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Squirrelkit watched curiously as Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw were talking by themselves near the apprentice den. They had just returned from a patrol with Fireheart and Sandstorm. She was just so jealous that they were already apprentices, while Squirrelkit would still have to wait another two moons until her own ceremony. She looked to her sister, who was sitting beside her. Leafkit was focusing on a single leaf in front of her, staring at it as if it held all the answers to every prophecy ever given by StarClan, or something like that. “What’s so cool about that leaf?” Squirrelkit whispered, prodding Leafkit with a paw.
“Shhh!” Leafpaw meowed. “I’m trying to stare at it while standing very still. I’m almost at a personal record, I think.”
Squirrelkit sighed, falling onto the ground with a small thud. “It’s not like we have anything better to do. I bet Bramblelcaw and Tawnypaw are having such a great time as apprentices.”
“I don’t like Bramblepaw. He’s so quiet… I can never tell what he’s thinking. It makes him look scary.”
“Uh, you’re pretty quiet too. You didn’t even start talking for, like, ages after I did.” Squirrelkit pointed out with a flick of her tail. “Besides, everyone says that Tawnypaw is grumpy, but she’s always nice to us, isn’t she?”
“They just say that because Tigerstar is their father. It’s not fair.”
“Just like Darkstripe. He gives me funny looks all the time, that mangy old thing. He’s such a-”
“Squirrelkit!” Leafkit squealed in horror.
“Wait, sorry!” Squirrelkit covered Leafkit’s mouth with her paws. “I wasn’t going to say anything bad! I promise!” She mewed quickly, not wanting to get in trouble with Fireheart again.
“I certainly hope you weren’t.” A voice said behind them. Squirrelkit whirrled around, seeing Fireheart watching with an amused expression. “Even if Darkstripe is… rude, sometimes, he is still your clanmate. We should treat our clanmates with respect.”
“Darkstripe doesn’t treat anyone with respect.” Squirrelkit protested.
“Well, you aren’t Darkstripe, are you?”
“...No.”
“Good.” Fireheart nodded, then looked over at Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw. “You know, you could always go over and talk to them, instead of staring at them from over here.”
“We’re not staring!” Squirrelkit protested. “We’re just bored. We don’t have anything to do, since we won’t be apprentices for ages.”
“I’m not bored. I’ve been staring at this leaf.” Leafkit added, finally taking her gaze off of the leaf and looking up at Fireheart. Squirrelkit groaned internally. The thought of standing still for that long, not doing anything… it felt like torture to Squirrelkit. She had much better things to do.
“Have you beat your previous record yet?” He asked, sitting next to his kits and wrapping his tail over his paws. Fireheart was tall, his ginger fur a lighter tone than Squirrelkit’s red-ish fur. Squirrelkit thought it was so cool that her father was deputy of ThunderClan. Although, she had heard other warriors talking about how he was basically acting as leader since Bluestar had been so different of late, after Tigerstar was exiled from ThunderClan and became leader of ShadowClan. Squirrelkit and Leafkit were born shortly after, so they had never met Tigerstar, but they had heard all sorts of terrible stories.
Leafkit nodded, her tail waving back and forth on the ground as she smiled pleasantly. “Cinderpelt says I could make a really good medicine cat. I’ve been helping take care of L… taking care of Brightpaw.” Leafkit glanced down at her paws. “Why is Bluestar so mean? I thought leaders were supposed to take care of all the cats in the clan.”
“It’s complicated.” Fireheart said slowly, wrapping his tail around Leafkit. “She not been like herself. She got really hurt when Tigerstar betrayed ThunderClan, and she needs help to feel better. We just need to figure out how to help her.”
Squirrelkit felt a surge of pity for Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw. “They must have been really sad too…”
“That’s why we’re here to help them. Sandstorm and I are doing our best to make them feel safe as their mentors.” Fireheart looked to Squirrelkit knowingly. “We know more than most that a cat’s blood doesn’t change who they are. Some cats just don’t understand.” He shook himself, standing with a stretch. “I’m going to go check on Cinderpelt and Brightpaw.”
Squirrelkit thought as Fireheart walked away. “You know, he’s right. We should go over and talk to Bramblepaw and Tawnypaw.” Leafkit nodded, and they walked over together.
Bramblepaw’s voice sounded strained as they walked over, but he cut his sentence short when he saw Squirrelkit and Leafkit. “Oh, hey.” He meowed. His expression was unreadable as always, but he seemed happy to see them, at least a little bit.
“Guess you guys must be excited to have more room in the nursery now that we’re out, huh?” Tawnypaw was smiling and her tone was teasing, but her eyes looked tired and kind of sad.
“Hardly!” Squirrelkit scoffed. “Now, when I have a nest in the apprentice den with you guys, then I’ll be excited. I bet I’ll be so good at everything.”
“It’s pretty crowded there too.” Bramblepaw shook his head. “Ever since Bluestar refused to let the others become warriors and then Swiftpaw…” He stopped there, but everyone knew what he was going to say.
Leafkit looked up at the evening sky thoughtfully. “I’m sure Fireheart will protect ThunderClan. He always does.”
“Your dad is really nice.” Bramblepaw agreed. “He always does his best, like when he and Sandstorm went on patrol with us today.” He shot a look at Tawnypaw, making Squirrelkit wonder what they were talking about before. Had they been arguing?
“Can I ask you about something… to do with your dad?” Squirrelkit asked with some trepidation. Tawnypaw stiffened, avoiding Squirrelkit’s gaze. Bramblepaw seemed uncomfortable, but nodded. “What was he like? I always hear stories… but you know, sometimes cats just don’t understand.” She thought of Darkstripe again, and how he would act so coldly towards any cat with kittypet blood.
“I don’t remember much of him. He would come to the nursery, sometimes, to talk to us. I think Goldenflower started to see through him, in the moons before he left. She would avoid him. At the time, I didn’t understand. Now I think she was trying to protect us. Goldenflower doesn’t like to talk about him at all, and I try not to think about him at all…” Bramblepaw shrugged.
“I’m sorry. That must be hard.”
“Well, we all have our struggles.” Tawnypaw interrupted quickly. “There’s no point in dwelling on the past. We have to look forward.” She gave Bramblepaw a pointed look, and Squirrelkit felt frustration build up in her chest as she wondered what was really going on between the two of them. She took a deep breath. Squirrelkit remembered Fireheart’s words, and she promised herself that she would try to be just as brave as loyal as him. That meant being there for her clanmates, even if she didn’t always understand what they were going through.