Driftspeckle's Serenity

Chapter One

The Nursery burst with the sound of six chattering kits climbing over their exhausted huntress mother. New life floated in the air of the Imperials due to the finding of a large, prosperous litter after the fire that had destroyed their previous camp.

"Calm down," Finchberry purred, flicking her brown tail in the air. "You six sound like a skulk of foxes."

Six pairs of tiny golden, amber, and green eyes perked up at the groggy voice of their adoptive mother. "Finchberry!" Vixenkit, the eldest, cheered as she hopped on the queen's tail. "Can't I jump really high?" The ginger she-kit puffed out her chest in pride, awaiting praise.

"Everyone can jump higher than you, Vixenkit," Emberkit replied to his sister, sticking his tongue out.

A tiny tom watched his much larger, vocal siblings. His pale white coat only multiplied his differences from his brown and ginger littermates. His green eyes flickered to his mother before quickly glancing away to the floor. Always at the floor.

A soft voice reached his ear. "Driftkit?" the voice called. "Are you alright?"

Driftkit sharply looked up, meeting the eyes of his little sister, Acornkit. The solid brown she-kit smiled tenderly, and she perched herself next to him. "You don't have to answer," she said. "I overheard Fallowwhisper say that silence can be a good thing."

"H-How did you hear that?" he murmured, blinking questioningly at her.

"I snuck out once," Acornkit admitted. "All of those cats are still injured and in the Healers' Den, so I wanted to check it out." She giggled and beamed at her brother.

Driftkit smiled thinly with an edge of softness. "I could never do that," he answered quietly. "I'm too scared to even ask Finchberry questions."

Acornkit nodded. "I understand. You know I do, and I always will. You don't need to be afraid of anything as long as I am here."

The small tom purred as he licked his sister's shoulder in gratitude. "I know."

Then, Driftkit turned to the corner to see two of his sisters, Volekit and Infernokit, wrestling over a moss-ball.

"It's mine!" cried Volekit. "I'm the one who found it."

Infernokit slung her paw in her sister's face. "I won it fair and square in the game!"

Suddenly, a brown tabby paw gently pulled Infernokit off Volekit. "How about you share it?" Finchberry suggested, raising her brow at her adoptive daughters. "Or perhaps Goldenwind would like to know that the peace of the camp was destroyed by two sisters over a moss-ball."

Infernokit snuffed her nose. "Like Goldenwind can do anything." She rolled her eyes.

Driftkit blinked owlishly. Did his sister just insult the Seraphim? "W-What do you mean?" he questioned.

The six cats in the den turned to the kit in surprise. His adoptive mother's muzzle formed an O-shape as she tried to comprehend that her kit was actually asking something.

"Um... well... she just means that Goldenwind sometimes doesn't do things like a leader should," Finchberry said uneasily. "He's... unconventional."

Emberkit huffed. "You think? Lavenderpaw told me it's against the rules for the Imperials to take in outsiders, but somehow we were allowed in. That's just weird."

Finchberry twitched nervously, and Driftkit eyed her movements. "Yes, it was out of character," she replied.

Why did you really take us in? Driftkit thought as he looked into his mother's eyes. Why us? What made us so special?

A shadow entered the Nursery, hovering over the kits and their mother. Driftkit glanced quickly up to see a brown-and-ginger tom with kind green eyes. "Hello," the tom said, "I was sent by Fallowwhisper to check on all of you."

Vixenkit let out a squeak as she hid behind their mother. "Finchberry! Who's that?" she cried out.

Driftkit watched Finchberry's eyes soften at the tom in the entrance of their den. The two stared at each other, holding a silent conversation the small tom-kit couldn't grasp if tried to.

"Finchberry?" Driftkit broke the timid silence of the den. "You didn't answer Vixenkit's question."

"Oh!" Finchberry yelped in surprise. "I'm sorry, darlings. This is your– I mean– one of the Council members, Robinclaw."

"Nice to meet you, Robinclaw!" Infernokit bounced up to him, holding her head high, her gleaming tortoiseshell fur on full display. "My name's Infernokit, and I'm the third oldest. Vixenkit, the scaredy cat behind Finchberry, is somehow the eldest. Volekit is second. Driftkit is after me, and Acornkit and Emberkit are the youngest."

Robinclaw laughed, letting a smile grace his face. "Do you always greet yourselves that way?"

Finchberry giggled. "I'm afraid so. They've got in set in their heads that everyone in camp must know which comes first."

"And they will!" Emberkit's voice cut through. "I may be the youngest, but I'm bigger than Driftkit, so that counts for something."

Driftkit rolled his eyes, but he didn't reply.

Acornkit tipped her head with a questioning gaze. 'Are you okay?' she seemed to say.

The small kit with a pelt of white nodded, quickly flicking his eyes back to the floor. He wanted to avoid any possible conversation with the strange Council tom.

"You're Driftkit, I assume," the tom purred next to him.

Driftkit nodded lightly. "Y-Yes." The kit heard Robinclaw's feet shuffle next to him.

"Being quiet is nothing to be ashamed of," Robinclaw said. "Some of our best hunters are light on their paws and silent in the night. Seeing and hearing can be a greater asset than talking sometimes."

Driftkit looked up to meet the tom's eyes, the same color of his own.

"Keep on watching, Driftkit." Robinclaw seemed to stare into the young tom-kit's soul. "You will find things no others can."

Finchberry abruptly stepped between them. "I think you should leave, Robinclaw," she said, her tail flicking back and forth. "You did your task. I need quiet time with my kits now."

Robinclaw sighed as he backed away from Driftkit. "Yes, I suppose I have," he responded. "Remember that I'm always there if you need me."

"Leave!" Finchberry snapped. "I don't need your help."

The tom did not flinch or yell back. He dipped his head and left the Nursery in a soft hum.

"He was nice, I guess," Volekit said. "He seemed kinda eccentric."

"Do I even want to ask where you learned that word?" Finchberry quirked a brow at the she-kit.

"No," Volekit replied and shrugged sheepishly.

Driftkit let out a small laugh at his sister's reply, and soon the entire den lit up with laughter.

"What am I going to do with all of you?" Finchberry asked between with giggles, lying on her stomach.

Driftkit glanced at his siblings and saw Infernokit smirk. "Kit attack!" she yelled, jumping playfully on their mother.

All remaining five kits joined Infernokit on top of Finchberry, and the Nursery filled sounds of familial happiness and joy until every kit slept soundly beside their mother.

♜

I got to excited due to the response to the prologue that I wrote this chapter in a day.

This chapter takes place when the main six kits are 3 moons. The next part will jump to their apprentice ceremony.