Starlight

Chapter 16

Feathertail circled around the camp slowly. Most of the Clan was gone at the Gathering, but Feathertail had offered to stay behind since she knew the queens wanted a break from their kits. Tumblekit and Pebblekit were already knocked out in their nest, hopefully not going to wake up until the next morning, but Minnowkit was still awake as if the sun was rising instead of the moon. Even Mistyfoot's kits were wide awake and following Feathertail around the camp with their denmate. As much as she appreciated their company since Mosspelt was fast asleep, their mothers might not be too happy if they come back to find their kits awake, which led to Feathertail giving the kits a little "guarding" lesson to tire them out.

"Now, remember," she called behind her. "When you're guarding the camp, you need to keep your steps light and your ears pricked. You need to hear everything from the smallest fish to the biggest fox you've ever seen. If you can hear pawsteps over the sound of the stream, then you'll keep your Clan safe."

Minnowkit nodded eagerly, tipping her head back with her ears pricked. Feathertail stopped and waited to see how much she could hear. Eelkit, Stonekit, and Shellkit clearly didn't share their denmate's eagerness to learn and they instead circled through Feathertail's legs as they chased each other. Ever since they were old enough to leave the nursery, they've been running around nonstop to the point where even Blackclaw had to get involved with setting them straight. They had also discovered that they could leave the camp far enough to the stream, and Stonekit especially sat there most days just watching the fish swim around.

After several heartbeats, Minnowkit tipped her head back down, her face pinched in a little scowl. "I can't hear anything except the water," she grumbled.

Feathertail purred sympathetically, padding forward to press her nose briefly into the kit's side. "You'll get better at it, I promise," she meowed. "The first thing you need to do is be able to tell the difference between the many sounds out there. A fish jumping out of water sounds different from a stone being dropped in, just as all the birds have different calls."

"But how will I ever learn that?" Minnowkit asked.

"Once you're an apprentice, your mentor will have you sit by a stream or a river for a while and will ask you about everything you heard. The more you do it, the more you'll drown out the sound of the water and hear everything around it," Feathertail explained.

Minnowkit nodded seriously. Her amber eyes brightened as if she just thought of something really important. Almost immediately after, she hopped away toward the nursery, her tail sticking straight up. Feathertail wondered if she was that energetic when she was a kit. Minnowkit and her littermates aren't that old—hardly a moon old—but they had enough energy to match four moon old kits instead. She found herself thinking back to the kits of the other Clans; Birchkit and Larchkit of ThunderClan, and Toadkit and Applekit of ShadowClan. All four of them had played almost the entire journey while the RiverClan kits were carried due to being too young to walk. Perhaps all kits really were full of energy at any time of the day, and that's why the queens were always tired.

She watched Shellkit yawn widely, and figured it was time she got all the kits curled up in their nests. Lifting the small brown tabby, Feathertail flicked her tail for Eelkit and Stonekit to follow her, padding back to the nursery but slow enough that she didn't leave the two brothers behind. Stonekit stumbled over his paws, his eyes half-open as he struggled to stay awake long enough to cross the camp on stumpy legs. Eelkit was no better, so Feathertail decided it was better to crouch down and offer the kits a ride. Blackclaw occasionally came by to give his kits river rides. Well, they're called lake rides now, since they have a lot more room to swim around than they did back at the old camp.

Stonekit quickly scrambled up, laying his head on her shoulder as soon as he was settled. Eelkit splayed himself over her flank, sighing heavily as if he'd worked hard climbing onto her. Holding back a mrrow of laughter, she made sure she had a firm grip on Shellkit before she stood up, carefully making sure neither of them would fall.