Chapter 1

Chapter 1 - Tanja

It wasn't easy being a kit, especialy for Riverkit. She had never been very playful or particularily interested in tumbling around with her littermates. In fact, it seemed that she was quite the opposite of her two brothers. Sparrowkit and Rabbitkit were quite the little puffballs of energy With the sleek, long hair they inherited from their father, they looked more like prey than cats when they were scampering around the camp. Riverkit looked more like her mother, Hollytail . Slim and a brilliant silver, she stepped out of the nursery. "Sparrowkit! Rabbitkit! I told you to stay in the nursery!" she yowled at her unruly sons. It was no use. They were headed for the elders den. Riverkit stifled a mew of amusement. She knew that their mother would never chase the two kits into the elders den. The elders were too cranky when interrupted and Hollytail was too nice. Her litter mates had always been eager for a story. Riverkit suddenly wondered what it was like having to deal with kits of her own. A part of her secretly wished she would never have to find out. She didn't care for the life of a queen. Riverkit wanted to be helping the clan, not sitting around all day taking care of kits. As she watched her brothers, she knew that having kits couldn't be easy. She sighed, got up from where she was enjoying the warm new-leaf sun, and padded over to intercept her brothers. They had annoyed looks on their faces when she stepped in front of them. "Where do you think you two are going? Hollytail called you back to the nursery," she said simply. "You can't tell us what to do," Rabbitkit shot back. "You aren't the clan leader, the deputy, or the medicine cat. You aren't our mother or father or a warrior. You aren't even an apprentice," he sneered at her. She rolled her eyes and saw Hollytail walking over angrily. "Neither are you," she pointed out calmly as their mother approached. When Hollytail was about to meet the kits, Sparrowkit and Rabbitkit started whimpering and crying. Hollytail rolled her eyes. She knew that this was probably Rabbitkit's doing. He had been troublesome since the day he could open his eyes. She sighed and asked the kits, "What happened?" The question was mostly directed towards Riverkit, as she was the most honest of the three.

Rabbitkit answered first. "We were playing a game where we pretended to be warriors, but Riverkit insisted on being clan leader," he began, sniffling. "We did most of what she asked, but when something went against the warrior code, we didn't do it. She would punish us by giving us apprentice jobs. The game was fine until Riverkit ordered us to kill a cat, and we refused because the warrior code forbids a warrior to kill a cat they don't need to kill." Riverkit glanced over at Sparrowkit, who was looking more and more confused as Rabbitkit went on. "For disobeying her, she banished us from the clan!" Hollytail thought on what Rabbitkit had said before speaking. "This sounds like a perfectly normal game. What is all the fuss about?" Rabbitkit turned to face Riverkit with veiled triumph in his eyes. "She wanted us to leave the camp for real with out any warriors or apprentices, something that is against the warrior code!" Sparrowkit gasped, eyes wide. Hollytail thought on what Rabbitkit had said. Then, she turned to Riverkit. "What do you say happened Riverkit?" she asked the young she-cat.

Riverkit neatly sat down and wondered what her mother was thinking. Rabbitkit looked annoyed, as if he had imagined that his mother would take his side in this lie. Riverkit began her story. "I was sitting in view of the nursery, like you ask us to be when we leave, trying to enjoy the sun. I heard you call Rabbitkit and Sparrowkit before I could see them. They were heading to the elders den, for obvious reasons." She gave her brothers a hard stare. "I got up and confronted them about it. I knew that I could at least stall them long enough for you to come over. After all, if you had called them there had to be a good reason. Rabbitkit got defensive and claimed that I couldn't stop them because I was just a kit. I pointed out that they were too and that's when you came over." She gave her chest a quick lick after finishing her story and looked at her mother. Being a very thoughtful cat, Hollytail always considered both sides of a story. The previous medicine cat, Fernbelly (not attached to the name), had seriously considered her as an apprentice, but Hollytail had always wanted kits. Fernbelly knew that she could not drag a cat who did not want to be a medicine cat into the life of service to the clan.

Riverkit wondered what could have been as Hollytail made her decision. Suddenly, Sparrowkit piped up. "I can't take this anymore," the young tom meowed. "I didn't think you would go this low, Rabbitkit, just to get out of trouble! Our sister is no traitor to the warrior code. The story you made up is a lie. Riverkit would never do anything that could get us hurt! Riverkit's story is what happened Hollytail. Punish us however you want." He bowed his head. Rabbitkit let out a low growl. Riverkit stepped in between her brothers. This was no time for a fight. Deep down inside, she admired Sparrowkit for his bravery. "He will make a fine warrior one day," she thought fondly. Finally, Hollytail spoke. "Sparrowkit I admire your bravery in standing up to your brother. Riverkit, I admire your honesty in telling me the whole truth." Her decisions always started something like this. "Neither of you will be punished because of these honorable traits. You may return to the nursery if you wish." She turned to Rabbitkit. "As for you, Rabbitkit, I don't think you understand the seriousness of the accusation you made. Breaking the warrior code or pushing other cats to break it is always punished, but an offense like you described could have gotten Riverkit held back from her apprenticeship."

Rabbitkit lowered his head and muttered, "Would have served her right." Only Riverkit heard him and she nudged his flank with her tail to try and get him to shut up. Hollytail noticed. "What did you just say?" she asked in a cold voice. Rabbitkit raised his head, glared at Riverkit, and told their mother, "I said it would have served her right." Riverkit held Rabbitkit's gaze with steady eyes as he continued. "She is always trying to boss us around like she is above us. If she had been held back, she would have gotten the punishment she deserved." Rabbitkit soon found himself with a cuff to the ear. "Back to the nursery," meowed Hollytail coldly. "Now." Rabbitkit, with his head and tail held high, took his time to walk back into the nursery. As soon as she was certain he was inside, Hollytail turned back to Sparrowkit and Riverkit. Riverkit noticed that Hollytail had visibly relaxed. She smiled at the two kits. "I am very proud of you two Always know that." Her eyes shone with pride as she looked at her kits walk off. As she watched them, she wondered what the future had in store for them. She pushed the dark thought of what might hurt them to the back of her mind as she set out to enjoy the next few moons with them.