The leader, Rookstar, it was, studied me closely, tilting his head slightly. "You do look familiar." A look of annoyance flitted in his eyes as he tried to place me, before a small light of recognition came in them. "Oh! Was it that loner?" He turned to the other cats for confirmation, but they simply shrugged.

"Did your father ever speak to you of Clan cats?" he asked. 

I hesitated, before deciding that a little bit of truth made a lie more believable. "Yeah. He explained a little bit." I paused. "I'm not sure he's the cat you're thinking of. He never mentioned staying with a Clan." Lies, lies, lies.

Rookstar looked at him again before flicking his tail dismissively. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. He's dead, right?"

I nodded, trying to look suitably sad. Thankfully, he and the other warriors seemed to buy it.

"Anyway," mewed Burnetflash, who I'd honestly forgotten was there, "he should meet some of the apprentices."

Rookstar nodded. He glanced curiously at me once more before turning sharply and padding back to talk to someone else. The other warriors followed him, and I couldn't help but admire their size and obvious muscles.

"Come on," called Burnetflash. "The apprentices are this way."

I turned and followed her, my tail flickering from side to side in excitement. Wild cats! My age, too!

As we approached, I saw one small black cat leap in the air to catch something, and purr when she missed it entirely. Another cat, this one brown, leapt on it instantly and held it up proudly.

 I blinked. Is that...moss?

I'd seen some of it in the garden, so I was fairly certain that I was right, but...what one earth were they doing with it?

Now the brown tom hooked the small green ball and flung it in the air. One golden and two grey cats instantly bolted after it, mewing friendly insults as they went.

It seemed to be some kind of game...

"Hey, guys!" called Burnetflash. The ginger-and brown she-cat lashed her tail once, and the game suddenly halted.

"Yes, Burnetflash?" called one of the apprentices. "What is it?"

"I'd like you to meet your new Clanmate, Fleeter."

This caused a ripple of surprise to go through the five cats, though all but one reacted with eagerness. "Clanmate?"

I dipped my head, remembering vaguely something  my mother had tried to teach me about respect. "Nice to meet you. I'm Fleeter."

"Cool," mewed the black she-cat. "I'm Snakepaw."

"Burntpaw," mewed the brown tom. "Pleasure to meet you."

The two grey tabbies stepped forward at the same time. "I'm Flintpaw."

"I'm Ashpaw." 

I blinked quickly, not sure I was seeing things correctly. They looked exactly the same. 

"We're twins." mewed Ashpaw. Seeing my look of confusion, Flintpaw quickly added: "We're from the same sac."

I looked blank for a moment, before remembering something my mother had said about the birth of the kittens next door. Something about one dying before he left the sac. Maybe that was what kittens were born in? Hm. Cool.

I looked to the golden tom, who still hadn't spoken. "Shinepaw," he said, meeting my gaze challengingly, as if daring me to make fun of it.

As if. I mean, I was named Fleeter, and my sister was named Bonnie. I wasn't really one to judge.

I nodded, studying them with all with interest. "Nice to meet you all." I noted the -paw at the ends of all of their names. Huh. Must be a Clan thing.

"So you're apprentices. You're training to become warriors, right?"

Snakepaw nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah! Wanna see some of our moves?" She dropped into a crouch without waiting for my response. "This is a hunting crouch!"

Burntpaw snorted. "I'm sure he knows that, being a rogue."

As a matter of fact, I didn't, but I nodded quickly. What kind of a rogue would I be if I didn't know how to hunt? "Or course." Snakepaw looked kind of disappointed, so I hastened to add: "But I wouldn't mind seeing how you do it!"

Snakepaw brightened and got back into position. "Hey, Burntpaw! Be the mouse!"

Burntpaw rolled his eyes. "Sisters. They get all the fun," he mewed, turning to me. "Oh, you're an only kit, right? Lucky."

"Please!"

Burntpaw sighed and bent down, pretending to nibble on something on the ground. "You owe me," he called.

"Mice don't talk!"

"And neither do hunters who don't want to startle their prey!"

Flintpaw and Ashpaw came and sat beside me, whiskers twitching in amusement. "They're hilarious."

 I agreed, but couldn't help thinking of Bonnie and how she'd never played any sort of game like this with me. 

I was then, inevitably struck with a feeling of homesickness. Were they worrying about me? Did mother even care, or was she too busy fussing over Bonnie?

The cry of pain as Snakepaw pounced and landed on her brother snapped me out of my thoughts. "Hey! Sheathe your claws!" he protested.

"Me?" Snakepaw gave her brother an innocent look. "What are you talking about?"

Burntpaw hissed and narrowed his eyes. "Get off me!"

"I'm not abandoning my prey!"

One of the twins rolled her eyes. "Let's get out of here before this turns violent."

I nodded. "So, where to?" Anyway away from this group of squabblers would be nice.

"I was thinking the elder's den," she mewed. "They might even know something about your father, Fleeter!"

A shaft of worry penetrated my happy mood.

Uh oh.

But it was too late now, as the two she-cats were steering me toward a den that looked quite comfortable-- at least, compared to the rest of the dens he'd seen so far.

"Flintpaw! Ashpaw! And who's this...?" 

I started in surprise. I hadn't even noticed the old cat lying there-- he'd been so perfectly blended in to the sand and so motionless I hadn't seen him.

"Sandythroat!" they called out in unison, running toward him and burying their noses in his fur. "How are you? We haven't seen you in a while!"

I had to cough back my purr. I might be less judging of names than others, but Sandythroat?

The tom snorted. "You'd have seen me more if you came over and visited your father's father instead of playing mossball!"

The two sisters looked mildly ashamed. "But it's fun, Sandythroat!"

The old cat's eyes were on me now, and I swallowed nervously as a glint of recognition lit up his blue eyes. "Hey! You're like that one loner who used to go here! He's a kittypet though now, I think." His eyes now held a bit of suspicion, and I could feel my two companions looking at me.

I let out a nervous purr. "Oh! Ha! Your memory must be a little rusty, Sandythroat! My dad's a rogue...and dead."

Sandythroat yawned, dismissing the matter. "Oh...I'm sorry, son."

I flicked my tail. "It's alright."

"Hey! Uh, Fleeter?"

I turned to meet the gaze of Rookstar. I backed away involuntarily, then firmly stood my ground when I realized what I was doing.

"Yeah?" I called hesitantly. Please don't tell me they found out I'm a kittypet, I pleaded.

"Well...I was wondering, would you like to join RuneClan?"

YES!!! "Sure!" I paused suddenly. "Wait, am I training to be a warrior, then?"

Rookstar tilted his head. "Does that not appeal to you?"

I looked down at my paws. Not really. Especially since I'm supposed to know normal apprentice stuff already...

Burnetflash suddenly stepped forward. "What about being my apprentice?" I looked up sharply at that, sudden interest flooding through me.

Rookstar turned to face her. "Burnetflash..."

"No, wait," she insisted. "I need a replacement-- I'm no young cat, and Fleeter has seemed quite interested in herbs."

The brown leader considered the matter for a moment before turning to me. "Fleeter?"

I nodded eagerly.

He purred. "Well then, looks like I better call a meeting." Rookstar paused, looking at the setting sun. "Oh. It's getting late...tomorrow alright?"

I bobbed my head happily. "Yes!"

"Come along to my den, then," mewed Burnetflash, excitement just as evident in her voice as mine. "Tomorrow, it'll be your home."

~ Written by Ember  ~