Mosskit pressed against her mother's belly, breathing in the warm scent of milk and the faint scent of the woods.
"Come on, Mosskit! Open your eyes!" Mistykit whispered. "Bluefur won't let us go outside until you do."
"She'll open her eyes in her own time," Bluefur mewed softly.
Yes, she thought. In my own time.
She heard pawsteps coming towards the nursery. The crunch of the snow caused her to nuzzle closer to her mother. It's too cold outside. I'd much rather stay here.
"Oakheart!" Stonekit mewed excitedly. "Have you brought us a toy?"
The scent of fresh-kill flooded Mosskit's nostrils, as well as the mixed scents of ice and forest.
"C'mon, Mosskit!" Stonekit urged. "Oakheart brought us something to play with, and it would be more fun to play outside."
"This isn't a toy," Oakheart mewed sternly, dropping the prey by Bluefur's head. "This is for your mother to eat."
"Can we eat it?" Stonekit mewed. Mosskit heard him pounce towards it.
"No, you're too little," he mewed gently. "When you're older, you can even hunt it for yourselves."
"I'm going to be the best hunter!" Mistykit claimed proudly.
"No, I am!" Stonekit protested.
They tussled together, knocking into Mosskit. She adjusted slightly to move out of their way and snuggle closer to her mother.
I'd just like to stay right here.
Mosskit woke up surrounded by her littermates. Slowly, she opened her eyes. The nursery was bigger than she expected. The brambles hung high above her head, covered in an insulating blanket of snow. Moonlight trickled through some spots in the roof, letting in peeks of soft light.
Mosskit looked at her mother and littermates. They were all dark and blue-gray. Her brother and sister had soft, sleek pelts, while her mother was slightly more fuzzy. She looked down at her own pelt, and it was white and sleek, and covered in gray splotches. She wondered if she looked like her father.
She took a step forward in a long stretch before slowly stepping towards the entrance. She set a paw in the snow, and was startled by how cold it was, but didn't mind getting wet.
She slowly set her paw back on the snow, followed by another. The sky was dark and clear, covered in small, glowing white dots, and one giant white dot with a sliver off the side of it in the center of the sky. She stared at it, captured by the beauty. The rest of the camp was a blur.
"You opened your eyes!"
A voice broke her from her trance. In front of her was a pretty, dark tortoiseshell she-cat with a white muzzle. Mosskit looked up to meet her amber eyes and froze. Was she going to get in trouble for leaving the nursery?
"I just wanted to look outside," she squeaked. "I wasn't going to go anywhere!"
The cat purred. "Admiring Silverpelt?"
Silverpelt! "It's amazing!" she mewed.
"Each star is one of your warrior ancestors," she explained, sitting next to her. "Many of your kin are there, in StarClan."
"What's StarClan?" Mosskit said, a puzzled look forming on her face. So many new words! "Is that our warrior ancestors?"
"That's right," the cat said. "They watch over us from Silverpelt."
"That's amazing!"
"It is," the cat purred. "They visit medicine cats in our dreams, and every half-moon we share tongues with them at the Moonstone."
"The Moonstone..." she echoed.
"You'll learn more when you're older," the cat mewed, facing her.
"What's your name?" Mosskit asked.
"Spottedpaw."
Spottedpaw! Mosskit had thought the she-cat sounded familiar. "Were you at my kitting?"
"Yes, I was," she purred. "I'm impressed by your memory."
"I heard Bluefur tell Mistykit. How did you become a medicine cat?"
"I'll tell you about that another time. We better get you back in the nursery before your mother wakes up."
Before she could protest, Spottedpaw began nosing her back into the nursery. Realizing how cold she was, she snuggled up to her mother's belly.
"Sweet dreams, Mosskit," Spottedpaw whispered, padding off.
Mosskit drifted back to sleep, thinking about Silverpelt and her warrior ancestors.
"There's so much to explore!"
Mosskit followed Stonekit and Mistykit closely. They were allowed to explore the camp for the first time, and though her littermates were excited, she was overwhelmed by all the new scents and cats. She kept one eye on her mother, who was standing outside of the nursery, watching them.
Mistykit led them to the den right next to the nursery, sniffing the entrance profusely. The den was large and had low-hanging branches in front of the entrance. The three of them peeked inside and saw two cats sleeping inside, whom Mosskit recognized but didn't know the names of. One of them was a brown she-cat with ginger patch on her chest, and the other one was a blue-gray tom who looked similar to Bluefur.
"That's Stormtail!" Stonekit whispered. "He's our kin. Oakheart told me."
"He looks old," Mistykit commented.
"He must be, if he's Bluefur's father!"
"Quit your mewling!" the tom hissed, his eyes opening slightly. "And get out!"
The kits scrambled away from the den, crashing into their mother, who lost her balance momentarily but regained it.
"What's gotten into you?" Their mother helped them to their feet. "What do you expect, mewling like that in front of sleeping warriors?"
"We're sorry!" Stonekit squeaked.
Mistykit repeated her brother. Mosskit looked at her paws.
"The apprentices' den is empty. Go look there. Try to find someone to show you around. And for StarClan's sake, be respectful!"
The three of them scurried off to the den on the other side of the nursery, which was slightly smaller and empty inside. It was sheltered by ferns, and hidden behind a tree stump. Mosskit recognized the scents of Redpaw and Willowpaw, who had come to visit them shortly after they were born.
"Soon we'll get to sleep in here!" Mistykit mewed excitedly.
"That's moons away!" Stonekit groaned. "I wish we could be apprentices now."
I like sleeping with Bluefur, Mosskit thought. What's the rush?
Mistykit stepped inside the den, sniffing the two nests closer. "This one is Redpaw's," she mewed, sniffing one. "And this one is Willowpaw's," she declared proudly.
"How do you know, mouse-brain? We've never met them," Stonekit mewed, stepping inside. Mosskit remained outside, and saw the two apprentices approaching.
"Get out!" she whispered at her littermates. But it was too late.
"What are you doing in our nests?"
Redpaw flinched his tail irritably, but his whiskers twitched with amusement. Stonekit was sitting up in his nest, and Mistypaw had made herself comfortable in Willowpaw's. As soon as they saw the apprentices, they shot up and left the den.
"We were just looking!" Mistykit squeaked.
Stonekit agreed, nodding his head vigorously. "We just wanted to check it out!"
"That's fine, but stay out of our nests!" Willowpaw growled, stepping into the den. Redpaw followed closely behind her.
The kits went to the next den, which was located in a shadowy corner and protected by a tunnel of ferns. The sweet smell of herbs lined the tunnel, and Mosskit recognized the scent of Spottedpaw and Featherwhisker, as well as another, less familiar scent.
"Be careful," she warned. "Don't touch anything!"
"We won't," Mistykit promised. Inside the den was a grassy clearing, with two nests resting inside the crack of a rock and two more nests on the sides of the clearing, one of which had a light gray tabby tom sleeping in it. A small stream ran in from the corner.
"We should go," Mosskit mewed. "We shouldn't be inside without Featherwhisker."
"No, you shouldn't," a mew sounded from behind them.
The kits turned around, startled. A pair of amber eyes was staring intently at them, and Featherwhisker's thick, silver fur was fluffed in irritation. "Have you touched anything? Or eaten anything?" His mew was serious.
"No!" Mosskit promised. "We just got here. We haven't even looked around."
His gaze turned soft. "Good. Next time, wait for someone to show you!" He sighed. "Well, since you're here, I'll show you around."
Mosskit looked at him attentively as he walked towards the two nests nestled in the ferns. "These nests are for sick cats," he explained. "And this stream is for delivering water to them." He pointed with his tail to the nests in the cracked rock. "Those are mine and Spottedpaw's nests. Behind them is the herb store." He padded over to it. Mosskit looked excitedly at her littermates, but to her surprise they looked antsy and kept glancing towards the exit. Ignoring them, Mosskit focused back on Featherwhisker, who was explaining some of the herbs.
"It's very important never to eat any of these unless you're told to," he mewed seriously. "When your mother and her sister, Snowfur, were kits, they snuck in here and swallowed up some poppy seeds." Amusement flashed across his gaze. "They learned their lesson."
Mosskit nodded solemnly. "We would never do that!" But what do poppy seeds do?
"Now, you better go and find a warrior to show you around," he mewed, guiding them to the exit. "And stay out of Sunstar's den!"
The kits left the den. "That was boring!" Mistykit mewed as soon as Featherwhisker had left back into the den. "I wonder if Thrushpelt could show us the rest of the camp." Mosskit nodded. The tom was a good friend of their mother's, and often visited them and brought them treats. "Or Whitestorm! Bluefur said he might be leader someday."
"I'm sleepy," Stonekit muttered, swiping a paw across his eyes. "Can we go back to the nursery?"
"Not yet!" Mistykit insisted, scanning the clearing. "There's Whitestorm. I bet he'd even teach us some battle moves!" She ran towards him, followed slowly by Stonekit. Mosskit sighed, looking between the medicine den and the nursery.
I'd rather spend my time with Featherwhisker and Spottedpaw, learning more about herbs!