"Take all your weight onto your haunches." Jayclaw instructed, placing his paw gently on Riverkit's back. "When you do this, your paws won't make any sound." She focused intently, taking a hesitant paw step forward, it was nearly silent. "When you get close enough to your prey, then you pounce and kill it."

Riverkit crept forward, focusing on her "prey" which was a small pebble. She inched closer, soon leaping and taking the stone in her paws with ease. Beside her, two other kits jumped and she looked over to see her sisters, Moonkit and Echokit jumping towards their own stone.

Moonkit's skidded ahead of her, out of her grasp and Echokit kicked up a flurry of dust and pine needles as she stumbled forward. "Riverkit, that was excellent." Jayclaw purred, brushing his tail over Riverkit's shoulders. "Moonkit, you jumped to soon and Echokit your weight wasn't balanced properly." Riverkit held her head high, proud of herself for hunting so well and gaining her father's approval, she would be the best warrior in all of AshClan!

"Aren't they a little young for this kind of training?" Came a kind purr from behind the kits in the nursery. Riverkit looked over her shoulder to see the kind blue eyes of her mother, Mistypool.

"No cat is ever too young to start training." Jayclaw held his head high. "I want my kits to be as advanced as Mudpaw and Cloverpaw when they turn six moons. There's no such thing as "too good" of a hunter, my dear."

"Of course not." Mistypool rested her chin on her paws, letting out a happy chuckle. "They will certainly be the best warriors."

Pride swelled in Riverkit's chest, she looked at her sisters who didn't look as proud. Moonkit was staring into the camp and Echokit was licking dust from her gray fur with annoyance twitching in her tail. Riverkit turned to face her father. "I'm want to be leader someday." She proclaimed, enjoying the prideful glow in her father's eyes.

"I'm sure you will." Jayclaw nudged her closer. "If you put your mind to it, you three can do whatever you want." Riverkit let out a purr and she noticed that both Moonkit and Echokit seemed to have their spirits lifted as well.

"Since we have this extra training?" Echokit spoke up, looking directly at Jayclaw. "Do you think Goldenstar will make us apprentice's earlier?"

"I'm afraid not." Mistypool mewed. "You still have to be six moons old, it's the warrior code."

"But that's five moons away." Echokit sat down, slumping her shoulders and looked at her paws with disappointment written all over her face. Riverkit bounded over to Echokit and brushed up against her sister.

"But that's five moons of extra training we'll get from our father. And you don't have to be a certain age to become a warrior, so if we have more training we'll become warrior's soon!" Riverkit mewed, trying to cheer her sister up. Riverkit wanted to become an apprentice just as much as Echokit, but she also wanted to become an apprentice and outshine all the others. She would be the best apprentice in the Clan.

"That is true." Jayclaw nodded, then looked out into camp. Riverkit followed his gaze and watched as Ivyheart, the AshClan deputy was gathering cats for patrols. "I'm going to try and get myself on a patrol." He nuzzled each of his three daughters and touched muzzles with Mistypool. "I'll be back later with some fresh-kill, behave you three."

"We always do." Moonkit purred, stepping in beside Riverkit and Echokit. "Have fun and catch lots of prey!"

Jayclaw gave one last loving look at his kits before bounding away to Ivyheart and the rest of the Clan. Riverkit watched her father go, mildly upset that they wouldn't be getting anymore training. She drooped her ears slightly, and looked towards her mother. Mistypool was looking over at Heatherstorm, the new queen who had just recently had her two kits, Lilykit and Graykit.

Neither of them even had their eyes open yet, but Riverkit hoped they would be able to play soon. She enjoyed playing with Echokit and Moonkit but Moonkit was always stargazing and Echokit was clumsy. Maybe Riverkit could train Lilykit and Graykit to be stronger, like a mentor. She relished at the idea with a purr and turned back to her siblings. Once again, Moonkit was staring out into the camp and Echokit appeared to be sulking over something once more.

"What should we do now?" Riverkit asked her sisters, pulling Moonkit's attention back to reality and lifting Echokit's head. "We could play a game, or go explore?" She looked with a hopeful glance over her shoulder at Mistypool.

"I'm afraid not." Mistypool purred. "You're still a bit young for exploring just yet. The Clan is very busy these days and we don't need our warriors tripping over the tails of nosy kits."

Riverkit's ears drooped, she sat down and watched as Moonkit's icy blue gaze went back to the sky and Echokit kept her silence. She wished that her siblings were more like her, full of ambition and loving to play. She sighed and tried to follow what Moonkit was looking at, but she appeared to just be watching the clouds.

Riverkit wondered what was so interesting, but couldn't wrap her mind around it. She didn't want to watch clouds and she didn't want to sulk, she wanted to train more with her father. She wanted to put her paws to work and she wanted to make use of herself, she could only hope Jayclaw would return soon.

****

Moonkit was twitching in her sleep, resting her tail over Riverkit's nose. She let out a tiny sneeze and was ripped out of her sleep. She lifted her head and looked around, blinking sleep away. Moonkit was turned onto her back with her silver paws twitching in her dreams, Echokit was curled into a tight ball close to Mistypool.

Riverkit looked out into the camp, it was in the middle of the night and AshClan was silent. She sat up, careful not to disturb her nestmates but enough to where she could see farther out into the camp. Her paws itched for exploration, she wanted to see the camp. It was her home and she should've seen it by now! More than just the outside of it when she trained with her father.

Riverkit looked around, Mistypool was sound asleep and so was Heatherstorm, cuddling closing with her two kits. Riverkit lifted her paw hesitantly over Moonkit's sleeping form and stepped onto the nursery floor. She stepped over her sister and looked back at them, none of them had been woken up by her movements.

Taking a deep breath and gathering her bravery, Riverkit made her way out of the nursery and stepping into the fresh, open air. She breathed in the scent of pine needles, and looked around. There was a tortoiseshell she-cat named Berryleaf sitting near the camp's entrance, her back was turned to Riverkit.

She didn't think that she would be able to explore the camp, not with Berryleaf sitting watch, but maybe she could explore something else. Riverkit walked silently along the edge of the nursery and towards the back end of the camp. AshClan's camp was surrounded by large boulders and were easy to sneak by.

She crept silently through the forest, it was silent except for the sound of her paws shifting the pine needles on the forest floor. She looked up at the night sky, taking in the beautiful sight of silverpelt through the looming pine trees above her. She closed her eyes, enjoying the cool night of the forest.

"You shouldn't be out here." Riverkit jumped, spinning around and panic seizing her heart. She found herself face to face with a large golden she-cat with amusement filled green eyes.

"Goldenstar." Riverkit's mouth dropped, she took a step back, tucking her tail between her legs and lowering her head. She was going to be in so much trouble. "I'm so sorry, I just--" She stammered through her words. "I just wanted to explore a bit."

Goldenstar let out a purr. "Don't worry, Riverkit. You didn't get far enough to put yourself in any danger." The leader sat down, licking her paw. "But the forest can be dangerous for a kit, you shouldn't leave the nursery."

Riverkit's ears dropped. "But I want to explore, I want to see the forest and the camp. I want to see it all."

"I admire your ambition, Riverkit." Goldenstar purred. "There's nothing wrong with wanting to explore, but that time will come soon." She looked up, staring at the moon. "Only six moons of your life is spent as a kit, confined to the nursery." Her green eyes drifted back down Riverkit. "You only have five moons of those left, and when you get older you'll soon realize how quickly those six moons pass you by. In five moons you'll be free to learn and explore the forest, but for now you should enjoy your time as a kit."

Riverkit looked at her paws, Goldenstar had a point. She looked into the forest, her heart aching to see more of it. She took a deep breath, knowing that one day she would see all of it and more, because one day she would be leader.

"Let's get you back into your nest for the night." Goldenstar stood up, nudging Riverkit back to camp with her paw. "I won't tell your parents about your late night venture, as long as you promise to stay in your nest."

"I promise, Goldenstar." Riverkit mewed, looking up at her leader. Goldenstar stood tall, and proud, her golden pelt shimmering in the moonlight and her green eyes glittering with confidence. That's the kind of cat I want to be. Riverkit though, watching the AshClan leader as they made their way back to camp. No, that's the kind of leader I want to be!