I had never been one to like the company of others. The only thing I ever felt was my mind, where I controlled things. Call me whatever you want, bossy, control freak, overbearing, but that's how I like things. It's my own little world, and I love being there.

Of course, over time, I did gain two pretty amazing close friends, my "cousin" Racconfur and Marshcloud, who I tell more about soon.

Anyway, the first time I found out about my true roots was when I was very young. I should have listened back then. Little did I know, if I would have listened back then, it would have saved me a lot of pain in the future. But I was cursed with stubbornness, and I still am, and I probably always will be. Now, today's tale of misery.

–

Her blue kit eyes stared at the tabby, wide with fear. Being two weeks old when she was found, Juniperkit's eyes had adjusted to the world around her, but even so she had no memories except for a manic laugh and a crimson colored river. She shook slightly, pressing against the not-so-comfortable thicket that surrounded her and many others.

But the tabby she-cat's eyes did not hold any trace of resentment, nor evil, nor sinisterness of any kind. All that she looked at Juniperkit with was love and amusement. "You silly kit," She said playfully with a motherly laugh. "Don't worry, I won't harm you." She came closer, as did Juniperkit, relaxing.

When she saw the tension relieve from the young cat's body, she continued. "I am your aunt, Brindlewhisker," Juniperkit's aunt added. "I will be taking care of you, since your mother, Flowershine, cannot. And that kit is your cousin, my daughter, Raccoonkit. Now, why don't you go play with your brothers?" As she spoke the last few words, she gestured to two tom-kits across the den, who were pawing and pouncing on each other, and a white tabby she-kit batting a ball of moss around with several other kits.

Aunt? Cousin? Brothers? Too many people! Juniperkit thought. So many questions were rushing through her mind. Why couldn't her mother raise her? Who were all the other cats? What was with the weird names? Why did her siblings take so naturally to this way of life?

Making her way over to the group of cats her cousin was included in, Juniperkit watched from the sidelines before shoving her way into the circle. The dark brown tabby she-cat next to her bristled her fur and tried to make herself look taller. In Juniperkit's opinion, she succeeded. "Whatda ya doin'? Huh? Huh?" The brown tabby kit said quickly, bouncing in a hunter's crouch as she said it. "Are you rogue? A loner? Kittypet? Huh? Huh?"

"Marshkit!" As Juniperkit was about to speak, a large ginger tom spoke in a deep voice for a kit. "She's not any of them! She's just some unwanted kit her 'father' found by the river!" All the other kits snickered and stared at her, while Juniperkit shrinked back, trying to hide from the laughter. "See look!" The tom-kit taunted again. "She's embarrassed! A real clan cat would fight!"

With those last words, Juniperkit did just that. She could no longer contain her anger and embarrassment. Leaping towards the bigger kit, she felt her claws unsheathe and her tongue test the sharpness of her teeth. When fur was under her, she wasted no time digging in her small, but still sharp, teeth and claws into the pelt of her opponent.

Juniperkit felt as if she was not in control of her body, her anger was. With every time the mocking jokes replayed in her head, she dug her weapons dipper into the tom-kit. With each scream from her enemy, she felt more satisfied and had the urge to taste blood. With every shriek from the other kits, she was more pleased with herself.

Within a few moments, but felt like an even shorter time for Juniperkit, cats from all around the camp rushed to the rescue. Warriors tried to pry her off, but that just fueled the fire. One particularly rough warrior yanked on her tail, causing a yelp from Juniperkit. In that split second, Juniperkit had been tossed across the den when the warrior hanging onto her went to help the kit she was attacking.

Shaking her fur, Juniperkit rose to her feet. What seemed like the entire clan gathered around the wounded kit. Juniperkit, too, was bleeding and breathing heavily, but the breathing was from her anger. She smirked proudly as she cleaned the blood from her teeth and licked her injuries, which were mostly from the warrior who had jerked her off the tom-kit.

Two brown cats hurried into the nursery, furiously whipping their heads around, looking for something. The smaller one, a light fawn-colored she-cat, flicked her tail in Juniperkit's direction, and she and her companion made their way over.

"Juniperkit!" The brown tom shouted, shoting daggers at her with his eyes. His face was bent into a very angry expression, but Juniperkit honestly didn't care. He was going to yell at her, so what? It wasn't like they could abandon her, she was just a kit!

"My kit!" The she-cat shrieked, tears pouring out of her eyes as the tom stroked her back with his tail. With that, Juniperkit knew who these cats were, and more importantly, why they were so angry. They were Pinestripe and Flowershine, her parents. But Juniperkit just grinned, which made her parents' faces turn even redder with anger.

Pushing her way through the crowd, Brindlewhisker approached. Despite the worried look on her face, she spoke in her regular sweet and calm voice. "May I speak to her in private?" She said the word "her" like it was forbidden to say Juniperkit's actual name. Pinestripe muttered a sarcastic "good luck!" before storming out of the nursery, with Flowershine close behind.

"Why did you attack Eaglekit?" Brindlewhisker asked as if she was a therapist, sitting eye level with Juniperkit. Juniperkit narrowed her eyes into a glare pointed straight at her aunt.

"He said father found me by the river," Juniperkit mumbled. "He said that I was just some random unwanted kit." Juniperkit half-expected Brindlewhisker to give her a few comforting licks, then coax her back to her nest, but she just nodded understandingly.

"Come," Brindlewhisker commanded softly. "Go lie down and I'll go get you some poppy seeds to help you calm down." And with that, she was off, almost like she was avoiding the conversation at hand.

Not in the protesting mood, Juniperkit listened as she set off on her journey to her nest. But before she could reach her distination, a big grey tom stopped her in her tracks. "You little piece of crowfood!" His voice boomed. "Poison! That's just what you are! You could've seriously hurt my son!" After that, the stormy-looking tom marched off.

Ignoring the cold stares of her clan-mates, Juniperkit occupied her nest. She closed her eyes and watched the day over. After all the day's events, the one that haunted her mind the most was Eaglekit's comments. What kind of cat would make up that detailed of a story?

Pushing that thought to the back of her head, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

Longest chapter yet with 1,221 words! (Not couting the author's note) In honor of that, some author trivia!

I have two kittens (actually I have five housecats/kittens and many more outdoor cats because I live on a farm, but let's focus on these two), Elvis and George. Who were they named after?

Hints:

Both were popular musicians during the 1950s.

My favorite songs by them are White Lightning (George) and Blue Suede Shoes. (Elvis)

Both are considered legends in their genres. (Country and rock and roll)

Yeah... Elvis is kinda easy. But George will probably be a lot harder for most of you!