Fallingstars fall

CHAPTER 1

FALLINGKIT MOVED SLIGHTLY, NUZZLING against her mother's flank. Silkweb growled softly, pushing away the kit. Fallingkit squealed and nuzzled against another bit of fur, only for the kit to move heartbeats after.

"Silkweb, when will Fallingkit open her eyes?" Fallingkit recognized the voice as Rowankit, her sister. "It's been ages!"

Silkweb snarled in response. "Be patient, mouse-brain. Fallingkit will open her eyes soon. And it's only been 14 sunrises since you were born."

Fallingkit flinched at Silkweb's harsh tone, and another kit stirred beside her. "But Silkweb!" Dunekit wailed. "I want to go outside and play!"

Silkweb hissed. "Wait until Fallingkit opens her eyes, and for your brother to get stronger!"

"But I'm already strong!" Tinykit protested. Fallingkit listened to the argument closely, snuggling closer to Silkweb and this time not getting pushed away.

"No, you aren't." Silkweb's voice was raised into a whisper-yowl. "You are small and pathetic. You will get stomped on!"

Fallingkit shrank away as Silkweb finished her snarl. Blinking open her eyes for the first time, she flinched at the bright light as she scrambled to her paws. Staring at Silkweb in awe, she muttered, "Woah." Silkweb was a fully white she-cat, her amber eyes looking almost red. Fallingkit felt threatened by the glare she was giving Tinykit.

Nobody seemed to notice that Fallingkit had opened her eyes. Rowankit's tail was lashing, her dark tabby fur fluffy with kitten fluff. "We'll protect him!" She yowled. Fallingkit glanced down at her own paws after seeing the others. They were white, like Silkwebs fur.

Dunekit nodded, and Fallingkit admired her beige fur. She silently wished she looked like that; she was the weirdest-looking out of all of her siblings. /I have a gray tail, and I was the last one to open my eyes. Does that mean they don't like me?/ She wondered. She had noticed her black tail after noticing it was lashing as well. Her gaze flicked to Spiderkit, her other sister. She just stared at the argument, just like Fallingkit was. She had light gray fur.

Silkweb finally glanced at Fallingkit, her eyes rounding with approval. "You've opened your eyes."

Fallingkit scrambled to straighten herself, giving her shoulder a quick lick, and feeling the need to impress her mother. "Yes. Now we can go outside."

Silkweb stared for a moment. "Okay." She sighed. "Stay out of trouble."

The five kits purred their thanks and bolted outside, Tinykit struggling. Dunekit stayed behind. Fallingkit began to admire the world around her. The camp was huge; a vast sandy clearing made way to a large rock that cast a shadow so long it almost touched Spiderkits paws. Three warriors sat in front of a tree, sharing tongues and whispering to each other. Beyond them lay a fallen rock; smaller boulders lay under it as if it were a tail. A foxs length from the nursery was a wide, low bush that spread its branches all over the ground. At least a badger-length away from the bush lay ferns, with gorse behind them. They were so tall, Fallingkit had to jump up to see the top.

"Woah!!" Dunekit yowled. "Look at all that prey!" Fallingkit's eyes followed where Dunekit's tail was pointing, and she gasped. A large pile of prey stood near a rock. Plenty of prey made the pile so large. Fallingkit's tail flicked.

"I want a mouse!" Spiderkit declared, running up to the fresh kill pile. She clawed at one of the kills, though Fallingkit had no idea what it was. It didn't look like a mouse.

Suddenly, a squirrel fell onto Spiderkit's back, crushing her. Fallingkit let out a wail of terror while Dunekit snorted in laughter. Tinykit purred, and Rowankit scoffed. "It's okay, Fallingkit." She purred. "Look, Spiderkit's tail is moving. She isn't dead."

It was true. Spiderkit's tail was twitching in embarrassment as she sat up, spitting fur out of her mouth. The three warriors let out soft murmurs of laughter as a fourth one sat down next to them.

"Poor kit!

"It's her first day out of the nursery!"

"Prey hunting the hunter! How unsuspecting! I'll have to tell my mate!"

"I thought we hunted the prey."

Spiderkit muttered something under her breath and padded towards a bush where two older kits were sharing prey.

"I want to go back to the nursery." Tinykit squeaked. "I'm tired."

"I'll go too!" Dunekit exclaimed, placing her tail on Tinykit's shoulder.

"Me three!" Rowankit squealed, racing off toward the nursery. Fallingkit shrugged and trotted after Spiderkit, tail held high.

The two kits approached the older cats, and Fallingkit's mouth gaped open. They were so big!

One was a black and white she-cat. Her amber eyes were looking at a beige tabby tom admiringly as he ranted about how his training went.

"So then, Longtail said he was really proud of me because I leapt up and caught a shrew!" The tom boasted.

The she-cat purred with laughter. "You told me about your catch five times, Lionpaw!"

"So? I made a good catch, while you caught a pathetic squirrel!" Lionpaw snorted.

Fallingkit snarled. Lionpaw was being rude!

The she-cat stared at Lionpaw, her eyes bright and offended. However, her whiskers twitched with amusement. Suddenly, as if the cat had heard Fallingkits snarl, her head jerked around to see the kits. Her eyes lit up, and she rushed towards the kits.

"Awww! Lionpaw, look!" She yowled. "Kits!"

Lionpaw padded up and stared at Spiderkit. "Isn't that the one who got attacked by the squirrel?"

The she-cat spun around and hissed at Lionpaw. "Don't make fun of her! I think it's her first time out of the nursery!"

Lionpaw shrugged. "It was funny. What are your names, young ones?"

Spiderkit scrambled to straighten herself. "I'm Spiderkit!" She announced. Looking over at Fallingkit, she added, "And this is Fallingkit!"

The she-cat purred more. "I'm Hoppaw, and this is Lionpaw."

Fallingkit shifted slightly. They all looked so different from how she looked. Were they secretly judging her?

Hopppaw looked over at Fallingkit. "You're a quiet one, aren't you?"

Fallingkit panicked, not knowing what to say. What if she said something embarrassing?

Thankfully, Spiderkit saved her from the awkward situation. "She's just shy. Her eyes just opened, you know!"

Fallingkit grunted softly. Why did Spiderkit say that? Now they were probably judging her more! She began to tremble softly.

Hoppaw purred louder than before, and Lionpaw glared at her. "You're purring so loud, MoonClan can hear you!"

Fallingkit backed away. "I'm going back to the nursery." She stammered, her voice shaking. Spiderkit didn't seem to notice her voice, only nodding.

Hoppaw, however, did notice. "Are you okay, Fallingkit?"

"Fine." Fallingkit backed away farther.

She turned and began to bound away across the clearing, hearing Lionpaw call after her. "I hope you'll be here tomorrow for-"

Fallingkit had already ducked into the nursery, out of earshot. She noticed Tinykit sleeping on Silkweb's flank, and Dunekit playing with Rowankit in the corner of the nursery. Fallingkit yawned, realizing how tired she was. She dragged her shaking paws to the nest, where Tinykit and Silkweb lay sleeping. Curling into a ball next to Silkweb's leg, she let dreams replace the vision of the nursery and fell asleep.