Novakit looked up at its leader curiously. The leader and his mate had taken in the young kit, along with its brothers, after its mother died due to complications during childbirth. At least that's what it's heard from eavesdropping on gossiping warriors.

The young kit was always confused about Larkkit, Duckkit, and Acornkit saying Novakit and its brothers weren't their real siblings. Especially Duckkit. I don't think he likes me...

Shaking its small head, the dark kit looked up at its adoptive father. "What do you want to talk about, papa? I'm not in trouble, am I?"

The shimmering tom sighed, looking down at the kit with a stern, serious look on his face. I'm definitely in trouble, huh?

"Novakit," Copperstar started, "you can't just... spit on your brother like that, regardless if he's blood-related to you or not. You know that, don't you?"

It remained silent at this. The leader went on, noticing the kit's silence.

"Duckkit is not only your brother, but your clanmate. Why in StarClan's name would you do that to him? It's not necessarily aggressive, but that doesn't mean it's okay." He paused, noticing that the kitten seemed... uncomfortable.

It was shuffling its paws, and looking at the ground nervously. With a sigh, the leader softened his voice. "Why don't you explain why you did that?"

The kitten didn't look up, its ears flattening against its head as it spoke. "Duckkit called me something I told him not to and it makes me feel gross. So I spit on him to make him feel gross as payback. I'm sorry, papa."

Copperstar frowned a bit, a look of concern dawning on his face. "What is he calling you, then? I can talk to him about it. You're my son, too, and I don't want you two bickering over a slight misunderstanding between the two of you."

The dark red kit hissed at the leader, its fur spiking up. "Ew, gross! Not you, too!" It whined a bit, flopping onto the ground in defeat. "I don't like being called he or son! So icky! Bleh!"

Perking his ears up curiously, the leader looked at the young kitten with a confused, baffled look. "Oh, you dislike being called he? I'm sorry, I wasn't aware." He sat down next to the kit, calmly curling his tail around it. "What would you rather be called, then?"

Purring softly, the kit nuzzled into the leader, looking up at him happily. "I like being called it! It makes me feel warm and fuzzy! It is good, he is bad!"

With a soft chuckle, the leader got up, gently nudging the kitten up as well. "I'll talk to the Clan about how to refer to you correctly, then, okay? I don't want your clanmates making you uncomfortable without meaning to."

The kit nodded happily, waving its tail as it smiled up at the leader with enthusiasm. "Okay! Thank you, papa!"

Bouncing out the den happily, Novakit trotted over to the fresh-kill pile. Sunkit and Moonkit were waiting for their sibling, sharing a scrawny lizard. "Oooh, someone's in trouble!" Moonkit taunted his sibling, a teasing glint in his multi-coloured eyes.
    
"I was in trouble, but I'm not anymore!" Novakit clarified, taking a small bite of the lizard.
    
Sunkit gazed at his younger sibling, concerned. "You didn't get Duckkit in trouble, right? He went running to Briarblossom after papa took you away..."
      
The red kit hesitated before replying. "I don't know if papa will get Duckkit in trouble, but I don't think he will."
       
It looked at both of its brothers, taking a small breath. "If I tell you why Duckkit made me mad, will you promise to not be mad too?"
         
Moonkit chewed a piece of lizard, shrugging. "Depends on if it's stupid or not," he muffled out in between bites.
        
"Hey! Be nice, Moonkit!" Sunkit scolded his brother, looking back at Novakit kindly. "I won't be mad! You're a great littermate, and even if spitting on Duckkit is pretty gross, m-maybe there was a good reason for it?"
         
Novakit could tell Sunkit was trying his best to be kind about the situation. At least one of my siblings wants to be nice about it... it thought, glancing at Moonkit uneasily. Moonkit might think I'm dumb...
    
"Okay, well..." Novakit began, shuffling his white paws. "I got mad at Duckkit because he called me 'he'. I don't really like being called that, and it makes me feel all icky and gross inside. I'm not weird for that, right?"
    
Sunkit moved to sit closer to Novakit, purring in support. "Of course not! I mean, I'm perfectly fine with being called 'he'! But it doesn't mean you have to like it!"
    
Novakit felt a small purr rattling in its throat. It's suspicions were right, Sunkit did support it's choice. "Thank you for understanding, Sunkit. Could you try calling me 'it' instead of 'he'? Being called that makes me feel happy and warm inside!"
    
"Of course I can, Novakit!" Sunkit exclaimed, bouncing up on his tiny paws. "Moonkit can do that too! Right Moonkit? We're gonna call Novakit 'it' more, right?" He stared at the oldest of the littermates in anticipation.
       
After waiting for what felt like forever, Moonkit stood up. "I don't really care what you call yourself, Novakit," he admitted, not seeming phased. "I mean, if that makes you happy, that's okay. I can call you 'it' too,"
    
Novakit let out a noticeable sigh of relief. "Oh thank StarClan!" It exclaimed, purring loudly. "This makes me so happy! Thank you thank you thank you!"
   
Sunkit nuzzled into its sibling, his orange fur fluffing up. "Of course! We're a litter! We've got your back!"
     
"Yeah, what Sunkit said, I guess," Moonkit agreed with a small smile, nuzzling Novakit's other side. "Nothing will change that, no matter what happens!"

**********

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather here beneath the Clanrock for a clan meeting!"
   
Novakit heard the leader from outside the nest and groaned a bit, sleepily blinking its eyes open from its nest, looking over to its denmates curiously. "Are we supposed to have a clan meeting today?"
    
It watched as its littermates lifted their heads, hearing Moonkit let out a grumble murmur as he got up and shook his fur out. The young kit peered outside the den, watching the clan for a few moments before looking back at Novakit. "They seem just as confused as us."
    
"Well, what're you waiting for?" Eclipsekit jumped up, bouncing out in front of the other kits. "Let's go see what's going on! Aren't you guys curious?"
    
The golden-orange kit looked up from his nest, sleepily rubbing at his eyes with his paws as he replied to Eclipsekit. "But papa said cats old enough to catch their own prey, and we're all kits. W-We can't go out there!"
    
Eclipsekit rolled their eyes at him, letting out an exasperated sigh. "You're all no fun! I'll go alone, then!" They looked at Solarkit, tilting their head curiously. "You coming, brother?"
    
With a shake of his head, the light ginger tabby refused as he looked at his littermate. "I don't wanna get in trouble. You better not get caught, Eclipsekit! I'm not taking the fall for you!"
    
The energetic kit nodded in agreement before rushing out the den. Novakit watched curiously, seeing its denmate hide in a bush under the Clanrock. There's no way they don't get caught, you can see their tail sticking out the bush...
    
Novakit crouched down near the entrance to the den, watching the clearing curiously as the Clan gathered. Once the clan had all come together, it watched as Copperstar let out a sigh and spoke aloud to all the cats that had gathered beneath the rock he stood on. "Today, we will be having a new apprentice joining us. Eclipsekit, step forward."
    
"Wait, what?" They spoke from the bush, peeking their head out. "I'm only five moons old though, right? I think I am, anyways..."
    
The leader looked down at the young kit with a curt nod. "You are, but your mother and father have noticed you're able to copy the training from apprentices, so we believe it'd do good to make you an apprentice early."
    
Eclipsekit heard and frowned, whimpering softly as they jumped out the bush, looking around before spotting Laureldance and Flarestorm in the crowd as they ran over to the two of them. "Mama, papa, please don't make me do this. I-I wanna stay in the nursery with brother! And all my friends!"
    
Their mother looked down at the young kit, nuzzling their cheek softly. Novakit perked its ears up, trying to hear better as it saw Eclipsekit's mother whispering to them. It couldn't hear what she said, but noticed Eclipsekit sigh as they turned around to look up at Copperstar. "U-Uh, okay."
    
The leader nodded in appreciation at the kit as he continued the ceremony with a calm voice. "From this day forwards, this apprentice shall be known as Eclipsepaw. Cricketfern, I trust you with the honor of training this young apprentice. They are smart, resourceful, and an incredible learner, so I trust you to be able to hone their skills."
    
The deputy nodded at the leader, moving to Eclipsepaw and touching his muzzle to the apprentice's forehead gently. Novakit saw him say something to the apprentice before stepping back, watching Copperstar retreat from the Clanrock as the gathering of cats dispersed.

Novakit quickly scrambled out the den, watching Eclipsepaw silently head over to the apprentice's den. Oh, right... I guess they won't be sharing a den with us anymore.
    
It looked over to Solarkit with a small frown, noticing a look of bitterness on his face. "Uh... Solarkit? Are you okay?"
    
He hissed under his breath, his tail lashing as he stormed out the nursery. "Yeah, I'm fine. It's whatever, I guess."

Solarkit padded towards the fresh-kill pile, stomping a bit as he did. Novakit looked over to his littermates, thinking to itself for a moment before speaking. "Can one of you guys check on him? Make sure he's really okay?"
    
"Yeah, I guess so." Moonkit shrugged, walking out calmly, Novakit watching as the grey and white kit sat next to the tabby calmly. With a sigh, Novakit laid down its nest, resting its eyes quietly. I hope Eclipsepaw will still be able to play with us from time to time. They were fun to play with...