Four kits gathered around an elder, listening to his stories.

"... Jayfeather had the power of reading other's emotions, thoughts, and memories. Lionblaze had the power of battle. Dovewing had the power to see and hear places that aren't around her... Together they use their powers to defeat the Dark Forest cats and fulfil the prophecy of the three..." The elder rambled on and on, telling about the great battle.

"I'M BORED!" Pinekit complained, interrupting Brackenear's story. "I like Sorrelthroat's stories more." The striped kit scooched over to the sandy she-cat, leaning against the elder.

Brackenear scowled at Sorrelthroat, his ripped ear flattening. "The Clan history is more important than made-up stories."

"But it's boring!" Pinekit whined.

"Shut up!" Snowkit growled, glaring at her littermate. "I want to continue the story!"

"NO! I want Sorrelthroat to tell us a story instead!"

There it goes again... Swampkit thought with a prick of annoyance. Her sisters, Snowkit and Pinekit, always argues about everything. From who takes a bite first, to who gets the moss ball, but most importantly, to be the leader of the litter. 

Snowkit was more bossy, but Pinekit whines a lot. Swampkit and her brother, Marshkit, were more quiet. All they needed to do is to follow whatever Snowkit or Pinekit says.

Right now, Swampkit just wanted them to keep quiet so that she could listen to the story. She didn't care if it was Sorrelthroat's or Brackenear's, really.

"How come the Three have the power of the stars?" Swampkit heard Marshkit whisper to Brackenear. "Do we have the power of the stars?"

The brown elder nodded approvingly. "That's a very good question, Marshkit."

Swampkit shifted closer to Marshkit, eager to hear Brackenear's answer too. But Brackenear only turned away and whispered something to Sorrelthroat.

"Should we tell them about the powered-cats?" The old tom had kept his voice low, but Swampkit could hear his whisper to Sorrelthroat.

Marshkit nudged his sister. "What are they saying, Swampkit? I can't hear them with Snowkit yelling."

"Shh..." Swampkit meowed back. Her ears pricked forward eagerly. Who are the powered-cats?

Sorrelthroat replied Brackenfur with a whisper,"Alright. It's about time they've heard of it anyways." 

Brackenfur nodded at the other elder, and shuffled back to his original spot. Sorrelthroat lowered her head to glare at the kits. 

"Quiet!" She hissed.

The kits stopped to look up at the elder. Even Snowkit and Pinekit stopped their quarrelling. 

"Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Dovewing weren't the only cats with special powers," The battered she-cat began. "There was another group of cat. We call them the powered-cats."

Yes! She telling us about them!

"They have special powers. From powers like summoning fire to powers like mind-reading."

"Cool!" Pinekit meowed.

Sorrelthroat's gaze suddenly became wrathful, even though Swampkit could she a speck of fear and worry. Pinekit backed up, afraid.

"It isn't cool, kit." Brackenear meowed, his expression similar to Sorrelthroat's. "They were dangerous. They threatened to burn the down the clans. They wanted to destroy us." The old tom let out a small pause. "And they almost did. Without StarClan, we couldn't have survived."

"So they're gone now?" Snowkit asked slowly, aware of the elders' serious tone.

"They still want to destroy the clans." Brackenear meowed softly. His gaze seemed far away. "They hide among us, disguised as Clan cats. It is every Warrior's job to find them, hunt them down."

Swampkit's eyes shifted to look at Sorrelthroat. The she-cat's face seemed to pale.

"And what if we find a traitor?" Snowkit's voice had a small tremble to it. "What would happen to them?"

Swampkit wasn't sure if she wanted to hear Brackenear's respond. Sorrelthroat paled even more, almost looking sick.

Brackenear's gaze met the kit's then her littermate's, digging into their pupils, one by one. His voice was barely a breeze as he meowed,

"Then they die."

~

Swampkit and her littermates sat in the nursery. Their mother, Cinderflower, had headed off somewhere with their father Spruceface. The other queen in the nursery, Emberbreeze, had went off for a walk. Her kits were somewhere in the clearing, possibly playing moss-ball, or listening to the elders' tales.

So the four kits were left unwatched. However, they weren't allowed to leave the nursery, despite being already five moons old.

"I'm bored." Pinekit whined, as usual.

"You've already said that ten times today!" Snowkit exclaimed, her tail flicking with irritation. "Let's do something."

Pinekit opened her mouth to suggest something, or perhaps to whine more, but Snowkit cut her off with,

"We could roleplay!"

"About what?" Pinekit grumbled back. "We've already done ShadowClan versus SkyClan, ShadowClan versus RiverClan, ShadowClan versus badgers, ShadowClan versus foxes, ShadowClan versus dogs, ShadowClan versus rogues..." The kit continued to list the things they've acted out in the past.

"I know!" Snowkit jumped up and meowed, "We could do ShadowClan versus the special powered-cats!"

The other littermates froze, including Swampkit. The powered-cats? The elders have made it clear that those cats weren't to be joked with. Will we get in trouble for roleplaying as a powered-cat?

"I don't think this is a great idea—" Marshkit started.

He was quickly cut off by the white-and-cream kit. "No one would notice. No one is going to visit us soon, anyways." Pinekit opened her mouth to complain, but Snowkit continued, "Plus, it's just a game. It's not like we're traitors and all."

"Fine." Pinekit grumbled, not looking too happy. But Swampkit knew that her sister didn't really care what they're roleplaying. She just wants something to whine about.

Snowkit jumped onto a stack of moss, in the middle of the den. "I call not being the bad guy!" She yells, using her tail to touch her nose.

Swampkit knew what she have to do when Snowkit meows that. Quickly, the brown kit did the same as her littermate, mewing as fast as she could, "Icallnotbeingthebadguy!"

Marshkit wasn't dumb either. "Not me!" He meowed, his nose touching his tail. "Pinekit you're the powered-cat!"

Pinekit dug her claws into the ground, hissing. "Not fair!" Swampkit expected her to turn away and leave, but instead, the dark brown kit meowed, "Argh fine. Whatever. It's just a roleplay."

Just as Swampkit anticipated, Snowkit called from her pile of moss, "I call being the ShadowClan leader!"

Yeah. Yeah. Whatever, Snowstar. Snowkit was always the leader. Swampkit and Marshkit only accepted that, not daring to challenge the firstborn littermate.

The kits got into their stances, with Snowkit still on her pile of moss. Marshkit, Swampkit, and Pinekit huddled beneath her, pretending to be in a clan meeting.

"We'll start with Pinekit revealing she's a traitor." Snowkit whispered.

"I know what to do." Pinekit snapped back.

Snowkit huffed, and Swampkit felt a wave of annoyance. Just start this roleplay already!

After a moment of silence, Snowkit finally said, "I, Snowstar, am suspicious of my warriors. One of you are a powered-cat!" Her icy blue eyes narrowed at Pinekit.  "Reveal yourself or die!"

That's just unrealistic, Swampkit thought. If you don't know who's the traitor, you can't kill them. But she kept the thought to herself, moving on with the game.

"IT IS ME!" Pinekit screamed, showing her claws. "I BETRAYED YOU ALL!!! THE CLANS WILL BE DESTROYED BY MY FIRE POWERS! BURN! BURN AND DIE!"

The small she-cat's yowl pierced her ears, and Swampkit felt like wrapping her tail around her them. WindClan could hear you across the lake!

Snowkit's followed scream did not help. "DIE, TRAITOR! DIE!" She leaped down from her spot, lunging for Pinekit. Her pelt whirled past Swampkit, flying in the air.

Swampkit also lunged at Pinekit, seeing her sister's attack. She tried to grip on Pinekit, who was outnumbered three to one.

"Hey!" Pinekit groused, "I just sent a wave of fire at you! You're supposed to burst in flames!"

Swampkit and Marshkit released their hold, but Snowkit continued gripping on her sister, not letting go.

"You're dead! I just burned you down!" Pinekit hissed at Snowkit, spitting at her.

Snowkit finally released hold. "Fine." She growled. "But I'm a leader! I got nine lives!"

"Well you lost all of them!"

Swampkit could tell that an argument was coming. Or the argument already started. She let out a small sigh and got ready to cover her ears.

Luckily, Marshkit broke the tension by yowling, "I'M ON FIRE! AHHHHH HELP!" Unluckily, it just meant more loud noises for Swampkit.

But the kits went along with it anyways. When Pinekit send an invisible wave of fire at them, they would duck or jump or pretend that they were caught on fire. 

"MWAHAHAHAHA!" Pinekit yowled, half giggling. "BURN, SHADOWCLAN! BURN TO DEATH!"

Swampkit swivelled to the side as imaginary flames shot at her, making her dodge. Her mouth was wide and grinning, enjoying the fun of the role-play. The whole litter was screaming and laughing, and all went well for once.

"What's going on?" A strong voice filled the den, followed by a large black-and-grey pelt. "Did some cat say 'fire'?"

The kits stopped playing, looking up at the queen that just entered. Emberbreeze's orange gaze swept across them, confusion in her eyes. Another queen swept in the nursery—Swamptail's mother, Cinderflower. Emberbreeze's two kits followed, their tiny bodies barely filling the room.

 Swampkit's heart felt tight. Uh oh, what if she finds out that Pinekit's acting as a powered-cat? Would we get in trouble? It's only a role-play... But what if they don't like it? Again, the elders took them really seriously...

"We were just roleplaying." Marshkit said quickly, even though his voice was quiet. "I pretended I got caught on fire, that's all."

Smart. Swampkit thought. Saying the truth but not entirely the truth.

"Yeah." Snowkit agreed. Swampkit also nodded, blinking at the queens.

"Somewhat." Pinekit muttered.

Littlekit and Thistlekit poked their tiny heads out. "Can we play too?" They asked at the same time.

Worry flashed in their mother's eyes. "No you're too small—" She was interrupted by Snowkit yowling,

"ATTACK PINEKIT!" Snowkit leaped at her sister again, pouncing on the brown kit.

The two younger kits also lunged forward, ignoring Emberbreeze's meow. Swampkit took a step back as Littlekit dashed past her.

Soon the kits were a pile of fur, in the middle of the den. Swampkit had watched them from the shadows, and so had Marshkit. They had enough roleplaying for the day.

After a few minutes of watching the other kits trample each other, Cinderflower whispered,

"Let's go to the fresh-kill pile, shall we? Good and quiet kits get a treat."

Swampkit turned to her mother, licking her lips and purring. But her purr quickly faded into disappointment as she realised that Cinderflower wasn't talking to her. 

Cinderflower's gaze was on a joyful Marshkit, who nodded excitedly at his mother—Swampkit's mother. They paid no attention to her as they headed out the den, into the clearing outside.

Swampkit just sat there, stunned. What about me? She stared after her mother with amber eyes. Maybe she just didn't notice that I was there... Swampkit didn't know whether she should follow them. 

Part of her heart felt teared away, and she felt invisible. Just in case, Swampkit looked down to check. Her pelt was still here. She was still here. But nobody would ever notice her.

She was always like this, overshadowed by her siblings. Snowkit, the natural leader, Pinekit, the whiniest cat in the clans, Marshkit, the forever perfect kit, and even Rainkit, the kit who died when Cinderflower gave birth. 

Swampkit curled her tail over her nose. But maybe I don't want to be found. 

Swampkit thought about the heroes in Sorrelthroat's made-up stories, thought about Jayfeather, Lionblaze, and Dovewing, thought about Firestar... All those legendary characters that save the clans. Do I want to be like them?

She had never thought that she'll be leader. Or medicine cat. Or anyone worth remembering. 

I'll think about it again, Swampkit thought, When I'm an apprentice. I'm still a kit, after all.

With that, Swampkit dozed into sleep, whirling into the darkness of her dreams...