dirt.

"Hey!" Lionkit scrambled to his paws right after Brightkit got up. Duel me, brother! This is fun! Brightkit was glad that he finally found out the difference between brothers and sisters. He can now tell that he has two brothers and one si-

"Ouch!" Lionkit slapped Brightkit's muzzle with his forepaw while he was lost in thought. Brightkit knew that Lionkit would savor in the moment of landing two successful hits for a second. This is my chance, quick! He feinted a right swipe, which made Lionkit crouch down, then he dove onto Lionkit's back. When Lionkit hurried to flip him off, he landed his hind-paws flat on the ground and kicked the dirt, pushing him back under Lionpaw's belly. That was easy! I caught him off guard! Maybe he could be the best fighter. This was easy!

Lionkit went straight for his belly instead. Oops! Stop thinking so much! He flinched when he felt Lionpaw unsheath his little claws. Pain stung through him as he felt his belly churn. Ow ow ow ow ow! He grabbed Lionkit's shoulders with his own claws, and flailed his hind-legs. Get off of me! Ouch! You're not supposed to practice with claws!

"Ouch! Hey!" Lionkit jumped back and snarled at him. Heatherkit and Loudkit stopped fighting each other.

"What happened?" Heatherkit demanded, clearly scared. Loudkit's mouth gaped open when he saw a small pool of blood on the ground.

"Brightkit used his claws on me!"

"Brightkit! You can't use claws!" Heatherkit squeaked in surprise.

"Brightkit would never do that!" Loudkit defended. "I bet that's his blood!"

Lionkit looked down, now noticing the blood drenching Brightkit's belly. The other kits noticed it as well.

"It is!" A pretty silver she-cat raced over and started pacing around the kit.

"Rabbitear!" She yelled for her mentor. She looked at the trickle of blood on Lionkit's shoulder. "What happened?"

"I, He- … I guess I accidently unsheathed my claws while we were fighting. It just felt natural." Lionkit sounded genuinely surprised. "I- I'm sorry, I didn't mean-"

"Rabbitear!" The cat yelped again. "Where is she?"

"Who's Rabbitear?" Loudkit requested, not wavering his eyes from his bruised brother.

"The medicine cat. I'm her apprentice, Quietpaw." She bent down and grabbed Brightkit by his scruff. I don't feel too good. He let his eyes shut as he tried to unfocus on the pain. Forget becoming a fighter! If this is what losing feels like, I wanna be an elder!

"Kit bellies are very vulnerable because their pelts aren't very thick yet. I need to get you to my den, quick!" She sounded very panicked, already forgetting that Lionkit was slightly injured as well. "Um, um, cobwebs!"

Quietpaw set him down gently on a nest as she dashed into a foul-smelling den. Brightkit looked around. The den was fairly dark, but he could see Quietpaw clearly. She was sorting through a bunch of leaves. He winced as she covered his stomach in cobwebs. It stung for a second, but it was just from her touch on his sensitive belly.

"Are you in any shock?"

"Wha-" He lifted his head, nothing seemed to hurt besides his belly.

"Shock! Yes, No?" She was very hyper for an apprentice, he thought.

"No? I guess? I don't know. My belly hurts. Lionkit didn't mean bad, I swear!" His brother didn't deserve to get into trouble because he got lost in thought when he should have been predicting Lionkit's attacks. She rummaged through the leaves again, sorting through them and pushing them aside.

"Rabbitear is so messy!" Her eyes lit up as she scooted some small plant things towards him. "Here! Eat one. It should be safe. You're not too big at all, but these are supposed to treat your symptoms. I don't know what else to do. Where is Rabbitear?"

Brightkit sniffed the plant. It was very tiny. It smelled odd, but it wasn't the foulest thing in the world. He took one in his mouth and crunched it. The juices swarmed his tongue with weird flavors that he wouldn't want to ever taste again. The sound of a cat padding in hit his ears. He was about to spit out the pod when he remembered that this was supposed to make him feel better. Fair trade, I guess.

"There, good kit. What's your name?" His eyes were half-closed already, and he couldn't tell if he was speaking to Quietpaw or Rabbitear.

"B- Brightkit."

"Okay. Hush now, Brightkit. You'll be alright in no time. You just ate a poppy seed. Normally kits shouldn't eat them, but you look like you'll need it." He started to panic. I'm not supposed to eat this? Then why was it fed to me? He tried to spit it back out, but he had already swallowed it.

"No, no. It's okay. You'll be fine. Kits shouldn't eat one if they're healthy. It can give them a belly ache. This will help you go to sleep so you can rest off the pain." The she-cat's words drifted off as he began to fall asleep. He noticed the silhouette of a small tom kit at the den entrance and two more of who he assumed were the two medicine cats next to him.

"Should I give him Marigold for his scratches?"

"No, that would be too many herbs for such a small kit. He's only a few sunrises old." He stopped listening after the seeds took effect. I'm so sleepy. I wish I was in Orangepelt's nest. The medicine cats probably wanna watch me or clean me or something, or else I'm sure they would have taken me there. Even his thoughts seemed to dampen for once. I'll wake up all better later.

Brightkit padded through a seemingly endless reed bed. He had no idea where he was, or where he was going. He couldn't even remember how long he had been traveling or how he got here. He let out a frightened mewl, trying to find someone. Anyone. He noticed an orange light up ahead. What? Is the sun over here? What if I caught it! I could feed the clan for moons! He couldn't think of how sun meat would taste. He didn't even know what any meat tasted like yet.

As he made his way through the tall, green stalks, he began to feel warmer. Suns are hot! He padded up to it. A sun kit? He bent to sniff it. Ow! The hair on his nose stung. Did it bite me? He looked around. This sun kit must be scared. It's night out and there's no other suns in sight.

"Are you okay Sunkit?" He guessed it's name. It didn't answer. He looked to see if the moon was around. Sure the moon knows where SunClan is? As he glanced around, he saw a pair of narrow yellow eyes poking out of the stunning darkness around him. He suddenly felt very vulnerable.

"Is someone trying to sc- scare me again?" He backed up slowly.

"Lionkit? Are you here? Help!" He realized that he was all alone, and that he was in danger. Whatever was stalking him wouldn't wait forever. Brave. Be brave. Outsmart it. He looked down at Sunkit.

"Get behind me, Sunkit!" He whispered, trying to guide it with his tail tip. It stayed still, roaring on.

"Come on!" He grabbed the stick that it was sitting on and dragged it behind him. There, that wasn't so bad you lazy oaf. It bit at his tail as he turned back to face the darkness.

"Hey! I'm protecting you!" This kit was angry at something. Or scared. Whatever was wrong with it, it would bite at anything. That's it!

"Whatever monster is there, I- I'm not afraid of you! Come get me!" Whatever monster was there, he was definitely afraid of it. He did not want it to come and get him. He stood his ground, with the worst hunting crouch imaginable.

The eyes blinked as a massive ginger pelted best padded out in front of him in the small clearing. It seemed to be amused by his squeals.

"Fight me!" Brightkit waited for it's snarl to finish before readied himself. As is crouched to lunge at his throat, he spun and grabbed Sunkit's stick. It must be very nimble if it can balance on a stick like this. He tossed the stick at the predator facing him. He overflowed with joy as Sunkit began biting the creature. It started yelping in pain. What a brave kit. He should fight Lionkit sometime! The creature started hurtling back into the darkness swallowing the reeds.

"We did it!" He squeaked.

"Sunkit! Sunkit!" He began chanting it's name. It sat firmly on the ground, not even opening it's eyes, wherever they were. I can't wait to tell Loudkit what I did! He froze for a moment. Where is Loudkit? He looked around, remembering that he was lost. How did I get here?

"Sunkit, can you take me to your camp? Maybe sun warriors can tell me where RiverClan is." Brightkit waited, but never received a reply.

"This is no time to sleep!" He knew better than to run off and search by himself. If Heatherkit was here, she would know how to get back to the nursery.

"How do I get home?" He yelled into the night.

"Brightkit, are you okay?" An older tom voice woke him. "You're flailing about in that nest!"

"Whiskertail!" Brightkit hopped up and nuzzled his father's nose. He hadn't seen him since before Willowthorn got her warrior name!

"Oh, my! You've grown so much already!" He rubbed a paw on Brightkit's belly.

"How do you feel?" He had already forgotten about his injury. There was a bit of soreness, but it didn't really hurt.

"A lot better!" He started hopping up and down again.

"Can I go back to the nursery now? I wanna tell Orangepelt about Sunkit!" Whiskertail's eyes grew for a second.

"Who? Where did you meet this Sunkit?" Why did he look so scared?

"I had a dream about him. We were lost somewhere at night, and it was really cold, but he warmed me up and-"

"What did he look like? Were you dreaming or remembering? Was it snowing? Was anyone else with you? Carrying you?" He sounded very surprised and lightly smelled of fear.

"What's wrong?"

"Tell me!" He paused. "Please."

"He was really small, and only sat on a stick. He kept biting me when I touched him. He sent off light and was really warm. I called him Sunkit because he looked like a kit from SunClan."

"SunClan? What's that?" Brightkit seemed confused.

"Isn't that where the sun lives? I thought it was just a lost kit from there. It was night out, so I couldn't see any SunClan warriors." Whiskertail burst out in laughter. He seemed overjoyed now that Brightkit explained who Sunkit was. What was wrong with his dreaming? Whatever it is, it probably doesn't concern me. I'll let it drop.

"I love you, my bright." He licked Brightkit's ear. Brightkit's belly rumbled.

"I think I'm hungry."

"Follow me. Orangepelt will be happy to see you. She still had to look after the kits overnight while Rabbitear watched after you. You should be fine to move around now, at least to get to her nest." He pushed Brightkit up with his muzzle and led him out into the clearing. The dawn light hurt Brightkit's eyes as they strained to see.

"Brightkit! It's great to see you well again!" Another she-cat that looked like Quietpaw was eating a small fish a few tail-lengths away. He padded up and sniffed her.

"Who are you?" Whiskertail stopped beside him.

"I'm Fishpetal. I'm guessing that you met my apprentice Smallpaw. She was complaining about the kits messing up his den!" Brightkit felt hot with embarrassment.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean- Our moss-ball got stuck, and-"

"It's okay!" She giggled, cutting him off, "Smallpaw is the only one that's angry. StarClan forbid she doesn't get a good night's sleep!" Brightkit liked this cat. She was as cheerful as Heatherkit.

"Your father mentors Smallpaw's brother, Smoothpaw."

"Fishpetal is the sister of Moonwake and Mistyfur." Whiskertail mentioned. There are so many cats!

"Did you just get your warrior names today, too?" Brightkit questioned, enjoying the morning sun on his back. He started thinking about Sunkit again, but stopped himself.

"No, she is my younger sister. It seems that queens recently have been having small litters. But then your mother had to show them all up by having four kits at once! That must have been hard!" Brightkit noticed Whiskertail tense up slightly. What's wrong with him today?