𝙉𝙊𝙏 𝙎𝙊 𝙎𝙐𝙉𝙉𝙔, warriors

| chapter one

Marigoldkit lifted her head. She smelled her mother's-Otterwhisker's sweet scent and her siblings', Foxkit's and Palekit's. Foxkit nudged her with his paw.

"Are you sleeping, Marigoldkit? Open your eyes!" he mewed.

"She can't open them yet, silly." Their mother's loving purr interrupted him.

"Yeah, I can't open them yet, mouse-brain. You opened them?" Marigoldkit turned after her brother's scent.

"Of course, I'm obviously faster than you!" Foxkit retorted.

"Shh! Your sister is still sleeping," their mother meowed sternly, yet her voice was filled with affection.

Marigoldkit obeyed and sat up. She felt the feathers and moss beneath her paws. Foxkit muttered something and curled up next to Palekit. Marigoldkit struggled to open her eyes.
Finally, her left eye flew open. She blinked at the flash of pale cold sunlight that reflected on the stone floor of a wide rocky den, with ivy hanging in the entrance. Some more bushes grew near the cat-sized hole.

Marigoldkit poked her head outside the nursery. She blinked rapidly as the light got in her squeezed eye. She opened them both and trotted into the DandelionClan camp.

The camp was circular, with bushes surrounding it and a few rocks at the entrance. The clearing was filled with daisies, dandelions and other flowers, yet they were covered in frost. A huge sunflower grew near a huge stump in the center of the camp. Next to the stump there was a hole in the ground, perhaps a den. Nettles grew above it, guarding the entrance. Next to the few rocks, there was another hole in the ground, a sharp scent of herbs flowed from it.
Medicine den! Marigoldkit thought.
Near her was a twisted tree with its tangled roots making the walls of the den.
The next den was a burrow made in a small heap covered in grass.
Last one was in high grass, hidden from every cats' gaze. An apprentice walked from it. Suppose it's apprentice den.

The nursery itself was made in a cave so it was the most protected den.

Marigoldkit looked down at her paws. They were ginger with white footing aswell as her tail with white tip. She was completely ginger like marigolds-of course, she was named after them. Yet she was ginger, she had cloudy white underbelly and tail-tip.

She pelted back to the nursery and looked on her siblings. Foxkit was ginger too but with black ears and paws, and Palekit was light brown with cream chest. Otterwhisker was sleeping now, so did the kits.

Marigoldkit noticed there was another queen in the nursery, white with gray face. She was feeding two kits, a cream tom and a white molly.

"Hello, Marigoldkit, right?" the queen purred.
Marigoldkit nodded.

"My name's Puddleface and this is Mistlekit and Doekit," the white she-cat added.

"Hi!" Marigoldkit meowed to the kits.
The smaller she-cat blinked at her.

"Hey Marigoldkit!" she squeaked.

"Hey," Doekit mewed.

"Want to go outside? My siblings are still sleeping," Marigoldkit asked.

"Yup! Will you go, Doekit?" Mistlekit jumped and tilted her head to one side. Doekit hesitated and nodded.

"Yay!" the gray molly squealed and dashed out of the nursery, with Marigoldkit hard on her paws. The tomkit followed more slowly and studied the camp.
Mistlekit immediately pounced on him and the two siblings were now play-fighting on the ground.
When they finished, Mistlekit gave her brother one last playful blow with her tiny silver claws sheathed and turned to Marigoldkit.

"Wow! Do you know how do your eyes look?" she asked stunned.

"Of course not!"

"They are amber! You have really pretty eyes!" she squeaked.
Marigoldkit fixed her ember-like gaze on her. Her eyes were like bright and joyful pools of sky-blue water.

"Whoah, yours too! They are blue!" she mewed.

"Hey, you two, can you stop yapping and play?" Doekit wailed ironically.

Marigoldkit launched herself on the tomkit and shaked his scruff gently. He made a blow on her ear with sheated claws, yet she dodged.
Doekit leaped on her and pinned her down while Marigoldkit kicked her legs softly to shake him off.

Mistlekit watched them scuffling and after a while she disappeared into the nursery.
She emerged outside almost at once with Palekit and Foxkit following her. "Look who decided to come outside!" she squeaked.

Doekit let Marigoldkit go and leaped on Foxkit. The two toms play-fought on the grass beside the nursery and the mollies watched them while chanting; "Doekit!" and "Foxkit!"

"Look, a butterfly!" Palekit squealed and shot after the colorful animal. Marigoldkit and Mistlekit followed close by. Palekit leaped at it, but slashing her claws in empty air. The butterfly was quicker and dissappeared in the distance.

"Awww! You should've not scared it!" Mistlekit snorted.

"It's not my fault! He's a coward!" the pale brown molly growled.

Mistlekit murmured something and stalked off to the nursery, Doekit with her.

Marigoldkit watched her in silence. Suddenly a familiar scent flooded her nostrils. Cragstep! Immediately her father trotted through the rocky entrance.

"Hi!" Marigoldkit squeaked and pounced at his tail.

"Slow down, Marigoldkit," he purred amusedly. Foxkit pelted to his father too and scrambled onto his back, Palekit hard on his paws. Marigoldkit followed her brother and clung on the big tomcat's ginger fur.

Cragstep shot through the camp and the smallest Marigoldkit lost her grip on her father's pelt and fell down.

"Woohoo! This is so fun!" Palekit yowled in delight.

Cragstep clearly didn't notice her fall so he kept running in the clearing. His pace slowed into trot and he curled his tail in amusement.

Marigoldkit wailed and the tom trotted over to her.

"What happened?" he asked gently.

"I fell off and I hurt my paw," she sniffled.

"Aw, I'm sorry. Should i lick it? Or will you survive?"

Marigoldkit sobbed bravely.
"I will survive," she announced.
"But you should lick it anyway."

"Crybaby!" Foxkit teased while Cragstep washed Marigoldkit's paw.

She let out a high-pitched hiss and he retorted;

"At least I can grip properly on dad's fur!"

Their father turned to the small ginger tom.
"That's not kind of you, Foxkit," he mewed.

When he was done washing he licked Marigoldkit between her ears and padded to the warrior den. Marigoldkit stuck her tongue out at Foxkit and dashed to the nursery, Palekit at her side. Foxkit followed more slowly.

Doekit and Mistlekit were already sleeping beside the purring Puddleface.
Otterwhisker lifted her head from washing when they came.

"My little explorers," she purred lovingly. The kits snuggled to her side and began suckling rapidly.
Marigoldkit was very hungry.

She eventually stopped and rested her head on her mother's soft flank and drifted to sleep.