Dappledtree sat, glaring at something in the upper wall of the nursery that wasn't there. Dawnkit shivered, trying to get her mother's milk. The other kits would have nothing to do with her; since they had all opened their eyes before her, and went to explore. Her eyes were still sealed shut, and she twisted her head around to scent where her mother's milk was. As she found her, she rubbed on her furry body and purred. She suddenly felt as if she was being pushed, or dragged away, back to where she started.

"Go away," Dappledtree hissed, "you've done enough already to hurt me; and now you want milk? Ha! Why don't you go over to Lilysong, she gives any kit milk. Now get away from me!" She then went back into her trance.

Dawnkit wondered what she did wrong; it must have been something terrible for her mother to hate her from birth. She searched in her mind something she could have done, but found nothing. She curled up, trying to gather warmth from her tiny body, but she needed someone else. She sniffed out for Lilysong, who had just had kits of her own. They were so noisy, and always kicked around, but were more friendly then her litter-mates. Lilysong pulled Dawnkit over to where she lay, and let her have milk at last. She glared at Dappled tree and then looked back at her own kits, before lying down to sleep.

The next morning, Dawnkit woke up and light filled her eyes. She could finally see! She purred with delight. Everything was so huge! She sniffed around, still mostly relying on her nose, and carefully got up, "Lilysong! Can I explore?" she whispered, trying not to wake the kits.

Lilysong nodded, not fully awake, and put her head down on her paws, drifting back into sleep. Dawnkit carefully stepped over her mother's tail, and wobbled out of the hollow tree. The morning sunlight filled her eyes, and she shut them tight for a few moments, trying to see her bright surroundings. The camp was humongous and seemed to go on forever. She couldn't wait to explore and show Ashkit, Willowkit, and Specklekit, what she was capable of. She stared in awe at the towering fresh kill pile. It was over three times her size! She wondered how a nice, juicy squirrel would taste. Her mouth watered, and she wondered if she could climb to the top. She stepped on a squishy mouse, and thought better of it; bouncing over to a large den. Many large cats laid together, their chests rising and falling. "This must be the warriors den!" she whispered to herself. She stepped back, not wanting to wake them up, but accidentally stepped on a large black, battle-scarred, young tom. He woke up, his green eyes gleaming in the dark space. She could see his fangs sticking slightly out of his mouth. Dawnkit squeaked in surprise as he let out a yawn, his long white teeth showing against his jet black fur, "Last time I checked, this was the warrior's den, not the nursery!" he joked, rousing three other warriors.

"Longfang! Shut up!" growled a large, fluffy gray tom, "Can't a cat get some sleep around here?"

"Sorry Grassblade, a certain little kit woke us up. Hey! Where'd she go?" he mewed, then shrugged and went back to sleep.

Dawnkit was out of there in a flash. Those warriors were scary, she couldn't imagine ever being that big. She sighed, thinking of the day that she would become a warrior. She looked around her. She could see a small snowy white she-cat walking to the warriors den, "that must be Whitefang!" she gasped in awe at the beautiful deputy. She was completely white except for a black tip on her tail.

She quietly bounded over to a small bush that separated what must be the apprentice's den and the nursery. Her black and white fur was a terrible cover, and she was easily spotted in the dense, green bush, "Hello Dawnkit!" mewed the majestic warrior, "I'm Whitefang."

"I-I know, I mean I-" Dawnkit stammered, trying to find the right words to say to the second most important cat in the clan.

"I'm glad to see you've finally opened your eyes. It's been almost a quarter moon! How do you like the camp?" she asked.

"I-I, well, it's- I like it! It's really big." she managed to say, looking around at the sandy clearing.

"Well," she laughed, "once you get bigger, the camp won't seem nearly as huge." she said, glancing at the crowded warriors den.

"Do you think I'll ever be that big?!" she squeaked hopefully, thinking of Longfang.

"I ... I think you'll be a fine warrior, no matter how big you are." Whitefang told her carefully, looking sympathetically at the tiny kit.

She sighed with annoyance. Why did everyone think she was so tiny? Would she ever become a warrior because of her size? She was distracted from her thoughts, as she heard her littermates' yowls from somewhere in the camp, "I- I'll see you later Whitefang!" she mewed quickly as she rushed off to see what her sisters were up to.

Whitefang chuckled as Dawnkit bounded away. She then walked to the warriors den to find cats to go on patrol.

Dawnkit saw her siblings for the first time, and like everything else she saw today; they were huge. She carefully padded over to them and fluffed her fur out, trying to make herself look bigger, "Hey guys!" she mewed, "What are you up to?"

Ashkit spoke up, "Oh hey runt..." she jeered with a mean stare, "finally out of the nursery?"

Dawnkit was taken aback by her sister's words, "Umm yeah, I guess..." she whimpered.

"Oh be quiet, Ashkit!" Speckledkit spoke up, "so how do you like camp?"

"Oh I love it!" Dawnkit replied, immediately deciding she liked Speckledkit the best, "I even got to meet Whitefang!"

Willowkit purred in awe, "Really? What was she like?" she asked with a gleam in her eyes.

"Don't you want to find out for ourselves? We don't want to hear it from the runt of the litter." Ashkit hissed, glancing in Dawnkit's direction, "but anyways, Speckledkit dared me to climb this tree. I bet you could never in your life climb it." she chanllenged.

Dawnkit looked at the huge oak in the middle of the camp. It's trunk was larger than all her litter mates combined, and it was taller than anything she could imagine, but she couldn't let her sisters down, "Want to race?"

Ashkit smirked, nodding at her sisters. Willowkit looked excited, while Speckledkit's eyes clouded with worry, "I'm not sure this is such a good i-"

"On your mark, get set, GO!!!!" Ashkit interrupted, racing up the tree without Dawnkit having a chance to know the race was starting. She stuck her tiny claws in the thick bark, pulling herself up with all her strength. Climbing trees was a lot harder than she thought.

Ashkit was almost two fox lengths ahead of her, grunting with the effort. She heaved herself on top of the closest branch, gaining her breath while Dawnkit climbed on. Suddenly an alarmed shriek came out of the nursery, making Ashkit lose her balance.

"DAWNKIT! ASHKIT! GET OUT OF THAT TREE!" cried Lilysong, making Dappledtree rush out of the nursery.

Moonstar rushed out of his den by the high rock, his creamy fur gleaming in the sunlight. He gasped at the sight of the kits and ran down. Warriors and apprentices got out of their dens to see what the commotion was outside.

Ashkit moved further onto the branch, going treacherously close to the edge. Her paw slipped off the edge and she shrieked, the rest of her falling except one claw.

"Hold on!" Speckletail gasped, grabbing Dawnkit to put her down, and climbing up the large tree, his muscles rippling as he heaved himself up.

"I... can't!" she cried as the branch broke, and she came plummeting to the ground, landing with a thud, the bone in her paw splintering.

"Ashkit!" Willowkit gasped, running to her big sister, "Oh Ashkit!" Her paw was bent in a weird angle, along with her leg. The little kit was unconscious and barely breathing.

Featherpool rushed out of her den, followed by Lakepaw, "Oh no! No, no, no.... it's a very bad break. On her paw and leg."

Dappledtree dashed to her side, "Oh Ashkit! My poor Ashkit!" she wailed, "Oh Dawnkit, this is all your fault! You are terrible! Why do you hate me so much? First Oakfoot, and now Ashkit! Oh, why do you hate me?!"

Dawnkit whimpered, wondering why she was such a fail. She snuggled close to Lilysong, scared to show her face. Oh, why was she such a stupid kit?

***

The camp was silent that night, until Featherpool padded out of the nursery to speak with Moonstar. Dawnkit sat by Firekit and Nightkit; Lilysong's litter. Dawnkit looked up to the pretty queen, "I am so sorry. I never wanted it to happen to Ashkit, but now I've made Dappledtree even more sad."

"Don't think for a minute it was your fault," she snapped, "Dappledtree doesn't have any sense blaming everything that happens on a helpless kit. I am sorry she is like that to you."

Ashkit had broken her front paw and her back leg, but Featherpool confirmed that she would live if she had the proper treatment. The gray kit lay with her paw and leg wrapped in cobwebs and bound with reeds from close to Sea Clan's territory that they let them use.

"Now you just go on to sleep." she mewed softly to Dawnkit, "Yes you two have to go to bed also." she mewed to Firekit and Nightkit, who were too tired to complain.

Dawnkit fell into a deep slumber. She woke up suddenly, but she was not in the nursery. In fact, she wasn't even in the camp! She looked around her, but it was hard to see because of the undergrowth and the dark sky with no stars. Suddenly, a shadowy figure made its way out of the underbrush. It was a dark tabby cat, but his pelt was different from other cats.

"Am I in... Star Clan?" Dawnkit asked, amazed.

The tabby smiled menacingly, "Well, not really. But you can call it that. I am Shadowstripe."

"Am I dead?" she asked, alarmed. She looked around. Star Clan seemed to be brighter in the stories that Lilysong told, and she thought there would actually be stars in the sky.

"No little one. You have a long way to go. In fact, one day you will do great things for your clan.. if you tell me something."

"Really?!" she squeaked with joy. She would do something great for her clan after all and not be a complete and utter failure!

"Yes, but you have to promise that you will always make the right decision to benefit your clan, no matter what the cost..."

She waited for him to continue, lost in thought.

"If you make this promise... and keep it. Every time you make that hard decision, I will make it a little easier for you. But if you make the wrong decision for your clan, i will make whatever you're going through a whole lot worse. So what do you think? Be careful now, I wouldn't want you to make the wrong decision."

She looked at the tall warrior, and at her surroundings. It wouldn't be to hard to make the right decision, would it? She felt special that Star Clan would be willing to make a promise with her, "I promise..."

"What?" he mewed, beckoning for her to speak louder, a grin showing on his face.

"I promise." Dawnkit declared.

"Are you sure about this? Because you won't get to back out." he questioned, an evil glint in his eyes, he stared at the young kit, waiting for her answer.

"Y-yes..." she mewed, not quite sure of herself anymore.

"Then your first test begins..." he said mysteriously, then disappeared. The forest began to fade along with him, and Dawnkit woke up with a start.

She looked around the dark nursery, and got up. Something was wrong. There was an empty feeling in the nursery, so she walked out wearily, staying close to the ground.

Suddenly, Longfang, Swiftwillow, and Stormfeather burst from the entrance of the camp. Moonstar and Lilysong rushed to meet them, "Any news?" he asked worriedly.

"No," Swiftwillow sighed, "Dappledtree is gone."