Falling Feathers

Prologue

"Hey Dovekit! Catch!" Dovekit whipped around just in time for a huge mossball to hit her straight in the face, sending her rolling over and over until she finally stopped with an "Oof!" She quickly got up and whipped around to see her attacker, anger making her fur bristle. "What in starclan  is wrong with you??!! What did I eve-" Her voice trailed off as she saw the hurt look on Ashpaw's face. "I-I'm sorry....I didn't mean to hurt you...." Her brother's tail drooped as he turned around, beginning to walk away.

Dovekit immediately felt terrible. Her brother was practically the only cat in the clan who was nice to her, let alone her kin. "Ashpaw! Wait!" She laid a paw on his dark tabby tail, making him turn with surprise. "I'll play with you," She said with a purr, "But on one condition: we use a smaller mossball!"Her brother's orange eyes brightened with joy. "I can do that!" He quickly hurried off to find a smaller piece to use.

Dovekit purred with amusement. Ashpaw had been an apprentice for 3 moons, and yet he still acted like a kit. He'd been the only kit until his sister; so as a child he'd had no siblings to play with. Now, 6 moons later, he finally had Dovekit, the only surviving kit of her litter. Though the two loved to hang out, Ashpaw probably did more playing than his apprentice training allowed.

Ashpaw came back with a smaller (yet somehow still unreasonably large) piece of moss in his jaws. "Ish 'iss shmall enou'?" Dovekit surpressed a giggle as her brother tried to talk around the plant in his mouth. "Sure," She purred. Ashpaw dropped it on the ground; then quickly hooked it up with a claw. "Alright! You ready?" Dovekit nodded. "Here we go!" With a quick swoop, Ashpaw threw the mossball. It sailed across the air, going farther than where Dovekit was standing. She ran as fast as she could across the clearing, jumping onto a high rock at the edge of it. She then leaped gracefully into the air, nipping the moss perfectly with a quick snap of her jaws. She felt pride swell in her chest, but it barely lasted a second before it turned into horror.

Because there was a cat below her.

"LOOK OUT!!" She yowled, the ball flying out of her mouth. The cat looked up, but it was too late. Dovekit landed on them in a rather.....awkward position. She clambered off as quickly as possible, then helped the other kit get up. "I am so, so sorry...." She apologized, but trailed off at the sight of the cat.

The most beautiful cat she had ever seen.

Whoever this strange cat was, she was definitely attractive. Large hazel eyes hid behind a face of pitch black, glossy fur. A chest and tailtip dipped in white and 3 orange stripes running across her back gave the she-cat a strange, yet quite unique look. She stared at Dovekit curiously.

Dovekit suddenly realized she had been staring. She quickly looked away, her pelt hot from embarrassment.

"It's ok."

"Huh?" Dovekit looked up.

"It's ok!" The cat smiled cheerfully. "That was pretty cool, anyway. What's your name? Mines Hazelkit." Dovekit's heart jolted with surprise.
"D-dovekit.." She looked down in embarrasment. Why was the cat she just cannonballed into being so nice to her? "Are you guys playing mossball?" Dovekit's head snapped up. "U-um, yes actually. Would...would you like to play?" The words left Dovekit's mouth before she could stop them, and she slapped her tail over her flapping jaws. What was she thinking??

"Sure!" Dovekit's eyes widened with surprise as she looked at the strange kit. "O....ok, um, it's uh, it's this way...." As Dovekit led Hazelkit over to Ashpaw, she felt someone looking at her. She turned to see her mother, Silverheart, staring icy daggers at her. With a shiver, she turned back around, shaking. For a moment she wondered if her mother was proud of her for catching the mossball, but she quickly shook the ridiculous thought from her mind.

Because her mother was never proud of her.