The gushing sound of rain rattled in Ravenkit's ears. It had been rain for three days straight, and Birchcloud wouldn't let the little kits leave the nursery. So, the three kits had been forced to entertain themselves.
The only problem? They were a lot rowdier than Creektail's kits, Pondkit and Antkit, and the slightly short-tempered queen was anxious for her kits, since they were younger and smaller. Birchcloud tried to limit her kits to half the nursery, away from Creektail, Pondkit, and Antkit, but no matter how hard she tried, trouble found her kits.
On the first rainy day, Sunkit stepped on Pondkit's paw, and the kit squealed in fear and pain. Creektail had snarled and the golden kit, and Sunkit had a distaste of anything smelling of Creektail now.
The second day, Stormkit had been wrestling with Antkit and had battered him on the belly with his soft kit paws al little too hard and knocked the air out of Antkit. Antkit spent the rest of the day with his mother, recovering. He now regarded his littermates with an air of contempt.
And now today, Ravenkit had pounced on Creektail's back, sending Antkit and Pondkit flying. She had received the worst tongue lashing, and was sitting in the back of the nursery far, far away from the fuming Creektail and her mother's disappointment.
"Ravenkit! Come here, please!" Ravenkit perked her ears. Her mother was calling, which meant she wasn't in trouble anymore. She bounded over to her mother happily, tripping over her own feet in her rush.
Birchcloud purred at the sight of her raven-colored kit. Ravenkit snuggled up to her mother's white coat, complete with black stripes and a set of blue eyes that matched her own.
"Would you kits like to hear a story?" Birchcloud asked softly.
"Yeah!" Sunkit, Stormkit, and Ravenkit chorused.
"Alright, what would you like to hear?" Birchcloud asked.
"The Great Battle!"
Birchcloud winced. "That's a story for when you're much older. How about Firestar's acceptance into Thunderclan?"
Although put out, the kits agreed that this was probably a good story.
"Well, this was many moons ago, older than our elders and the elders they had when they were your age. Older still. Way back when Thunderclan lived by a Twoleg place. In one of the places, with the white fences, there lived an orange cat by the name of Rusty. His Twolegs loved him very much, but Rusty longed for more than his garden. He dreamed of the forest, but was always warned against going, for fear of the feral cats that lived there. But one day, he was attacked! Rusty fought bravely, but he was no match for the forest cat. Graypaw, for that was his name, told Rusty he was sent to test him. Bluestar, the brave leader of Thunderclan, needed warriors. There were no kits in Thunderclan, which meant no apprentices. Graypaw was one of the few. The catch of joining the clan? He would have to leave his Twolegs and his life. Rusty agreed, and was brought back to camp. When he got there, many cats were angry that Bluestar was allowing a kittypet into the clan. She didn't argue, but let the cats wonder about her motives. Then, a young warrior named Longtail stepped forward. 'He doesn't belong here,' he told his clanmates. 'Will you fight for the right to stay?' Rusty's only response was a snarl. Spottedleaf, the medicine cat, tried to stop what she thought would be the slaughter of Rusty. She was ignored, and the battle commenced. Rusty fought like a true, if untrained, warrior. He ripped Longtail's ear, and was feeling sure of himself. But Longtail was a crafty cat, and he attempted to strangle Rusty by holding his collar. Rusty tried to escape, but to no avail. When he was sure he was through, this collar snapped, sending both cats flying. 'Enough!' Bluestar cried. 'He has lost his kittypet collar in his first battle as a member of Thunderclan. Starclan wants him to join us!' Even Longtail was forced to allow the newcomer into Thunderclan. 'He will be named Firepaw, for his flame colored pelt,' Bluestar said. And that's how Firestar came to be."
"No kittypets will join Thunderclan when I'm leader!" Sunkit cried. "They're lazy slobs!"
"Ah," Birchcloud said, "but you miss the meaning of the story. Everyone deserves a chance. Firepaw turned out to be the greatest warrior and leader Thunderclan has ever seen."
"Not all kittypets are like Firestar!"
"No, but everyone deserves a chance."
Ravenkit pondered the argument between her mother and sister. She agreed with both sides. Why feed a useless kittypet, but what if said kittypet was actually the greatest asset to the clan, but she just didn't know it yet? It made her head hurt.
Unlike her sister and brother, Ravenkit didn't want to be the leader of Thunderclan. She was happy to be a warrior. She couldn't make those kinds of decisions. But she trusted Sunkit and Stormkit to be good leaders for her.
Sunkit cuffed Stormkit, sending him sprawling. "I'll be a better leader than you!"
Stormkit snarled. "Never!" The two tussled for a while rolling around the nursery while Birchcloud looked on in motherly affection. She laughed at their antics, her tail running lightly along Ravenkit's back.
Then Sunkit landed on Creektail's tail, sending the queen into one of her rants about the incompetence of Sunkit and Stormkit, fighting at this hour. Ravenkit giggled at her sister's drooping ears, as though she were trying to hide inside herself. Birchcloud stood, leaving Ravenkit alone in the nest. She padded over to Sunkit, apologizing to Creektail, and grabbing the golden kit by the scruff of her neck.
"Sunkit, Stormkit, you know better," she scolded lightly. "I've raised you better."
"Mother, we're tired of being inside," Sunkit complained. "We want to go outside!"
Birchcloud considered this, thinking long and hard. "That's not unreasonably. Tomorrow, we'll check the weather and maybe we can all take a break from this den."
Satisfied, Sunkit settled down next to Ravenkit, pushing her sister over. Stormkit lounged on Ravenkit's other side, already asleep. Birchcloud's warm belly soon lulled Sunkit to sleep, and only Ravenkit was awake. Birchcloud wrapped her tail around her kits protectively, purring softly. Ravenkit sighed contentedly.
Yawning, Ravenkit laid her head down, content to sleep with her family forever. This is absolutely perfect, she thought to herself, and it always will be. Forever.
What she didn't know was that life was a crystal ball rolling. Sometimes it rolled fast downhill, sometimes it bumped over rocks, sometimes it got stuck. Sometimes, it was shattered with no warning.
This was more of a filler chapter for the action to come- not to mention the slight hint that Firestar will be remembered forever as the greatest warrior/leader. I thought it would be kinda neat- anyway, this is probably the last update for a day or so- I've got a tournament coming up. Hugs!