Adventures!

Flamestripe purred. "I saw your daddy by the fresh-kill pile. And yes, Goldenkit, I'll tell you about your aunt Goldenpaw and the fire. " He practically choked on grief as he thought of his poor, dead cousin. "I'll talk about your aunt Goldenpaw first." Flamestripe cleared his throat.

"When Aunt Goldenpaw was a little kit, not much larger than yourselves, she when out on an expedition with Sunpelt, then known as Sunkit. I wanted to come with them, but Sunkit said no, I was too young. But he promised he'd tell me all about it when he came back.

Anyway, Goldenkit and Sunkit went out of camp, and suddenly a badger appeared. It chased Goldenkit and Sunkit. My cousins were fast, but the badger was faster. It grabbed Goldenkit in its huge jaws, and wrestled her to the ground. Sunkit leaped on top of the badger's shoulder and started scratching its ears. Though he wasn't strong enough to beat the badger, his slashes distracted it, and the injured Goldenkit raced up a tree and hid in a hole.

Then Sunkit scampered after her, and they huddled together in the hole. Sunkit didn't know what to do to help Goldenkit; there was a huge slash down her flank. So my cousins waited until the badger had lumbered away, and Sunkit hurried back to camp. He woke up Coalspirit, then known as Coalpaw, and led the medicine cat apprentice to where Goldenkit was dying. Coalpaw managed to save Sunkit's sister in time, but she was very badly injured. It took her very long to recover.

Now I'll go on to the fire, which Goldenpaw died in. It was huge, starting in SkyClan territory. It burned down the whole camp, and a lot of cats got painful burns. But Goldenpaw didn't escape alive with her Clanmates.

Sunpelt, then known as Sunpaw, was leading her to the barrier. But Goldenpaw tripped over a pile of sticks and landed in a flame of fire. Sunpaw at first didn't realize, but then he realized Goldenpaw wasn't with him.

So he turned around to search for her, but a burning fallen tree blocked his way. So Sunpaw followed the rest of his Clan to Sunningrocks. He joined a patrol the next day accompanied by some warriors, including his mentor Hawkstrike.

The patrol found Goldenpaw's body near the edge of camp. It seemed as though she had tried to drag herself toward the barrier, but then just fell to the ground and died. It's quite sad, and I'm happy to know that Sunpelt named you after her, Goldenkit," he purred at his cousin's son.

~

Sunpelt finished his squirrel and heard his kits' voices along with Flamestripe's and his cousin's kits'. He followed their scent trail and stopped behind Minnowkit. "Hello, Flamestripe and kits!" the yellow tabby greeted his kin happily. Having a full belly always caused Sunpelt's mood to be extra cheery.

"Going on an adventure, are we?" he asked, giving his daughter Minnowkit an affectionate lick on the head. She's the adventures one! Sunpelt thought fondly. Then he moved on to Goldenkit and ran his tail along his son's flank.

{OOC> Sorry it's so long!}

Sunpelt purred and nodded. "Of course!"

Sunpelt's head and tail drooped. His shoulders and whiskers sagged and his eyes stared at the floor. "Yes, I did save her from the badger attack. But it was mostly from Coalspirit's help. And yes, she... died... in that terrible, terrible fire." He sighed, then brightened up.

He nuzzled his son affectionately and called teasingly to Rookkit, "Hey, what are you doing all the way over there?"

Sunpelt purred in amusement. "Very good job, Rookkit." He looked down at Goldenkit. "Well, I guess it can't do any harm to go help your cousin. Two strong kits will definitely get the badger nervous!" He nudged his son towards Rookkit, pride thrumming through him as he saw the bravery that was hidden deep inside Goldenkit.

~

Flamestripe leaned down close to Snowkit and murmured, "There were times that badgers lurked nearby Sunningrocks, but it's very, very, very unlikely that we'll find them there today. And even if there are, I'm sure you'll fight it with as much courage as a StarClan warrior. But remember, Sunpelt and I are here to protect all four of you; we'll make sure you're safe. Don't worry." The orange tabby licked his son's head comfortingly, impressed by the sensible attitude Snowkit was showing. It takes a lot of courage to show that you're scared, and sometimes that is interpreted as a weakness. But really, it is very sensible thinking about the dangers that might lurk ahead instead of thinking that they were safe because they haven't spotted anything unusual so far.