Chapter 1

"Wake up, Foxkit!" a voice meowed. Foxkit groaned and shuffled positions as a small paw prodded her in the back. The voice sighed and, moments later, the paw smacked her in the belly.

"Ow!" Foxkit hissed, slowly blinking open her eyes. Her sister, Heatherkit, and newly adopted brother, Wolfkit, leaned over her, Wolfkit with his paw hanging in the air.

"What was that for?" Foxkit grumbled. "I was having a good dream." Heatherkit rolled her eyes.

"You're not going to become an apprentice if you sleep all day," Wolfkit reminded her, sitting down to groom himself.

"I will become an apprentice, and when I do, I'll make sure there are no annoying denmates around to wake me up," Foxkit growled, shuffling to a seated position. Wolfkit's gaze turned from mischievous to hurt, and Foxkit felt a pang of guilt. "Don't worry, I don't really mean that," she told him with a small smile, nudging him playfully. Wolfkit flashed her a grateful look before standing up with a yawn.

"I'm bored. Let's go outside and see if Shadowpool has any extra moss we can use for moss-ball," Heatherkit meowed, nodding towards the nursery entrance from which warm sunlight illuminated the den.

"Fine. If we stay here, we'll bother Lilyflower's kits," Foxkit mewed, getting up and following her sister. She was about to reach the exit before she paused and pricked her ears. Wolfkit wasn't following them. Foxkit turned around and gazed at her friend. Wolfkit was sitting in his small nest, staring at the green moss that made up his sleeping area.

He looked up as he realized Foxkit was watching him. "Go on without me," he told her with a small nod. Foxkit shook her head and padded over to him.

"Are you thinking about her again?" she asked, sitting down beside him and pressing her warm pelt against his body.

"Yeah," Wolfkit replied, his voice raw. "I was happy seconds ago, but then I remembered, and I just…" Foxkit didn't say anything, just pressed closer to Wolfkit, comforting him the best she could. Wolfkit managed a small, grateful smile.

"I'm okay now. Let's go catch up with Heatherkit before she comes back here and claws us to death," he meowed, standing up and shaking the small bits of dried moss from his fur. Foxkit chuckled and followed him out of the nursery and into the bright sunlight.

The two weaved through the groups of cats that mingled in front of the fresh-kill pile, and past Redstar sunbathing on the Highledge. The Thunderclan hollow was relatively busy, but that was normal for dawn in greenleaf. Foxkit passed the final group of cats, giving her a clear view of Heatherkit in front of the medicine den. "Where did you two go?" Heatherkit fumed, stalking over to them with her tail flicking.

"Sorry. Wolfkit got a thorn stuck in his paw pad, so I went back to help him," Foxkit told her with a shrug, acknowledging Wolfkit's grateful nod with a flick of her tail.

"Ugh. Whatever. Moonpaw was there, and she said they didn't have any extra moss," Heatherkit meowed, still bristling with annoyance.

"Why don't we play clan?" Wolfkit suggested, eager to ease Heatherkit's anger.

"Okay!" Foxkit agreed. "I call being leader."

"I'll be deputy," Heatherkit announced.

"Wait, uh…could I be deputy? I've never been deputy before," Wolfkit asked shyly. Heatherkit glared at him.

"Yeah, that's why you shouldn't be deputy. You don't have the experience," Heatherkit told him with a sneer.

"That's uncalled for, Heatherkit. Wolfkit can be deputy, and you can be our medicine cat," Foxkit told her bossy sister.

"But I don't want to be medicine cat," Heatherkit pouted. Foxkit sighed.

"If you're medicine cat, you get to give us prophecies from Starclan," Wolfkit told her. Heatherkit stared at him, clearly interested.

"Alright, I'll be medicine cat," Heatherkit agreed. "My name will be Heatherheart!"

"I'm Wolfblaze!" Wolfkit announced, standing up straight and puffing out his chest.

"And I'm the greatest leader of Thunderclan ever, Foxstar!" Foxkit bounded over to a dusty rock sitting deep in the floor of the hollow and leaped atop it, standing before her friends.

"Cats of…uh, Foxclan…? Yeah, Foxclan! Gather before me for a clan meeting!" Foxkit yowled to her friends. Wolfkit and Heatherkit scurried over to sit below their "clan leader". "I have an announcement to make! One cat in our clan is a half-clan cat! We must find the traitor and stop them!" Wolfkit and Heatherkit gasped in mock surprise.

"No! Not a half-clan cat!" Heatherkit yowled.

"I will chase the traitor from our territory, if I must!" Wolfkit meowed firmly, digging his claws into the soft ground. Foxkit opened her mouth to say something, but paused as she spied a cat padding toward her. It was her mother, Honeydew!

"Now, now, kits. There's nothing wrong with being half-clan," Honeydew meowed, emerging from behind Heatherkit.

"Mother!" Heatherkit chirped, bounding over to the queen. Honeydew purred and nuzzled her kit gently. Heatherkit returned the affection with a swift lick to her shoulder.

"Redstar says that half-clan cats aren't real warriors, and that Starclan says they are impure," Foxkit reminded her mother.

"Yeah. When has Redstar ever been wrong?" Wolfkit pointed out. Honeydew sighed.

"You three should get back to the nursery. You could get overheated if you play out here for too long," Honeydew told them.

"Stop changing the subject," Foxkit grumbled with a roll of her eyes. "And anyways, we're almost apprentices! We can handle a little heat."

"You're still kits until tomorrow aren't you? Let's go." Honeydew bent down to pick up Wolfkit, but he quickly scrambled away.

"Get away from me! I'm not a baby, and you're not my mom!" Wolfkit hissed with sudden hostility. Honeydew jerked back, startled. Even Foxkit felt surprised.

"That's right, go away! Rainheart is my mom!" Wolfkit roared. Heatherkit slunk behind Honeydew, ears pinned back.

"Wolfkit, don't be a brat. Rainheart is dead, and I am your mother now. Just come with me. You clearly need to rest," Honeydew meowed calmly, yet her tail tip flicked with annoyance.

"Why in Starclan would you think I would want to come with you, you bee-brain!" Wolfkit snarled. Foxkit leaped off the rock and ran to his side. Wolfkit didn't acknowledge her, only continued staring at Honeydew, challenging her.

Honeydew glared at Wolfkit, her fur bristling and eyes furious. "I'm done here, Wolfkit," she growled, turning away with Heatherkit following her every move. "Let's go, Foxkit."

"No! I'm staying with my friend!" Foxkit hissed defiantly.

"So be it." Honeydew stalked away, her tail waving. Heatherkit flashed Foxkit a worried look before bounding after her mother. Other warriors had started to stare and whisper around the hollow.

"C'mon, Wolfkit. Let's go to the apprentice's den," Foxkit whispered, nudging her friend in the direction of the empty den. Wolfkit nodded and followed Foxkit as she bounded over. The two entered silently, paws crunching slightly on the dried moss that covered the floor.

"So…what was that about?" Foxkit asked.

"She needed to be put in her place. She's not my mom, and she acts like she is, and it isn't fair!" Wolfkit meowed, anger clouded his vision as he plopped down on one of the dry nests. "I mean, I know she's trying her best, but she babies me so much! I can take care of myself. I snapped, I guess," he continued, starting to look guilty.

"It's okay, Wolfkit. She was acting out, and being a jerk," Foxkit told him, trying to console her friend.

"I should apologize. I shouldn't have done that," Wolfkit admitted with a sigh.

"You don't need to apologize! She called you a brat, and insulted Rainheart!" Foxkit fumed, starting to agree with Wolfkit's anger. "If anything, she should apologize."

"You're right. By tomorrow, she won't control us anymore," Wolfkit reminded himself.

"Yeah! We'll be apprentices!" Foxkit exclaimed, glad the conversation was taking a positive turn. Suddenly, a shadow was cast upon them as something black out the light coming in from the den entrance. Foxkit turned around, startled, to see her father, Silverfang, standing there.

"What are you kits doing? You're not apprentices yet," Silverfang chuckled. When the kits gave him a downcast look, Silverfang added, "Seriously, why are you in here?"

"Hiding from Honeydew," Foxkit admitted with an apologetic look at her father.

"Ah, my ex-mate. Was she bothering you?" he asked, mostly to Wolfkit.

"Yeah," Wolfkit admitted quietly.

"I'm sorry. I'll talk to her about it, if you want," Silverfang offered. Wolfkit gave him a grateful nod.

"Alright then. You kits should get out of here, though."

"Yes, Silverfang!" Foxkit and Wolfkit chorused, scurrying out of the den. Little did they know that everything they knew would be turned upside down from that point on.

*gasp* Dun dun dun…

-Onyx