"Nothing," Silvershine sighed, sitting up straight by the lakeshore, "not even a minnow."
"Well, that's what happens in leaf bare," Ashcloud sympathized, "prey is scarce."
"Well, let's get back," Tailwind picked up her catches and led the patrol back to the camp entrance.
As Silvershine went to deposit her meager contributions, she heard a joyful yowling.
"Quarter moon! Quarter moon!" Flavorkit sang out while prancing in circles around the clearing.
"What about it?" Silvershine asked, coming over to where the other two littermates stood.
"Only a quarter moon until we're apprentices!" Sunkit exclaimed.
"Wow, really?" Silvershine asked, "that soon, huh?"
"Not long until we're warriors," Patchkit said, proudly.
"We'll see," Silvershine said.
"Hey, Silvershine, can you mentor us?" Sunkit asked.
"No!" Flavorkit bounded over to them, "Silvershine's my mentor! Find your own!"
"No way, Silvershine's gonna be my mentor!" Sunkit snapped.
"Silvershine will want to mentor a great warrior," said Patchkit, "so she'll obviously choose the best of us to mentor."
"Like I said, she'll be my mentor!" Flavorkit said.
"You're not the best!" Patchkit spat, "you're the dumbest!"
"No you're the dumbest!" Flavorkit protested.
"Nu uh!" Patchkit sneered.
"Why are you guys fighting?" Sunkit asked, "I mean, Silvershine's obviously gonna mentor me, so you guys have no-"
His two littermates pounced on him, wrestling him to the ground. After a brief moment of triumph over him, the two looked at each other and it seemed something clicked and they began to fight. It wasn't long until they were just a mass of writhing fur.
Silvershine looked around the camp, a bit worried if anyone was watching, but no one seemed to be paying the kits any mind. How great it is to be a kit, she thought. You can fight and no one really thinks much of it, you're cute, everyone likes you. They don't know cats in other Clans, they don't have to worry about the world….I wonder how Raccoonpaw's doing, for that matter.
Silvershine's thoughts were interrupted as she collapsed to the ground. Latched onto each of three of her paws was a kit. They all immediately clambered on top of her, preventing her from getting up.
"See that?" Patchkit asked, "I made that up. Pretty great move, huh?"
"You coulda never pulled it off!" Sunkit hissed, "Silvershine I was the one who knew we'd need to do it together to take down an older warrior! I'm the smart one, don't you wanna mentor the smart one?"
"I'm the tough one!" Patchkit insisted. "I show the most promise as a warrior. Why wouldn't you wanna mentor me?!"
"I'm the cute one!" Flavorkit butted in. "I has a flavor! The flavor of a warrior! That's why I'm called Flavorkit! I have warrior flavor!"
"Warriors don't have a flavor!" Sunkit protested.
"Yea, you're just the stupid one," Patchkit snapped.
"Warriors do to have a flavor!" Flavorkit insisted, "they each have a different flavor, a flavor in their hearts!"
"I think you mean 'fervor,'" Silvershine corrected, having once heard that word before.
"No!" Flavorkit insisted, "I mean flavor! Like you and me, you're silver, I'm golden, but we both have the warrior flavor! We all have that thing in our hearts that we fight for, our Clan, our friends, our family, power, glory, love; those are warrior flavors."
Silvershine only stared at the kit, blinking occasionally. Her expression was as blank as her mind at that point. Did Flavorkit just say something profound?
"See, that's why you're the stupid one," Patchkit said.
"Whadoya mean?" Flavorkit asked.
"That was probably the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Patchkit said, "and I'm your littermate. Warrior flavor? C'mon! You've lost it!"
"Nu uh!" Flavorkit snapped. "I can't lose it, I don't have it, so how can I lose it? I don't want it anyway!"
"Uuuhhh….is this making any sense to you?" Sunkit asked Silvershine.
Silvershine didn't answer. She wondered why Tigerstripe hadn't showed up to take the kits away, she usually did when things got to be a little much. "Hey…um, where's your mother?" Silvershine asked, without really thinking about it.
Patchkit and Flavorkit stopped arguing and looked around.
"I dunno…." Sunkit replied. "She must be in the nursery."
"Wonder why she's not with Cloudfrost," Flavorkit mewed, "she likes to be with him when we're with you."
Silvershine looked around the camp and spotted the white warrior laying in a patch of grass, nibbling on a scrawny mouse, but his mate was nowhere to be found.
"Let's go!" Patchkit declared, already bounding towards the nursery.
"Hey, wait up!" Silvershine called, not wanting to leave the three kits unsupervised. She caught up quickly and stayed behind them as they approached the nursery.
"OUT!" came a yowl as soon as the three kits had darted into the den.
As if a fox were on their heels, they wheeled around and were out in a heartbeat, all hiding behind Silvershine.
"Was that Tigerstripe who yowled?" Silvershine asked.
"Silvershine?" Tigerstripe's meow came from inside the nursery before any of the kits could reply, "go get Pepperface! Bluemist's kits are coming!"
"Kits!" Flavorkit exclaimed and bounded for the nursery again.
"STAY OUT!" Tigerstripe yowled, "you three can come in after she delivers."
"C'mon, let's go get Pepperface," Silvershine nudged them all away with her tail and proceeded to lead them across the clearing.
"Pepperface! Pepperface! Pepperface!" the kits all exclaimed as they charged into the medicine den.
"What what what?!" Pepperface exclaimed, partly alarmed and partly joking.
"The kits are coming! The kits are coming!" Flavorkit ran around in a circle, yowling frantically.
"Bluemist's?" Pepperface exclaimed.
"Yep!" Silvershine answered.
"I'll be there in a moment," Pepperface turned and disappeared into a crack in a boulder where Silvershine knew her store of herbs were. "Silvershine, keep the kits busy. I don't think it'll be good for Bluemist to have them in the nursery."
"Yea, Tigerstripe won't let them in," Silvershine said.
"Good," Pepperface emerged from her store with a wrap of leaves.
"That was fast," Silvershine remarked.
"I already had them prepared," Pepperface replied, "since I knew the kits were coming soon. Now, would you all kindly move?"
"C'mon, everybody out!" Silvershine shooed all the kits out of the medicine den.
"Why can't we watch?" Flavorkit asked.
"Birthing queens are not really all that fun to watch," Silvershine replied, remembering when the kits were born. Was that really almost 6 moons ago?
"We wanna meet our new denmates!" Sunkit protested.
"They won't be our denmates for long," Patchkit pointed out.
"And new kits don't do much anyway," Silvershine told them.
"I did much!" Flavorkit exclaimed, bouncing around. "I did lots when I was a kit!"
"You still are a kit, mouse-brain," Patchkit hissed.
"Only for a quarter moon!" Flavorkit cried. "QUARTER MOON! I GET APPRENTICEISED IN A QUARTER MOON!!!"
Flavorkit's exclamation was followed by a shriek of pain.
"Owww!" Sunkit winced. "Flavorkit, don't do that."
"That wasn't me," Flavorkit said.
"That must have been Bluemist," Silvershine concluded, "the kits should be here any minute."
"That was the first one, it sounded like," said Graymist, who was in the clearing with Ashcloud, stroking him with her tail. "Calm down, she's fine."
"That didn't sound fine!" Ashcloud cried.
"The first one's always the hardest," Graymist soothed. "Can't you just be happy that you're going to be a father?"
"Not if the mother's not here anymore!" Ashcloud wailed.
"Hey, don't think like that," said Rainfall, who was at Ashcloud's other side. "She'll be fine, it's not too hard to have kits, I would imagine. Our mother was fine, and so was yours."
Ashcloud's response was drowned out by another ear-splitting wail.
"Well, that's two," said Graymist.
"She can't take much more by the sound of it!" Ashcloud exclaimed.
"She can't or you can't?" Rainfall asked. "Seriously, I think you're worse off than she is right now."
"Can you blame me?!" Ashcloud demanded. "How would you feel if Echobound was going through this?"
"Littermates are different than mates," Graymist said, "it's a different bond."
"Leave her out of this all the same," Rainfall said. "We're trying to help you, so accept it already!"
Silvershine jumped when she heard a rustling. She turned to see Pepperface emerging from behind the bush that guarded the nursery entrance. "How is she?" Silvershine asked.
"Just fine," Pepperface assured her. "Hey, does the new father wanna see his kits or what?!"
"My kits?!" Ashcloud exclaimed, pushing away from the two cats that were consoling him. "Are they alright? How many are there? How's Bluemist?"
"Fine, two, and also fine," Pepperface answered his questions in order. "Go see for yourself."
"Can we see?!" Sunkit asked as Ashcloud disappeared into the den.
"We don't need to crowd the den right now," Pepperface replied. "Give Bluemist some space. You can see them soon enough."
"Awww," the three kits moaned in unison.
"You have to sleep in there," Silvershine assured them, "so you'll see them soon enough."
"I'm tired!" Flavorkit faked a yawn.
"You are not!" Patchkit protested.
"You can't see the kits before us!" Sunkit added.
"You'll see them later," Tigerstripe padded up to them, "for now, let's let Ashcloud and Bluemist have some time alone. Silvershine, thanks again for keeping an eye on them."
"No problem," Silvershine said, "soon they'll have mentors to do that."
"But you'll still have to watch me, mentor!" said Flavorkit.
"No, Silvershine's gonna be my mentor!" Sunkit butted in.
"She's gonna chose me!" Patchkit snapped.
"Guys, guys!" Silvershine exclaimed, "I don't get to pick, Stormstar does."
"Awww," the kits moaned once more.
"Alright," Tigerstripe wrapped her tail around the three kits, drawing them close to her, "say goodbye to Silvershine, kits."
"Bye!" the three kits waved their tails to Silvershine, who returned the gesture.