Not It

Chapter 6

"Pokemon is stupid," announced Swiftkit to no one in particular, her brown-tipped tail lashing back and forth. "I'm almost five moons old. We need to play a new game or something."

Pikekit scrunched up his nose. "That sounds like work," he said, exasperated. "I just want to nap."

Coppercloud peeked through an eye from her nest, the queen's deformed leg propped up on a pile of moss the kits had gathered for her. "Why don't you go play mossball or something?" she asked. "Something more... quiet. I'd rather not have to listen to Otterspeckle complain about your rowdiness for the third day in a row."

"Tell me about it," commented Thornshine. "I've been ignoring that old bag of bones since these two were born." She pointed her tail at Swiftkit and Pikekit, who were now wrestling next to their mom in their nest.

Swiftkit stood up, shoving her littler brother off her with ease. "You shouldn't be so mean."

Pikekit snorted, getting up. Licking the fur down on his shoulder, he commented, "Look who's talking. You're a big fat jerk!"

She let out a growl. "I'm not fat! I'm muscular. That's what Adderleap told me!" She stuck out her tongue. "You're just jealous 'cause he likes me more."

"Adderleap thinks I'll be the best swimmer in the Clan." Pikekit responded, puffing out his chest.

"Enough, kits. I think it's mossball time," Coppercloud interjected, heaving herself up onto her three feet. "I'll be the referee. Let's go play." She started toward the den exit.

"Mossball!" a chorus of kits shouted. Pikekit, Swiftkit, Troutkit, Furzekit, Cloverkit, Pigeonkit, and Applekit all rushed out of the den, passing Coppercloud and leaving the camp queen limping after them. She already looked exhausted by their antics.

Swiftkit was bouncing around the center of the empty camp. "I wanna be captain! Applekit, you can be the other one, since you're the second coolest kit besides me."

"No fair," Pikekit complained. "You're supposed to pick me! I'm your brother!"

Swiftkit laughed and poked his nose with a sheathed paw. "That's exactly why I didn't pick you."

"Whatever. Let's play," Pikekit grumbled.

Applekit left the crowd of kits and stood next to Swiftkit. Narrowing her eyes, she turned to the older kit and meowed, "You can pick first."

"I want Pigeonkit," Swiftkit proclaimed. Grumbling, the tom trotted behind her. "You're goalkeeper," she meowed over her shoulder.

"Pikekit," meowed Applekit, flicking her tail over her back.

"Troutkit." The tom trotted over to Swiftkit, his tail swishing back and forth. Somehow, he was wet - probably from slipping into the stream when everyone was busy deciding the captains.

"Cloverkit." The she-cat made a face, padding over to where Applekit was standing.

Swiftkit wrinkled her nose. "I don't want Furzekit to be on my team."

"He can be on our team," Cloverkit said quickly. She glanced at her teammates. "Right?"

"Sure," echoed the other kits, glancing uneasily around. Applekit lead her team toward the rock and started scraping away at the moss growing at where the stone was lodged into the dirt. She started to form a ball, and Pikekit helped her, adding a patch of light green moss that gave the ball a mottled sort of look.

"Perfect," Applekit said, nudging it with her head. It rolled slightly, and she hit it again - harder though. It spun off toward Swiftkit, who stopped it with a paw. She inspected the mossball, tapping its sides a bit and rolling it around experimentally.

"Did you pick your goalkeeper?" Swiftkit asked, rolling the ball toward Coppercloud, who had to lunge for it, her paws slapping against the ground. The camp queen started inspecting the ball awkwardly, not exactly looking like she knew what to do.

"Um, I'll be keeper," Applekit said, nodding slightly. She scrambled back toward the rock, picking up a stick in her teeth and stick its end into the ground to form a goalpost. Swiftkit did the same on her side, Pigeonkit reluctantly trailing after her.

Pikekit, Cloverkit, and Furzekit formed a semi-circle near their team captain. "I wanna play defense," Furzekit meowed.

"And I'll go with him," Cloverkit added quickly.

"So I guess I'm offense," Pikekit meowed with a dramatic sigh. "I hate playing offense. Swiftkit's too fast! I can't ever get past her."

"Maybe she'll be on offense this time and we'll have to deal with her," Cloverkit grumbled.

"She always plays defense, trust me."

"She played defense last time," Furzekit meowed, his tone curling up at the end of the sentence as if he was giving a protest and siding with his sister.

"That's my point," Pikekit meowed, rolling his eyes.

"Don't be so mean!" Cloverkit snapped, wrapping her tail protectively around her brother. "We're only like half your age. Don't be so rude." She shook her head slightly, like an annoyed queen.

"Whatever," Pikekit meowed as Applekit joined them. "Cloverkit, quit being such a baby. Let's just start the game." Cloverkit stuck her tongue out at the older tom.

Meanwhile, Swiftkit, Troutkit, and Pigeonkit had gathered by their goal. "We're going to crush them!" the white she-kit proclaimed. "They have one more kit, but Furzekit is basically on our team now since he gets so confused whenever we play. Cloverkit's terrible, and I can defend for Pikekit."

"Y-you always pl...play d-defense," Troutkit protested softly. "L-l-l-let someone else do i-it for a ch-ch-chan-change."

Swiftkit considered him. "Maybe that's not a bad idea," she meowed thoughtfully. "I could easily get past Cloverkit and Furzekit. Applekit's not a bad goal keeper, but she sucks on her left side." She nodded to herself. "Yes, a brilliant idea, Troutkit!"

Troutkit blinked. "Oh." She licked down the fur on her shoulder. "You're w-w-welcome."

Pigeonkit kicked the ground with one paw. "I hate being goalkeeper," he meowed again, tail twitching irritably. "Why do you always make me goalkeeper?"

"Because you're the best one at it," Swiftkit responded, her voice hard. "Now get in the goal. We have a game to win!"

The kits jogged to their positions. On the other side of the field, Applekit was in goal and the rest of the cats were set up in a triangle shape, with Pikekit on top. The

"Is everyone ready?" Coppercloud called, limping off the boundary of the field she'd drawn in the dirt. "Applekit, ready?" She nodded. "Pigeonkit?" Reluctantly, the tom nodded.

"Then let the game begin!"

- rio

which team do you think will win? stay tuned for the next episode c:

Edited by Churro