"Novakit! Wake up!"

The dark red kit groaned a bit, opening its eyes as it looked up at whoever woke it up. It recognized the golden-orange kit standing over it, prodding its shoulder with his paws. "Wake up wake up wake up! Moonkit and I wanna play!"

Chuckling softly, the dark red kit slowly got up, smiling at its brother. "Calm down, Sunkit." It stretched across the den, yawning as it did. "It's early. Why are you both up anyways?"

A grey and white kit snickered from across the cramped den, smirking as he spoke. "Momma had to leave after a certain someone hid mouse bile in her nest!"

"That was a mean prank, Moonkit!" A dark brown she-kit glared at the mischievous kitten, sticking her tongue out at him. The cream stroked tomkit laughed in response, side-eyeing the she-kit.

"Want me to leave you a gift next?" Moonkit snickered, watching as the she-kit huffed before storming out the den. He laughed happily, rolling on his back as he shifted his gaze to the scrawny dark red kit. "Anyways, wanna play hide and seek, Novakit?"

Novakit laughed a bit at its brother's antics, tilting its head curiously to the side. "Can we really play with three kits, though?"

"We can join!" The three siblings turned to see two other kits, Eclipsekit and Solarkit, standing in the den entrance, with Eclipsekit smiling excitedly. "Owlshine's stories were boring, anyways! Not enough action, if you ask me!"

Their brother chuckled a bit at this, looking at his littermate calmly. "I wouldn't say boring!" Solarkit replied, his red eyes shimmering in the morning light cast into the den. Moonkit purred softly, getting up with a bounce. "Great! We can all play, then!" He paused, looking at the last two kits who were tossing a small ball of moss around in a corner of the den happily. "Duckkit? Acornkit? You wanna play hide and seek with us?"

The two kits turned to look at him, nodding happily as Acornkit spoke up. "Yeah! Hide and seek sounds fun!"

The mischievous tom-kit heard and smirked a bit, trotting past the two kits blocking the den's entrance happily. Novakit followed him out the den, along with the other five kittens interested in joining the game. Moonkit narrowed his yellow and blue eyes, looking at all of the players before speaking in a giddy voice. "Novakit can be the seeker!"

It groaned in response to this, rolling its eyes at the grey, white, and cream kit. "I'm always the seeker, though!" It whined, looking at its brother with pleading eyes. "Can't someone else be the seeker this time?"

"No way!" Moonkit was quick to respond, lashing his tail as he did. "You hide way too good! We can never find you! What's the point if we know you'll win?"

Sighing in defeat, Novakit went silent, deciding to accept its fate as it covered its eyes with its paws. "Fine. I'll count to twenty."

It began counting out loud, listening to the other five kits scuttle off across the camp. It lashed its tail across the ground, counting out loud for its denmates to hear. After it had counted up to twenty, it stretched out, standing up before calling out to them. "Ready or not, here I c-"

It cut itself off with a yowl of pain, feeling someone step on its tail. "Hey! Watch where you're stepping, you-!" It cried out, turning around to look at the culprit before freezing as it recognized the cat standing over it -- a young warrior named Shimmerspots.

The curly furred, dark brown cat was one of the youngest cats to become a warrior. After its parents mysteriously disappeared, that is. Ever since its parents' bodies were found, there have been... rumors surrounding the young warrior. Rumors about it being the one to have killed its parents.

Of course, it was a ridiculous rumor. The medicine cat claimed that its parents were likely killed by a fox, so Novakit never exactly believed in the rumors floating about. Still difficult to not be off-put by the overly enthusiastic warrior, though.

"Oh, I'm very sorry, little kit!" The lithe warrior spoke, looking down at Novakit with a look of concern. "You're just so tiny! Sorry I didn't see you! I didn't hurt your tail, did I?"

The slight chuckle in its voice felt odd, but Novakit paid it no attention. It shook its pelt out, sighing as it looked across the camp. "I'm fine, just let me focus. I'm playing hide and seek." It brushed the unsettling feeling off, trying to focus on the game with its denmates.

The warrior smiled widely at Novakit, purring as it trotted off. "I'm glad to hear that! Well, I have a hunting patrol to join, but good luck with your game!" The warrior left the camp with a bounce in its step, leaving the dark red kit to let out a sigh of relief. Well, at least I can find the others, now!

It scanned the camp calmly, noticing a small golden-orange tail flicking behind the Clanrock. Chuckling softly, it headed towards the Clanrock calmly, peering behind it to see its brothers, Sunkit and Moonkit. It pounded the ground with a paw, causing some noise to draw their attention.

Looking up upon hearing the noise, Moonkit saw Novakit and groaned loudly, flopping onto the ground with a slight thud. "Aw, you found us that fast? Lame!"

Novakit giggled a bit at this, purring softly as it spoke. "Sorry, I saw Sunkit's tail. It was a good hiding spot, though! Maybe you'll have better luck next time we play."

The grey and white tomkit glared at his brother, who just laughed awkwardly in response. "Sorry, sorry!"

With a sigh, the two tomkits left their hiding spot and started heading back to their den. Novakit watched them calmly, waving at them with its tail as it smiled softly. "Remember to get some fresh-kill!"

The two kits heard and turned, changing their direction to the fresh-kill pile as Novakit continued searching. It padded around the camp curiously, hearing some quiet laughter followed by shushing behind the warrior's den. Curious, it walked around the den, peering behind it to see two familiar tabby kits.

"Be quiet, Eclipsekit!" Solarkit spoke in a hushed whisper, his paws over his littermate's mouth. "You're gonna get us caught if Novakit hears you laughing!"

The dark tabby kept giggling, purring softly as they wagged their skinny tail back and forth, smiling at their brother. "But this joke is hilarious! Just wait until I tell you, it's-"

They cut their words off, glancing to the side as they saw Novakit. They whined a bit, drooping their ears. "Aw, I thought we had it this time! Please tell me we aren't the first ones to get caught!"

Novakit heard and walked back out into the clearing, followed by the two kits as it nodded towards the fresh-kill pile. "I already found Sunkit and Moonkit, so they're eating while I find everyone! You can join them, if you want!"

Solarkit giggled happily at this, bounding ahead as he raced to the fresh-kill pile, mewing a happy greeting to Novakit's brothers. Eclipsekit followed, their tail dragging along the floor as they did.

Only two more... Novakit thought to itself calmly, looking around the camp curiously. So far everyone's hidden in pairs, so it'd make sense if Acornkit and Duckkit did too, right?

It looked around carefully, perking up as it heard... bickering? Curious, it approached the source of the argument, seeing Duckkit and Acornkit arguing in the nursery.

"I'm telling you, Acornkit! The nursery is too predictable! We should hide in Copperstar's den! No one would expect that!" The tomkit tried explaining to his sister, until Acornkit noticed Novakit. She tilted her head towards it, allowing Duckkit to see the kit at the nursery entrance before letting out a sigh. "See, Acornkit? I told you it was too predictable!"

The dark red kit chuckled a bit, smiling nervously at the two. "Actually, I only checked here because I heard the arguing. Everything okay between you two?"

The she-kit nodded, smiling gently at it. "Yeah! Just arguing about what the better hiding spot is. Sucks that we were too loud, though..."

"Not our fault he's a buzzkill." Duckkit groaned, getting up as Novakit hissed at him, the fur on its back rising.

"I thought I told you not to call me that!" It hissed at him, glaring at the tomkit angrily.
Acornkit paused, looking to her brother then back to Novakit with a confused expression, her green eyes filled with curiosity and confusion. "Uh... You never told us not to call you a buzzkill, though? Unless I missed something..."

Duckkit rolled his eyes, looking at his sister calmly. "No, Novakit never told us not to call him that! I don't know what he's talking abou-"
The tabby tomkit cut himself off, screeching as Novakit spit on him. "Ew! Why would you do that? What's wrong with you?"

"I told you not to call me that!" It hissed loudly at the tabby, its small claws unsheathed. "I keep telling you guys to stop saying that! It feels so icky! So, so gross! Bleh!"

Suddenly, Novakit was lifted from the ground, having been lifted by the scruff of its neck. It looked up to see who picked it up, groaning as it recognized the cat it saw. "Hi, papa..."

Copperstar hissed quietly, carrying the small kit away from the nursery. He padded to the leader's den calmly, setting the kit down on the floor of the den. He sat down in front of Novakit, sighing as he looked down at the kit.

"Alright, Novakit. We need to have a talk."