"Can you hear me? Please wake up!" Citrus awoke to the muffled voice of a she-cat. Paws shook her, forcing the few remaining strings of sleep away. Opening her eyes, two familiar she-cats loomed over her. The smaller she-cat bore a cream pelt and pale, amber eyes while the other one's muddy-brown pelt stood out from deep pools of blue. Both of their faces lit up.

     "Aha! You're up!" exclaimed the brown she-cat. "Took you long enough, though." She rolled her eyes, not getting a reaction from the smaller cat.

     "I'm kinda sleepy... " Citrus moaned, jaws opening up to taste the morning air and her sister's pelts. The two cats exchanged a worried glance.

     "It's time to wake up, Citrus. Even if we have a day off, that doesn't mean we have tasks to complete," the brown she-cat scowled. Reaching over, she sliced a paw across her muzzle, a small sting popping up. Tumbling backward, she instinctively brought a paw up to the wound.

     "What was that for? I'm already up, Lark!" she demanded.

     "It's to make sure you're awake and not still hiding in your nest in spirit." Lark licked her paw swiftly, setting her tail around the cream she-cat. "Don't you remember what today is?"

     "Our day off?"

     "She forgot..." The cream she-cat's voice came out like she was holding her breath. "I told you she'd forget!" She protested. Lark yanked her closer, getting an annoyed grunt out of the other cat.

     "Well, Cherry, you can always leave," she remarked. "I didn't ask you to wake up Citrus with me."

     "I would leave." Cherry struggled to break free of her older sister's grip. After a few seconds, she gave up and sunk further down, forcing Lark to hold her entire weight. "But you're not letting me."

     "Lark, let go of her," Citrus mumbled. The runt fell out of the grip abruptly, not prepared for the drop. Lark's eyes shot over to the trip, her fur rising. To their relief, Cherry caught herself in time and managed to swirl around, keeping her posture up.

     "Thanks, Citrus," Cherry thanked, dipping her head.

     "Don't worry about it," she commented, finally getting out of her nest. Her legs ached, demanding to be stretched. Once she was done, she looked at Lark, who was in a dramatic position, waiting for her to ask.

     "Are you done now?" Lark asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement as her tail twitched. Cherry inched backward but didn't leave the sleeping den.

     "What's today, Lark?" Citrus asked.

     "I'm so glad you asked! Today's the day when Blaze and Maple come to visit us! After three moons! The day we've been counting down since the last time they came!" Lark practically danced around her nest. "We finally get some time with all of us together!"

     "Are you excited?" Cherry piped up softly, a grin emerging. Walking up to her little sister, she licked the top of her head. Citrus pulled back and her sister reached her paw up and straightened her fur back down, giving her a smile to show her thanks.

     "So, you're finally up?" A cat, speaking in a gruff tone, padded into the den, fur still ruffled from his sleep. Citrus's only younger brother, Apple, stepped into the den from his time outside, tan fur dressed with sunlight. He adored having free days where he could easily rest and bask in the sun's rays. Their guardians did play a small prank on the short-tempered cat one day, saying that the sun would improve his skills and get him one step closer to perfection.

     Whether Apple knew the truth or not, each day off he would find time to sleep in the sun, saying it would help his skills. Lark always used that time to tease him more but stopped fighting her older brother for the odd habit.

     "Big brother!" Cherry exclaimed, her shyness returning.

     "You don't have to be so shy," Apple reassured, now beside them.

     "Wow, not shy around me but shy around him," Lark huffed and waved her tail in front of Cherry's paws. The youngest of them frowned, starting to grow annoyed. Then again, Citrus knew that her annoyance would simply die down and she would act like she was never mad in the first place.

     It was impressive that she didn't explode at Lark's constant jokes and veracious self. Perhaps one of the reasons was Cherry didn't want to part with her sister on the wrong foot. Each of them waited for twelve moons to pass so they could join the Tribe of Shining Suns. The place every kit born in this world strived to enter. They watched their siblings leave, despite how heartbreaking it since they no longer shared late-night talks.

     Cherry was the most affected by the rules. Being much younger than Citrus – four moons apart – the cream she-cat had to see everyone in the Training Den leave her side. First Blaze, Maple, Needle - a she-cat they hardly spent time with - Citrus, Apple, Lark, and even Speck and Pebble would eventually leave. Already, at the age of six moons, she suffered from thoughts of being alone.

     If I only have two more moons to go, that means Apple has three and Lark has four. Speck and Pebble can get along with her, but she sticks to her family. Those two siblings have five moons to go. Cherry will at least have fourteen moons with some kind of companionship. Cherry tried the best to hide her loneliness, but the closer Citrus found herself at her twelfth moon, her sister's eyes would get heavier.

     "I thought you would sleep in further," Apple admitted, breaking her away from her thoughts. "After all, you were up last night doing some late-night techniques."

     "I would, but someone decided to wake me up." Every cats' eyes turned to the muddy she-cat in the cave. "Thanks, by the way."

     "Hey, if I hadn't awakened you, you'd still be snoring away, dreaming of the Tribe of Shining Suns!" Lark protested with an angry lash of her tail. "You still have two moons left to prepare, Citrus! Why is it now you're staying up late trying to get as much training as possible? You're by far the best out of all of us. Even Speck agrees!"

     "I still worry if I'm truly ready, Blaze and Maple have much better skills than me," Citrus claimed. "I want to join that place with my head held up high."

     "You just want to get out of here and join already," Lark muttered.

     "Of course not! I want to spend as much time with my siblings before we have to leave!" Cherry began to tear up. "Not that we'll hang out more as a family again once we all make it."

     "You know who I want to see?" Cherry asked, waiting for them to grant her permission to speak. No cat spoke up, and she continued. "I want to see Mother. I really wish she would visit us in a patrol."

     The mention of the she-cat caught Citrus off guard. When her older siblings came to visit, they were forbidden to speak of her unless she happened to be banished or killed. So far, they hadn't heard anything about Dandelion, meaning she was safe. That was moons ago and she found herself constantly worrying about the safety of her mother when they were somewhere far away.

     Snorting, Apple stepped in for her. "Then tell me about the basics of the Tribe of Shining Sun and if you do, I'll give you the rest of my prey for the next few days."

     "U-um..." Cherry shuffled in her paws, biting her lip. "O-okay..."

     "If you can do it without stuttering, I'll leave you alone for the rest of the day!" Lark added, jumping forward.

     "Stop being mean, would you two?!" Citrus demanded, glaring at her brother and sister.

     "N-no, it's okay," Cherry reassured. "I can do this...!"

     "Strike one!" Citrus cuffed Lark over the head.

     "All kits have the spend twelve moons here training and mastering every skill that the tribe tells us to. L-long ago there was a really bad battle that resulted in failure and it was decided that being perfect in every aspect would improve an entire tribe. Battling, hunting, patrolling, healing, hiding, and then teamwork with each other.

     "There are different jobs assigned with each skill, however. But just because you're called a warrior or hunter doesn't mean you can't heal or spy like others... Warriors with battling, hunters with hunting, scouters with patrolling, healers with healing, guardians with teaching, espionage with spies, and then mothers with kits. 

     "M-master all of them in t-twelve moons and that's a ticket in, but you only do one job at a time due to the Alpha's word. Our Alpha is the best and leads us all to perfection and has betas who are like helpers to the Alpha. You just have to be really perfect to get any of those ranks. Oh! It's also recommended you've done each job twice before becoming a beta, too."

     "Good job! You did it!" Lark celebrated, pulling Cherry into a tight tug by surprise, scaring the cream she-cat.

     The job that interested Citrus the most was becoming a scouter and patrolling the territory. As a scouter, she would have permission to sign up for a path check; something a patrol of scouters had to do every day. That was simply traveling from the Tribe of Shining Suns to the Training Den. If she was lucky, she could stop by and visit for a brief second and see her siblings. Blaze and Maple didn't seem interested in that job, making her frustrated at them for not wanting to see them.

     With them so focused on tribe activities, it makes me wonder if they remember us. If they were scouters, then maybe there would be a chance they would visit... Did they challenge anyone and get moved during an Assembly? 

     She found herself eager, wanting to see an Assembly for the first time in her life, but the dangerous part of it made her hesitant. It's scary, knowing the role you want will determine the challenge. Warrior's Challenge, Scouter's Challenge, Healer's Challenge, Spy's Challenge, Guardian's Challenge, and Beta's Challenge. Any loss could result in exile from the tribe, demotion to the lowest rank, or death. How have Maple and Blaze survived?

     For now, she was glad she was away from that part of the tribe and was at the Training Den. Most of her days were spent training in each subject or hearing another lecture from her guardians. At first, Citrus had been falling behind, but little by little, she was able to improve and outdo her siblings. Even with all the training, she couldn't deny the fact that each of her siblings excelled in one topic and lacked in others.

     Once in a while – like today – Citrus and her littermates would get a break, but sometimes they weren't complete rest. Visitors like Blaze and Maple would come and talk about the tribe on those days. Very rarely was there a day where she could have an entire day to herself where she didn't have to train or listen to the guardians.

     Her guardians, Dusk, Ripple, Cloud, Hawk, and Spark were in charge of watching over all of them. Citrus hated learning about all of the jobs that were in the tribe, but Apple loved listening to that. She figured he liked it when they learned stuff and despised days where he had to deal with Lark and her urging him to play.

     Who knows if my position will be moved, even if I'm perfect in that section? We all may come from the same place, but we still have our specialties and another cat's skills in patrolling could be better than mine. Citrus's stomach churned with worry. She wanted to be a scouter, but there was another job that she desired and wanted to claim as her own.

     Her siblings had other plans and they didn't reach high like her. Lark wanted to be a hunter with her lean legs and a quick sense of finding prey. Apple kept trying to become a spy, picking up small details picked up from their guardians and shoving his nose into unknown places. Cherry wanted to be a healer and serve the tribe in a different way other than patrolling or hunting. Blaze was a warrior and from what Citrus had heard, he was unbeatable in battle. Maple, however, decided to be a guardian, choosing to teach kits instead of throwing herself into battle.

     I wonder if Blaze or Maple wishes to be Alpha? What about beta? Citrus imagined any of her siblings as leaders. There were so many major obstacles in the way for some of them, particularly Cherry.

     "Citrus," Cherry whispered. Citrus blinked and saw her sister's amber eyes staring at her. "Ahh, sorry about that..." She trailed off, looking at the ground and then she peeked her head back up with a shy grin.

     "That's alright," she reassured. Lark's ears pricked up and her head jerked around, eyes lighting up.

     "It's Blaze and Maple! They've arrived!" Lark dashed over, tripping over her own tail in the process. The she-cat crashed onto the stone ground and caught Spark's attention. Citrus and her siblings stepped away as the guardian came over to punish her younger sister. 

     "Lark, you know what to do," Spark snarled and the she-cat's eyes began to wave. Sighing, her sister forced her head to lock eyes with the tom and without warning, his clawed paw slashed across her face and she toppled to the ground – another mistake.

     Lark! Citrus wanted to move but could only watch as her sister was attacked again on the pelt for falling over from the previous attack. Her sister managed to push herself onto her feet before Spark gave her one last bite on the ear, causing her to yowl and yank away. The guardian kept his jaws locked on her ear, eyes flashing.

     "I'm letting you off the hook, but if you mess up again, you're going to suffer a lot more than just a scratch and an injured ear." With that, he spat out her ear and the muddy cat stumbled, catching herself before she fell over again. Her blue eyes seethed with rage as she rubbed her ear.

     "Lark," Cherry whispered and straightened up when Spark's sharp gaze landed on her. Eventually, he slunk off back to the other guardians resting on a shaded rock. Their eyes were on Lark, watching her carefully for another slipup.

     "Are you all right?" Apple asked worriedly, checking her wounds. Under her jaw, there was a trickle of blood and a small gash on her pelt. Her ear was bleeding as well and bent. The she-cat glared at the guardians and turned around, heading toward the small section designated to the herbs. Cherry hurried after them and got to the pile first, picking out a fresh wad of cobwebs for her sister.

    Knowing Lark, the she-cat would hold a grudge against Spark until her wounds healed. It wasn't the first time she had been attacked for doing so, and rather, Citrus was grateful that the guardians were attacking them for messing up. It was a better alternative than the tribe, where a mistake could get them kicked out. Causing scars and scratches was a gift compared to the actual thing.

     "Citrus!" The golden she-cat turned around, face lighting up as Maple dashed over to her. In one swift leap, her older sister jumped over her and landed beside her, keeping her posture up without fail. Her brilliant, amber eyes shined like the sun at the sight of her younger sister. 

     Citrus and Maple embraced one another and purred. "You're here! Finally! It took you long enough," she joked bumping her shoulder. 

     "Of course I came! Why would you think I wouldn't come? It's rude not to visit your family after so long." Maple pointed her tail toward the entrance and Citrus saw Blaze step through, his brown pelt standing out like a cardinal in the coldwind. When he rested his eyes on her, she felt her heart warm and ran over to his side, her excitement getting the best of her.

     "Gesh, what took you so long?" Citrus rolled her eyes at her brother, waiting for his response. Blaze glanced at Maple and they chuckled.

     "Well, somebody wanted to investigate each pebble found on the trail---" Maple jumped in, shoving him aside – at least she attempted – but wasn't affected by the push and stayed where he was. The gleam in his eyes made Citrus smile, glad that her brother still had a playful side to him.

     "Don't listen to him, Citrus. He's just trying to spread rumors. Imperfect rumors, that is," she hissed, grinning at him.

     The word imperfect caught her attention stirred her disgust, knowing that there were cats that allowed themselves to mess up. Their guardians told them stories about how some of those cats thought they were better than them, claiming that there wasn't a way to life with mistakes. It was all excuses to save themselves and it disgusted her at the thought. 

     There wasn't any way to live a life with mistakes and she had proof - seeing the way an Imperfect acted on its own was more than enough. Her guardians decided it was a good idea to capture an Imperfect and show them what they were like. The cat had received nothing but disgusted looks from all of them.

     We're better than them. They don't know anything. I promise to kill them all to end their suffering in the name of the Tribe of Endless Stars.

     "Where are the others?" Maple asked.

     "Lark had a problem," she explained, gesturing toward them. Apple was pressing a paw to the wound on her pelt as Cherry carefully worked on her injured ear. Blaze's expression didn't change and Maple looked at the ground.

     "She's got time," Blaze finally said and walked over to them, catching Apple off guard.

     "Blaze! Maple!" Cherry exclaimed and Blaze smiled at the sight of his youngest sister. The cream she-cat went to embrace him but stopped short, continuing her work on Lark's ear while looking at him. Lark kept her head turned away from him. 

     "Hello, Lark, Apple, and Cherry," Maple greeted, giving each of her younger siblings with a quick lick to the head. Blaze managed to get the muddy she-cat to turn around, blue eyes ashamed to look at them but failed to hide the happiness seeing her older siblings.

     "Stop being so gloomy and lighten up," Blaze persuaded and Lark rolled her eyes.

     "This isn't the meeting I was expecting," she muttered, flattening her ears. Cherry flattened her ears and forcefully grabbed Lark's injured ear to which she yelped as her sister forced it open and pressed a wad of cobwebs on it. "Go easy, would you Cherry?"

     "It was your fault you got excited," Apple replied for her. "If you hadn't, you wouldn't be here now."

     "Shut up," she snapped, facing away from Blaze and Maple. "I didn't want you to see me getting healed after I got punished. It's embarrassing."

     "You know what's embarrassing?" Cherry said, removing herself from Lark. "Being the youngest to a family full of skilled cats."

     "Why's that an embarrassment?" asked Citrus, tilting her head.

     "All of you have skills that define you, and I'm a weak and useless cat---"

     "You are not weak or useless!" Blaze snapped at her. Cherry jumped, startled at the sudden outburst. Citrus stood by her side instinctively, giving her older brother a small warning. Her sister's tiny figured beside her shivered. "You are the sibling to a beta---"

     "Wait, what?" Apple asked, suddenly interested. "Beta? Please explain further, dear brother of mine." Maple swiped her paw across his ear. 

     "You see, over those the two moons we hadn't seen you, Blaze successfully became a beta and moved up a few ranks in that section," Maple stated proudly, dipping her head in a mocking tone at him.

     "Congratulations, Blaze!" Citrus gave him a grin. "I bet Mother's proud of you."

     "Yes," he agreed. "She is. When I won the role as one, she told me she was proud to have me as a son." Apple's jaw dropped open and he flattened his ears, eyes narrowing at his older brother. Citrus snickered, knowing that he was going to fight with Blaze to earn Dandelion's praise.

     "That doesn't mean she isn't proud of you, Apple," Maple told him, and he ignored her, scowling at her. She raised her paw and smacked him on the shoulder, giving him a shock. Apple got up and opened his jaws to protest and Lark jumped in.

     "Are you going to help us train? My twelfth month is coming up and I want to become the best hunter ever!" Lark demanded, shoving herself on her paws and regaining her energy, bouncing around Blaze and Maple.

     "Of course we're going to help you, besides, Citrus gets to join us in two moons, so why wouldn't we try and help? After all," Maple added with a hint of pride in her eyes and voice. "I am a guardian and Blaze is now a beta." Citrus could detect that her sister was trying to rub the fact in their faces and only caused Apple to get even more frustrated at his brother's accomplishment. "We're staying and helping you train until she's at her twelfth moon."

     "You are?" Cherry asked, hope in her eyes.

     "You are?!" Lark shouted, cheering louder and shaking Apple with excitement radiating from her body.

     "You've got to be kidding me! More time to gloat in my face about becoming a Beta?" Apple muttered.

     "Excuse me, Maple." One of the guardians padded up to her. She turned around and dipped her head and he dipped his head back. "As much as it's an honor to have you here, you can't stay here without permi---"

     "Don't worry about it," Maple reassured. "Brook said I could since I'm on my break." Cloud shrugged and looked rather relieved. Citrus smirked behind his back, knowing that he was starting to lose his patience with her littermates. Once the news reached the other guardians, she guessed that they would all be equally relieved that they had a two moon break until it started again. At least when it started, one of them would be gone.

     "Hey, Spark!" Lark shouted, sticking her tongue in the direction of the other guardians. "Hear that? You don't get to boss me around anymore! Take that!"

     "Can we start training now?" Apple demanded, his paws twitching toward the exit of the Training Den. "I want to start."

     "I don't," Cherry said and Maple gave her a hug, licking her ear.

     "It's alright, you can watch us." Cherry nodded and turned to Lark, who was running off toward the guardians to boast even further. Sighing, she slipped out from the group and ran over toward her older sister, dragging her back before she could land herself into further trouble.

     "Correct me if I'm wrong, but Cherry's the youngest, right?" Blaze joked and Maple hissed to hide her laughter. Citrus couldn't help the smile splitting her face in two.

     This really is one family, and it's one I hope to have for the rest of my life. Two moons, with all of all together. It's perfect.