A green, mossy ball came barreling toward the small tom-kit. Beige and black fur spun in a circle, hind legs hitting the ball back in the direction of a red-brown tom-kit, and a white and orange-backed she-kit.

"Catch that!" The beige tom-kit yowled at his opponents.

The two scrambled to catch the high speed moss ball. In their efforts, they only succeeded in running into each other. Brown and orange fur collided, and loud howls of protest erupted from the two inside of the small nursery.

"Ow! Petalkit, are you alright?" The red-brown tom-kit asked in a daze, stumbling to pick himself up from the ground.

The white and orange-backed she-kit slowly sat up, looked around, then down toward her fur, and shrieked. She began to vigorously lick her pelt, jumping around in the process to get all the impurities out of her fur. Once finished, the she-kit scornfully looked over toward the unaffected beige tom-kit.

"Boldkit, you foxheart! That was a dirty move!" She accused the biege tom-kit.

"No, it's called skill, you just can't handle it." Boldkit shot back, smirking over to the red-brown tom-kit, "Barkkit, knock some sense into your sister. Clearly, I'm just way better at moss ball."

Before Barkkit could respond, a voice rose up in the dark corner of the nursery.

"Play nice kits, mama Fawntail's a..." A yawn escaped from the jaws of a cream she-cat with green eyes, "little exhausted right now."

The three kits sat in a stare off between the two parties, occasionally casting quick glances towards the tired queen. When it seemed the cream she-cat had closed her eyes for a moment too long, the kits began to exchange the moss ball once again. The game went on and off again until a larger beige tom entered the den.

"Nightpelt?" He questioned, looking over to the sleeping Fawntail, then towards the groups of kits.

"Dad!" Boldkit pounced onto the warrior, pulling at his left ear. The older tom chuckled at his son's antics.

"Hey kitto, where's your mom?" He shook his son off of him.

Boldkit looked dejected, disappointed that his father wasn't there to play. His change in mood did not escape the warrior's gaze, he ruffled his son's fur with his paw.

"If you tell me where she is, I'll beat all three of you at moss ball for a couple rounds."

All three of the kits' eyes lit up, their excitement controlling their emotions.

"Thanks Hawktuft!"

"This is going to be so fun!"

"C'mon dad, let's play!"

The game begins with Hawktuft on one side of the nursery, facing away from the tired Fawntail, while the rowdy kits spread out across the opposite end.

In a flash, a beige blur had grabbed the moss ball from the center, and rocketed towards Hawktuft's side. However, as though he had predicted it, the ball was intercepted by a large paw, and instantly sent back towards Barkkit.

He tried to headbutt the ball, but all he hit was the solid ground beneath him.

"Kit, if you're going to beat me, you'll need to rely on your team a bit more. Petalkit had the perfect angle to send that ball past me." The beige and black striped warrior coached.

Petalkit pawed at the dusty dirt under her paws, sending exasperated glances toward Boldkit.

"She can't hit the ball hard enough to catch you off guard." Boldkit defended himself, "She's only two moons."

"And you're only five." Hawktuft flicked Boldkit's chin.

A few more games passed before the kits conceded defeat, each loss ultimately ending in the same way, with Boldkit trying to take all the credit himself.

"Now," Hawktuft plopped beside Boldkit, who was stretched out over the stoney dirt, mouth gaping open, "Your mother?"

Boldkit had forgotten about that deal he made to get his father to spend some time with him, tail lashing in recalling the piece of information his father sought.

"Oh, she's with Uncle." Boldkit began.

"Sootstar said he wanted to share tongues in the leader's den." Barkkit finished.

With a nod of acknowledgement, Hawktuft sat back up. However, before he left, he gave one last look toward the sleeping Fawntail, and whispered back to his son.

"I'll teach you some warrior moves next time Fawntail isn't watching ya', kitto."

He ruffled his son's fur one last time, and left the den in short silence.

The silence broke when a muffled whine from Boldkit rose up. The tom-kit hadn't moved from his spot since his father left him with those promising parting words, but began to roll around in impatience when the silence broke. He sat up suddenly, however, as though an idea had popped into his head.

"Barkkit," He looked over toward the reddish brown tom-kit, then toward the white and orange-backed she-kit, "Petalkit, let's have an adventure."

The two stared quizzically at the beige and blacked striped tom-kit, then at each other. With reassurance that the other heard the same thing, they both looked back.

"Mousebrain!" Petalkit started, saying all she needed to in that one sentence.

"Where to? The medicine den?" Barkkit joked.

Boldkit huffed in annoyance, these two were clearly just not getting it.

"Look, I'm about to be made an apprentice soon. I have four," He stressed the last word out, "siblings to compete with. Four! I need to prove myself above the others, so that way I can get a good mentor, like Tigerlily or Spiderthorn. Starclan knows, maybe even Sootstar!"

The two siblings stared at Boldkit with unamusement written on their faces, not seeing the point.

"If you join me, you two will also prove yourselves. Who knows, maybe they'll save whoever they don't give me for you two as mentors. You two both have to compete with each other, nevermind adding Minnowkit to the mix."

Boldkit made sure the two knew what their odds were. Chances are, by the time they became apprentices, the best mentor they could hope for would be Crowflight.

"Starclan forbid one of us be given Whiteflower or Littleleap. No offense, but we both know that your dad's priorities lie somewhere else other than mentoring." Boldkit nodded his head towards the perfectly clean nest where Russetshine sleeps each night- always magically clean before she steps in, as though a white and gray spotted tom hadn't been cleaning it.

"None taken." Petalkit sighed, knowing exactly where Boldkit was coming from. She had been woken up by her father's antics at dawn plenty of times after her father had come in from the moonhigh patrol.

Barkkit seemed to have taken Boldkit's advice to heart.

"What'll we do then? We can't leave camp, our mothers would shred us!" He fretted. Boldkit, however, laughed quietly at his concerns.

"Listen, our mothers will be overjoyed to find that their sons-" Petalkit interrupted with a cough, "-and daughter, came back with enough fresh kill to last the queens an entire week!"

Petalkit stared at her paws, debating on what to say, while Barkkit lightly tapped her on the shoulder. They both nodded towards each other.

"We're in." They agreed simultaneously.

"Let's go then!"

Boldkit tried to rush out of the den, but Petalkit grabbed onto Boldkit's beige and black striped tail before he could run off any further.

"Hold on!" She hissed through her teeth, "We'll need to get more help if we're to get enough fresh kill to fill the queens bellies for a week."

"No way," Boldkit instantly shot her down, "We're doing this to prove ourselves, if we all do it, what's the point?"

Barkkit sighed, "If we don't get enough prey, we'll be shredded. We can just take most of the credit for the idea after we bring in a load of mice!"

With that, the three calmly left the nursery in search of accomplices.

Upon making their way outside, the three could see a fiery orange pelted she-cat watching over four kits. The four sat in a roughly circular shape, the black she-kit sharing tongues with the gray she-kit, the brown and black striped tom-kit joining in the conversation now and then, laughing. However, a gray and orange calico tom-kit remained silent throughout the conversation, sitting next to the black she-kit. That's who the three approached first.

"Minnowkit!" Petalkit whispered towards the calico tom-kit, motioning with her head for him to join her and the other two tom-kits off to the side.

Minnowkit looked over his shoulder to the black she-kit, and hesitantly made his way over to his siblings. As soon as he sat down, Boldkit started talking.

"Minnowkit, you're joining our hunting party."

The calico tom-kit looked stunned, reeling back from his right foot as a way to get out of the situation.

"I- uh- I don't know..." Minnowkit stammered, he stared at his paws in defeat.

"It'll be fun!" Petalkit coaxed.

"You won't be in any danger, we'll protect you." Barkkit promised, putting his red-brown paw on his younger brother's shoulder.

The gray and orange calico tom couldn't take the peer pressure any longer, and gave in.

"Alright..." He surrendered.

However, before any of them could celebrate their victory, a black she-kit could be spotted behind Minnowkit.

"Oh no you won't!" Blackkit yowled, causing Minnowkit to jump onto all fours and cower beneath her.

Her gaze sharpened once it landed on the beige and black striped tom-kit, her brother.

"What are you pressuring him to do?" She demanded, Boldkit straightened up at the realization of having been caught.

"Nothing you need to know about!" He argued back, he did not want her joining him on the hunting mission- the whole point was for him to stand out amongst his siblings.

"Well, whatever it is, you are not taking Minnowkit with you. You'll only get him in trouble." She turned on her haunches and began walking back towards the fiery orange she-cat. The she-cat took notice of the ruckus and looked over at the group perplexedly.

Blackkit looked back at Minnowkit, lashing her tail.

"I gotta- I gotta go guys. I'm sorry." He quickly followed after the black she-kit.

Boldkit huffed in annoyance.

"Always thinking she knows everything! C'mon guys, we can do this ourselves." Boldkit hissed, standing up. However, both Petalkit and Barkkit looked uneasily towards Boldkit.

"I think..." Petalkit began.

"We're going to stick with Minnowkit." Barkkit finished, a sorry expression laid bare across his face. The both of them ran off to join the larger group of kits piled around the orange she-cat. Once they had caught up with their brother, Petalkit pounced on him, while Barkkit shoved her off and picked him back up.

"Alright kits, nap time!" The orange she-cat called out to the bunch, leading them off into the nursery.

"Aw, let us play a little more, Russetshine!" The brown and black tom-kit complained.

Huffing, Boldkit failed to take notice of the one straggler. A gray she-kit had walked up to him, and sat down right in front of him.

"Are you coming?" She questioned, tilting her head over towards the open nursery entrance, where many squeals from the kits and sighs from the queens could be heard.

The beige and black striped tom looked over towards his sister.

"No way am I going to take a nap with a bunch of kits." He firmly stated.

"Well then what else are you going to do?" She questioned earnestly. Boldkit turned to face the exit of the camp.

"I'll go hunt on my own." He puffed out his chest, and began his march towards the exit bushes.

Quakekit stepped on his tail, causing Boldkit to wince.

"I'm telling Mama if you take one more pawstep towards that entrance." She warned, though her eyes gave her away. Boldkit yowled.

"You can tell Mom all you like! I'll still go... one exit or another." He mumbled the last part.

Quakekit sighed, "If there's no stopping you, then I'll just have to make sure you don't get hurt.

And so, the two siblings snuck off, away from the watchful gazes of Blackkit and Russetshine.

In a dense forest, two small figures could be witnessed wandering around. One was prancing forward, a smug expression written on his face; while the other was clearly keeping her head on a swivel, constantly staring down the direction of any foriegn noise. A twig broke, and the gray she-kit hissed, jumping away from her brother, back arched and fur spiked. When she realized her mistake in her assessment of the situation, she allowed her fur to settle down a small bit, and huffed.

"Ok Boldkit," She began, picking up her pace to grab the beige and black striped tom on the shoulder and spin around, "you've proven your bravery, now it's time to go home."

Boldkit shook off her grip on his left shoulder, annoyed that his journey was coming to an end. He hadn't even found one single piece of prey yet! Looking around one last time in hopes of finding a way to prove himself to everyone of his capabilities, his eyes sparkled when they landed upon the base of a tree trunk.

"I've gotta climb that tree." He stated enthusiastically, running over to it.

Alarm took over the gray she-kit.

"What?" She questioned, she wanted to go home as soon as possible.

Boldkit tsk'd in response, "Quakekit, you've heard of Crowflight's climbing abilities, haven't you?"

She sat there, the gears already working in her head telling her that he was going to do something mousebrained.

"Well, she's the best of the best. For me to be the best, I've gotta be able to climb better than her!" He latched his claws onto the tree bark, "If I start earlier, I'll be better in no time!"

Quakekit tried to catch her brother, but it was no use. He was by no means a fast climber, but with only one pull up, he was already out of her reach. She sighed, climbing after him.

Once she dragged herself onto the top base of the tree, she thought that would be the end. Unfortunately for the gray she-kit, her brother would not have it so.

Before she could speak a word, Boldkit placed a paw over Quakekit's muzzle.

"Shh," He whispered, nudging his head in the direction of a small, blue winged creature, "That looks just like the bluebird Mom fed us a moon ago! I've gotta catch it."

Now, catching rodents or even the occasional bird on the ground was one thing, but it would be significantly harder to catch a flying creature this high up without scaring it off.

The two walked over to the edge of the tree's tallest branch, and before you knew it, the beige and black striped tom-kit leaped off. He flew to the closest branch of the neighboring tree, however his jump was somewhat forceful. When he landed, his paw slipped forward, causing him to panically rear himself back, claws gripping to the branch tight.

"Boldkit!" Quakekit whisper-hissed, she thought it was the end for him.

"Oh don't get your tail in a twist, I'm fine. It was easy," He bragged, moving closer inward toward the tree's base, "Your turn."

The gray she-kit quickly shakes her head side to side, "Not a chance in CloudClan."

"Can't prove yourself to be brave if you just watch from a distance." He joked.

"I don't need to prove anything, Boldkit. We are five moons old, what we do now isn't going to change Sootstar's or any cat's opinions of us." She retorted back. Normally, she spoke with more understanding, but right now, she was stressed beyond her capacity.

"Fine," He walked away to another branch, the one that will lead him to the tree with the bluebird, "But I'm not sure how much you can 'protect me' from fox lengths away."

He knew why she came, it was why she always looked in his direction. Not because she was curious, but because she was worried.

Quakekit closed her eyes and began to focus on her breathing. When she opened them, she took one pawstep towards the edge, hesitated, and jumped. She made it over just fine.

"Like I said," Boldkit teased, "It's easy."

As the two made it to the edge of the second branch, though, things got a lot more scary.

Boldkit once again leaped over with no hesitation, but the gap was much wider than the previous jump. And so he made it, but only by the edge of his paws. His upper body clung to the branch, and he had to pull himself up.

"Brother!" Quake yelled, this time much louder in her panic.

With the shaking of the tree caused by Boldkit's leap, combined with Quakekit worried calls, the prey the two sought after took notice of the two hunters, and quickly flew away.

When the beige and black striped tom-kit heard the rustling of the leaves, and the lack of a bluebird in the tree, he cursed.

"Mousedung, we were so close to sneaking up on it!"

The tom-kit began to walk off, looking around in hopes of spotting its new resting place, or a suitable replacement.

"Hold on! We should head back now!" Quakekit shouted over to her sibling.

Boldkit shook his head, "No! Now when we were this close to catching it. We have to find another one before we go back. C'mon, the clouds are getting darker. The faster we find something, the more likely we get home before sunfall."

With her brother walking away, she had to catch up. Giving only a glimpse to the cavern below, many- no, too many fox lengths down.

"I- I can jump this just fine, but wait a moment, please. You might get hurt."

She allowed herself time for a shaky breath, and went for it. Her gray pelt flew high into the air, almost like a bird.

But it wasn't enough.

The gray she-kit yelped as the branch left her sight, and the ground swiftly overtook it.

Boldkit turned around, and a scream ripped through his throat. He saw the edge of his sister's claw before it left his view.

"Sister!" He cried out, terror evident in his tone as he rushed to see where she had gone.

A gray form laid curled up atop the grass, red staining the pale green underneath.

Adrenaline coursed through the young tom-kit as he haphazardly rushed toward his sister's side. His back right leg got sliced open by a branch, drawing blood. The tom wincing too as a splinter caught in between the toes of his front left paw pad. However, the pain was numbed in his frenzy, all that mattered to him now was getting to his sister.

He practically ran into her, stepping back when he felt a sticky ooze cover his right paw.

"A-are, are you alright?" He gasped out.

The gray she-kit eyes were wide open, fear clearly etched them, and glossed over. Her right front paw was laying uncomfortably underneath her form, in a way the bone structure would not allow.

Boldkit frantically begins to shake her body, while his eyes watered up.

"We- we can go home now Quakekit. You've done enough, you'll be a way braver warrior than me. I'm sure even Sootstar will train you," He managed to say, the water in his eyes fully blurring his vision "So please, please just wake up!"

Seconds later, a rustling in the bush can be heard, and he whips around.

"Eaglepaw-" He begins, the medicine cats had been out earlier, he prayed to CloudClan they heard his scream, "Please, Quakekit won't get up! It's all my fault, I'm sorry..."

His tears landed on the ground, his hiccups interrupted his speech, and all quieted when a large dusty-gray fox barreled towards him.