Jaggedstar's Choice {COMPLETE}

Chapter 1

 Jaggedkit prepared himself to pounce, unsheathing his claws as they scraped against the bottom of the nursery floor. He narrowed his amber eyes, zoning in on his defenseless prey. He waggled his hind quarters, tail twitching with anticipation. Jaggedkit pounced, paws forward and ready to attack. His paws hit his target's back, a mass of golden-brown fur. His weight fell upon hers, causing the two to roll across the nursery floor.

"Hey!" Cried Jaggedkit's sister as he landed on top of her, laughing.

"I got you, Maplekit!" He taunted, pinning her down on the nursery floor, claiming his victory.

"You only got me," Maplekit heaved, shoving Jaggedkit off of her, he landed with a thud on the ground but got back up to his paws, shaking his pelt free of moss strands. "Because you're so bulky!"

Jaggedkit sneered. "Bulky is another word for muscly." He held his head high. Suddenly, a weight over took him, squashing him against the floor with a mass of dark brown fur.

"It's a good thing I'm even bulkier than you!" He heard the taunting voice of Elmkit, one of Jaggedkit's four denmates. Jaggedkit stood up, throwing Elmkit off. Elmkit landed in a pile of moss, still laughing.

Jaggedkit sat up and attempted to flatten his spiky fur. "Now you're just a big furball." He flattened down a piece of fur on his chest.

Elmkit padded over to Jaggedkit and Maplekit with a swagger in his step, he lashed his tail. "You're just jealous cause I'm bigger, older and cooler than you." His amber eyes sparkled with mischief.

Jaggedkit shoved down the arrogant tom. "You're like, four days older than me." He pinned Elmkit down who just laughed.

"Four days that still matter, you furball!" Elmkit shoved him away and rose to his paws, he stretched out, extending his claws for a moment.
"Toms are so full of themselves." Maplekit said, wrapping her tail around Jaggedkit's shoulders. "She-cats have so much more grace and composure. Right, Robinkit?" Over in Elmkit's nest, sat up a small, dark brown she-cat with green eyes. She padded over to the other three kits.

"Of course." She mewed with a twinge of laughter in her mew, her whiskers twitching. For some reason, Robinkit was a lot smaller than even Maplekit, but she still liked to play. "While these two are off trying to make their egos bigger, we'll be busy being the best warriors in LichenClan!"

"That's right!" Maplekit bounded off to stand by Robinkit, the two she-cats giggling together. Jaggedkit rolled his eyes, she-cats were so lame. He turned back to Elmkit.

"We'll be the best warriors in the forest!" He boasted, nudging Elmkit who laughed in agreement.

"You'll have to become apprentices first." A soft voice spoke behind him, Jaggedkit turned around to see his mother, Fawnsky looking at the four kits with soft eyes. "A day that can't come soon enough."

Jaggedkit heard the teasing tone in her voice, and he padded towards her into her nest. He placed his paws on her shoulder, giving her a light shove. "But you love us, right?" He gazed cheekily up at his mother.

"More than all the prey in the forest." Fawnsky nudged Jaggedkit causing him to tumble back into the nest. "Even the two of you." She motioned down at Elmkit and Robinkit.

"Just as I love the four of you as well." Mosswing lifted her head, green eyes gentle. "You might as well be littermates, you were all born so close together." Jaggedkit looked over at Maplekit, Elmkit and Robinkit, he felt a strong surge of love towards the other three kits. He climbed out of the nest and stood beside them.

"You're all getting so big." Fawnsky purred.

"They're only a moon old, Fawnsky." Mosswing laughed, moving closer to Fawnsky.

"You have to admit it feels like it's been longer." Fawnsky added. "Why don't we let them play in the snow? They're a moon old and they've never been outside the nursery."

Jaggedkit's heart skipped a beat when his mother spoke of them leaving the nursery. He had always wanted to see the outside!

"I don't think that's the greatest idea.." Mosswing's eyes were unsure, she looked at her two kits. "It's cold out."

"There's no whitecough in the camp, they should be alright if they play out in the snow for just a moment." Fawnsky assured her friend. "We'll keep an eye on them." Mosswing hesitated but finally nodded.

"Very well, you can go outside but not for very long." Mosswing mewed, her eyes still unsure. Jaggedkit jumped up in excitement, not waiting for the rest of the kits to follow him out as they tumbled into the snow. The icy powder was high, it went half-way up Jaggedkit's legs, and almost up to Robinkit's belly.

"Take this!" Elmkit mewed, throwing a flurry of snow Jaggedkit. Jaggedkit winced as he was showered with cold, he hissed playfully and jumped through the snow, tackling Elmkit into the snow. It was cold, but fun to play in.

Elmkit struggled out of Jaggedkit's grasp and shoved him away. Jaggedkit stumbled back, kicking up snow as he did so. He dropped into a playful stance and stared down Elmkit, preparing to attack again as she shook the snow from his red-brown fur. Before he could pounce, however, Jaggedkit felt a weight on his back and looked over to see Robinkit on his shoulders. "Got you!" She declared, latching on tightly.

Jaggedkit bucked, trying to get the kit off of his back. "You're a sticky little thing!" He hissed playfully. As he attempted to buck her off, he was shoved into a snowbank by Elmkit. Both Jaggedkit and Robinkit fell into the deep snow. There was a brief moment of panic, but Jaggedkit quickly saw the light and poked his head out of the snow.

Robinkit was still under the snow, but after digging for a moment he saw her breach as well. Her green eyes were full of laughter and joy, she jumped back onto Jaggedkit's shoulders, laughing with delight. He jumped through the snow, knocking her off but she instantly jumped back on.

"You're like a tick!" He laughed, pushing her off once more. Robinkit just kept getting back up, Jaggedkit admired that about her.

"Don't call my sister a tick." Elmkit teased, and jumped forward pushing Jaggedkit back under the snow. He was starting to shiver, but he didn't want to go back inside.

"Don't push my brother!" Maplekit taunted, jumping and shoving Elmkit. The red-brown tom landed in the snow right beside Jaggedkit. While Elmkit was getting back on his paws, Jaggedkit tackled him and the two rolled through the snow. Jaggedkit bounced off his friend and jumped away, shaking the snow that clung to his thick fur.

Elmkit surfaced shortly after, experiencing the same problem as Jaggedkit, but all four kits were laughing. Maplekit's laughs were interrupted by a sneeze that nearly knocked her off her paws. She balanced herself, only to sneeze again. Jaggedkit looked at her with a hint of concern, was she getting sick?

"Alright," Fawnsky said from the nursery, stepping outside. "I heard a sneeze, that means it's time to come inside and get warm for the night. Jaggedkit was a bit disappointed, but he didn't want Maplekit to get sick. With a few complaining mews from Elmkit, the kits journeyed back inside the nursery.

As Jaggedkit cuddled against his mother and sister he was suddenly grateful for the warmth they both provided. He pressed against Maplekit, who quickly fell asleep, exhausted from playing in the snow. Jaggedkit looked across the nursery at Mosswing, Robinkit and Elmkit. Robinkit was already asleep as well but he could tell that Elmkit was still awake.

"Hey." Jaggedkit whispered, getting Elmkit's attention. Elmkit looked up with attentive amber eyes. Jaggedkit batted over a moss ball at him and Elmkit batted it back. This continued between the two toms for a while until Fawnsky let out a slight hiss.

"Go to sleep, you two." She scolded, snatching up the ball of moss and taking it away. Jaggedkit and Elmkit chuckled, but Jaggedkit turned away and closed his eyes. He was grateful he not only had a sister, but essentially had another sister and a brother.

As he drifted off to sleep, Jaggedkit wished to himself that he, Maplekit, Elmkit and Robinkit would do everything together. They would train as apprentices together, and as warriors they would hunt and fight together. Jaggedkit soon fell asleep, dreaming of adventures to come.