Brightheart watched as her kits bounded into the nursery, eager to hear the story she was going to tell them.
"What's it going to be Mama?" asked Amberkit dashing into the nursery so fast that when she tried skidding to a halt she ended up sliding on a scrap of moss and tumbling over onto her back right next to her mother's belly.
Brightheart purred as she scooped Amberkit closer and waited for Snowkit and Dewkit to come in. The two brothers came skidding in, tripping over one another.
"Be careful," Brightheart chided as the two brothers nearly ran into Amberkit. "You don't want to be in the medicine den for story-time."
"Yeah I don't want to be in the medicine den," mewed Dewkit batting playfully at Amberkit's tail. Amberkit quickly drew it away and gave a quick glare to her brother who kept on mewing. "Jayfeather is nasty."
"Yeah, and he is mean too," mewed Snowkit.
"Now, if he is mean to you it is your fault for bothering him," scolded Brightheart. "Jayfeather is a great medicine cat."
Snowkit and Dewkit sat and looked at their paws looking a bit disgruntled that their mother didn't agree with their opinions.
"Shall we continue with the story then?" asked Brightheart.
"Sure!" mewed Amberkit. Even Dewkit and Snowkit brightened up.
"Okay then," meowed Brightheart. "Once upon a heartbeat there was a young warrior. This warrior one day while on patrol came upon a cocoon spun by a caterpillar."
"'Cocoon'?" echoed Dewkit.
"What are those?" asked Snowkit.
"They are made by caterpillars," began Brightheart. "Round, chubby little insects you can find during Newleaf. When they have eaten their fill on leaves the make a cocoon they sleep in, and somehow a butterfly comes out of it," the ginger and white queen meowed.
"What about the caterpillar?" asked Amberkit.
"That's the thing," Brightheart meowed. "The caterpillar transforms into the butterfly; except the warrior did not know that."
"Can you please go on with the story?" asked Dewkit.
"Of course," Brightheart purred. "The warrior saw the cocoon twitch a little bit. Intrigued, he padded over to investigate."
The kits all looked on with eager silence.
"The warrior finally saw that the cocoon was alive," meowed Brightheart. "He suddenly felt sorry that the cocoon couldn't go anywhere because it didn't have legs. He meowed, 'You know I pity you,' to the cocoon. 'You can't go anywhere unlike me,' the warrior meowed," mewed Brightheart looking down upon her kits.
"I guess that is true," meowed Snowkit. "I'm glad I'm not a cocoon!"
Brightheart continued on with her story: "The warrior meowed, 'I have legs so I can dash through the forest, climb every tree, and feel the cool breeze upon my face but unfortunately you can just stay in one place,'" meowed Brightheart imitating the warrior by tilting her head and narrowing her eyes at an unseen cocoon.
"What happened next?" asked Amberkit.
"Then," Brightheart meowed. "A butterfly suddenly burst forth from the cocoon. It was majestic with wings of orange and black. It said to the warrior, 'You pity me? Well pity me no more because it is you who is stuck on the ground while I have wings so that I can explore the skies and go places you have never gone.'"
"Wow…" trailed off Dewkit.
"The warrior suddenly felt very foolish that he had pitied the butterfly when it was really capable of something he could never dream of doing and that was flying," mewed Brightheart. "The butterfly then fluttered off until the warrior could see it no more. So do not judge by mere outside appearances, it is what's inside that counts," Brightheart meowed lovingly poking Amberkit lightly in the chest.
"Now go to sleep my kits. Love you…" Brightheart yawned.
"Love you too Mama," chorused all of the kits sleepily.
Up Next: Squirrelflight (As suggested by: *Pen Name Withheld*)