"Rainkit! Rainkit, wake up!" Snowkit's voice was loud in her ear, and the smaller tabby mewed in irritation, curling tighter into their nest. Her sister was not impressed, and jabbed her harshly in the side with one paw. "Poppyfur said he'd tell us a story if we all went, and you're gonna ruin it for the rest of us," she complained, jabbing again. Rainkit's eyes opened a bit more at that, and she uncurled reluctantly. Their mother, Robinflight, purred softly as the tiny kits made their way out of the nursery, pausing Rainkit to swipe her tongue fondly over her ear.
"Be back in the nursery as soon as Poppyfur is finished," the queen mewed sternly, casting Snowkit a warning glance. The silver she-kit just tossed her head, as though appalled by the mere thought of causing trouble for her Clanmates, and padded out of the den, into the considerably colder air outside. Rainkit bounced after her, shivering as she felt the chill seep into her thin coat.
Being situated in the mountains meant that the leafbares were harsher for FrostClan, but they hadn't succumbed as of yet. The cats were growing more suited for the cold weather, if anything; most of the warriors and queens had thick, fluffy fur, and weren't bothered in the least. It made Rainkit all the more eager to grow up and take her place as a warrior. Her thin kitten fur was all-too-easily pierced by even the slightest breeze. She scurried after her sister, trying to keep from standing in one spot too long, across the camp, much to the amusement of the returning patrols. Rainkit was quick to duck into the secure warmth of the elder's den, shivering and cold-pawed. One of Brambleface's kits stared owlishly at her, making her fur prickle nervously. Poppyfur made a soft sound, and they all turned towards him, receiving an annoyed look in return. "Now then, what story would you like to hear?" he asked after a sigh.
Immediately, several voices chimed in, and Brokenfang gave them a grumpy look from his nest. Ashkit, one of Brambleface's kits, waited until her siblings had calmed down before piping in, "Tell us about one of the great battles you were in, Poppyfur!" The old tom rumbled in amusement.
"Always one for the battles, aren't you, Ashkit?" The little gray she-cat puffed up, and she looked proud, although Rainkit couldn't tell if the words were praise or not.
"Well then, let's start with my first ever battle. I remember that when FrostClan first formed, there was some conflict. No one wanted to share their territory with a group of rag-tag rogues and deserters, after all. I was an apprentice when this happened, so it was many, many moons ago," he reminded, which made Brokenfang snicker. "You're not much better," Poppyfur shot at him, which launched them into one of their infamous squabbles, much to the kits' amusement. Most of the Clan said they quarreled like lovers, although both of them had previously taken a mate and had kits. The whole thing confused Rainkit, but she kept quiet about it, since Snowkit and most of the others seemed to understand.
"Now, where were we…?" Poppyfur settled back into his nest, moving so that his scarred forelegs were tucked under him. The kits clambered again to be the first to speak, only to again be hushed by the older tom. "If you all can't quiet down I'll send you back to the nursery," he gruffed sternly. Snowkit spoke this time, and Rainkit was almost awed by the way her sister held herself. She was so confident; almost like an apprentice already.
"You were saying you were just an apprentice at the time of your first battle," she meowed, earning a lot of synchronized nodding from Brambleface's kits in agreement. Poppyfur ignored the muffled laughter from Brokenfang- who was nursing a cuffed ear- and sighed, voice raspy as he continued again.
"Ah, yes… Thank you, Snowkit. Yes, I was an apprentice, just out of the nursery. I was one of the first kits born into FrostClan, did you all know that?" He didn't give the kits any time to answer before going on, his eyes hazy and lost in his faraway memories. Rainkit exchanged a glance with her sister before looking back up to Poppyfur, her tail swishing slightly on the moss covered floor.
"There was another apprentice then with me named Lichenpaw, and she was really soft-spoken and shy. Everyone tried to convince her to become the medicine cat apprentice, but she wouldn't hear it. Said that she'd prove herself, but she didn't need to. She had the best warrior in the Clan as her mentor, and she was a fast learner. But she was just too shy to do anything… One day, Molefoot came runnin' into the camp, yowling about an invasion about halfway down the mountain, and that his patrol was fighting them. Froststar herself decided to go with us, to find out just what was going on. At the time, we only had about four warriors, and the medicine cat had learned to fight so he'd be of some use in one of these situations.
"We got down to where the fighting was, and, StarClan, it was awful. There was blood and fur everywhere, and there were just as many cats there attacking us as there were in the Clan itself, and the only ones we had left at camp were the queens and kits. It was a mix of 'em, which was surprising, since GoldClan and FeatherClan had a history of fighting between them. They must have really hated us," he added, pausing to readjust himself again. Rainkit vaguely remembered Berryshine telling her mother that older cats were prone to getting stiff in the cold, and her nose wrinkled up a bit. She didn't look forward to that part of getting older.
"So when we get there, Froststar's all kinds of angry. She had those sort of eyes that made you freeze in place, made you feel like a little kitten again. She had the fighting stopped before the rest of our patrol even got there, and she had the deputy of FeatherClan and the senior warrior of GoldClan pinned under her stare. She had 'em cornered, and I remembered feeling pride in my Clan for the first time there. And she said, 'If FrostClan were not meant to exist, the great ancestors in StarClan would not have granted me nine lives.'" Poppyfrost's voice rose in pitch, cracking as he tried to imitate the tone of his former leader.
Thornkit and Firekit giggled quietly but were hushed by Ashkit, who simply pushed at her brothers with her tiny paws until they were silent.
"And the deputy of FeatherClan- his name was Willowwhisker- asked, 'How do we know you really have these nine lives?'" The elder's voice dropped into a deep, throaty growl, and Rainkit thought she could see him winking in amusement as Icekit shrank back.
"'Because I can do this,' Froststar said, and she looked back at Molefoot and he jumped on her, and bit the back of her neck. All of us froze, of course; Lichenpaw let out this little sound of shock, because she was scared. See, the reason she didn't want to be medicine cat- er, one of 'em- was because she didn't believe in StarClan and she didn't want nobody to know. She'd been born to a rogue, y'see, and her mother abandoned her with us. So she didn't understand why Froststar would do somethin' so dangerous. Thinkin' back, I can't really, either," he laughed.
Snowkit's eyes had gone wide as an owl's by that time. "Molefoot killed Froststar?!" she asked loudly, sounding almost excited. The elder nodded, rumbling softly.
"He did. And Willowwhisker and Froghop – the GoldClan cat- stared at him in shock too, because that was treason, you know. And Molefoot just said, 'Wait,' and so we did.
"And lo and behold, Froststar stood up a bit later, shook out her fur, stretched her neck. She was fine, she was fine and cool as ever. And she just snarled at 'em, and they shrank back.
'FrostClan is meant to be here, and we will not budge to your puny intimidations. If you don't want full-out war, I suggest you get out of my territory and never come back.'"
"Did they ever come back?" Rainkit found herself blurting, her eyes wide. She quickly shut her mouth, feeling like the other kits were staring at her for her outburst. Poppyfur chuckled, his tail switching back and forth.
"Not for a long, long time. But guess what? After that, Lichenpaw went to become the medicine cat apprentice. She found out she wasn't suited for battle, cause she herself had almost been killed before we got there. And she started believing. Cause heck, a cat can't just die and then come back to life without something there. Unfortunately," he rumbled in addition, a sad look clouding his eyes. "She died later."
Naturally, this prompted many questions from the kits, but he glanced up, looking out the interwoven branches at the entrance of the elder's den. "You all better scurry back to the nursery, it's almost time for the night patrol to go out. Your mothers must be worried sick for ya." Firekit had opened his mouth to argue with the tortoiseshell, but was nudged by a broad muzzle. "Get on, 'fore I tell Brambleface how rude you all were during storytime!"
That got them moving, and with an exalted shout, Thornkit lead the way out of the den, all six kits soon bounding across the clearing as fast as they could in the now freezing winds. Rainkit faintly heard Poppyfur call after them to tell their mothers "hello", but none of the other kits gave any indication that they'd heard. Thornkit and Firekit were now in the lead, and had apparently begun racing, if Snowkit and Ashkit's struggle to keep up with them said anything.
Icekit was trembling, as if fully incased in her namesake, and Rainkit nudged her slightly.
"We're almost at the nursery, and it'll be a lot warmer there," she assured the smaller she-cat. Icekit just nodded passively and picked up the pace, looking all too relieved as she ducked into their den.
Rainkit's own paws felt frozen, her lungs burning from their run, and she immediately went to Robinflight's side, mewling pitifully for milk and warmth. Her mother just purred, sounding sleepy and content as she pulled her kits close, leisurely beginning to groom Snowkit as Rainkit pressed her face into the warm, soft fur at her belly.
"What stories did Poppyfur tell you?" she asked between licks, smoothing down the windblown fur on Snowkit's head.
"He told us about his first battle, back when he was an apprentice! Even though he didn't fight... Technically..." Her sister sounded almost upset about that, as though she wanted vivid accounts of violence, and Rainkit looked up at her mother, a sudden question burning in her mind.
"Robinflight, did you ever get to meet Froststar?" She heard a light guffaw from Brambleface's nest and her fur burned in embarrassment, seeing as it must have been a silly question for that sort of reaction. There was a pause in her mother's grooming as the she-cat thought. Then she turned to the little tabby. Snowkit looked disgrunted as the attention was turned from her, having nearly been asleep.
"I didn't know her personally," she admitted, and Rainkit was surprised to feel herself grow disappointed.
"FrostClan has struggled to survive for many moons more than we give it credit," Robinflight reminded, tenderly lapping at her daughter's fur. "My father used to talk of knowing Froststar. He always said she was very brave." Robinflight purred softly at the memory.
"Wow, Poppyfur must be ancient!" Snowkit meowed in wonder, her blue eyes wide. Robinflight nodded in agreement.
"He's the oldest cat in the Clan. He's seen so many nurseries full of kits; he even fathered a good deal of them," she said, her eyes warm as she thought of the old tom. "He mentored Stormstar, and many other great cats like him. So if he ever gives you advice, you'd better listen and heed it as well as you can." When Rainkit made a face, she fixed her with a stern look.
"He's silly though," Snowkit voiced for her sister, moving to clamber atop Robinflight to lay down. She was strange in all her little habits, Rainkit decided, remaining tucked to her mother's chest.
"He's very wise," Robinflight scolded, turning her head to gently butt her head against her daughter. "No matter how silly he may be. Now you two, get some sleep! I won't have you sleeping the whole day away again because of some silly little prank," she said, sounding unamused at the topic. Rainkit's fur flushed with embarrassment, and she exchanged looks with Snowkit, both knowing they'd been caught. Though it hadn't been a prank per say, their mother didn't know that and probably wouldn't listen if they told her. So Rainkit just decided to leave it, thankful her mother wasn't angrier at her for sleeping in.
"Oh, Robinflight, Poppyfur said hello," Rainkit thought to add, her eyes growing heavy. Even though she wasn't tired, she found the rhythmic rise and fall of Robinflight's chest soothing, along with her full belly, and she quickly drifted off, little paws twitching as she dreamed.