A few days had passed since the attack. Rumors had been going around saying that it a ghost from The Great Battle, causing Stormkit and his littermates to start asking questions. They were questions Squirrelflight and Bramblestar weren't quite ready to answer.
"Bramblestar?" Stormkit had asked just the other day. "Was Tigerstar really that evil?"
"Well," His father had begun awkwardly. "He did do some terrible things, but I try not to think of him as evil. My father was more of a mistake that I had to learn from."
"So what did you learn?" He asked with a curious tilt of his head.
Bramblestar looked at Stormkit with a serious expression. "That you need to work hard for what you want. Never step on others to get to the top; Make your own way by being honest and loyal."
And now here he was, playing with his siblings and repeating whatever his parents had told him. Despite their disagreement and 'war' only a few days ago, they were having a great time with their game.
"Roar!" Firekit tried to imitate a tiger or lion, but it came out as a squeak instead.
Leopardkit snickered and Firekit shot her a glare. "I could do better!" She crowed. "I'm going to kill all of you!" It also sounded like a squeak, and she looked embarrassed.
"Hey, I got this. I'll be Tigerstar." Then he sucked in a breath and bellowed, "I am the great Tigerstar, and I will kill all of you filthy half-Clanners!" He was surprised, and wondered where the rest of the sentence had come from. Leopardkit and Firekit stared with their eyes wide.
Their Clanmates stared too. "Stormkit?" Squirrelflight had stopped in the middle of organizing patrols. Bramblestar pushed through the crowd, eyes full of fury. Stormkit took a step back, unsure of what he had done to make his father so angry. It must have been what he had said.
"The three of you had better go back into the nursery. Now." He growled. Leopardkit, Firekit, and Stormkit had never ran so quickly. Daisy watched them enter and narrowed her eyes.
"What did you say?" The queen asked quietly. "No...how did you think of even saying such a thing? Was it Graystripe or Sandstorm?"
"I-I don't know!" Stormkit stepped back, scared. "Was it bad?"
"You think?" Leopardkit scoffed. "Of course it was. Did you see Bramblestar? He was really angry."
Firekit looked at his paws. "I think that we have to apologize or something...Hey, remember that one story Sandstorm told us about Tigerstar? Maybe he got mad because of that. We should tell him we're sorry."
"That's different." Stormkit replied in a low voice. "We're practically six moons. What if Bramblestar decides not to make us apprentices? What-what if he forces us to be kits forever?"
Leopardkit's eyes widened. "Oh no! We need to say sorry! I don't want to stay in the nursery for the rest of my life!"
"I don't think..." But Firekit's voice was drowned out.
"Let's go!" Stormkit waved his tail and led the three of them out of the nursery. He missed Daisy's amused expression as they left. Leopardkit padded next to him while Firekit followed them.
Bramblestar turned his head, his eyes still full of anger. "I thought I told you-"
"Wait! We came out to-" Stormkit began.
"Don't interrupt your father!" Squirrelflight growled. "Go back inside the nursery! We'll talk about this later."
Leopardkit shook her head stubbornly. "We're sorry!" She declared. Bramblestar narrowed his eyes. "Well, I am." She added in a smaller voice. "And I don't think Stormkit meant anything mean. We were just playing..."
"Yeah, I'm really sorry. Bramblestar," He walked up to his father. "please forgive me!"
Squirrelflight's expression softened. Sandstorm, who had been speaking to the Clan leader, gave a small nod of approval. Bramblestar purred. "That was very noble of you to apologize." He nuzzled his son. "Thank you. I know you meant no harm. Just don't do that again. Remember what I told you yesterday." He leaned in. "Learn from you mistakes." He said quietly. "Now go off and play with your brother and sister." He purred.
"So we can become apprentices still?" He asked hopefully.
"Of course!" Bramblestar purred in amusement. "I'll never stop you from being an apprentice."
Firekit's eyes were full approval too, as though he were their father too. Leopardkit whacked him in the face with her tail, snorting. Stormkit ran off toward the nursery. "Let's play with the leaves I found earlier!" He declared.
The Clan went back to their business, as did the kits. There seemed to be an air of happiness in the atmosphere.
"I'm getting hungry." Firekit decided at one point.
"You can't eat now!" Stormkit protested. "We're in the middle of our game!"
"No, I'm hungry too." Leopardkit sighed. "We can come back to it."
Stormkit scowled. "Fine. I'll play all by myself." Suddenly there was a cool breeze that pushed the leaves they had been playing with farther away. His eyes lit up and he ran after them. The breeze grew stronger, pushing the leaves behind the nursery. He finally caught up with a leaf and pounced on it. "I got it!" He crowed.
"Hey, kit." Stormkit turned his head. "Hey, over here. Shh, don't let anyone know I'm here."
He looked around, confused. He couldn't see anyone nearby... "Who-where are you?" Then he saw it. It was more of a ghost than a cat, with tabby markings and eyes so faded he couldn't recognize the color. "Woah!" The cat shot him a look and he lowered his voice. "Cool!" He whispered.
"Hello. Do you know who I am?" Stormkit rolled his eyes.
"Duh. No." He then leaned forward. "Can you tell me?" He asked with an excited light in his blue eyes.
The tom puffed his chest out proudly. "Yes. I'm-"
"Stormkit! Come and eat!" He heard Squirrelflight call.
"Uh oh..." Stormkit sighed. "I've gotta go..."
"Will you visit me later?" The tom asked.
"Yeah! And my littermates don't even know about you! I'm friends with a ghost! Ha, they'll be so jealous!" Stormkit bragged. "Just wait till they hear about this..."
"No, you can't tell them. It'll be our secret." The tom said, maybe even a little too quickly.
"Uh...okay." Stormkit shrugged.
"Stormkit!"
"Bye!" And he left.
"Farewell..." The tom said. Then, when Stormkit was out of earshot, he finished his sentence. "...Tigerstar."
Stormkit ran back into the middle of the camp excitedly. He reached the fresh-kill pile and skidded to a halt.
"What happened?" Leopardkit asked as she shared a shrew with Firekit. "Did you actually find a centipede?" She asked in a mocking voice. He shrank back, surprised by the tone of her voice. What had happened to the fun they were having earlier?
"No, I-" Then he remembered that the cat didn't want him to tell anyone. "I...yeah!"
"Knew it." His sister sneered. Firekit took another bite of the shrew, this time looking extremely disturbed.
"Well, at least I wasn't over here eating and getting fat and lazy...like a kittypet!" Leopardkit looked shocked. Firekit flinched a little.
Squirrelflight approached them. "Stop arguing and finish your food. Stormkit, go sit over there. I don't want to hear anything else out of you three." She growled irritably.
"But she started it!" Stormkit protested.
"Go." Squirrelflight narrowed her eyes. "And take this mouse. You need to eat. When you've learned to stop picking fights with your siblings you can come back over here."
"Now who's fat and lazy..." Leopardkit muttered.
"And you be quiet!" Their mother snapped. She grabbed a sparrow and carried it to where Bramblestar sat grooming himself.
Stormkit huffed and moved to the other end of the camp. Millie sat next to Briarlight, and he plopped down next to them. "Hi!" He greeted them cheerfully. He saw her limp legs and did his best to avoid staring. It was such an odd sight. Suddenly he felt curious.
"Why hello, little warrior." Briarlight purred. "What brings you here?"
Millie took a bite of her prey. "What's it really like to walk like that?" She choked on the prey.
"Excuse me?" Millie rose to her paws angrily. "Don't insult my daughter. She's just as capable as being a warrior as anyone! Go away! Don't ask questions like that." Millie growled quickly, looking offended.
Briarlight glared at her mother. "He's curious. And let me answer for myself! I'm not a kit! That wasn't an insult to me in any way! It was-"
"Why can't you understand? I'm trying to protect you!" Her mother shot back.
Stormkit shrank back, eyes wide. Whoops.
"S-sorry..." He grabbed his mouse and then got up and left. He hadn't meant to hurt anyone. What was wrong with asking questions? When you needed information, wasn't that what you were supposed to do?
He sighed and sat down somewhere else, feeling dejected. He watched his clanmates, all sharing prey with each other, while he sat alone. Where did he fit in?
Stormkit stifled a yawn as Squirrelflight padded toward him. "Time to go to sleep." She told him, flicking her tail. He opened his mouth to protest, and another yawn came on. "I know you're tired." She purred, obviously in a better mood. "Let's go."
He grumbled and followed his mother reluctantly. "I'm not tired!" His protest sounded weak. They entered the nursery. Suddenly he felt like he wanted to fall asleep. He was so exhausted...
"Hey, Stormkit." Leopardkit sneered. "Catch any butterflies?"
"Shut up!" He growled. Firekit stayed silent, watching. Not even Firekit was standing up for him!
"Quiet, the three of you!" Squirrelflight snapped, her expression full of disappointment. "Good night." And she left the nursery quickly. Daisy gave the three of them an annoyed look before sinking down into her nest. Stormkit shrank back, suddenly feeling very alone.
Leopardkit and Firekit seemed to be hogging most of the nest, so he tried to make his own. It was small and pitiful, made from scraps from the other nests. He shut his eyes and slowly fell asleep, still questioning where he belonged.
As he slipped into the dream world, he heard a voice. It was faint and sounded like a whisper or a breeze. Stormkit's eyes snapped open and he jumped to his paws. He found himself in a forest. It was greenleaf. He inhaled the scent, hardly believing where he was. All of his troubles were instantly forgotten.
He tried to take in all of the beauty at once. Stormkit slowly turned around, still in awe. The tom had dreamt of butterfly-filled meadows, but never something as perfect as this.
"Stormkit!" He spun around to see the sane tabby tom from earlier. He was still transparent and his eyes colorless.
"You! Ghost-cat!" Stormkit gasped. "What're you doing here?"
"I'm here to revive your spirit, and allow you to complete what you never finished." The tom growled. "I need to refresh your memory."
"What spirit?" Stormkit tilted his head, confused.
The tom responded by slamming his huge paws into his head. As they connected with his face, everything went dark.