Thank you Dappled for the review! You'll see soon what Softfoot has in store for our little kits! Also, it's all good! I hope you're doing well despite being busy!

Thank you Echoflight21 for the review! I am glad you prefer the their new game and type of play! Also good job guessing what the kits were up to! You have a potential to be a medicine cat in the making it appears! :)

Thank you Grayshadow for the review! I am you like the kits adventures and ideas! I have grown quite fond of them and I hope you are too!

On to the chapter! remember to review!


After what felt like moons, Soothawk popped his head out of nursery and called the kits over. With fear causing their pelts to bristle, all eight kits stumbled towards the nursery hesitantly.

When they got inside, Silverkit found herself squished in-between Moonkit and Pricklekit. The den was overly crowded as there were six grown cats plus all eight kits.

"I have talked with your parents and we had decided on a suitable punishment for you kits," Softfoot began. Silverkit swallowed thickly, her pelt slightly shaking. She had never been punished before, so she did not know what to expect.

"Foxkit, Lionkit, Pricklekit, and Beekit, you will be confined to the nursery for three days. Dovesong is also moving in soon so you four will help make her a nest. After your three day ban is up, for another quarter moon you will see to any of her needs. This may include changing out her nest and fetching prey. When you are working, we will make sure to provide you with fresh moss." Mapleleaf told her young kits. As Silverkit thought about it, she realized the punishment worked well as Foxkit and Lionkit would hate being cooped up more than their siblings. However, Silverkit also guessed that the punishment wasn't longer for the queens' sakes. Silverkit was startled out of her thought process when she heard her name,

"Silverkit, Moonkit, Jaggedkit, and Wolfkit, come with me." Silverkit let out a sigh of relief as she couldn't wait to escape the stuffy den. However, as she tried to move out, Pricklekit let out a squeak. Silverkit groaned as she turned and saw that her pelt was entangled with Pricklekit's. Silverkit's long silky fur was perfect for getting knotted into Pricklekit's messy one and the kits had unknowingly made it worse as they shifted around during the lecture. She tried to pull away but ended up falling on her side with Pricklekit on top of her. She managed a muffled cry of help as Pricklekit's fur tickled her nose threatening to make her sneeze. After a few uncomfortable moments, the queens and medicine cat managed to get them untangled. Silverkit's left side was all messed up and clumps of her beautiful pelt were missing. She turned toward Pricklekit and if it was even possible, his pelt was even messier than usual. Silverkit let out a small whimper as she saw some clumps of silver fur still intertwined in his pelt. All the remaining kits looked like they were going to burst if they tried holding back their purr much longer. All the kits, that is, except Moonkit, she came beside Silverkit and murmured,

"Come on, let's go," Silverkit blinked gratefully as Moonkit covered her left side with her own pelt. The two she-kits headed out as the two toms followed, their tails twitching with amusement.

Softfoot lead them to the medicine cat den. She sat down outside the entrance indicating to the kits to do the same,

"Due to your recklessness of not watching the kits or questioning the kits, you four have harmed the clan. You are older than the other kits and should know better" Silverkit thought this was a little harsh, they were only kits after all but did not protest as Softfoot continued," To make up for your transgressions, you will be helping the clan. Two of you will help me sort herbs as I need to find more Juniper berries and the other two will take care of the elders."

Wolfkit's ears perked up when Softfoot began speaking about the herbs but were quickly drawn back when Softfoot continued,

"Jaggedkit and Moonkit will sort herbs and Wolfkit and Silverkit will take care of the elders." Silverkit sighed with disappointment when she realized she would be separated from her sister. However, upon further reflection, Silverkit realized she received the best end of the deal. That being the two most rambunctious kits, Moonkit and Jaggedkit, were left in a stuffy den and doing the boring task of sorting herbs. While Wolfkit, the only kit who would like sorting hers, and Silverkit, who liked the elders, would be in the elder's den. Silverkit tried to look disappointed for her sister's sake but didn't have time to think about it as Softfoot shoved clean moss in her face,

"Here, start with the nests and I will bring the mousebile after I deal with these two." Silverkit nodded as she waved her tail good-bye to her sister and attempted to telepathically tell Moonkit good luck since her jaws were full of moss.

Once Silverkit and Wolfkit reached the elder's den, Silverkit's stomach twisted with appreciation. This was her first time visiting the elders as a punishment rather than fun. She just hoped they weren't too disappointed in her actions. She entered the den, eyes down casted as she approached Kinktail,

"I have come to change your bedding," she managed to mumble as she drooped the moss on the ground. Wolfkit came up and started talking to Silverkit,

"If you take the bad moss out, I will start on the new nests. Once you come back I can teach you how to make the nests." Silverkit blinked gratefully and snatched up Kinktail's soiled moss and dragged it outside. She proceeded to do this for the rest of the elders. She was just dropping Mousetail's nest off as the cranky elder had taken the longest to get out of her nest. She also continued to complain the entire time to Silverkit's slight annoyance.

Softfoot approached Silverkit. A twig was in her mouth and moss was tied at the end. She set it at her feet as she talked to Silverkit,

"Perfect timing! This is mousebile, it is used on ticks if they refuse to come off an elder's pelt." Silverkit's nose wrinkled in disgust but she just nodded and picked it up.

"Remember to wash your paws in water after you are done!" Softfoot called over her shoulder as she walked off. Silverkit could have sworn that she heard amusement in the medicine cats mew. She shook head slightly and sighed heavily as she turned around and headed back towards the elder's den. She approached Wolfkit and gently set the stick and moss down as she gave him the update. He kindly showed her how to make the nests,

"So make sure there are no prickly bits or thorns or anything in the nest. Next you pull and stretch the moss until it is softer, Finally you mold the moss into a shape of the nest with the sides a bit higher and a dip in the center." Silverkit's face scrunched up in concentration as she listened to Wolfkit's instructions. After she was sure she understood, she nodded her head in affirmation.

"Perfect! I will go ahead and start on the ticks if you want to work on the nests!" Wolfkit advised. Before Silverkit could protest at him doing the harder job, he picked it up and walked off towards Mousetail. Deciding it was best to not argue, she hurriedly began to make Missingnose's nest so that she could then help Wolfkit.

"So what did you kits do?" Missingnose questioned the young she-kit as she began to shape the nest. Silverkit's ears flattened in shame as she feared she had let Missingnose down. However, not wanting to be disrespectful she murmured a reply,

"We were watching Mapleleaf's kits and when we weren't looking, they got into Softfoot's berries. We didn't know so we actually crushed the berries for our game."

"Young kits these days, have no respect!" Mousetail piped up as Wolfkit cleaned her pelt. Silverkit sunk even lower to the ground as she finished up Missingnose's nest.

Missingnose just purred as she meowed,

"If I remember correctly, Mousetail, you constantly got into trouble for all sorts of things."

"Like that time you left camp at four moons old cause you were bored," Kinktail added with a grumbled purr.

"and the time you put red ants in Sharppaw's nest." Missingnose added.

"Sharppaw was a bully, he deserved it," Mousetail sniffed as she defended herself.

"Yeah, the bully you ended up becoming mates with," Missingnose continued.

"He got better once he was a warrior and I put him in his place," Mousetail smirked as she replied.

"Yeah, I remember that more than once you seemed to come late to our lessons when you were too busy hunting with him," Silverkit startled at the sudden voice behind her and turned to see one of the warriors, Willowleaf.

"Mousetail was your mentor?" Wolfkit piped up.

"Yep, she was a pretty wonderful mentor, most the grumpiness came after she was an elder," Willowleaf purred as Mousetail just lashed her tail, cold fury in her eyes. Willowleaf seemed unfazed as she addresses the kits,

"Softfoot wanted me to check on you guys, how are you doing?"

"I just finished the last nest and am about to help Wolfkit clean pelts." Silverkit answered as Wolfkit was now busy with Scareye's pelt. This just left Kinktail and Missingnose. She approached Wolfkit and snatched the branch away from him. His whiskers tickled her nose and she had to resist the urge to sneeze. She eventually decided to set it down as she let out a delicate achoo. Before picking the twig back up she talked with Wolfkit,

"I will start on Missingnose's pelt and whoever finished first can do Kinktail," Wolfkit nodded his assent as he started to work faster in an attempt to beat Silverkit. Taking on the unspoken challenge, Silverkit approached Missingnose. She trained her eyes on Missingnose's pelt as she searched for the black dots of fleas and ticks. After a few moments, Silverkit spotted one and cracked the bug with her teeth. A bitter taste filled her jaws as she resisted the urge to gag. She continued the process, killing some bugs with her teeth and using mousebile on the others.

After what seemed like days, she was done. To her delight, Wolfkit was still working. She hurriedly got to her paws and raced towards Kinktail. In her mad rush, she forgot about the mousebile and she ended up tripping over the branch. After taking a moment to recover, she heaved herself onto her paws. Unfortunately, Wolfkit was done and he was heading towards Kinktail.

"Oh, No, you don't!" Silverkit screeched as she launched herself into Wolfkit's side. Wolfkit was not much of a fighter so Silverkit won by simply sitting on his face her long fur muffling his protests. She turned towards Kinktail as she said,

"If you come over here, I can work on your pelt. However the tom was on the ground too busy purring at the scene before him, between wheezes he managed to say,

"I have never seen two cats fight over who go to do their punishment!" The rest of the elders purred in agreement,

"How about you let poor Wolfkit up and you can clean my pelt together, eh?" Silverkit was tempted to argue that she won but decided to respect the elder's wishes. Plus, she had to admit, it would be more fun to do together. She stood up and turned around to see Wolfkit spit silver fur out of his mouth.

"Was that really necessary?" Wolfkit questioned as he licked his jaws to get rid of the last stray strands. Instead of answering she simply said,

"We can do Kinktail's pelt together. Hurry up so we can do this before the sun goes down!" With that the two kits sat side by side. The den was filled with purrs as what was a punishment, turned out to not be so bad.


What did you think?

Do you agree with Silverkit that the punishment was too harsh or was Softfoot right?

What do you think is in store for the kits next?