Stormkit squirmed as a weight flopped on top of her, and she let out a soft moan as the breath was driven from her. Heartbeats later, a soft tail swept whichever of her littermates off her, then whisked away. A paw poked Stormkit in the side, but she ignored it, shutting her eyes tightly.

"Why do we have to wait for Stormkit to go and explore the camp?" a tom's voice demanded.

Camp! Stormkit opened her eyes, expecting brilliant beams of sunlight to strike her eyes as she perceived the world for the first time, but instead, she saw nothing. Absolutely nothing. It was all black, as though she hadn't opened her eyes in the first place. But before she could speak, someone else cut in.

"Huh!" a rough tom's voice sounded from outside the nursery. "Lucky for you, Nightbreeze, all of your kits seem to be fine. Remember what the traveler said about that blind medicine cat who couldn't even defend himself? SkyClan will be humiliated if something was wrong with your kits."

Stormkit forced herself not to flinch. There's something wrong with me, she realized. I'm blind.

She let out a small whimper as the tom's words rung in her ears. SkyClan would be humiliated if something was wrong with your kits.

Stormkit swallowed nervously. That means, she realized, I can't let anyone know about my blindness. She winced. How in the name of StarClan was she to keep a secret that big? Though her kithood, she might learn to recognize everything by their scents and sounds, so she could pinpoint anything's location easily.

"One of your kits is a she-cat," the tom stated again. "That's a pity."

Stormkit unsheathed her small claws, turning her head in the direction of the strange tom's scent, as her mother replied to his jeering. "That's enough, Riverstorm. I know if my kits are she-cats or toms." The tom called Riverstorm snorted and padded away, his scent fading. Her mother's soft voice sounded in her ear. "Well done, Stormkit! You opened your eyes."

I know that. My awful blind eyes, Stormkit thought bitterly.

"Do you want to go and explore the camp with your brothers?" the she-cat asked, and Stormkit recalled that it was Nightbreeze. Stormkit, stumbling, jumped to her paws, a little awkwardly. She felt another cat nudge her gently.

"Hey, Stormkit! Come on!"

From the voice, she realized that this was her brother, Smokekit. And the kit mewing a few tail-lengths away was Darkkit. She purred excitedly, producing a soft, raspy sound from the depths of her throat, then followed Smokekit's scent, not too quickly.

Cedarkit, beside her, snorted. "The clan needs more toms," he growled decisively.

Stormkit immediately unsheathed her claws. "Who told you that?"

"I opened my eyes yesterday," Cedarkit sneered. "And Riverstorm told me." Stormkit let out a hiss, and her unsheathed claws raked across where she thought his shoulders would be, considering her own size. Stormkit felt his scent recede a little, then stop, as she let out a fearsome hiss.

"Don't believe it."

And she stalked after Smokekit, catching up to his pawsteps soon enough.

"Hey, Stormkit?"

"Yeah."

Smokekit rested his tail on Stormkit's back. "Was Cedarkit bothering you?" Stormkit turned her blind blue eyes onto her dark gray brother in surprise. How did he know? Smokekit purred at her confused reaction. "He looked as though you had called him a squirrel-brain or something."

If only I had been there to see it. "I clawed his shoulder," Stormkit muttered.

"You did?" Smokekit sounded surprised. "I thought she-cats weren't allowed to engage in that sort of claw use."

Stormkit hissed furiously. "And why not?"

Darkkit intervened, and Smokekit scented his paw reaching toward her, and jumped back, barely in time. The black tom let out a snarl. "Because the toms are stronger than the she-cats." Stormkit flattened her ears in disbelief. She couldn't believe she was hearing this.

Smokekit sighed, and Stormkit heard Darkkit's receding pawsteps. "Don't worry, Stormkit. There'll still be a place for you in the clan."

Stormkit turned on him, blind eyes blazing. "I don't want to be a nursing queen! I want to hunt and fight like a true warrior!"

Stormkit's nostrils quivered as a new cat, the scent strangely familiar, padded toward them. And it was a deep, rich voice. "I'm sorry that can never happen, Stormkit." Of course. The voice was her father's, who was also the SkyClan leader.

Stormkit let out a growl. "I can be a wonderful fighter!"

"But the she-cats are not as strong as the toms," Lionstar pointed out reasonably. "You'd be hurt."

"I don't think the warriors come back unscathed, either," Stormkit pointed out dryly, her blue-gray fur bristling. She made no attempt to flatten it as she heard Lionstar sigh and pad away, leaving her with Smokekit. "You understand me, don't you, Smokekit?" she asked, trying to keep the annoyance and desperation out of her voice.

Smokekit's tail reached her back. "Of course I do, Stormkit, but... I don't think it'll ever happen."

Stormkit's paws scuffled in the dirt. "It will. Wait and see. I am going to learn to hunt and fight, even if it means going against Lionstar's wishes." She paused, her voice taking on a happier note. "Come on, Darkkit and Cedarkit are already ahead of us. Let's go."

Stormkit realized that Smokekit had nodded, and fell in beside him as they padded after their littermates.

Hiding my blindness is easier than I thought, Stormkit realized, with an inward purr. Now, no cat will ever no about it. She padded after her littermates, her heart still burning from what she had realized, that she-cats were weaker than the toms.

And she vowed that she would change that.