The brown kit's pelt burned with embarrassment. He felt like everyone was staring with their judgmental eyes, watching as his father, Bearclaw, led him back to the nursery. He glanced back at Reedkit and Rushkit, hoping for at least some support, but they were just smirking at each other, as if they'd gotten away with something.

"Come on," Bearclaw huffed "Shortfern should hear about what you did. A cat as well mannered as her surely wouldn't have made the same mistake." What mistake? Frogkit was still sure that Bearclaw was the only cat he'd ran into, and it was just an accident. Besides, he'd already apologized. He couldn't help but feel like someone was out to get him.

He followed his father into the nursery, quickly glancing down at his paws when he saw the two queens, Clearlight, and his mother, Shortfern, lift their heads at the sound of pawsteps entering the den.

"Bearclaw?" Frogkit recognized the soft, concerned voice of his mother, but he didn't dare to look up. "What's wrong? Why isn't he out playing with Reedkit and Rushkit?" He listened to his father clear his throat before speaking "I'm afraid he needs to learn some more manners before he starts playing with the older kits." The disapproval in his father's tone made Frogkit feel a chill that wasn't from the cold of leaf-bare.

"Manners?" Shortfern questioned. Frogkit guessed that he must have disappointed her too. She'd been practicing manners with him ever since he could speak in full sentences. "What happened?"

Bearclaw shook his head "He was running around with his eyes closed and he ran into me. Reedkit and Rushkit told me he ran into other kits as well." Frogkit could hear the anger in his voice, but his mother's sounded surprisingly calm "Did you ask Frogkit for his side of the story?" She asked "Of course I did!" His father snapped, causing Frogkit to finally look up.

"B-but they told me to close my eyes. It was part of the game." He protested quietly. "Then you should know better not to partake in a game so stupid. It's embarrassing, having you run into cats."

"You shouldn't be embarrassed by your own kit." Frogkit looked over at his mother to see that her fur was still flat, as she tried to remain calm, however, she now spoke with a more stern tone "If he ran into you, so what? Kits do that all the time."

"It's not just me." Bearclaw replied, his tone low, almost sounding like a growl "There were other cats as well." Frogkit flattened his ears "But they ran into me!" He protested, which caused Bearclaw to turn his head and glare at him "That's not what Reedkit and Rushkit told me."

"And you believe them over your son?" Shortfern questioned, looking like she wanted to say more, before her eyes landed on Frogkit. She looked at him for a moment, then she sighed "Clearlight, can you watch Frogkit for a bit?" She asked the blue-gray queen, who nodded. Frogkit then watched as his mother stood up and left the nursery with Bearclaw. Were they fighting?

"Come over here, Frogkit." Clearlight meowed "We can wait for her to come back." Frogkit nodded and moved over into the blue-gray queen's nest. He could tell that she was trying to get him to relax, but after what he'd just witnessed, Frogkit wasn't sure that he could.

~~~~

Frogkit didn't fall asleep, despite Clearlight's suggestions. She probably wanted a nap as well, but didn't want to fall asleep while Frogkit was still awake. She could have taken a nap if she wanted to, though, because Frogkit was hardly a disturbance. He just laid there, awake, and in thought, going over all of the possible scenarios of a fight between his parents. Some might call this overthinking, but for Frogkit, it was how he always thought about things. Frogkit's mind could take the most trivial matter and turn it into a scenario that would completely ruin his life. So, when a situation came up that had an actual affect on the young kit's life, his worried mind came up with many possible outcomes that would not end well.

When Shortfern finally came back, Frogkit stood up with a smile "Shortfern, you're back!" He exclaimed, dashing over to her and nuzzling her foreleg, purring loudly. He felt her tongue rasp over his head and ears "I missed you, Frogkit." She whispered, before looking to Clearlight "How was he?"

Frogkit turned his head to look at Clearlight. He hoped she wasn't upset that he didn't fall asleep like she wanted. To his surprise, the blue-gray queen smiled "He was quiet as a mouse. I probably could have gotten in a good nap if I wanted to."

No matter how good he was, Frogkit was always a bit surprised, but very happy to receive praise. He turned back to his mother with a wide smile, and she returned it with a smile of her own, leaning down to touch her larger, adult sized nose to his smaller, kitten nose. "Good kit." She whispered to him.

Frogkit had forgotten all about the fighting, at least for now. Shortfern was the best cat in the world. They went back to the nest, and she played with him until the sun began to set. It was just like how things were before today, where he finally left the warm embrace of his mother, and the comfort and security of the nursery, only to end up wishing that he'd never left in the first place.

Once the sun was down and the sky was dark, Clearlight called Reedkit and Rushkit back to the nursery. "Playing with mommy, Frogkit?" Reedkit sneered. "He's probably too embarrassed to play with us after what he did today." Rushkit added

"Reedkit, Rushkit!" Clearlight snapped, cuffing her kits lightly over the ears. The larger, older kits flattened their ears and shut their mouths. "I'm sorry about them, Frogkit." Clearlight apologized. Frogkit could tell from her expression that her apology was sincere, but didn't respond, instead snuggling closer to Shortfern, burying his muzzle in her fur.

He heard his mother sigh, and felt her warm breath on his ear "Ignore them, Frogkit." She whispered "You can play with whoever you want." Frogkit nuzzled closer to her, breathing in her comforting scent "I only want to play with you." He whispered, leaning into the soft fur of his mother. With her, he felt safe and sound, like nothing bad would happen to him. Sometimes he wished that he could stay with his mother forever. She never yelled at him, or was embarrassed by him, or sneered at him. He never felt worried when he was with her. With no worries, and the soft, gentle embrace of his mother, Frogkit finally allowed his eyes to close, and the small, brown kit gave in to the pull of sleep.

~~~~

When Frogkit opened his eyes, all he saw was darkness. It wasn't until his eyes were able to adjust that he was able to make out the silhouettes of the other cats in the nursery, who  all seemed to be sleeping peacefully. All of them except one.

He felt Shortfern's flank rising and falling softly, as she slept soundly next to him. The pretty, blue-gray queen, Clearlight, was also asleep, and in the nest with her, was the larger of the two kits, who both still towered over Frogkit. Rushkit looked to be fast asleep, with no discomfort whatsoever. There was still one cat left.... Reedkit.

Frogkit's eyes widened when he finally spotted the dark gray she-kit. She was outside of the nest, her paws moving and flailing. He remembered seeing her in the nest with Clearlight before he fell asleep. Did Reedkit really squirm that much?

Worried for his denmate, Frogkit crawled out of the nest, not wanting to wake Shortfern, before he gently prodded at the distressed she-cat. She responded by kicking out with her hind leg, hitting Frogkit on the nose, causing the tom to wince.

Reedkit's yellow eyes shot open, and she quickly scrambled up to her paws, looking around as if she'd forgotten where she was, before she glared down at Frogkit. He'd never seen a gaze so angry before. "Frogkit, what are you doing?" She hissed "I was asleep you idiot!"

Frogkit felt a dry lump in his throat. His pelt heated up in embarrassment and he couldn't get out any words to defend himself. She looked crazy. Her fur was standing on edge, and she looked like she wanted to attack him.

"What's going on?" Frogkit looked over at the voice, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that Clearlight had woken up, along with Shortfern and a groggy Rushkit. Still, Frogkit couldn't speak. "Frogkit woke me up." Reedkit told her. Frogkit looked over to see that her fur was now flat. She looked completely normal, when only seconds ago, she looked like she wanted to leap at his throat.

"Well come back to the nest and sleep with us." She meowed to her daughter. "You too, Frogkit." Shortfern added. Frogkit went back to the nest, but sleep didn't come as easy as before. Not after what he had just saw...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Word count: 1551