𝐁𝐞𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐒𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐬 𝐅𝐥𝐞𝐰 ◈━◈━◈ 𝐚 𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐢𝐨𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐢𝐜

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

     Swanpaw pretended to be surprised. "Ohhhhh, I thought it was Mousekit. Now, Duckkit, how about-"

     A gray kit bounced on her paws. 

     "Dustkit, not Duckkit!" She squealed. The kits all burst into laughter, and Swanpaw smiled.

     "Alright, alright. Now I've got it straight. Maplekit, Dustkit, Thrushkit, and Beekit." Swanpaw corrected herself, purposely getting two of the names wrong still.

     "No, Thriftkit and Bouncekit!" Two kits mewled with laughter.

     "Ah! I've got it now, Thriftkit, Bouncekit, Dustkit, and Maplekit!"

     "Yes!" They all chorused. Swanpaw laughed. 

     "How about some mossball now?" She asked. 

     "Yes!" They squealed, and one scuttered into the nursery, coming back a second later with a hunk of moss from one of the nests. 

     "You throw it!" Bouncekit ordered.

     "Alright." Swanpaw picked up the moss, and held it high. "One, two..." She mumbled through the moss, "Three!" She threw it and watched the kits scatter and run towards it. They barreled into it and ended up a mass of kit fluff and claws. 

     "Ouch!" Dustkit mewled, and Swanpaw came forward to break the fight up. Dustkit had a small scratch that let out a tiny trickle of blood on her ear. "Thriftkit clawed me and she wasn't stopping when I yelled!" The tiny she-kit declared indignantly. 

     Thriftkit retorted, "It's a game; and you were being a scaredy-mouse!"

     "Now, Thriftkit, you have to stop when someone squeals." Swanpaw mewed gently. 

     "Fine." The ginger kit muttered. 

     "My ear hurts," whimpered Dustkit. Swanpaw leaned over and licked the cut till it stopped bleeding. 

     "There." She mewed.

     "Thanks!" Dustkit chirped. Swanpaw suddenly heard Jaystar calling. 

     "Let all cats gather beneath the SkyBranch for a clan meeting!"

      She looked up quickly, and saw her Leader standing on the SkyBranch. "Oh... I have to go," she told the kits. 

     They all jumped up and pounced on her, whining, "Nooooo! Swanpaw, keep playing games!" They crawled all over her, mewling and snagging their tiny claws on her fur. 

     "Umm... There's a clan meeting, I need to go listen..." Swanpaw mewed, huddling over.

     She saw her sister's brown paws come closer (since she was hunched over with the weight of the kits) and heard Briarpaw's mew. 

     "Kits, Swanpaw has an important clan meeting to listen to. Now get off." And Briarpaw began plucking them off by their scruffs, ignoring squeals of indignation, and thrust them into the nursery to their mother. "There," she grunted, hauling the last one off her sister's pelt. Swanpaw gave a sigh of relief, and shook her pelt vigorously.

     "And that, is why I don't play with kits." Briarpaw mewed disdainfully.

     "Yeah, well... They're cute." Swanpaw mewed in defense of the kits. She gave her white tail a swish, and padded forward. "Come on, the meeting almost started. What do you think it's about?" Swanpaw inquired of her sister.

     Briarpaw followed her and mewed easily, "Sandpaw, Duskpaw, and Foxpaw's warrior ceremonies."

     Swanpaw tilted her head curiously as she sat down, and mewed, "How'd you know?"