A moon later, I sat beside my mother, who was kitting.
"It hurts," she moaned. Dawnflower was beside her.
"Can't you give her poppy seeds, for the pain?" I asked. Dawnflower shook her head.
"She needs to be able to feel it when the kits are coming." Redheart was in the nursery too, so it was very crowded, but I wanted to see my brothers and sisters, and Redheart wanted to see his kits, and Dawnflower was medicine cat. Windpelt groaned again.
"The first one is coming!" Dawnflower gasped.
A grayish blob slid out into the world. The blob quickly broke, and out tumbled a little speckled gray kit. I heard Redheart's breath catch. My breath caught.
Windpelt had not the strength to lick it, as another was coming, so Dawnflower quickly took it and began licking its fur harshly, the wrong way. She gave the kit to me then, and turned back to my mother. I continued licking until all the moisture was gone from its fur.
"A she-kit," Dawnflower said. The she-kit yawned and mewed. I cradled it for warmth.
Windpelt gasped and another kit lay on the soft moss, this one gray too, but with strange black markings on its face. My mother licked this one, but only for a short time before I had to take it. Another kit was coming.
Soon, I held the first two in my paws, and my mother licked a final white one, which was smaller than the others.
"Two she-kits and a tom. Congratulations," Dawnflower said.
"We should name them," Windpelt said thoughtfully.
"The tom should be Badgerkit," Redheart decided.
"For the markings on his face," I reasoned.
"The speckled gray should be Mosskit," said Windpelt.
"What should the small she-kit be called?" I prompted.
"Littlekit," said my mother. Redheart and Dawnflower nodded their agreement. Badgerkit scrambled free blindly—none of their eyes were open yet—and tumbled onto the soft moss of the nursery floor.
We all laughed.
A day later, Mosskit and Badgerkit's eyes were open, but Littlekit's eyes were not. Mosskit's eyes were brilliant green, and Badgerkit's eyes were amber. Badgerkit was playful and mischievous, and Mosskit liked exploring, but was more practical.
Littlekit was a tiny white kit, and she was my favorite. She liked playing and romping, and was sweet and honest, and wasn't afraid to stand up for what she believed in. She was strong, despite her size, and was so far from sickly you would think she was just trying to prove everybody wrong. Daystar welcomed her into the clan with a smile, along with the others.
I was coming back to camp from hunting patrol thinking all this, when Littlekit came running up to me and sat promptly.
"What's different?" she squealed. I actually had to think about that.
"Um… Oh! Your eyes are open!" Littlekit's eyes were crystal blue, like mine.
"Yeah! I went exploring the camp. Everything is so big!" We went walking back toward the nursery.
"Well, I suppose it seems that way to a kit, but you'll get used to it. After all, kits grow, camps don't!" Littlekit giggled.
"I hope you didn't discover the elders den in a hurry!" I added. Littlekit squirmed.
"I sorta… well, I was so excited my eyes were open that I kinda forgot to use them." I laughed.
"I bet Iceshadow wasn't too happy about that!"
The warrior had retired to the elder's den right before Littlekit was born. Everyone agreed it was the best place for the grumpy old cat. Littlekit nodded.
"She would have clawed me to bits if Aspenleaf hadn't stepped in!" Aspenleaf was another elder.
"Where are Badgerkit and Mosskit?" I asked. Littlekit dismissed her siblings with a wave of her paw.
"They were exploring with me, but they got hungry. Want to play?" I shook my head.
"Can't, I've got a hunting session with Smokepaw. I'll play with you later, okay?"
"Sure!" Littlekit squealed, then ran back to the nursery, yelling, "Mosskit! Badgerkit! Rainpath is going to play later!"
I heard squeals of joy from two other kits before I found Smokepaw playing with Sagepaw, who had been appointed as an apprentice half a moon earlier.
"Come on, we're going to the sandy hollow," I called. Smokepaw pushed Sagepaw off her and scrambled to her paws.
"Okay, let's go!" We ducked through the brambles and hurried into the forest. The sandy hollow, where apprentices trained, wasn't far away, and we were almost there when a squirrel raced across our path. Foolishly, Smokepaw ran after it.
"Hey!" I shouted, but Smokepaw was concentrating only on the squirrel.
We raced toward the RiverClan border, and Smokepaw stopped only when the river loomed into view. I had stopped shouting, not wanting to call attention to the fact that we were so close to the border. The squirrel scrambled up the nearest tree, but Smokepaw didn't pay any notice to it. Neither did I.
I was sure she heard what I heard: A desperate voice. A voice I hadn't heard in a moon.
It was Birchpaw's voice.
And she was calling for help.
Thanks for reading this so far! I will update soon! I've actually already finished this story, so I just need to post the chapters. There are 13 total.
Love, Macavroche