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CHAPTER 1 [Nightkit]

The sun shone down onto a complex, carefully weaved canopy of vegetation suspended above a dug out hollow, casting dappled green-tinted sunlight onto the cats sunbathing and playing below. The smooth dirt walls of the hollow were dotted with the dark entrances to tunnels, where a pleasant greenleaf breeze whistled through into the camp. At one end of the camp was a large, cracked boulder the size of two full-grown cats; atop this boulder was a speckled brown tom with a white tail. His half-lidded gaze fondly watched the young cats running and playing around the camp, a small amused smile on his face.

In the shade next to one of the tunnel entrances, three cats lay beside each other, quietly chatting and keeping an eye on the rambunctious antics of the younger cats. A few strides from them, three other cats were sunbathing in the dappled sunlight, stretching and occasionally huffing with amusement as a kit nearly missed stepping on their tails.

A little black kitten sped by the sunning elders, squealing as she ran towards a brown tom stomping and laughing as he gave chase to two other kittens squeaking with delight.

The kit, Nightkit, ducked under Peatpaw’s belly, the brown tom laughing menacingly and stomping his paws. She giggled as he tried to swat her with a paw, unsuccessful in his endeavor as she easily wormed away from him. She ran past Quickkit, who’s pale grey fur was ruffled and already covered in a layer of dust. He giggled and bounced away as Peatpaw came after him next.

“Arrghh! Get back here, you rabbit-heart!”

Nightkit crouched while Peatpaw’s attention was elsewhere and crawled into the dark tunnel entrance that led to the warriors’ burrow. She went just far enough to conceal her black pelt in shadow, craning her neck to keep an eye on everything. Quickkit was ducking around Peatpaw while Foxkit had her teeth clamped around his tail, growling softly up at the apprentice as he twisted back and forth to try to bat her with a paw while also trying to trip up Quickkit. Tunnelstar was laughing lightly to himself atop the Fissurestone, his gaze following the jumps and leaps of the kits.

It’s almost time to attack! Nightkit wiggled excitedly, gleefully remembering the plan she had come up with and shared with Quickkit and Foxkit. We’ll stop this invasion!

The plan was simple: she would yell and give her signal and all three of them would stop running to all pounce on Peatpaw at the same time! He wouldn’t see it coming, and with three whole kits on him he would surely go down! The Clan counted on it!

“Are you three rabbit-hearts the only thing stopping my invasion?” Peatpaw had boomed after the kits begged him to play. “BurrowClan must be the weakest Clan ever! I’ll invade, and take all your prey and burrows! You rabbit-cats don’t stand a chance!”

“Never!” Nightkit hissed bravely, kinked tail lashing behind her as she glared defiantly up at the spotted brown tom.

“Oh yeah?” Peatpaw chuckled disbelievingly at her, puffing out his chest and standing tall. “How are you going to stop me?”

Nightkit bared her teeth and beckoned for Quickkit and Foxkit, who hurried to her side as Peatpaw watched them closely.

“I have a plan!” Nightkit hissed softly, ducking her head low to keep her words out of earshot.

“What’s the plan?” Quickkit was practically bouncing on his paws, radiating excitement. “Do we attack? Do we get him? We could totally bring him down right now!”

Foxkit eyed her brother doubtfully.

“No, no,” Nightkit shook her head, leaning even closer to her friends. “We wear him out first! We run and get him to chase us!”

“And then we attack!” Quickkit’s tail thumped rapidly behind him. Foxkit watched it move intently, looking very tempted to pounce on it.

Nightkit nodded, shooting a glance at Peatpaw. The tom had let his menacing display fall, but when he saw her looking he quickly put his glare and confident grin back on.

“When I yowl and move my tail, that means it’s time to attack!” Nightkit flicked her kinked tail in demonstration. “Got it? Ready?”

“Mhm!” Quickkit looked about ready to burst as he eagerly looked back to Peatpaw. Foxkit blinked, dragging her focus from his still rapidly lashing tail. She nodded, too, paws kneading the earth in anticipation.

Nightkit watched as Foxkit let go of Peatpaw’s tail to skitter away, almost tripping when Quickkit darted past her. She could see her mother and Poolfang watching from the other side of camp where they laid against each other, enjoying the cool shade and breeze coming down the nearby tunnel. Beside the she-cats was Rockpatch, the grey tabby tom sitting with his tail curled over his paws. They all had warm smiles on their faces as they watched the antics of the young cats. Rockpatch caught Peatpaw’s eye and grinned at him, and Peatpaw was so distracted with returning his mentor’s grin he nearly ran right into Quickkit as he ran around him in circles.

Nightkit slowly slid out of the shadows, shoulders tensing.

He’s gotta be tired by now!

The little black kit sucked in a deep breath and yowled, jumping away from the tunnel and lashing her kinked tail behind her. Foxkit and Quickkit immediately stopped to look at her, getting into crouches as she ran over to join them.

Peatpaw only had a moment to pause and look at them quizzically before all three kits leaped at him, little paws outstretched. He let out a loud ‘oof!’ at the sudden weight of three fierce kits, staggering heavily to one side, just barely keeping himself on his paws. Foxkit clung to his back, her ginger-pointed brown tabby fur all puffed up, her eyes narrowed in determination. Quickkit was hanging off the apprentice’s side, clinging with all his might with his front paws. Nightkit tightened her hold on his neck with her front paws, using her back paws to kick at his chest.

Peatpaw was only able to hold the weight for a few more moments before he dramatically cried out and fell to his side, immediately being swarmed by all three kits who pinned him down with yowls of triumph. Nightkit lightly chomped down on Peatpaw’s ear for good measure, and the apprentice groaned in faux anguish.

“Arggh! No! How could you rabbit-cats defeat me?!” Peatpaw twitched hopelessly, visibly stifling a giggle as Foxkit bared her teeth at him and pressed down harder on his haunches. “This is impossible!”

“You shouldn’t have doubted BurrowClan’s best warriors!” Nightkit panted and lifted her chin proudly, pleased with the cheers the cats in her mother’s corner were giving. She glanced over at the three warriors, purring happily at the fond look in Warrenstalk’s eyes. A moment later, the elders joined in from where they were still peacefully sunning, cheering lazily.

“The kits have saved us!” Tunnelstar called from his place on the Fissurestone, eyes brimming with amusement. “Thank StarClan we have such brave warriors!”

“Yeah! We’re the best!” Quickkit stepped off of Peatpaw, pacing in place back and forth, tail raised high. Foxkit stayed put, staring intensely down at Peatpaw in her unique ‘Foxkit is celebrating’ way. Nightkit felt her chest warm with extra pride at her leader’s praise.

“Alright, alright,” Rockpatch chuckled as he got to his paws, padding over to the kits and his poor, defeated apprentice. “Thank you for defending our Clan so bravely, warriors. I can take this from here.”

Nightkit nodded seriously and she and Foxkit obediently stepped off the apprentice. The brown tom’s darker brown spots were turned a little paler with the dust all over his pelt from the play fighting, and a whole cloud of it came free as he got to his paws and shook out his pelt.

“Go get a drink.” Rockpatch purred, nudging his apprentice affectionately with one shoulder. “They really wore you out.”

Peatpaw looked at him gratefully, mewling an exhausted sounding goodbye to the kits before he bounded across camp and down one of the tunnels Nightkit knew led outside. By now, Poolfang and Warrenstalk had gotten to their paws as well and made their way over to the kits and Rockpatch. Nightkit bounced happily over to her mother, practically throwing herself into her soft, warm chest. Quickkit and Foxkit trailed behind her.

“Did you see, mama?” Nightkit peered up at the golden brown tabby, giggling as her mother laughed softly and dipped her head down to lick between her ears. “We beat him!”

“You did, sweet thing!” Warrenstalk’s soft purr was rumbling gently in her chest, and Nightkit pressed her face further into it, relaxed by the soothing sound like always. She faintly heard Rockpatch excuse himself and slink away. “You were all so fierce, I worried Peatpaw may be in real trouble!”

“Nothing stands a chance against us!” Quickkit boasted, now pacing in circles and practically bouncing on his paws. Foxkit slowly reached out a paw to bat at his tail every time it circled around and got close to her.

“Mhm!” Nightkit agreed happily. We’re going to be the best warriors EVER. I’ll dig the BEST tunnels, and anything that tries getting through will meet my claws!

“BurrowClan is much safer with you three around,” Poolfang purred gruffly. The black furred she-cat stretched, arching her back and gaping open her jaws in a wide yawn. After she relaxed, she shook out of her fur and nudged Warrenstalk. “Roottail’s patrol should be back soon. I’m going to go wait outside for her.”

“Aww,” Warrenstalk playfully nudged her. “You love-bun.”

“Oh, hush.” Poolfang nudged her right back, turning to pad away. She called over her shoulder, grinning. “You’re the same way! Darkfrost should be back soon, too.”

Dad! Nightkit thought eagerly. He had been gone all day working on another tunnel that would lead outside, further into the territory. She missed him!

Warrenstalk perked up at the mention and stuck her tongue out at the retreating she-cat before looking back down at the kits, grinning in amusement. “What kind of trouble are you three going to get into next?”

“I wanna go outside! I wanna run!” Quickkit immediately meowed, still pacing, oblivious to his sister now trying to catch his tail in her teeth. Nightkit had no idea how he never seemed tired even after playing and bouncing around. “Can we go outside? Please?”

“Outside? Blegh!” Nightkit protested, shivering. She didn’t like having to constantly look up to watch out for hawks. She didn’t like feeling so exposed. She didn’t like all the crazy smells and sounds. She didn’t like how it was so different from being underground.

Warrenstalk licked Nightkit’s cheek, and she squealed and batted her mom’s nose with one paw. “Let’s go ask your mother; but remember to be quiet! Ravenhaze is probably trying to sleep.”

Quickkit stopped pacing, eyes going wide. He nodded seriously, and Foxkit put on her most serious face, which didn’t look too much different from her normal face.

Ravenhaze, nooo! Nightkit really didn’t like being in the nursery recently; Ravenhaze was so close to having her kits so she was in there all the time, now. And she got sooo grumpy if anyone made any noise! Just that morning she and Quickkit and Foxkit had to leave because their playing woke her up and she got really grumpy!

Warrenstalk must have seen her making a face, because she sympathetically drew her closer. “It’ll only be a moment, sweet thing. You can stay right by me.”

Nightkit nodded, pressing close enough to brush pelts with her mother. The she-cat herded Foxkit and Quickkit toward the tunnel that led into the nursery, draping her tail along Nightkit’s back to lead her. They all slipped into the darkness and Nightkit felt the light brush of the tunnel wall against her other flank.

The warm walls of the surrounding earth thrummed softly at her sides, relaxing muscles Nightkit didn’t even know she had tensed. She always felt so relaxed and safe in the familiar tunnels and burrows of BurrowClan’s territory; she couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. When she had first learned the other Clans didn’t live underground, she had been so shocked! The outside could be scary and overwhelming; she didn’t know how other cats were happy without the comforting darkness and hugging tunnels of the underground. She didn’t even have to look where she was going to get around; her paws knew where she was, and she was hidden from anything that might want to hurt her. She hoped she didn’t have to go with if everyone else went outside to play. She could just chase spiders or hang out with her dad when he got back instead.

After a few more pawsteps, light began to show ahead, lighting up the pale grey tips of Quickkit’s ears. He hurried forward, and Nightkit picked up the pace as well, drawing ahead of her mother. The nursery was quiet from what she could already hear; she only really heard the soft breathing of Ravenhaze sleeping and a quiet shuffling.

As she emerged into the light of the nursery with her mother close behind, she heard Quickkit immediately forget to be quiet as he squealed and ran over to his mother, who was turning in her nest to better groom her belly. The pale grey tabby looked up in surprise, her one flopped ear bouncing lightly with the movement. Foxkit didn’t squeal, but she did race over to her mother all the same, purring quietly as she rubbed against her front legs.

Warrenstalk sighed heavily, immediately glancing over to the far end of the nursery where Ravenhaze slept in shadow. The black and brown she-cat slowly opened her eyes, a scowl already on her face. Her swollen belly heaved as she shifted in her mossy nest.

“Great StarClan, can’t I get any sleep?” She hissed, unbothered by the looks Warrenstalk and Rabbitear were now giving her.

“Sorry, Ravenhaze.” Rabbitear murmured, shushing Quickkit. He looked down at his paws sheepishly.

“Mm.” Ravenhaze grunted, closing her eyes again.

So mean! Nightkit puffed quietly. It’s our nursery too!

Warrenstalk left her side to join up with Rabbitear, lowering her head and muttering something to her. Rabbitear nodded along as she tried to groom the dust off of Quickkit’s pelt, though she had to keep using a paw to drag him closer because he kept wiggling. Nightkit didn’t pay attention much longer as she instead looked around the nursery, cast in the same green-tinted sunlight as the camp.

The nursery had been dug out wide to leave plenty of room for queens and kits. Nightkit knew, from what she had seen, that it was almost as big as the warriors’ burrow! It never felt cramped to her, even with four queens currently staying in it. If Nightkit focused, she could see where Wildrunner’s nest was close to Ravenhaze’s. Wildrunner had only recently started to plump up, so she didn’t stay in the nursery very much. Up above was the same canopy as in the camp and medicine cat den; Nightkit remembered her father explaining to her that it let light in while also keeping out most rain. Instead of getting flooded, the camp and nursery and medicine cat den would just get wet and a little muddy. The burrow supporters maintained it, constantly adding to it and replacing anything that got too dead and brittle. She had watched her aunt Earthheart weave some sort of vines together to add to the camp canopy, and it looked really hard but also really cool!

Nightkit turned her gaze to the nearest wall where her and her mom’s nest was. While the nest was in the shadows, a little bit of light pierced through and shone faintly on the wall. Dark, little pawprints were clustered all along it. Nightkit peered a little bit away from the wall, even closer to the nest, where one little pawprint was. That one was hers! All the queens had their kits leave a muddy, clay paw mark on the wall, from what her mother had told her. She had wanted to better tell where hers was, though, so her mother let her put it away from the other marks. Her mother had proclaimed it as ‘Night’s Corner’. Nightkit felt warm thinking about it. She had made her mark when she was three moons old, and now she was four moons old! Her paws had grown a bit since then. If she lifted her paw up, she could tell the difference better.

One day my paws will be so big, you won’t even see my mark next to them!

Nightkit purred quietly at the thought. She was going to be a burrower just like her dad and uncle, with big strong paws! She couldn’t wait! She would dig the best tunnels ever, and be so strong she could defeat anything that came her way!

“Nightkit, you coming with us?” Rabbitear called quietly to her, and Nightkit snapped back into focus. She turned to the queen, who was now standing and smiling softly at her. Quickkit and Foxkit were by her side, Quickkit looking like he might burst from trying to stay still. He looked a little less dusty.

Nightkit winced, looking to her own mother.

“You don’t have to,” Warrenstalk stepped over to her and touched her nose to her head. “Your father should be back soon, you two can spend time together instead. But no running around and causing trouble!”

Her tone was light and teasing, and Nightkit giggled, reaching up to lick her shoulder. “I know, mama!”

Rabbitear ushered her kits back down the tunnel, Quickkit immediately yowling his excitement as soon as he was out of the nursery. Ravenhaze opened one eye to glare furiously in the tunnel’s direction before hissing quietly to herself and shutting her eyes again, bringing her front paws closer to burrow her head against.

“I don’t think he’s growing out of that,” Rabbitear meowed in exasperation, though Nightkit guessed it was said fondly from the smile on her face. “StarClan help his mentor!”

Warrenstalk laughed lightly, mewling a soft goodbye to Nightkit as the two queens disappeared down the tunnel after the kits. She watched them go, paused to look warily back at Ravenhaze, then trailed after them.

When she slid into the light of the camp, Rabbitear was already on her way to one of the tunnels that led outside, Foxkit staying close to her while Quickkit waited at the tunnel entrance, fidgeting restlessly. Nightkit blinked, looking around camp.

Where’d mom go?

Badgerclaw and Siltdrop were the only two elders still sunning, and Tunnelstar had disappeared from the Fissurestone. Wildrunner was sitting near the fresh-kill pile, her white coat and grey splotches especially mudstained from a life of burrowing. Her belly was lightly swollen, and she bent her head down to lick it. Sandburr was sitting next to her, her rough sandy-brown fur sticking up just enough to make her look a little sharp. Her coat was crusted with mud and clay…and if she was in camp…

The burrowers must be back! Nightkit swung her head around, scanning the rest of the cats she could see. Roottail, Poolfang, Dustsneeze, Digspeckle…Darkfrost! It seemed her mother had split off from Rabbitear and the kits to talk to her mate.

“Dad!” Nightkit squealed as she hurried over to where the other burrowers were chatting amongst themselves, all covered in varying levels of clay and mud and soil like Sandburr. Her father perked up, muddied white ears swiveling in her direction. A goofy smile instantly spread onto his face and he cheered, spreading out his front paws to catch his kit as she sprang into him, right against his black belly and chest.

“Little miracle!” He purred happily, pulling her nice and close with his paws. Nightkit nuzzled into his warmth, purring fiercely. He smelled even more like clay than usual, which made sense. She could feel the wet coolness of said clay and mud getting onto her pelt, but she didn’t care! She would be covered in it once she was a burrower, anyway!

“Woah!” Warrenstalk laughed. She curled her tail in the air and leaned closer to Darkfrost, touching her nose to his. “That’s my sign to catch up with Rabbitear. Be good, you two.”

“You know it!” Darkfrost purred, watching her go for a moment before turning his attention back to Nightkit.

“Dad! You’ve been gone all day!” Nightkit peered up at him, kinked tail swishing behind her. “I missed you!”

“I missed you too!” Darkfrost rumbled, touching his nose to her cheek. “We had a lot of work to do today!”

Digspeckle popped into view, his white face and speckles turned brown from soil. “What about your favorite uncle? You miss me?”

Nightkit giggled, rolling her eyes and sticking her tongue out at him. “Hm…maybe, maybe not!”

Digspeckle gasped, putting a muddy paw on his chest in mock offense. Dustsneeze laughed from behind him, her brown tabby fur slathered in mud and dust. She paused abruptly, sneezed, then snorted, distracted for a moment as she irritably rubbed her nose with a paw, grumbling as she smeared mud on her face.

“I get all the love today,” Darkfrost teased, eyes narrowed mischievously at his brother. “None for you.”

“Unfair!” Digspeckle turned his nose up, putting on the most dramatically anguished voice Nightkit had ever heard. “My own niece…so uncaring …even after I brought her the tastiest field mouse in the whole world yesterday…”

“It was tasty,” Nightkit agreed, nodding thoughtfully. She paused for a moment, before pulling away from her father to wiggle over to Digspeckle. He beamed triumphantly, pulling her into a hug. Nightkit only got a glimpse of her father’s playfully offended face before black fur swamped her vision. She let out a muffled squeal as Digspeckle hugged her tight against his chest. She pushed at him and wiggled, and he chuckled innocently.

“What a nice hug!” He hummed, casually squeezing Nightkit closer, ignoring her muffled ‘noooo!’.

After some more squirming, he let her go, and Nightkit glared half-heartedly up at him before rushing back to her father and nuzzling back up against his chest. The toms shared a laugh, and Darkfrost leaned down to nuzzle her ear.

“Is the tunnel almost done?” Nightkit asked after a moment of smoothing down her chest fur with a few swift licks.

“Almost! Should be done by leaf-fall.” Darkfrost curled his tail around her. “We’ve been working on trying to make half of it smaller. It’ll be another good tunnel to go down if foxes start to chase the patrols again; it’ll be too small for them to follow in the middle.”

Foxes! Nightkit shuddered. She had never seen one, but a lot of the tunnels were tight in some spots to prevent fox problems. She hoped she never had to see one!

“Yuckk.” Digspeckle chimed in, face screwed up in disgust from where he had tried to groom a clump of mud from his pelt. He spat at the ground, groaning. “I always think it won’t be as bad as the other times, and then it is. Argghhh.”

“I would have given up on trying after the first moon,” Dustsneeze huffed, rolling her eyes in a very amused sort of way. “You were still doing it when I was an apprentice. It’s never going to taste any better.”

“It might! Maybe next time.”

Dustsneeze proceeded to whack him upside the head with one hefty paw, and he yelped, wincing and pouting at her.

“Guess that means it’s time to clean off.” Darkfrost stood up, and Nightkit whined in protest. “You’re coming too, silly. I got you all dirty.”

“Yay!” Nightkit cheered. She liked splashing around in the little stream…which…she groaned. It was outside, where she was trying to not go! The stream was fun but only if she felt like it!

“I know,” Darkfrost chuckled, watching as Digspeckle and Dustsneeze padded away, calling for Sandburr. The she-cat said her goodbyes to Wildrunner and hurried to join them. “But I always make sure you’re safe, don’t I? I would never, ever let anything hurt you.”

“I knowww,” Nightkit pouted, hanging her head as he started leading her after the others, tail resting gently on her spine. “But I didn’t wanna go outside! Foxkit and Quickkit and mom and Rabbitear went without me ‘cause I said no…and I gotta go anyways!”

“Aww, I’m sorry, little miracle,” Darkfrost meowed sympathetically as they filed into one of the tunnels that led outside. Nightkit at least enjoyed the light breeze that whistled through her whiskers. “We’ll come right back after.”

Nightkit nodded silently, shuffling after her father as they padded through the darkness. Nightkit focused on the comforting warmth and thrum of the tunnel, the feeling of safety it gave. She enjoyed it up until she saw light eventually appear ahead after a bit of walking. She steeled her nerves as best she could.

Warriors are brave!

Nightkit paused at the very edge of the tunnel, watching her father follow Digspeckle and Dustsneeze out into the bright sunlight. She squinted her eyes against the harshness, trying to get her eyes to adjust. She was used to the low light from the canopies; direct sunlight was a lot brighter.

Darkfrost patiently waited for her in the lush green grass, smiling encouragingly. Nightkit took a deep breath and slid out into the light, squinting nervously up at the blue sky. A few white, fluffy wisps of clouds trailed in the sky, and the only birds she could see were small and definitely not hawks. She pressed up against her father’s side, keeping close to him as they walked down the slight incline they had emerged onto.

Lush green grass spread all around them, some of it taller than her. The treelines of BranchClan’s and DeerClan’s territories could be seen in the distance, a clumpy line of all kinds of greens. She was never to go there, her parents had said. The other Clans weren’t very nice, and none of them got along. If they scented even a tiny bit of BurrowClan scent on their borders, they might try to start a fight. And if they came on BurrowClan territory looking for a fight, they might find the tunnels, and that was bad because the camp and burrows were a secret despite their Clan name, and if they were found they might be invaded. Nightkit felt nervous just looking at the trees, feeling very conscious of her pawsteps even if they were far away.

Pretty blue and purple and yellow and white and pink flowers dotted the meadow and hills of their territory. Nightkit did like flowers; they were a good part of aboveground.

She started to hear the very quiet gurgle of the stream ahead and excitedly tried to peer around the tall grass they were wading through now to see it. Just a few strides later, and it came into view. It was small and full of pretty pebbles that gleamed as the clear water ran over them, and at one point it widened into a very shallow pool that was about as deep as her paw. She broke away from her father’s side to jump into the shallow water of the pool, squealing with delight as she splashed about in the water. She felt the gazes of the three warriors on her, very soft and fond.

“She’s so cute,” Sandburr gushed, working clay from her rough pelt with a wet paw. “Lizardweb hated water when he was a kit. Never could get him near it.”

The other burrowers chuckled, and Nightkit beamed, feeling warm and fluttery at the compliment. Though she also felt a little prickly, uncomfortably aware of how open everything was. She glanced at the sky again, before trying to focus on splashing around instead.

Digspeckle was at one end of the pool, scooping water with his paws onto his pelt. He rubbed the clay and mud and soil and dust from his pelt, the water streaming off of him leaving little foggy brown streaks in the water. The dirtied water slowly flowed away downstream.

Dustsneeze was doing the same, and soon Darkfrost followed suit. Nightkit paused and used her paws to splash water along her flanks, rubbing where she could reach. Luckily, she wasn’t nearly as dirty as the burrowers. She felt clean within a few moments, shaking out her wet fur and splattering little droplets around her.

“Oh! Dad!” Nightkit meowed as she was struck with a memory. “Guess what?”

“Hm?” Darkfrost looked over to her, pausing in rubbing some crusty clay from his shoulder.

“Me and Foxkit and Quickkit beat Peatpaw today! He was pretending to invade, and we ran and ran to make him tired, and then I gave a signal and we all attacked!” Nightkit puffed out her chest in pride. “We took him down! Tunnelstar said we were brave!”

“Wow!” Darkfrost gasped, eyes glittering with pride. “That’s awesome! I don’t think he ever stood a chance. You’re all so strong!”

“Yeah!” Nightkit purred happily, warm bursts of pride moving through her pelt as Digspeckle, Dustsneeze, and Sandburr ooo’d, looking very impressed, if Nightkit had to say so!

After everyone was clean, they all gave a good stretch and groomed their wet fur. By the time the sun was starting to inch a bit closer to the horizon, they were all done and made their way back to the tunnels. Nightkit kept her eye on the sky, keeping close to her father. She instantly felt relieved once she was back underground, and she ran ahead of the burrowers into camp. By now, most of the Clan seemed to be milling about, disappearing down tunnels or hanging around in camp. She caught sight of the tortoiseshell pelt of her aunt Hollowcry as she padded into the hollow, tail-tip twitching behind her like usual.

Nightkit was still a little damp, and she twisted to lap at her flank to help dry it off a little. Dustsneeze trotted over to her son Peatpaw, who still looked a little worn out. He touched noses with his mother, who rubbed her chin against the top of his head. Sandburr and Digspeckle padded over to Spidernose, greeting the black tom. Spidernose’s red nose twitched in amusement as they started telling him something funny.

“Well, I’m pretty hungry.” Darkfrost drew his tongue along his muzzle, eyeing the fresh-kill pile, which was looking a little fuller from the day’s hunting patrols. “Have you eaten yet, little miracle?”

“Nope!” Nightkit hadn’t even noticed her stomach rumbling until now. “Not since this morning, when Rabbitear brought us all a rabbit to share.”

“Well, let’s go pick us out something!” Darkfrost padded over to the pile, and Nightkit trailed after him, kinked tail held high. Prey sounded very good right now.

When she caught up to her father, he was nudging a plump cardinal with bright red feathers. He looked at her, tilting his head towards it.

“How about some cardinal? We can pluck the feathers for your nest!”

“Oooh!” Nightkit gasped. Mama would love that, too! It’d be so pretty! Ravenhaze might be a little jealous, though…Mudrunner hasn’t brought her any feathers yet. “Yes!”

Darkfrost obligingly picked up the bird, turning to pad to a quieter part of the camp clearing. He dropped it with a light thunk and laid down next to it, tucking his front paws under his chest. He licked his lips and grabbed a feather between his teeth, yanking his head to pluck it free. Nightkit settled down next to him, grabbing a feather, too, and pulling with all her might. It came free, and she spat it out next to them as it tried sticking to her mouth.

After plucking most of the big feathers, Darkfrost bit into the bird, tearing away a mouthful and pushing it closer to Nightkit. She tucked in herself, enjoying the burst of savory flavor as she chewed. She usually liked rabbits or field mice the best, but birds were really tasty, too!

As she ate, she watched the activity of the camp. Badgerclaw and Siltdrop had disappeared, no longer sunning. Poolfang and Roottail were curled up together at one end of the camp, grooming each other and murmuring to each other between licks. Roottail’s cream pelt and brown face and tail looked very bright compared to Poolfang’s black pelt.

Mudrunner was laid at the foot of the Fissurestone, head on his front paws. The dark brown tom had one eye cracked open, gaze slowly following his Clanmates’ movements when they got close to him. Burrowpelt had joined his little family, settling between Dustsneeze and Peatpaw. His brown tabby pelt smelled so strongly of herbs Nightkit caught a little whiff all the way from where she was.

The white and black speckled coat of Lighteye caught Nightkit’s attention as the she-cat emerged from the warriors’ burrow tunnel, her cloudy blind gaze unfocused as she padded over to the fresh-kill pile. Nightkit had always thought it was super cool how she got around like everyone else did even though she was blind. Lighteye had helped watch her and Foxkit and Quickkit a few times, and she was really nice.

After a while of silently eating, the bird was finished and only the small bones and some bits of feather fluff were left. Darkfrost helped groom her face and whiskers free of stubborn bits of fuzz.

With a full belly, Nightkit started to feel sleepy. She yawned, jaws stretched wide and little teeth on full display. She smacked her jaws and leaned against her father, who purred softly in her ear and started grooming her between the ears. She relaxed into the warmth and comfort, eyes fluttering closed.

She hadn’t even realized she’d fallen asleep until she felt a nudge and slowly opened her eyes, blinking blearily and yawning. It looked like the sun was starting to set outside, because the light filtering through the canopy was dimmer. She lifted a paw to rub her eyes.

“Hi, sweet thing,” Warrenstalk’s soft voice rumbled, and Nightkit looked up at her mother, mewling softly in greeting. “Did you have fun with dad?”

“Mhm!” Nightkit nuzzled against the warmth of her father; he was still laid beside her, his gaze very soft and affectionate and warm as he gazed down at her. “Had to go outside to wash. Grr.”

Warrenstalk laughed quietly, nuzzling Darkfrost and licking his cheek as he craned his head up to meet her affections. “Poor thing.”

“Where’s Foxkit and Quickkit? Rabbitear?” Nightkit peered around at the much emptier camp. She could see Tunnelstar and Mudrunner talking quietly by the Fissurestone, and Rockpatch grooming himself outside the warriors’ burrow tunnel, but other than that it looked like everyone else had headed to sleep early or went to finish what they wanted to while there was still sunlight.

“They’re still outside,” Warrenstalk shook her head, sighing good-naturedly. “Quickkit is half-asleep on his paws but he kept begging to stay outside. Poor Foxkit was dead asleep when I left. Rabbitear’s going to bring them in soon.”

I’d never wanna be outside that long! Nightkit screwed up her face in disapproval.

“Sounds like him.” Darkfrost chuckled. “We’re very lucky our little miracle doesn’t need to run around all day.”

“Right!” Warrenstalk nudged him, touching her nose to his. “How about we get you to bed, Nightkit?”

“The moon’s not even shining!” Nightkit protested, even though she was very much still sleepy. “It’s still sunset!”

“I know,” Her mother soothed. “But you look very sleepy and you’ve had a long day defending the Clan.”

Nightkit groaned, but didn’t protest again as she got to her paws. Her father got up as well, stretching each leg in turn before rubbing against Warrenstalk and purring softly. They both led her to the nursery tunnel, and Nightkit did her best to keep her eyes open as the darkness fell over her.

She was very quiet as they shuffled into the nursery, though it looked like Ravenhaze had left for a drink or something since her nest was empty. Nightkit yawned again and staggered her way to her nest, surprised to see the cardinal feathers already tucked into the moss. She guessed her father had gotten up to do that or her mother had come by and done it before waking her up. She climbed into the nest and curled up into it, yawning again and feeling instantly a lot sleepier just by laying in the cozy nest.

Darkfrost climbed in with her, curling around her and warming her back as she squirmed closer to his belly. He didn’t always sleep in the nursery, but she was always happy when he did.

“I’m going to go help Rabbitear get Quickkit inside,” Warrenstalk whispered. “I’ll be back soon, you two. Love you.”

“Love you,” Nightkit murmured quietly at the same time as her father. She heard her mother quietly make her way back to the tunnel, and it was only moments later that Nightkit drifted into sleep, surrounded by the warmth and soothing purrs of her father.

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