A Beginning, an End [OPEN, SITEWIDE]

This was not the ideal hour Fernkit would prefer to travel at, but it did seem essential that it was to happen now instead of later. And so the grey tabby kitten with white speckles on his face and paws kept good pace beside his family. Shadowclan had to leave their territory because of the famine, he deduced earlier, and for the sake of safety in numbers, the clan was to find new land with the support of other clans. Fernkit was excited about this new adventure, though much unlike his siblings. He hoped they would realize its potential soon enough.

The tom-kit had held his ears low so far in order to protect them yet that couldn’t hide the loudest voice calling across the clearing. Leopardstar was speaking, but Fernkit couldn’t hear her over the sound of paw steps. Suddenly his mother asked if he or his siblings needed to rest their legs. An idea lit up in his mind. “Yes.” Fernkit lept onto his mother’s shoulder, kicking a paw off of an assisting limb to crest her back. He raced to stand on her neck as tall as he could, but despite his recent growth, he still could not see clearly due to his mother’s poor height. Though to his relief, the noise was less up here. As Fernkit looked for a higher vantage point his ears focused on Leopardstar’s words. She sensibly commanded her clan to work as a team and keep their claws to themselves, which made him wonder if that implied some warriors intended to start fights. Wolfkit would start fights for no other reason than the fact that he could. But surely adults were wiser than a kit’s impulsive desires, right?

Fernkit’s ears flopped slightly upon hearing Leopardstar’s decision to flip Shadowclan’s sleeping schedule on its head. Waking in the day instead of night? Although initially hesitant, he ultimately realized and understood his leader’s logic. The kitten tried to peer over clanmates’ heads to see the other clan cats. What else did they do differently? He had heard some swam, others dug. Most lived in trees. All with their own leaders and warriors and kittens. Soon he would have to meet them and ask them all his questions. But for now, he would give his mother’s spine a break and find good company in his sister back on the floor.

Unfortunately, she didn’t seem to be feeling well. “You don’t have to be afraid, Hedgekit. Danger won’t…” He glanced up at Pineblossom quizzically. “Befall? Is that the right word, Mom?” Back to Hedgekit with a comforting nuzzle, he suggested, “Danger won’t befall us with all of these cats watching us. Don't you agree?”