Enjoy!
"Can I join you?"
Smokypaw and Larchpaw hesitated, turning around and blinking down at the small silver she-kit.
Morningkit stood on her tiptoes to make herself taller, as if that worked. The two apprentices stared at her still, completely frozen after previously doing battle training together.
"No," Larchpaw then decided, lifting his nose and turning away again.
"No," Smokypaw added, and though at first Morningkit thought he was agreeing with his brother, it turned out the gray tom was on her side. "Her father is my mentor, Larchpaw," he mumbled to his brother. "I know she'll snitch to Bumblestripe if we don't let her practice with us, and who knows what Bumblestripe'll do to me then."
Larchpaw's mouth hung open. "But Bumblestripe's nice!" he protested quietly.
Smokypaw shrugged in defeat. "Cats will do anything to avenge their children," he spoke like he was as wise the oldest cat in the Clan, Brackenfur.
Morningkit bristled a little- did they really think I couldn't hear that? My ears aren't closed anymore- but once the brothers reapplied their attention on her, she treated it like it was a thyme paste, and calmed down. "So?" she squeaked as innocently as she could muster.
"Yes, you can join us," Larchpaw grumbled. "But if you're a brat-"
"Just shut up," Smokypaw hissed to his littermate before stammering, "S- so let's start again."
Morningkit gathered herself and shuffled forward, taking a seat next to the entrance of the apprentices' den, observing as the two young toms mediocrely instructed her on how to do a back kick.
Larchpaw crouched in front of Smokypaw, and then in one explosive move, lashed out with his hind legs, hooking his sibling around the neck and then smacking him in the chin. Clumsily, Smokypaw's legs folded underneath him, and he fell somewhat dramatically, though Morningkit suspected it was more real than for show.
The ginger-and-white tom spun around, yowling his success loud enough for several cats to look over. Smokypaw groaned and muttered, "And to think I used to be the outgoing one."
Suddenly intrigued by this, watching battle moves was pushed out of Morningkit's mind as she stepped forward in front of Smokypaw. "You did?"
Smokypaw craned his neck to stare down at her. "Yep," he sighed. "I used to be ahead of him, until he proved to have a bit more muscle and a bit more personality. But I'm the one with the brains, with the common sense always ready to be used. For example, if Larchpaw saw a fox, he would leap right at it even if he only knew a couple moves to use against foxes. If I saw a fox, however, I would alert the nearest adult cat before launching right into fighting."
Morningkit tiled her head. "You make your brother sound quite daft," she pointed out.
Smokypaw's shoulders fluttered up then down again. "Don't tell him I said this, but it's probably because of his namesake."
"Larch?" Morningkit mewed. "Isn't a larch a bird or something?"
"No, I mean," Smokypaw corrected her. "I mean he was named after a cat. Our father, Foxleap's, dead sibling, Larchkit. They died ages ago when the Clans were leaving for the first Great Journey. She was only a kit, so honestly, how smart can kits be-" He stopped himself when he realized who he was speaking to. "But you seem very clever, much more than other kits," he excused himself.
Morningkit nodded slowly, eyes narrowed. "Right," she mewed sharply. "And are you named after anyone, O Smart One?"
"Actually, yes," Smokypaw was glad to leave that subject. "Smoky, my mother Hazeltail's father. He was a loner at the horseplace."
"The horseplace?"
Smokypaw laughed. "You have a lot to learn, little kit." He twisted around when he heard Larchpaw, who was standing with Bumblestripe and Molefoot, calling to him. "Uh, gotta go. See you later."
Morningkit nodded goodbye and started to wander back in the general direction of the nursery, but ended up veering toward the sunning stones in the center of the clearing instead, thinking to herself. Maybe that's the situation with me and Beekit, she pondered, recalling the fight she had with her sister a few days ago. She'll always be the exuberant and vivacious one, while I'll be the one who knows more than she should at her age. She frowned then. Except the horseplace. I need to learn about that.
She meandered around camp until she found herself standing at the base of an enormous rock. "Woah!" she said aloud. "This is as big as a badger!"
"Not quite," a gentle voice chuckled, and around the bend appeared a small gray-and-white she-cat, flanked by a reddish tabby tom. The pair advanced on Morningkit until she was completely swallowed by shadow: the rock's and theirs.
"Hello, I'm Hazeltail," the she-cat purred, bending down to bump noses with Morningkit. Beady eyes round, Morningkit introduced herself to Hazeltail and the tom.
"Foxleap," the tom said in reply to her. "But did you know where this boulder came from?"
Morningkit shook her head.
The large tom dipped his head in direction of the Highledge. "See how there's a big chunk missing from the front of the Highledge?"
The silver female followed the warriors' gazes to the high-up ledge that jutted out from one of the surrounding stone walls in the hollow. Sure enough, a sizeable piece was gone from the Highledge. Then Morningkit put two and two together.
Hazeltail saw the understanding in her eyes. "Yes, this came off from the Highledge in the flood," she explained.
Morningkit was astounded. "And no one was crushed by it?" Immediately, she regretted her question. Stupid. Obviously they were out when it happened.
Foxleap parted his jaws to reply, but then Beekit padded up, her blue gaze round with worry. For once she stops and takes time to fret over something, Morningkit thought with an irritated twitch of her tail. Her sister didn't have to say anything to get the silver kit to follow her after a speedy bid of farewell to Hazeltail and Foxleap.
"What is it?" Morningkit hissed as she skirted around a few large pebbles as big as herself, hot on Beekit's trail. "For once, I was having valid, mature conversations with warriors. Why do you always have to interrupt the important things, but not bother me when I'm-"
"Just shut up, please," Beekit begged. Morningkit zipped her lips, shocked at the sharpness in her littermate's tone. Something must be up. And, of all the arguing we've done in our short lives so far, this is definitely most urgent.
Morningkit followed less hesitantly than before as Beekit led her to a secluded corner of the camp sheltered by thick-growing ferns and long fronds of bracken that tickled Morningkit's nose as she slipped in after the gray tabby. They ended up in a very small, freshly-dug hole with earth scattered about. Morningkit arched a brow, nose quivering as she sat down, copying her sister. "Well?"
"This is our Spot," Beekit determined, curling her claws into the crumbly ground.
Morningkit glanced around the stuffy area. The only appealing thing was the privacy. It would make a great place to sleep, if it weren't so small. As small as she was, Morningkit could barely stretch herself out all the way. "But we've never been here before," she mewed, confused.
Beekit nodded. "Until now," the tabby squeaked. "Look, I brought you here because-"
"We have a lot of issues to sort out," Morningkit interrupted, not bothering to apologize. They both had enough "sorry"s to say to fill the lake.
Sheepishly Beekit ducked her head. "I suppose," she admitted slowly. "I actually wanted to say that I wanted to know if you wanted to play-"
"Oh, no," Morningkit hissed, rising to her paws even though doing that made her threateningly nose-to-nose with her sibling. "I'm not playing that awful game where you get to be leader and I'm deputy."
Beekit curled her lip. "Stop acting like those vicious ShadowClan warriors Mama tells us about!" she growled. "I'm not talking about that game!"
Morningkit lowered her hackles and sat back down, staring at the side of the medicine den, which they were smooshed beside in their "Spot". "Well?" she mumbled. "What game?"
Beekit's eyes twinkled. "Yes! So you'll play the Sorry game!" Morningkit didn't say anything, just gazed, unimpressed, at her sister. "To play the Sorry game, you just say sorry a bunch of times, and whoever can say sorry the longest before running out of breath wins. But we forgive each other too."
Morningkit rolled her eyes. "You and your games," she sighed, but obliged. "Okay, let's just get this over with." As one, she and Beekit inhaled deeply, and then began to exhale unhurriedly, all while meowing very fast "sorrysorrysorrysorrysorrysorry".
They continued on like this, and all the while Morningkit's lungs started to burn. Meanwhile, Beekit was still going on strong. Morningkit felt the fiery urge to win, no matter how utterly stupid this one. "Sorrysorrysorry…" She was croaking now.
"What are you two mouse-brains doing?" Lakekit demanded, suddenly poking his head between the fern and bracken clumps.
Morningkit stopped right away, just as Beekit finally let out her breath. A triumphant glint in the ash-colored tabby's gaze, the pair glanced at the black-and-white tom. Embarrassed, Morningkit flattened her ears and snapped, "Don't ask. What is it?"
"Bramblestar's calling a ceremony!" Lakekit informed them with a little bounce in his paws as he spun around and sped off to be with his mother and brother. The Clan was gathering beneath the Highledge, sure enough, and Dovewing was calling for them as she stood with Bumblestripe near Ivypool and her two.
"Let's go see what's happening!" Beekit purred, and as one the sisters ran to their parents. While their legs were a blur, Morningkit looked over at her sister. They were shoulder-to-shoulder, pawstep-for-pawstep. I do love her. She's just such a little rascal!
Cute? Morningkit is definitely the thinker of her and Beekit, huh?