Leopardkit sat alone in the stone hollow, the sun beating down on her spotted back. The day was still young and fresh, not yet noon. The activity in camp was beginning to slow as the sun climbed higher into the sky. The rustling and bustling of dawn-time was over, all the patrols out in the vast woodland territory. Those left in camp enjoyed their downtime by basking in the sun or sharing tongues. The suffocating heat was too strong for much else. Leopardkit enjoyed her short freedom in camp while it lasted.

    Sandstreak was watching her closely from the cool shadows of the nursery, her yellow eyes glaring. As soon as the sun reached its highest point in the sky, the she-kit would be told to go back inside.

Her littermates were probably still snoozing comfortably inside the nursery, sleeping off their morning meal.

Leopardkit's belly growled at the thought of warm, sweet milk. But the she-kit quickly stifled her thoughts of hunger, closing her eyes.

She didn't need Sandstreak's constantly flowing milk. Her siblings would grow fat and slow off of it while she became lean and quick.

Leopardkit glanced back to her mother who was still crouched by the nursery, watching her closely.

    All this trouble just to keep me from watching the warriors practice? Leopardkit thought incredulously for the hundredth time. It would do no harm to her to watch Sootdust and Brackenpatch battle a little while.

    Mousekit's revelation echoed in her mind from yesterday. Leopardkit's nose twitched in distaste. So what if it didn't benefit her to see the young warriors fighting everyday? Maybe she wouldn't become a better fighter from her observations. That didn't make it wrong as it had seemed to be in her mother's eyes.

    The she-kit sighed, and laid her head down on her forepaws. Leopardkit kept her pale blue gaze trained on the entrance of camp. She resisted the temptation to glance back at her mother, although she could feel the golden queen's eyes burning into her back. Sometimes it seemed as if Sandstreak only wanted to make life difficult for her.

    It didn't matter today anyway. The two warriors wouldn't be practicing in the clearing. Sootdust had gone out on a hunting patrol earlier in the morning, and Brackenpatch was scheduled to leave on the sunhigh patrol.

    Leopardkit spotted him. The white and golden patched tomcat sat near the High Ledge, his eyes half closed as he surveyed camp and tail twitching lazily.

Brackenpatch was still a fairly young warrior, but Leopardkit had heard that the senior warriors had been impressed with his intelligence and technique when it came to battle. The patched tom was excellent fighter, and an even better strategist. It was rumored that even Darkstar called him into the leader's den before battles to discuss a foolproof plan.

Leopardpaw ground her claws into the dust in anticipation. She'd be thrilled to have a skilled tom like Brackenpatch for a mentor when she turned six moons. She couldn't wait to become an apprentice so that she could finally get out of this stuffy camp and prove her worth to the Clan. She would show Sandstreak she wasn't just a nuisance.

The steady thrum of paw pads against the ground outside of camp jolted Leopardkit out of her thoughts. She quickly turned toward the tunneled entrance. The dawn patrol returned through it quite noisily.

    The warriors looked unusually anxious. The fur on their backs was risen and their eyes darted around wildly.

    "Did you see that?" a young tom boasted loudly as he padded in behind them. He looked thrilled, his fiery tail bushed out and standing straight up.

Leopardkit recalled that his name was Singeear. She had always been intrigued by his curious pelt colors. His whole body was covered in thick cream fur, but his face, ears, paws, and tail were all a bright ginger.

He was young and strong, eager to show off the rippling muscle beneath his fur. "All I had to do was bare my teeth to send them running!" Singeear crowed, peeling his lips back as if to demonstrate.

The rest of the patrol exchanged glances of exasperation, rolling their eyes. One brown and white she-cat in particular appeared to be angry with him, her jaw set in a grim expression.

Singeear began to speak again, his voice raised to echo off the stone walls of camp. But a much deeper rumbling growl cut him off.

Every cat in the clearing, including Leopardkit, turned their attention to the High Ledge, breath held.

Slowly, a massive black cat stepped into view, casting a long shadow over the stone hollow. His dark fur glimmered in the fierce sunlight, and his attentive green eyes glowed as he gazed upon the noisy border patrol. More specifically, the noisiest cat in the patrol.

"A wise warrior does not boast about his achievements, Singeear," Darkstar said smoothly. He stood tall, head raised and voice calm. The leader was intimidating, but not necessarily unkind.

Singeear instantly fell silent. He quickly dipped his head toward the black cat. "Of course, Darkstar," the cream tom said respectfully, ginger ears flattened in embarrassment.

Darkstar only nodded in response. His green eyes flitted to the leader the of the patrol. "Well, Dawnleaf, how was the ShadowClan border this morning?"

It the same agitated she-cat. Her brown and white pelt was still ruffled. "Not good, Darkstar. We bring back troubling news."

As Darkstar's face fell, Leopardkit felt her curiosity spike. Her whiskers quivered in excitement. Had the border patrol found anything suspicious? Did the they meet any rival Clan cats?

About the same time that the she-cat disappeared into Darkstar's den to speak with him privately, a cool shadow fell over Leopardkit. Overwhelmed with dismay, she whipped around to see Sandstreak standing close behind her.

"Inside. Now," the golden queen said with a snap of her jaws.

Leopardkit flinched. She didn't have to be told twice.

Frustrated and exhausted, the little she-kit padded back to the nursery. Her mother's threatening presence behind her scared her into trotting faster.

As soon as they crawled inside, they were pummeled with questions from the other kits.

"What's going on?" Weedkit demanded, stretching up on his hind paws.

"I saw the patrol come back. Is there trouble at the border?" Longkit inquired suspiciously.

Leopardkit stalked away to her dark corner of the nursery, completely ignoring her littermates and mother. Sandstreak had never asked her daughter to rejoin her in her own nest, and she was doubtful that she ever would. Leopardkit wasn't bothered by it, though. In fact, she'd rather sleep alone, cool and undisturbed.

An unfamiliar low murmur caught her attention and she swung back around to see a brown and white she-cat with her head ducked into the nursery. It was Dawnleaf, the deputy.

"What are you doing in here?" Sandstreak snapped at the much larger she-cat. She curled her thin tail around Weedkit and Longkit protectively, her yellow eyes glaring.

Dawnleaf appeared to be unaffected by the queen's hostility. Maybe she had just gotten used to it. "I was given orders to inform you of the threats at the border."

Sandstreak hackles raised in shock. "ShadowClan?" she hissed.

Dawnleaf nodded solemnly. "This morning the dawn patrol discovered their scent on our territory. ShadowClan has been acting suspiciously anyway; their warriors nearly provoked a fight at the border. Only StarClan knows why," she muttered.

Sandstreak pinned her ears back. "Filthy, rat-faced, scum . . ." she growled, spitting out every dirty word she could think of. Leopardkit felt compelled to clamp her paws down over her ears, but she forced herself to listen.

"Anyway..." Dawnleaf continued bluntly.  "I just wanted to warn you that the kits should be closely watched from now on, to ensure they don't leave camp."

Sandstreak stiffened at the deputy's words. "You think I'm not taking care of my sons?" she challenged, wrapping her tail around Weedkit and Longkit and staring at the she-cat who had so rudely intruded on her peace in the nursery.

Sons? Leopardkit thought curiously. She wondered if her mother had carelessly forgotten about her.

But as she stared at the tense cream-colored queen, she realized there was nothing careless about her. Sandstreak stood tall, back straight, her claws extended into the ground with the utmost precision. Her voice was even, her narrow face still and focused. The queen had not forgotten about her daughter. She simply chose not to mention her. The little she-kit suddenly felt very cold.

Dawnleaf sighed in exasperation. She met the queen's stare, unafraid and annoyed. "No, Sandstreak. Not at all." Then with a quick turn and a lash of her tail, the great deputy disappeared from sight.

It took a few heartbeats after Dawnleaf left for Sandstreak to finally calm down. Her fur flattened and she blinked lazily. Not long after that, her kits began mewling with excitement.

"Are there enemy Clans in our territory?"

"Let us outside! We can protect the camp!"

"Oh, please. You can't even protect yourselves," Mousekit scorned in response to his older brothers.

Leopardkit laid her head down and listened as the black tomkit was cuffed sharply across the head. "Don't speak to your brothers that way," Sandstreak scolded angrily. "If anyone here couldn't protect themselves, it'd be you."

Leopardkit's light blue eyes flew open in surprise. She lifted her head and stared back in the direction of her family, her jaw gaping. Mousekit's head was hanging low, his larger siblings leering at him from behind Sandstreak's paws. Leopardkit searched her mother's yellow eyes for a sign of humor or a light-hearted glimmer, but there was none. Sandstreak's gaze was hard and cold, the seriousness in her voice heartbreaking.

Leopardkit had never heard her mother say something so demeaning before. She was shocked.

The she-kit felt a shred of emotion stir up in her chest. She felt a mix of guilt, sorrow, and emptiness swirling around her like a storm, building up into a dark cloud. Her feelings grew so strong that the she-kit thought she might explode.

Leopardkit quickly silenced them.

She was on her own. She didn't have the energy to care about other Clanmates. It was a waste of her time.

Mousekit was going to have it rough. He was born a runt, skinnier and smaller than the rest. That's the reality of it. He would suffer through it, just as Leopardkit was doing. It wasn't her problem that his life wasn't fair.

The she-kit took a deep breath to steady her and looked away from the abuse. She needed to focus on herself. Get a good night's rest.

    Leopardkit lay still as she listened to her brothers batter Mousekit with their paws, learning quickly from Sandstreak. His pitiful squeaks of pain rang out, but Weedkit and Longkit were relentless. "Mouse-brain!" they taunted as they swiped at him from both sides.

    "Settle down now," Sandstreak said softly. There was no reprimand for the way Weedkit and Longkit were brutally treating their smaller brother.

The pale she-cat pulled Longkit closer to her and began to groom his thick fur. Sandstreak seemed oblivious to the fact that Mousekit was hurt and trembling. "Take a nap, everyone. Then you can play later."

    But Leopardkit couldn't sleep. She laid alone in her cold nest, shifting positions every once in a while. But it never felt just right. Something was off. There was a pounding in her head, a heaviness in her chest she couldn't get rid of.

She must have fallen asleep eventually, because she was startled awake when stiff moss brushed up against her fur.

Leopardkit felt a rush of anger and she opened her icy eyes to slits, preparing to tell off whoever had snuck over to her nest to play a prank on her.

Great StarClan! she thought, twisting her neck around. Can't I just enjoy my isolation in pea—?

Leopardkit froze when she spotted Mousekit's solid black pelt. The tiny tomcat had dragged his bedding all the way across the nursery. He didn't meet her eye as he settled down beside the she-kit.

Leopardkit felt a turmoil of feelings wash over her. The aggression from being so dangerously close to another cat, the rage that Mousekit thought he could just saunter over to her and lay down, the irritation that the runt was taking refuge with her.

But once again, Leopardkit silenced those feelings. For once, she laid her head back down. She didn't push him away.

The last glimpse Leopardkit got before she closed her eyes was one of Sandstreak, cradling her two favorite kittens at her belly a few tail-lengths away.

She was bitter that she wasn't one of them, although she would never admit it. But now that Leopardkit wasn't standing alone against her horrible mother, the pain in her chest was eased a little.

She fell into a sound slumber, her flank rising to a rhythm of calm breathing, soft against Mousekit's black fur.