The newleaf sun shone brightly and pierced the roof of the den young ginger-and-white kit as he stared at his dark-furred sister, who laid sleeping at their mother's side. The kit rolled his eyes, wondering what she could possibly be doing, sleeping so late into the day. An idea popped into the kit's mind, and a mischievous grin took hold of his face as he prowled closer and closer to the dark red body of his sister.
"I'd stop that if I were you," meowed the bright ginger tabby in front of him, nestling the red she-kit in her stomach. "Russetkit is sleeping, and every time you've tried to wake her, Scorchkit, you've gotten in trouble. What makes you think this time is going to be any different?" Even though her words were firm, there was love glowing in her eyes for her son.
Scorchkit let out an irritated sigh. "But she sleeps so late, Mother!" he protested. "I want to play!"
"Well, maybe it's because you both stay up so late at night," his mother, Sunleaf, suggested, a wry tone to her voice. "Why don't you go outside and play regardless? When she wakes up, I'll let you know you've been asking after her."
Realizing he had no other choice, Scorchkit nodded to his mother. "Yes, Mother." When the ginger tabby she-cat acknowledged his obedience, Scorchkit bounded out of the gorse bush that made his home for the last couple of moons. Just as the gorse branches disappeared, he was met with the vast view of the moorland camp, stretching out in front of him for fox-lengths on end. The camp bustled with activity, with cats crossing the clearing, sharing tongues while eating, organizing patrols, and training. Loud voices swept through the camp, alongside scents from all different parts of the territory and multiple cats of different sizes and builds.
Wow! Scorchkit thought, often finding himself amazed by the amount of activity that occurred in the camp every single day. He always wondered if it ever calmed down, but from what he had seen, it never seemed to. Scorchkit crept further away from the nursery, spotting the brown tabby pelt of Bramblepaw. The apprentice was crouched down, his tail skirting the grassland below him, his tabby pelt dappled with snow. What's he doing? Scorchkit wondered.
Bramblepaw gasped as a cat leaped on his back, sending him flying into the heather. Scorchkit's amber eyes widened in surprise as Bramblepaw hit the ground, a moan emerging from his lips. The cat who pinned him down gazed at him, pride in his eyes. Scorchkit padded over to him, admiration flooding over him.
"Brother!" Scorchkit called out to the tom who had pinned Bramblepaw down. The tabby tom swiveled his head over his broad shoulders, meeting Scorchkit's gaze.
"Scorchkit," his brother, Adderpaw, greeted him. "You got up late." The WindClan apprentice sat on his hind legs and began to wash his side. Bramblepaw pulled himself to his paws, scowling at Adderpaw. He must be upset that he was defeated so easily, Scorchkit thought, giving Bramblepaw a sympathetic glance.
Adderpaw was not the son of Sunleaf. He was the son of Petalspring, making Scorchkit his half-brother. But Scorchkit still adored him all the same. Even though he was just an apprentice, he was climbing up to be one of the best hunters in the Clan. He was strong and smart, and Scorchkit strived to be just like him. The ginger-and-white tabby lifted his head, the newleaf sun illuminating his sleek pelt.
"What's going on here?" A deep voice emitted through the crowd, and Scorchkit looked up to see the WindClan leader, Swiftstar, padding through the cats and standing in front of Adderpaw and Scorchkit. His yellow eyes were flat, and Scorchkit had no idea what he was thinking. Regardless of Swiftstar's often hidden emotions, he was Scorchkit's father, and he loved him dearly.
"Good afternoon, Father," Adderpaw meowed, lowering his head to the ground.
Scorchkit copied Adderpaw's greeting, noting how respectfully the tabby greeted his father. Swiftstar's gaze drifted over to Scorchkit, and the big tabby sat down. "What are you doing out here?" he asked Scorchkit, completely disregarding Adderpaw's acknowledgement of him.
Am I not supposed to be out here? Scorchkit tilted his head. "It's late," he told his father. "I wanted to walk around a bit."
"Did you?" Swiftstar's whiskers twitched. "Then it would be good for you to learn as soon as possible." He turned to the two apprentices that had been play-fighting. "Adderpaw, Bramblepaw, why don't you teach Scorchkit some battle moves? That way, he'll be able to defend himself if Reedstar or Flintstar think about invading our camp."
"Invade our camp?" Scorchkit echoed, baffled. "Why would they do that?"
Adderpaw glared at Scorchkit. "You're too young to understand," he growled. Scorchkit flinched at Adderpaw's rough, scathing tone.
"No, they can be taught at any age." Swiftstar wrapped his tail around his paws. "Know this, Scorchkit, if you are to follow in my pawprints once you grow older. The Clans are in a chaotic state, but WindClan will rise, glorious out of all of them. That is the one thing you must keep in mind as you become a warrior. You must put WindClan before anything."
"Anything?" Scorchkit echoed.
"Yes." Swiftstar's amber eyes were as intense as the newleaf sun as they bore into Scorchkit's pelt. "Before love, before friendship, before your own needs and desires. Your loyalty to WindClan comes first."
"Is there something that comes before that?" Scorchkit asked, feeling the leaf-bare wind whipping against his short whiskers.
Swiftstar paused, a flicker of confusion falling over his battle-scarred face. Then he lifted his head and nodded. "One thing comes before your Clan, my son."
Scorchkit leaned in. "What is that?" he asked, puzzled that there was one thing that came before the Clan. Swiftstar had just went on a whole tangent about how WindClan was the most important thing, so what could possibly be more vital than WindClan?
"Family." Swiftstar brushed his tail down Scorchkit's spine. "That is the only thing more important than your Clan. Hold true to that, Scorchkit."
Scorchkit nodded in fervent agreement. He couldn't help but drag his gaze towards Adderpaw, who regarded his father with a bewildered look on his face. Swiftstar met Adderpaw's gaze, and his eyes hardened. He did not speak. Bramblepaw watched the both of them, biting his lip.
Adderpaw was the cat who broke the silence. "Father, I mean no disrespect," the dark tabby said, his amber eyes shadowed, "but Clan loyalty is the most important thing in the world, is it not? So why would family come before it?"
"You dare say you do not care about your family?" Swiftstar snarled at Adderpaw. The venom in his voice made Scorchkit flinch. Adderpaw's ears flattened, and he stepped back, but he did not cower as he faced his father.
"I never said that," Adderpaw protested. "Just… I don't know what I'll do if I'm ever forced to choose between my Clan or my family."
A low growl rumbled from Swiftstar's throat. "Then, let us hope you will never be forced to make that decision, my son." His voice was laced with poison, and Adderpaw's tail-tip flicked from side to side.
"Yeah." Adderpaw nodded. When the tabby tom looked over his shoulder, his eyes lit up, and Scorchkit wondered who he had seen. "Mother!" His half-brother bounded away, and Scorchkit followed his movement. The tabby tom reached Petalspring, a gray-and-white she-cat who leaned down and licked her son's head. Petalspring caught the gaze of Swiftstar, who narrowed his eyes but said nothing. The tension that sparked in the air made Scorchkit shudder, and it seemed to bother Bramblepaw as well, who flattened his ears. Bramblepaw nodded to Swiftstar and raced over to follow Adderpaw.
"That apprentice is basically joined to Adderpaw's hip," Swiftstar growled under his breath. "You'd think he was his brother."
Scorchkit narrowed his eyes, wondering if he was supposed to hear that. Swiftstar turned his head over and faced the ginger-and-white kit. The leader examined his surroundings and frowned. "Where is your sister?" he asked.
"She's still asleep," Scorchkit replied, recalling back to when Russetkit had been nestled against Sunleaf's body, deep in slumber.
"Really?" Swiftstar's amber eyes narrowed. "She'll never be a warrior at this rate," he hissed, clicking his tongue in irritation. "Well, go on, Scorchkit. Go see your mother. I have things to do, but I'm glad you were able to get out of the nursery. It surprised me that Sunleaf let you out." The WindClan leader's whiskers twitched in amusement, and he turned on his heel, striding away from Scorchkit. Scorchkit watched him go, flustered. When Swiftstar was out of sight, Scorchkit turned his head around to examine the daily activity of camp.
Hawkfeather shared tongues with Oakcloud near the fresh-kill pile, while Grayflight held a rabbit in his jaws and was heading towards the nursery. Must be to feed Wildkit, Scorchkit thought. Driftberry and Dovewillow were waiting at the entrance of the camp, their eyes narrowed as Deerheart and Aspenstep bounded over to them. Driftberry flicked her tail and raced out of camp, her patrol at her heels.
Violetheart, the Clan medicine cat, padded out of her den, holding a leaf wrap in her jaws. Her brilliant blue eyes reflected the newleaf sun as she padded over to Rabbitfur. Rabbitfur plopped down on the snow and nodded his thanks to her as she spread an ointment on his fur. Scorchkit shuddered and turned on his heels, feeling his fur begin to bristle as the warmth of the newleaf morning became more prominent.
Sunleaf was waiting for Scorchkit at the nursery entrance, and just as Scorchkit scampered up to his mother, the ginger she-cat let out a loud purr. "Where did you go?" she asked, brushing off the pollen from his pelt with her white paw.
"I saw Adderpaw," Scorchkit meowed.
"Adderpaw?" For a fleeting moment, Sunleaf stiffened. But she was back to her normal self in less than a moment. Scorchkit was convinced that he had imagined it. "What did he say to you?"
"Oh, he was just talking to Father," Scorchkit replied. Sunleaf's ear twitched, and Scorchkit frowned. He knew that Swiftstar was the father of both her kits and Adderpaw, but Sunleaf was not the mother of Adderpaw. Petalspring was. Was she jealous of Adderpaw? And, by extension, did that make her jealous of Petalspring? Scorchkit shuddered, wondering what happened if they were in the same vicinity. "They spoke about family."
"Family," Sunleaf echoed, her eyes thoughtful. "What about it?"
"Family is the most important thing to Father," Scorchkit told Sunleaf, echoing his father's words. "He says it comes before your Clan. It's the only thing that's more important."
Sunleaf nodded slowly. "Being part of a family means you are part of something very wonderful," the she-cat purred, nudging Scorchkit closer to her. "It means you will love – and be loved – for the rest of your life."
"Does it really?" Scorchkit asked, looking at his mother with wonder.
"Of course," Sunleaf purred, licking the ginger-and-white kit's head. Love glowed softly in her green eyes. "I will always love you. You know that, don't you, Scorchkit?"
Scorchkit beamed. "Yeah. I do." He reached on his hind paws to nuzzle his mother, and when he couldn't reach, Sunleaf bent down and allowed him to brush his muzzle against hers. The two cats purred, and when Sunleaf sat back down, Scorchkit bounded into the nursery, seeing the dark red shape of Russetkit. Russetkit's green eyes glowed in the shadows.
"What were you doing, sleeping the day away?" Scorchkit asked his sister, crouching down and leaping over towards her. Russetkit jumped out of the way at the last minute, leaving Scorchkit to land on nothing but sheep wool made for their nests. Scorchkit huffed in frustration, getting to his paws. Russetkit watched him, triumph in her green eyes, and the tom rolled his eyes.
"Seems like I dodged a blow, if you were talking to Adderpaw," Russetkit said, her voice lowered. Scorchkit glanced over at Sunleaf, who hadn't seemed to pick up their conversation. Did Russetkit not want their mother to hear?
Scorchkit's eye whiskers furrowed. "What do you mean?" he asked, confused. "You don't like Adderpaw?"
"Well, he's not my favorite cat in the world," Russetkit replied, her tail twitching.
"He's our brother, though," Scorchkit pointed out.
"Maybe so," Russetkit meowed, looking at her paws. "But there's something off about him. He's always glaring at us. Don't you notice that?"
"No?" Scorchkit half-asked, half-replied. "He always treats me kindly."
"But when you're not looking is another case," Russetkit countered.
Scorchkit stared at his sister, baffled. Russetkit shook her small head from side to side. "Never mind. The reason I was asleep so long is because you kept me up all night." She butted her head against her brother's affectionately, trotting away.
"Where are you going?" Scorchkit called out.
"To get some fresh air!" Russetkit replied.
Scorchkit chuckled in amusement, watching his sister exit the den confidently, as if she was already a seasoned warrior knowing her way around camp. But that'll be a long time from now, he mused to himself. I'll be the best warrior, though! Father will be so proud of me. Russetkit's words about Adderpaw flashed back in his mind. Why doesn't she like him? He's been nothing but kind to us. Even though we don't share the same mother, we share the same father. We're kin. Swiftstar's words about family echoed in his ears. We're family. Surely his father would tell Russetkit the same thing about family.
"Scorchkit!" At the sound of his name, Scorchkit turned his head to see the rest of his denmates, seemingly having woken up from their own naps as well. Scorchkit found his tail twitching crossly. Was he the only one to wake up in the morning? The cat who had called his name, Wildkit, padded towards him, her tortoiseshell fur sleek thanks to the newleaf warmth.
Gorsekit, a mottled gray-and-white tom followed Wildkit, and Blackkit, a night-black she-kit, followed him. Their mothers watched from the shadows but did not move. Scorchkit sat on his haunches, greeting his friends with a small meow. Wildkit's gaze was soft. "I heard what Russetkit said about Adderpaw."
"Well, she just says those things," Scorchkit meowed.
"I like Adderpaw," Wildkit said, nudging the ground with a small black paw. "He's nice. The warriors say he'll be the next Clan leader."
The next Clan leader? But Adderpaw was just an apprentice! They were already gossiping about who would replace Swiftstar? The thought of losing his father made the fur on Scorchkit's spine stick up. Swiftstar was the strongest cat in the Clans – surely he would live a long life. Scorchkit found himself flattening his ears as he growled, "Well, he'll have to wait a while."
Blackkit purred. "A long time," she meowed. "I don't think Swiftstar is going anywhere."
Gorsekit nodded in agreement, flicking Wildkit on the top of her head with his tail. "Don't say those things," he chided her. Wildkit flattened her ears. As the oldest kit in the nursery, Gorsekit usually had the final say in things, but since he had grown close to the youngest kits, he had requested to be apprenticed alongside them. Surprisingly, Swiftstar had agreed to the request.
When Wildkit said nothing, Gorsekit turned to Scorchkit. "Just ignore them," he said, twitching his spotted ears. "Your father is going to lead this Clan for a long time."
"Thanks, Gorsekit." Even though Wildkit's comment had ruffled Scorchkit the wrong way, the assurance of his other denmates made him feel better. Scorchkit gave Wildkit a small nod, and the tortoiseshell she-kit let out a sigh of relief at his silent forgiveness. He buried her comment to the back of his mind.
His father had been right. Family was the most important thing. He loved Sunleaf and Russetkit, and he loved his father, as well. Adderpaw was also very important to him – he treasured and loved his brother. He couldn't imagine what Russetkit said to be true. Perhaps she had just misread his glances. Adderpaw had always treated him kindly and had taught him hunting tricks and battle moves, always taking the time of day for him. His family, to him, would always be important. Just as Father said.