"Please?" Novakit overheard Solarkit begging to his mother once more. "Can I at least help Eclipsepaw bring moss to the Elders den?"

Laureldance shook her head, narrowing her green eyes in dismay. "I don't mind if you visit the Elders, but you're not an apprentice yet. Why don't you play pretend with your denmates and give Blackbirdsong some quiet time?"

Novakit glanced at the pregnant queen who rested farther in the nursery. She always seemed to be sleeping or eating, and didn't leave the nursery too much. I can't imagine being stuck inside the nursery all the time! Novakit thought to itself as it watched Solarkit leave the nursery, tail drooping in disappointment.

"Laurelsong," Briarblossom, the queen who helped raise Novakit and its littermates, spoke quietly. "Why don't you try being a little nicer to Solarkit? It must be hard for him being stuck behind,"

The ginger queen scrunched her nose, tucking her tail close to her body. "And? It's not my fault Eclipsepaw is excelling at a younger age than most cats. Believe me when I say that if Solarkit were just as smart and hard-working as his littermate, than he would be an apprentice too by now,"

Novakit let out a gasp. It could hardly believe what it was hearing. Did Laureldance actually say that about her own kit?

Briarblossom seemed to notice Novakit's presence and sighed, getting up to lick in between its ears. "Why don't you go play with the other kits too? I think the others wanted to play a game of moss ball," she suggested in a kind tone.

"Okay mama," Novakit replied with the twitch of its whiskers, running out of the nursery. It found it odd that Briarblossom urged it to leave, but brushed it off. Blackbirdsong must be really tired today! It figured.

Not far from the nursery, Novakit spotted Acornkit, Duckkit, Sunkit, Moonkit and Larkkit surrounding a small chunk of moss. The kit hesitated. Duckkit had avoided it since the incident a quarter moon ago. Even Acornkit was apprehensive when it came to approaching it, clearly fearing the risk of being spit on.

Before it could approach the group, Larkkit came running over to it. "Do you wanna play with me?" She asked, bouncing in her step.

"I thought you were playing moss ball with the others?" Novakit questioned, confused.

Larkkit shook her head. "Not anymore. Moonkit and Duckkit are being way too bossy!" She complained. "You're not that bossy, Novakit, so I wanna play with you instead!"

The red-pelted kit wasn't all that surprised. She was the most up-front of her litter, always speaking her mind. Of course, this led to the occasional quarrel with her littermates, especially Duckkit. But she always seemed to get along easily with Novakit and its littermates.

"Well..." Novakit looked around camp, trying to brainstorm a game idea. "I wanted to see where Solarkit went. Maybe we can get him to play with us too?"

Larkkit's eyes lit up at this. "Are you sure? He's so grumpy and whiny these days,"

"Maybe a game might cheer him up!" Novakit suggested. "Did you see where he went?"

The brown she-kit pointed to the Elder's den with her tail. "I think Solarkit went to go listen to stories," she told Novakit. "I couldn't stay awake for moons if I was forced to listen to the Elder's stories! I wonder why he likes them so much..."

The reddish kit slowly made its way to the den, Larkkit on his tail. "Well, maybe he likes ShadowClan history!"

"Or maybe he wants to be an elder instead of a warrior!" She joked, snickering.

Standing in the entrance to the den, Novakit saw a now excited Solarkit listening eagerly to a tale being told by the grey-furred elder Brookwaters. "...And then, right as that scrawny WindClan warrior thought he was safe, I pounced on his back and clawed him in the eye!"

"Wow! Did that really happen?" Solarkit squeaked, sounding as if he was younger than even Novakit.

Brookwaters chuckled, winking at the young kit. "You'll have to decide for yourself, young one!"

The speckled elder Owlshine purred, letting out a mrrow of amusement. "Oh, don't be so vague, Brookwaters! He really wants to know, don't you Solarkit!"

Novakit watched as Solarkit bounced to his paws, nodding. "Yes! Yes! Yes I do!" He exclaimed.

The tabby looked up, his violet eyes warm as he noticed Novakit and Larkkit in the entrance of the den. "Well, maybe I can tell you the story again? Especially since we have some more listeners!" He nodded to the two kits.

Solarkit looked behind him, and quickly avoided the kits' gazes in embarrassment. "Uh... do you wanna listen to Brookwaters' stories with me?"

Novakit was about to advance forward before Larkkit interrupted it. "Actually, we wanted to know if you'd like to come play with us outside!" She explained happily.

The ginger tabby kit hesitated, glancing between both parties before shaking his head. "No thanks! I think I wanna listen to more stories instead!" He decided.

"Fine, be boring! Come on Novakit! Let's go play!" Larkkit quickly dismissed her denmate, running away from the Elder's den in a hurry.
Novakit shot Solarkit a sympathetic look before following Larkkit back outside. It found her sitting by some pine cones, her gaze entranced by a patrol returning to camp. Copperstar and the clan's medicine cat, Dipperfeather, approached the patrol.

"Swiftbird," Copperstar addressed the warrior leading the patrol. "How was ThunderClan's border?"

Swiftbird replied calmly. "Similar enough to yesterday. The markings were stronger than usual, even though the Thunderpath separates our clans,"

The leader's eyes seemed to darken at the implication. "Did you run into any patrols?"

"No, but maybe the wind blew the scent across the Thunderpath?" A younger silver warrior, Flowerbreeze, suggested optimistically.

Dipperfeather looked up at the sky, his whiskers twitching as if he was testing the wind speed. "If it were the risk of WindClan warriors invading, I would agree. But ThunderClan lives in a thicker area of the forest. A simple breeze wouldn't blow across the Thunderpath as easily as it would if it was coming from the moor," he pointed out.

Novakit blinked, exchanging a glance with Larkkit. Was ThunderClan planning on attacking ShadowClan?

"I'll tell Cricketfern to send bigger patrols to the Thunderpath border when he gets back," Copperstar decided, nodding to the patrol. "For now, get some fresh-kill into your bodies,"

As the patrol dispersed, Larkkit leaned over to whisper into Novakit's ear. "Maybe we'll become apprentices in time to fight those stinky ThunderClan warriors!"

Novakit stood up, shaking out its tiny pelt. "Yeah! I bet we'll be really big and scary one day! Big and scary enough to send ThunderClan cats running away!"

The she-kit purred, pouncing on her denmate. "I bet I'll be the fiercest warrior in the whole forest!"

"Nuh uh!" Novakit laughed, turning on its side to send Larkkit tumbling. "I'll be fiercer!"

The two kits laughed as they play-fought, batting sheathed paws and nipping each other. I wish we could play like this forever! Novakit wished to itself.