Chapter Three
Meeting the Family
"Hi, Shadowtail…" Bluekit mumbles. I stare at the big white tom, my eyes wide. Cats can be this big? I wonder.
"Hey, little brothers!" He says cheerfully. Falconkit and I stare, shocked into silence.
"L-little brothers?" Falconkit finally says, his eyes wide. Shadowtail nods.
"Appleleaf is my littermate. Blossomtail, too," He flicked his fluffy, dark gray tail towards a white she-cat with a ginger tail. Bluekit and Redkit wandered away, Redkit chattering incessantly.
"Is she always like that?" I ask Shadowtail.
"Pretty much."
"Hm." Falconkit padded away, wanting to see the rest of the camp, I guess. I trotted after him.
"Hey!" Oh, no, not again. I turn around, but this time, it's not Redkit and Bluekit, its two she-cats with glossy black and white pelts.
"Hey!" The first one repeats. "I'm Mintkit, this is Fallowkit."
"Hi! I'm Falconkit, and this is my brother, Wildkit."
"We know who you are," Fallowkit says, "We're kin!"
"Really?" I ask, astonished.
"Shadowtail is our father," They say in unison. They look at each other and laugh.
Mintkit blinks and smiles. "You know," She says, "Sorrelstar is the leader of LightningClan."
"Of course we know!" Flaconkit replies hotly. "We're not mouse-brains!"
Fallowkit shrugs, then she and Minkit bounced away laughing.
"She-cats!" Says Falconkit, rolling his eyes. I cuff him over the ear and we laughed.
Next thing we know, there's a big black tom in front of us. His fur is sleek and his muscles ripple under his short pelt. We both had to step back to see his face. He looks strong and firm, but at the same time, gentle with a big heart. His big azure eyes glisten as he looks down on us.
"Wildkit and Falconkit," He says, smiling. "Does Sorrelstar know you're out here?"
"Of course she knows!" Falconkit says, his eyes flashing defiantly. "Why is everyone treating us like mouse-brained kits?"
"Because we are kits."
"But we're not mouse-brains!"
"True."
The tom with the short black pelt laughs. "I'm Sparrowheart," He says.
"Sparrowheart!" Sorrelstar cries behind us. She bounds over, her long tortoiseshell pelt glistening in the dim sunlight filtering through a small gap in the high cave ceiling. She leans against him and purrs.
Suddenly it hits me like a ton of fresh-kill. "You're our father!" I say happily.
"Yes," He says, grinning. "You look just like me when I was young."
"Will you show us around the camp now?" I ask pleadingly.
"Please?" Falconkit adds.
"Fine," Sparrowheart trots over to a golden spotted tom. "This is Jackalclaw," he says, indicating the tom. "He's my brother."
"So we're kin?" Falconkit asks.
"We'll duh, mouse-brain!" I say laughing and giving him a little push with my shoulder. He looks hurt now, and I feel really bad. "I'm sorry…"
"It's okay," He says with a wide grin.
Sparrowheart and Jackalclaw spend the rest of the day introducing us to the clan.
"There's so many!" Falconkit murmurs as we curl up in our nest, utterly exhausted.
I didn't reply as a wave of blackness crashes over me, and I drift into deep sleep.