Bubblekit blinked. She reached out with her light grey paws and pushed something away from her. That something squeaked in protest, and she lifted her head to see brown eyes glaring back at her.
"Who are you?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.
"My name's Reedkit." he meowed. "Who are you?"
"Bubblekit." she replied. His voice and his scent smelled familiar, but she didn't know who he was. She turned her head as her mother walked into the tightly-packed nursery.
"That's your brother, Bubblekit. And Reedkit, that's your sister." she bent down and picked up a small bundle of fur. It was smaller then Bubblekit and Reedkit, and was a silver colour. It dangled from her jaws until she placed it down beside them.
"That's your sister Silverkit." Riverfur purred
Bubblekit reached her head out to sniff the small sleeping bundle of fur when a paw kicked her in the face, sending her reeling backwards as two flashes of fur raced past her face.
Riverfur looked angry. "Cloudfur! Keep your kits away from my kits! Meadowkit just kicked Bubblekit in the face!"
Bubblekit remembered the name Cloudfur. When she had just started to open her eyes a few days ago, the two she-cats had been arguing about something. She turned her head to see a fluffy white she-cat with green eyes come into the nursery. She had big paws that showed flashes of grey pads on the bottom of her paws. Bubblekit looked at her own paws. They were a bright pink colour.
Cloudfur stepped around the cats. "Meadowkit! Whitekit! Say you're sorry to Bubblekit."
Bubblekit sat up now, and looked around the nursery. It was pretty big, and was packed together with reeds. There was a short-haired white she-cat sleeping on one side of the den, but she didn't have any kits with her. Her belly was enormous though. Then, on the right to the white she-cat, was Cloudfur who was nosing what Bubblekit guessed to be Meadowkit and Whitekit towards her.
"Sorry Bubblekit. We just got really playful." Meadowkit meowed.
"It's okay." Bubblekit replied.
"Can we go and play outside now?" Whitekit meowed, turning to face her mother.
"Sure." Cloudfur meowed. The two kits bounded around Bubblekit and her siblings, and dashed outside.
Bubblekit turned back to where Cloudfur was. She widened her eyes when Cloudfur's belly suddenly had eyes.
"What.. What's wrong with your belly!" Bubblekit meowed, frightened by the eyes on Cloudfur's belly.
Cloudfur looked down. "What do you mean? Do you mean Ghostkit?" she meowed. She stood up, revealing a fluffy white cat with one green eye and one brown eye, who stared back at Bubblekit.
Bubblekit shivered. "Oh. Now I know why his name is Ghostkit." she blinked. "Hi Ghostkit."
Cloudfur flattened her ears back and suddenly looked sad. "He can't hear you, Bubblekit. But he's learning to read lips. Say hello, but slower."
Bubblekit blinked. He couldn't hear her? Did he have something in his ears? Why not just take them out so he could hear her?
"Uhm, He..llo" she said, saying is slower.
"Hi." Ghostkit meowed. His voice sounded normal, like any other kit his age would.
Bubblekit felt uncomfortable, so she turned her back on Ghostkit. "Mama, can we play outside too?" she meowed, looking at Reedkit. Her brother stood up.
"No sweetheart, not until you a-" she cut herself off, her ears pricked. Cloudfur hissed from the other side of the room, and the short-haired white she-cat beside Cloudfur sat up.
"What's going on ma-" she was cut off by her mothers tail smashing into her mouth to shush her. Cloudfur raced forwards. "I have to get to my kits!"
Suddenly, a yowling sounded from outside the camp. It was followed by a couple of squeals, which made Cloudfur push past Riverfur. "Meadowkit! Whitekit! I'm coming! Don't worry my little ones!"
Bubblekit shivered. "Mama, what's going on?" she asked, leaning against Reedkit.
"Somebody from Mountainclan ahs come to take Cloudfur's kits." she whispered
Bubblekit widened her eyes and hoped over to Ghostkit. "I won't let them!" she said, sliding out her little claws.
Ghostkit nudged her gently, as if he understood what she was doing.Bubblekit held her ground until the yowling stopped. That night, she slept with Cloudfur and Ghostkit. She curled up with Ghostkit, shaking gently in her sleep as she had a nightmare. Ghostkit woke her up with a shake to her shoulders, and she turned over to look at him.
"It's okay." he said, blinking softly. Bubblekit thought it was odd how one of his eyes were different from the other. She noticed now how his green eyes always kind of stared off in a different direction when he looked anywhere. She took a deep breath and nodded, turning over again and going back to sleep.
-------------------------------------------
The next day, Cloudfur was already gone when she woke up. She had either crawled into her own nest in the middle of the night, or one of the queens had put her there because Ghostkit was curled up in a ball on the other side of the nursery.
Two paws slammed down on her side as soon as she woke up. She jolted and turned over, taking her claws out and wrapping them around her opponent.
"HEY!"
Bubblekit let go, and sighed. "Silverkit, you can't do that. Not while the whole clan is on edge!"
Silverkit rolled her eyes. "Just because the warriors are all toughed up and stuff, doesn't mean we have to be. Why can't we just have peace in the clans? It's stupid."
Bubblekit tilted her head to the side. "You don't want to fight?" she asked her sister. "But.. Fighting is so powerful and stuff!"
Silverkit shook her head. "Nah, it's too risky. Cats get killed and hurt. I'm never ever going to fight."
Bubblekit felt uncomfortable around her sister now. She backed up and turned around, almost smashing into her brother.
"Reedkit, what do you think? Should we fight?"
Reedkit's bright brown eyes stared back at her. He always seemed to be glaring...
"Fighting is good. It protects the clan." he said, simply.
Bubblekit nodded. "Protect the clan!" she repeated. Just then, Cloudfur padded back into the den.
"I give up. There is no way of getting my kits back. Barkstar says that they are old enough now to make up their decision. If they want to come back later on in life, they will. Otherwise, the only way we would be able to fight to get them back is if these kits were Warriors. Then we would have more warriors then them and we could win and take them. But that's a very far way away. So we are never getting Meadowkit and Whitekit back." she said. Her tail drooped, and she turned, blinking away tears.
Riverfur and the short-haired white she-cat, whom Bubblekit still did not know the name of, went over and sat beside her, their tails over her shoulder.
"You still have Ghostkit though, you didn't lose everybody." the short-haired white she-cat said softly.
"Look at him though! Ghostkit is useless! He's deaf and he's blind in one eye. He'll never be a warrior! I've been punished by Starclan for something, punished to have my only heir be Ghostkit!" she wailed. "Lunasoul, your kits are going to be perfect, while I am stuck with him."
Lunasoul, the short-haired white she-cat, shook her head. "Don't think like that, your son needs you, and he is a smart cat. Very smart cat. He's already learning fast. He can say small sentences, and can read most of what you say. He might not be able to be a warrior, but he will be something great. I just know it."
Riverfur sat beside Cloudfur quietly. Bubblekit looked at her mother. She looked like she was thinking of something, very hard too.
"Cloudfur, we are going to get back your kits. Somehow, we will get them back! I promise!"
