Frostkit peered curiously over the edge of her nest at the golden tabby she-cat who had just been ushered into the nursery. Her belly was swollen unnaturally, and she was accompanied by a white and gray she-cat who looked to be not much older than Frostkit herself. Another young cat, this one a white tom, was bringing in a pile of moss and other nest materials.
"They'll be here in about a moon and a half, Owlblaze," the white and gray she-cat informed the pregnant tabby.
"Dustlight's so excited," Owlblaze purred, curling a tail around her stomach.
"More kits are always something to get excited about," the young she-cat meowed.
"If you don't mind," the cat with the moss interrupted irritably, "I would like to actually get into the den and get this over with so I can go hunting with Tigerstripe."
The white and gray she-cat flicked his muzzle with her tail, sniffing, "You can go around us, mousebrain."
The young tom scowled, but picked up the moss and trotted around the two she-cats, depositing it in a spare corner of the nursery. He then quickly rushed outside again, muttering something that Frostkit couldn't quite catch.
"Mama, why's that she-cat here?" Frostkit whispered to Snowfeather. "She's really fat."
"She's not fat darling, she's just going to have kits soon," the white queen purred in amusement.
"Did you look like that before I was born?" the orange she-kit asked, screwing up her face in thought. It was hard to imagine her mother with a swollen stomach. Snowfeather nodded.
"I'm sorry about Lightpaw," the white and gray she-cat meowed, rolling her eyes exasperatedly. "He can be really annoying sometimes."
"Who's that she-cat with the orange cat?" Frostkit inquired curiously, tilting her head backwards to see her mother.
"She's Cloudpaw," Snowfeather replied, "the medicine cat apprentice."
"Medicine cat?" Frostkit echoed. "I thought Mudpool was the medicine cat."
"He is," the white queen explained patiently. "But Mudpool is training Cloudpaw so that she can take over when he retires. Now just wait there while I get something to eat."
I wonder why I haven't met her before, Frostkit thought, eyeing Cloudpaw. The medicine cat apprentice was now scraping the moss together to make another nest. Even when I spent the whole of yesterday morning in the medicine cat den, she wasn't there. I wonder what she was doing . . .
"Yesterday?" Cloudpaw asked, turning to Frostkit. The orange she-kit's eyes widened as she realised that she had thought aloud. Hesitantly she nodded. "I was out getting more catmint, because of the upcoming leafbare." That makes sense.
Frostkit nodded in understanding and meowed, "Catmint is used to cure greencough, and leaf-bare is the time when cats get greencough, right?" Cloudpaw blinked in surprise, pausing in her nest-making.
"Yeah. How did you know that?" she asked curiously.
"Mudpool taught me," Frostkit answered, feeling proud of her new knowledge.
"Huh," Cloudpaw meowed, eyeing the orange kit. "I guess it's always good to have other cats who know about herbs in case of emergency."
"I guess," Frostkit agreed half-heartedly. She seems kinda upset. Was it something I said?
An awkward silence descended upon the nursery, with both she-cats lost for something to say. Frostkit almost yowled in relief when Snowfeather came back in with a plump pidgeon. The white queen trotted over to her nest and started plucking out the feathers. Cloudpaw watched her in silence for a moment before turning to leave.
"Here," Snowfeather meowed, pushing the featherless bird over to Frostkit. "Wanna try it?" Frostkit shook her head, drawing back. Not yet.
"What should we do with the feathers?" Frostkit asked instead.
Snowfeather thought for a moment before shrugging, "We ususally bury them or line nests with them." That sounds nice and soft. Frostkit suddenly realised that Cloudpaw had left without finishing Owlblaze's nest.
"Mama, Owlblaze's nest isn't finished," Frostkit mewed. "Can I do it for her and put some feathers in it?"
Snowfeather purred, "Of course. I'm sure that she'll appreciate it." Frostkit's eyes lit up and she started gathering the feathers. Snowfeather watched her work as she ate the bird.
"They're so soft!" she squealed, poking one of the feathers before putting it in the pile. Frostkit then managed to pick up most of the feathers in her jaws and carry them over to the unfinished nest. She went back to collect the last few before setting to work shaping the moss into a nest-like shape, using her own nest as a guide. When she had finished with the actual nest, she placed the feathers around the edge.
Nest complete, Frostkit stood back to let Snowfeather look at her work. The white queen licked her kit's ear proudly and purred, "Good job! Owlblaze will love it."
Frostkit surveyed the nest happily, satisfied with what she had accomplished. The nest was a bit too thick on one side, and the feathers were a bit crooked in places, but other than that it was pretty good, in her opinion.
Just then, Owlblaze herself entered the nursery with a light brown tom close behind her. She padded over to her newly made nest and circled it a few times before settling down.
"Hello Frostkit," Owlblaze greeted. She turned to the brown tom. "I don't believe Dustlight or I have had the chance to properly talk to you yet. How are you today?"
Frostkit's jaws clamped shut and she scurried to hide behind Snowfeather.
The white queen chuckled to her kit, "Shy now, are you?" Frostkit stil refused to talk, so Owlblaze turned her attention to Snowfeather.
"How have you been lately?" she asked pleasantly.
"Good," Snowfeather replied, nodding her head.
Owlblaze's eyes suddenly lit up excitedly as she said in a hushed voice, "Did you know that Sandstar has a mate now?"
"No," Snowfeather meowed in surprise. "Who is it?"
"That's the thing, we don't know!" the pregnant queen exclaimed. "I think that it might be . . ." Frostkit sighed to herself and tuned out the gossip. There was nothing to do now. She glanced at Palefur's nest hopefully, but not even the queen herself was sleeping there. She was probably outside . . .
Frostkit looked up at her mother and asked quietly to explore the camp. Snowfeather nodded distractedly and continued her conversation, so the orange kit took the chance to leave the nursery. Once outside, Frostkit scanned the clearing for something to do. Let's visit someone . . . The warrior's den could be interesting. Couldn't hurt to befriend a cat who may be my future mentor.
The orange she-kit set off in a trot for the warrior's den, striding across the camp purposefully. When she got about a fox-length away from the entrance, she heard someone speaking inside. What she heard made her falter.
"-and I hate it when Palefur and Nightkit just spend the entire day sleeping! She-cats are so stupid!" a familiar voice hissed. Rainkit.
"Well, you'll be an apprentice in five moons," a deeper-voiced tom pointed out.
"But Dad," Rainkit whined, "I don't want to deal with not being able to do anything for that long!"
The cat who was apparently Rainkit's father meowed, "What about that new she-kit? Coldkit, or something?" Frostkit silently fumed at the tom. Her name wasn't Coldkit. Stupid tom.
"Frostkit," Rainkit corrected. "She's even worse! I've only seen her outside, like, twice, and the first time she was in the medicine cat den for the whole morning. The second time she went running back inside crying because I told her that her name didn't fit her pelt. What a crybaby!" At this point, Frostkit wanted to barge in there and claw his ears off. His words were much harsher than that, and she was learning herbs that morning, not getting healed!
"Shame," Rainkit's father sighed. "Is she at least pretty like her mother?"
"I suppose," the blue-gray tom-kit said hesitantly. "Smokekit is always talking about her though, never stopping about how she is so-" Frostkit stormed away, not wanting to hear what he had said. I bet he was telling you that he thought I was weak as well! she thought angrily. The orange she-kit stomped behind the nursery and curled up into a ball, glaring at the thorny wall of the den. Stupid Rainkit. Stupid father. Why does he get a father who can listen to him? Why doesn't my father care about me? Toms are so stupid. They don't care.
Well, you know what? I don't care either.