"Dreamkit! Wake up!"
Dreamkit's eyes fluttered open. She was curled up next to her mother, Bloomflower, and her sister, Sweetkit, was prodding her with one paw.
"Dreamkit, you're such a lazy furball!" Sweetkit complained, rolling her eyes, though her whiskers twitched and her eyes gleamed with amusement, "I want to play Clan. You can be the invading ShadowClan warrior."
Dreamkit scrambled to her paws. "I'm not going to be the invading ShadowClan cat! I was that last time."
"Oh okay," Sweetkit announced, "I suppose I can be the ShadowClan cat. You be the RiverClan warrior."
Sweetkit pretended to growl at Dreamkit, and leapt onto her and dug her thorn-sharp claws into Dreamkit's flank. "I'm going to take over RiverClan territory and kill your warriors with the Dark Forest!"
"Get out of RiverClan territory, you stinking crow-food eater! Fox-hearted cats like you will never destroy RiverClan!"
Dreamkit pounced on Sweetkit and nipped her ears. Sweetkit yowled and heaved Dreamkit off with a great "Oof!"
Dreamkit lay sprawled and staggered to her paws, sending a heavy blow on Sweetkit's belly. Sweetkit thrashed with her paws, her eyes flooding with pain.
"Oh no!" Dreamkit gasped, "Sweetkit, are you okay? I should get Willowshine immediately!"
Dreamkit's mind raced. Guilt swamped over her. What if Sweetkit's wounds were deep enough to send her to StarClan? It would be her fault if Sweetkit died. She might have sent a cat to her death...and her own sister, for StarClan's sake!
Suddenly, Sweetkit laughed so hard that when she got to her paws, she fell down again and a claw jabbed Dreamkit's shoulder. "Just kidding!"
Dreamkit heaved a sigh of relief and Sweetkit stumbled to her paws.
Bloomflower gazed warmly at her kits. "Why don't you try your first fresh-kill? You're going to be made an apprentice today. It's quite late for you to try your first fresh-kill."
"I want milk!" Dreamkit wailed.
"Me too!" Sweetkit agreed.
"Oh little ones," Bloomflower gaze was warm and full of love. "You can't stay with me forever, young ones. You should taste fresh-kill."
Bloomflower pushed her way out of the nursery, returning with a minnow. "Here, try this."
Dreamkit looked at Sweetkit, and then at Bloomflower, who nodded.
They each bit into the minnow. The taste was quite odd...and slimy, but amazingly, satisfying! It tasted really good, perhaps even better than milk.
They finished the fresh-kill in a few gulps.
"Who's Mistystar's mother, anyway?" Dreamkit asked, looking at the blue-gray RiverClan leader, "Who's her siblings?"
"Her mother is Bluestar, and siblings are Stonefur and Mosskit," Bloomflower replied, "Bluestar was the leader of ThunderClan. When she and her siblings were born, Sunstar was leader. Her mother became leader next. Then Firestar. He was one of the leaders who brought the four Clans into the forest and went on a quest to revive SkyClan. SkyClan was only revealed, however, to the Clans, after Darktail, Onestar's son arrived."
"Wow!" Sweetkit breathed, "Mistystar's old!"
"Perhaps," Bloomflower sighed, "Every RiverClan warrior suspects she's on her last life. But there is something I must tell you. Dragonblaze of ThunderClan...is your father."
"What do you mean?" Sweetkit demanded, gaping at their mother.
Dreamkit froze, her fur bristling with surprise. She and Sweetkit were Half-Clan kits?
"I would like to join ThunderClan," Dreamkit admitted.
"So do I," Sweetkit muttered grudgingly.
Bloomflower's eyes grew huge. "Oh little ones, you are the ones to choose your destiny."
Dreamkit's heart shattered into pieces at her mother's sadness. "I know it's our destiny to join ThunderClan."
"Be safe, my dears," Bloomflower choked.
Grief engulfed Dreamkit as she touched her nose to Bloomflower's, and Sweetkit gave her a quick lick.
"We'll be leaving now," Dreamkit whispered, "Bye mom."
They set off towards ThunderClan territory.
"Er, Dreamkit, where are we?" Sweetkit asked.
Dreamkit looked around and gasped. They were lost!
