"I still can't believe Darkkit fell for our prank!" Icykit hissed playfully. "Right?" Shadekit and Graykit exclaimed together. 'I wonder if she's mad?' wondered Shadekit. She had always cared for Darkkit ever since Shadekit opened her eyes, but not just like a friend, like, she couldn't put it into words exactly. "Should we wake Darkkit?" Shadekit asked. "Nah," Graykit said playfully. "Let her sleep, maybe we can get another prank in to!"
"She seemed pretty mad," Shadekit mewed, looking back into the nursery. "Let's explore camp!" Icykit exclaimed. "I mean, we can't be warriors if we don't know which den is which."
"Yeah!" Shadekit wanted to head to the medicine den before anything. "Where should we head first?" Graykit asked. "The medicine den," Shadekit blurted out. Icykit looked at her like she was crazy. "Well," She started. "What if one of us gets a thorn in our nest, we should be able to find the medicine den."
"Good point," Graykit admitted. "Come on then!" She leapt up and ran toward a small cave opening. 'Could this be the medicine den?' Shadekit wondered. A tall brown tabby walked out of the cave entrance, herbs in her mouth. "Excuse me," Shadekit asked. "Is this the medicine den?"
"Why yes, Shadekit," The brown tabby replied. "This is the medicine den."
'How does she know my name?' Shadekit asked herself. "I am Littleshine, the medicine cat," Littleshine purred. "I was at your kitting."
'Ooooh,' Shadekit felt ashamed she hadn't known that. "Would you like me to show you the medicine den?" Littleshine asked. "YES!" Icykit came running up behind Shadekit. Graykit appeared beside Shadekit a split second before Littleshine led them in. The moment the kits stepped paw in the medicine den, Shadekit noticed a Dark gray cat laying in a nest, battle scars all over his sides and face. "Who's that?" Shadekit asked. "That's the leader, Coldstar," Littleshine had a worried look as she spoke. Graykit walked up to Coldstar and sniffed his scars.
"MmMmm," Coldstar moaned and rolled over. "Is this Graykit?"
"Yeah, I'm Graykit," Graykit puffed out his chest."This is Icykit and Shadekit."
"And I'm Darkkit!" Darkkit bounded up to Shadekit's side. "How did you find out we were--," Darkkit cut off Shadekit and said, "I woke up just in time to see you heading to the medicine den."
"May I continue to show you kits around?" Littleshine asked. "Yes Littleshine!" Graykit said eagerly. "Well then, best I show you the poisonous herbs," She looked at large groves in the cave wall that were rather low to the ground. 'There are poisonous herbs?' It was then Shadekit realized there is so much to learn. "This is marigold," Littleshine started, "It's good for stopping infections and excessive bleeding, but don't eat it."
"Why not?" Icykit asked. "It could hurt your stomach, maybe even kill you if you eat too much."
'Wow,' Shadekit was in awe of how much Littleshine knew. "These are Stinging Nettle leaves, if you stumble into them while they are still attached to the roots, they will make you itch for moons!" She looked at the stinging nettle like it was rotting food. "Moving on," Littleshine pulled some bright red berries forward. "Here we have deathberries. If you carefully pick out the seeds, you can use it to heal infections."
"How do you know so much?" Darkkit asked, wonder in her eyes. "Because I had a good mentor, and--," Littleshine was cut off by a tall, gray-and-white cat that seemed to be stalking into the medicine den. "Tallshadow?" Littleshine asked. "I promised to take you herb-hunting today, remember?"
"Oh, yes," Littleshine looked at Tallshadow with a glint of hilarity in her eyes. "My big brother always has to go with me on herb-gathering trips."
"Big brother?" Shadekit heard Darkkit whisper beside her. Shadekit turned her head to look at her and her eyes were as wide as an owl's. "Yes, we are littermates," Littleshine mewed as she walked up and nudged Tallshadow on the side. "Let's head off shall we?" She purred. "As for you kits, you should get back to the nursery."
"Thank you for teaching us herbs Littleshine!" Graykit called over his shoulder as he bolted back to the nursery. "Yeah!" Shadekit thanked her to and bolted back to the nursery, just as Graykit did. "I can just tell you and Icykit had a great time learning herbs, didn't you?" Moonglow asked as Icykit and Shadekit curled up next to her. "Oh you bet we did," Shadekit looked up, amazed by what she had learned. "I want to be a medicine cat," Shadekit whispered after everyone fell asleep. "And there is nothing that is going to stop me."