even the best fall down sometimes - open

Adderkit watched the two strangers from the shadows, blending in perfectly with the darkness because of his black fur. His calm, yellow eyes scanned over the two, noticing how they were so opposite yet both so beautiful. Adderkit found himself relating to them just by from what he had heard about the girls. They were parentless, abandoned as Shadowclan's new problem instead of their rouge mother's and father's. Adderkit, too, was parentless, except he was pure-blooded Shadowclan. His parents had both died hardly three weeks after his birth and, like the one she-cat, Adderkit was unusually small for his age. The tom stayed silent and continued to watch the sisters, waiting for one of them to notice him.

The small, clean one was the first to notice him. She seemed like the type who would notice things and find the best in people. Adderkit spent his time observing, rather than wasting it playing. By doing so, he saw how motherly this she-kit acted and how mature she was. He could already tell that she would be a poor fighter, but maybe a great hunter and, someday, a loving mother of her own children. Though a runt, Pearlkit was a beauty, and Adderkit had no doubt that she'd easily find a mate one day. After she had introduced herself, Adderkit didn't reply for a few moments. He wasn't the talkative type, but appeared to be rather mysterious and dangerous, even though he wasn't dangerous at all. "I'm Adderkit. Sorry if I came across....like a stalker. I prefer the shadows more than the sunlight. In the darkness, nobody can find me. Except for you, of course." He softly gave her a half-smile, blinking his ominous yellow eyes while doing so. "I knew from the start you wouldn't be a biter, but your sister however....she seems dangerous." Adderkit's smile widened and he turned his gaze to Opalkit, the one rolling in the dirt. She was a beauty, too, and Adderkit admired her long legs. He found it a shame, however, that she always dirtied her lovely pelt when it was so beautiful.

Pearlkit seemed to glow at the older kits response, glad he wasn't that quiet. Giving a small shake of her head, she glanced at Opalkit once more, and couldn't help but wonder what on earth was happening in her sisters head. "Oh no, I get it. There are the quiet ones, and there's... Opalkit." She mused, flicking an ear. "She's one of a kind. But I have to love her."

"You chose to love me!" Opalkit announced, seemingly aware of her surroundings for once. Her words elicited an eye roll from Pearlkit, who knew better than to argue. She'd love her sister no matter what would become of her, there was no doubt about that matter. Though, she didn't need Opalkit growing more conceded than she often was. Modesty was an important trait, one she hoped to one day instill in her sister.

"How has your day been, apart from the dangers of my litter mate?" Pearlkit asked, her tone polite as she turned those soft eyes, now filled with an inquisitive glow, on the tom. She knew there was unrest in Shadowclan, in all of the clans. That had been obvious from day one. It hadn't been affecting her too greatly; she'd been raised with no belief in a higher power, no Starclan and no Dark Forest. Regardless of apparent dead cats wandering about, she had no interest or intentions of beginning to believe. It all seemed to be too complicated to her, and she would much prefer to pretend to believe in whatever she had to for the safety of herself and her sister.

Adderkit laughed at Pearlkit's first comment and Opalkit's reply. "I wouldn't know what it's like to love a sister or brother. I'm an only child and my parents are both dead." His smile suddenly faded and his gaze dropped to the ground. He didn't know why, but talking about his parents always caused a stab of pain to explode inside of his chest. It took Addderkit a minute or two to answer Pearlkit's question. "My day? Oh, it's been alright I guess. It's been fairly boring until I spotted two sisters....one was making a mess of herself and the other started speaking to me. I....I don't make friends easily and only have a few, so it was nice when she noticed me." His lips once again curled into a small smile, just barely there upon his muzzle.

Pearlkit could feel his mood drop at the mention of his parents, and part of her wanted to reach out and comfort him in some way. But she didn't, unsure if he even wanted it; they'd only just technically met. She thought it best that she move on; perhaps they'd discuss their parentage issues one day, but Pearlkit thought it might be too early - and too close to her own mothers abandonment.

"Well, I'll notice you any time." She said with a small chuckle, finding that she'd found a conversation pitfall. It seemed like the type of time that one would say goodbye and walk away. But she didn't want to bid her new friend farewell.

"Who's that?" Opalkit asked, seeming to finally see the tom. She sat up and walked over, stumbling slightly. She was clumsy, and her lack of her sisters grace was often the cause of the girls self consciousness, despite Pearlkit's assurance that she was lovely in her own way.

Pearlkit smiled at her sister, nodding to Adderkit. "Adderkit. He's my new friend."

"Oh. Hey, I'm Opal. Kit. Opalkit." The torbie said, grinning at the unfamiliar male, whom she hoped to befriend as well.

"Thanks," Adderkit purred to Pearlkit before Opalkit seemed to notice him. Opalkit seemed very clumsy, and Adderkit theorized that it was due to her long legs. "Hi, Opalkit," Adderkit greeted as he locked his yellow eyes onto her diluted blue ones. "I like your eyes....they are a very interesting color." Adderkit wasn't very good at compliments, but he really did like Opalkit's eyes. They reminded him of his father's. He cleared his throat, then tried to figure out how to put his next sentence without offending the two. "So....I don't recall any of the queens giving birth lately besides Tigerstorm, my adopted mother. You guys aren't her kits, so I was wondering if you two were rouges....if you don't mind my asking." Adderkit's voice grew softer and gentle, hoping that he hadn't hurt their feelings.

At his words, Opalkit fell into a rare silence, turning those blue eyes, which had been filled with flattery just a moment before, to her paws. Pearlkit knew how poorly Opalkit took the situation with their mother, how much it hurt her to see queens acting so lovingly towards their kits when their mother hadn't been that way. She was the closest thing her sister had to a mother, and she was half of Opalkits size and only minutes older.

"Yes, our mother was a rogue." She said, giving her sister a comforting nudge. "We never knew our father, she didn't talk about him. I'll save you the little sob story, but she couldn't feed herself. And a queen who doesn't eat can't produce milk." She explained, her tone soft and almost accepting of the fact. She'd come to terms with her mothers incapability to support them long ago, though her litter mate still had hope of her return.

Turning her gaze back to Adderkit, she gave a small shrug. "What little there was usually went to Opalkit. I've always been small, but she's bigger, she has to eat more. Eventually, that little bit became too little, so she left us here. Figured we'd figure out how to support ourselves."

Opalkit nodded, her smile returning once more. "And we're going to. I'm going to train and become the best fighter ever, and nobody's ever going to defeat me-"

"You can solves more issues with words than claws, Opal." Pearlkit interjected, though remained ignored.

"-and then I'm going to become leader one day. And Pearlkit is going to become the best huntress, she's going to feel the entire clan herself during leaf bare." She insisted, nodding affirmatively. Sure, they were the dreams of just about every kit, but Opalkit didn't care in the least. As far as she was concerned, she was going to be better than any of the other kits.

Muddypaw had been sleeping quietly in the apprentices den, he had been dreaming about the gathering and the Clans fighting over the most silliest things. He - who was known as Muddystar at the time - was silent most of the time, he hadn't really been arguing over anything unless he had to. There was also other leaders, like Willowstar and Blazingstar, others he couldn't quite remember, most dreams are only remembered by a couple minutes or so. He slowly lifted his head, he had been pretty tired since he had last talked to Webtail about Cinnamonstep, he was remembering to keep her busy every now and then. When he stood up he looked as if he were a newly born deer learning to stand up and walk. He looked out from the apprenntices' den, watching three other kits, sure he was older but he could still talk to kits, though he would be a little awkward at it he would give it his best.

Walking out made him feel weird and dizzy, when the dream had ended his head had been spinning. Feeling quite awful for a few moments though, he shook his head, almost making his day. He thought if he should go and visit the medicine cats den, but he didn't feel like it was too bad to go. Padding over to the small group, he looked at all of them, only to bring a long moment of silence. Once he knew what to say, he spoke "I um....I-I" he stuttered, feeling terribly sorry for his mistake in speaking "I-I heh, um" he started to awkwardly laugh, making it seem even more embarrassing and awkward "I-I u-um" he mewed, thinking of what to say again "I'm uh, Muddypaw" he mewed finally. Sighing for a long while he came up with yet another sentence he feared he would mess up "Are any of you new in the nursery, I know I'm a bit older but I thought it would be a little fun to meet some new friends since I'm a little awkward and I thought it would help my social skills" he mewed "I only have a couple of friends, most of them I don't talk to much though, my mentors pretty rough on me and most cats are a little bit older than me" he mewed, looking at both of them to see a response, but then to speak again "Do you want to be friends, I know we have not really spoken to each other but, maybe?" he was happy he didn't screw too much up, though he knew he sounded much more different than them, sure there was other cats out there that would make him feel comfortable and accept him? Maybe others like him? He waited, not speaking and waiting for them.

(Awkward, same speech color. Do you think it's ok for me to join, little Muddy is going to try and make some friends...)

At the approach of the newcomer, Pearlkit's smile brightened. He reminded her of her sister, awkward and clumsy. He didn't seem nearly as aarogant as Opalkit though.

"It's alright, it's a pleasure to meet you Muddypaw. I'm Pearlkit." She said, doing her best to imprint his mind to her memory, so as to not forget him anytime soon. "Opalkit and I aren't too far from being apprentices ourselves. How has your day been?" She asked, tilting her head to the side slightly, a curious look on her face.

Muddypaw was pretty happy by her response, he thought before quickly speaking "It's nice to meet you Pearlkit and Opalkit, those are very nice names" he mewed, he knew he was already making a mistake again. But he thought once again about his day and trying not to freak out as much as he did in front of Willowpaw a couple sunrises ago. He also tried not to mention Willowpaw in the first place, scared he was though. What if he messed up? Shaking yet another thought out of his mind he caught up to the topic in his mind "It's good, I recently met a apprentice about my age, what about you?" he explained, only saying a small bit about her and trying not to mention his bad dream, it had nothing to do with the topic either but he thought they would freak out and think something was wrong, and he didn't want to get out of the topic and go into the medicine cats den, he hated it there.

Adderkit stayed silent as the stranger came over and introduced himself, leaving Adderkit out. The thick black-furred runt shrunk backwards into the shadows, wanting to dissapear. He looked away from the group and started to pad back to the nursery. I tried to make friends, but someone else swooped in and took them away. That always seemes to happen to me. From now on, the most logial thing to do is not make any more friends. It always ends badly for me, and I can't let emotions get in my way if I want to be a strong warrior.

Pearlkit gave a small giggle at the compliment, her gaze following Adderkit as he went to leave. She opened her mouth to call to him, though Opalkit simply turned away and followed him. Part of her was concerned her sister might try to play hunter with him, a game that wasn't fun for anybody but Opal, always the hunter, but her sister began to speak and, after a moment of hesitation, she figured she should let her sister have a friend. Rarely did Opalkit try to be friendly, or inclusive, to anyone but the two of them. She was against making friends; she thought their situation was temporary. Pearlkit... well, she hoped it wasn't. She couldn't take any more of their mother, gone all day, wishy-washy at night. Perhaps a friend would make Opalkit a little more content here.

Turning her gaze back to Muddypaw, her blue eyes glowed once more and she nodded at the apprentice. "It's been lovely. I love sunny days - gives me a chance to warm up. Does this apprentice live in Shadowclan?" She asked, not wanting to pry too much. She didn't mind inter-can friendships herself; though they were a liability on the battlefield, she didn't fancy the battlefield either. It was good to have friends from all aspects of life, it made you a well rounded person.

---

Opalkit sat there, watching her sister rank up contacts like flies to honey. That's what her sister was, honey. She was warm and sweet, made from something mean. She was the best of a bad situation. And what was she? She was a bee, just like her mother. No, she was a bee without a stinger. Everyone ignored her because she posed no threat. She just seemed mean. Well, honey wasn't all that great, was it? Everyone wanted honey, but there was no honey without the bee.

When Adderkit turned and made a rather unhappy departure, Opalkit decided she ought to do the same. She needed a break from the honey, all goey and getting on everybody. Maybe she wanted to go pollinate a friggin' flower. Don't bee's need stingers to pollinate flowers? She thought to herself, though the sight of Adderkit distracted her. He seemed cool. Relatively immune to the honey that was Pearlkit, able to turn and walk away like so few others could, or even wanted to. He seemed unhappy - perhaps he was another stingerless-bee, stranded in a field of flowers he couldn't pollinate.

"Hey," She said, her legs making catching up to him easy. "They're lame. You wanna go, I dunno, start some trouble?" Because that was what she was good at. Starting trouble, ruining things.

(I want to join too, don't you mind?)

Yewkit cautiously walked out of the nursery. It was the second day of her life and she was eventually allowed to look around the camp. Yewkit squinted, looking at the sun.
- What's this thing? - she thought, trying not to stare at the sparkling ball in the sky. - Why does it hurt my eyes? I didn't do anything bad...
 Suddenly somebody's voices attracted her attention. She turned to the source of the sound and saw several cats, looking bigger than her, but definetely smaller than everyone she had already seen.
 With no doubts Yewkit ran towards them.
- You wanna go, I dunno, start some trouble? - that's what a pretty tabby she-cat was saying to a small black tom, who seemed to be quite shy.
- Oh, I do, I do! - Yewkit squeakked, looking at the kittens with an unconcealed curiosity.