Blue birds fluttered in the green-leaf sun and they were followed by the chattering of chickadees. The radiant sun shone through the leaves and light splattered on the cool earth. A doe and her fawn cautiously appeared from behind an aspen tree before gingerly leaping among the trees. In the distance, you could hear the roaring of a waterfall crash into the river nearby.

What is this place? The tiny kit thought as he padded forward. Is this CreekClan territory?

“Goldenkit…”

”Who said that?”

“Goldenkit…!” a different voice called.

“Goldenkit, pay attention!”

The beautiful forest vanished in the blink of an eye as the tiny kit was suddenly brought back to reality as a moss ball hit him square in the face.

“Great StarClan, are you deaf or something, Goldenkit?” a dark ginger tabby tom with amber eyes sneered a fox-length away.

“S-Sorry!” Goldenkit squeaked and shuffled his paws nervously.

The moon older kit bore his tiny teeth. “Well, then pass the moss ball, already!”

“The what?” the golden tabby kit asked.

The other kit let out a drastic sigh.

“I’ll get it, Cliffkit!” a dark golden tom with lighter paws chirped and energetically bounced to the moss ball in front of Goldenkit’s paws. He swiftly scooped it up with his claws and passed it to Cliffkit.

“Thanks, Lizardkit,” Cliffkit meowed and threw it in the air. A dark ginger tom quickly leapt forward and caught the ball in his jaws.

“Pumpkinkit, give it back!” Cliffkit playfully growled.

Pumpkinkit calmly placed the moss ball on the ground. “You have to come and get it for yourself, Cliffkit!” he teased and crouched down.

The dark ginger tabby tom let out a low growl and leapt at the moss ball. Pumpkinkit intercepted him and tackled him to the ground. Both ginger kits wrestled on the ground and kicked up dust.

Meanwhile, a white she-cat with ginger patches slyly stole the moss ball and padded to a dark brown tom with a ginger underbelly. “Look what I got, Mousekit!” she boasted.

“You fooled them, Meltingkit!” Mousekit purred. “Come on! Let’s play!”

A tail lightly brushed over Goldenkit’s ear and he looked up to see his mother next to him. “Why don’t you go join them, Goldenkit?” his mother gently suggested and glanced at Meltingkit and Mousekit playing with the moss ball.

Goldenkit shook his head. “They’ll think I’m too small to play,” he meowed.

“You’re not small.”

“Cliffkit and Pumpkinkit think I am, though,” Goldenkit insisted. “They barely let me play with them because I can’t do anything right.”

“That’s not true, Goldenkit!” his mother scolded. “You just need to find out what you’re good at, that’s all.”

“But what is that?” Goldenkit pondered out loud.

“Well…you’ll find out in time,” his mother purred and gave his head a swift lick.
“Ryeleaf!” Pumpkinkit yowled and pushed Cliffkit aside. The kit bounded towards a light brown tabby tom who was carrying a squirrel in his jaws. “Did you catch that all by yourself?”

“I did,” Ryeleaf meowed as he placed the squirrel down and padded towards his mate. He touched noses with her. “Everything alright, my love?”

“Everything’s fine, Ryeleaf,” Leopardnose purred as a pale gray tabby tom approached them.

“Ryeleaf, Redstar wants to see you in his den,” Quailfeather—the medicine cat—announced.
Ryeleaf nodded. “Alright then,” he meowed.

“Aww! Do you have to go?” Mousekit pleaded and rubbed up against his father. “You just got here!”

“I’m sorry, my son, but my father wishes to meet with me. It’ll only be a few minutes,” Ryeleaf promised and touched Mousekit’s ear with his muzzle. “I won’t be long.” The light brown tabby warrior padded towards the leader’s den, which was in a den under Hanging Branch.

Quailfeather let his gaze follow Ryeleaf as the tom vanished into the roots. He murmured something under his breath before padded out to find Moonshadow.

“He’s weird,” Pumpkinkit snorted.

“Pumpkinkit, be nice!” Leopardnose scolded.

Coughs came from the leader’s den and Goldenkit grew worried. “What’s wrong with Redstar?”

Leopardnose let out a sigh. “He’s sick, Goldenkit. That’s all.”

“Will he get better?”

“I don’t know.”

Goldenkit gazed at the den, questions filling his mind. Why is Redstar sick? Is he going to get better or will he die?

******************************************************************************************

“Goldenkit, move over!” Pumpkinkit growled and kicked his brother with his back legs.

Goldenkit huffed and slid over a bit in the nest. “You’re welcome,” he muttered when his brother didn’t respond.

“How do you feel, Spottednight?” Hawkfeather, a white she-cat, asked the black spotted she-cat lying not far.

The she-cat slowly raised her head. “I’m just tired, that’s all,” she replied. Spottednight gave her stomach a few swift licks before curling her tail around her belly.

Goldenkit suddenly remember how he and the other kits bombarded Spottednight with questions when she first came into the nursery earlier that moon.

”Where are your kits?”

“Are they invisible?”

“What do you mean they aren’t here yet?”

“Are they visiting someone?”

“They come from your belly?”

“Eww…that’s gross.”

“Will I have kits one day?”

“Mousekit…only she-cats can have kits…”

“How do you know, Cliffkit?”

“Are they going to explode out of your belly?”

“That would be so cool.”

“Can we play with them when they arrive?”

“Pretty please??”

“Leopardnose?” Goldenkit quietly asked. His mother sleepily raised her head.

“What is it, Goldenkit?”

“Is there a waterfall in our territory?”

“Not that I know of,” his mother replied and let out a long yawn. “Get some sleep now.”

“Okay,” Goldenkit whispered and curled up in a tiny ball and let his thoughts stir around.

If there isn’t a waterfall in CreekClan territory, then what was that place I was seeing earlier? And who was that first cat who called my name? It wasn’t Cliffkit, that’s for sure.

A bright light from outside made the kit’s eyes open in curiosity. He winced a little from the dazzling light and found himself standing in the same forest he saw earlier. It looked exactly the same and he could hear the waterfall in the distance, too.

“H-Hello?” Goldenkit asked. “Anybody here?”

No one answered him, but soon mist magically appeared and surrounded the young kit.

“Goldenkit…” a cat called from the mist.

It’s that same voice!

“Hello?” Goldenkit called again. A shadow appeared in the fog and a dark gray tabby tom with bright green eyes padded forward with stars in his pelt.

“W-Who are you?” Goldenkit squeaked and crouched down to the ground.

“My name is Grassblade,” the tom answered calmly. “And I’ve come to talk with you.”