"Are these her kits?"

"Hey! Let me see Palekit!"

"Why are there only two of them?"

"You said there were four of them. Where are the other ones?"

"They're both toms. I can see their-."

"Alright kits. It's time to give Hickorypelt some space. You know she had a rough day yesterday."

"But you said we could see them when the sun came up!"

The kit let out a grumble at the sound of all the voices and tried to burrow himself deeper into his bed.

"See? Look what you did. You woke him up!"

"If he's awake that means he can play with us!"

"Hickorypelt? What did you name him? The one that looks just like Spiderfur."

"His name is Sootkit, Lilykit."

"Sootkit! Wake up so we can play!"

"The three of you be quiet and let him rest! He's too young to play with you!"

Annoyed by the constant bicker, Sootkit sat up and gave an angry squeal.

"Look! He's awake!"

"No he's not. He hasn't opened his eyes."

As the kit said that, Sootkit felt a soft paw gently place itself on his eyelid and raise it up.

Sootkit fell back from the sensory overload. The first thing he saw was a fluffy gray shape. It was too blurry to make out any details.

"Hello!" The figure chirped. "My name's Palekit!"

A white shape appeared next to the gray shape named Palekit. "Look! Yellow eyes!"

With a whimper, Sootkit backed up into his nest, raising a paw and wiping at his face.

His vision became much clearer when he lowered his paw. He could recognize the figure in front of him as a gray kit with yellow eyes. The kit that had called out the color of his eyes had white fur and blue eyes.

"Palekit!" Came a loud voice. Another cat, this one towering over them both, stomped into view. She raised a huge white paw and cuffed Palekit over her head.

"I can't believe you did that!" The huge cat cried. "Do you know how dangerous it could be to force a kit's eyes open before they're ready?"

Palekit cowered at the blow. "I-I thought he was ready because he sat up."

A black and orange tail emerged from the edge of Sootkit's field of vision and drew him back without warning, earning a yelp from the kit. The kit gasped in fear, only for his lungs to be flooded with the scent of safety. The scent of home. So he closed his eyes and leaned into his mother.

"Leave Palekit alone, Icefeather." His mother said. While Icefeather's voice was shrill and full of worry, Sootkit's mother's voice was low pitched and gentle. "She doesn't know any better."

"It doesn't matter if she knows better. She needs to learn to listen." The queen growled. She looked back down at Palekit. "Next time you pull something like that, you're sleeping outside."

"Alright. I think I have a better idea." A new voice interrupted. Sootkit open his eyes to see another queen sit up in her nest. She had long red fur and beautiful green eyes. "What if you three kits go outside and play with Darkcloud so Hickorypelt and her kits can rest."

"I think that's a great idea, Redwing." Sootkit's mother said. 

With that, the three kits left the den. Sootkit sighed and closed his eyes again, believing that the commotion was over.

"Thank you for taking control, Redwing." Sootkit's mother sighed.

Redwing scoffed. "I'm just trying to preserve the last few moments of peace I'll have before my kits come along."

The three queens gave soft chuckles, and silence followed. Sootkit managed to drift off for a bit.

"So Hickorypelt." Icefeather murmured, her voice noticeably softer.

Sootkit snapped awake and shifted in his nest, annoyed. Why couldn't they just let him sleep?

"How do you feel? You know, after everything that happened yesterday."

After no one said anything, Icefeather added, "The two who didn't make it."

Sootkit's mother -Hickorypelt- let out a sigh. She gave her two kits a lick. "I'm trying to focus on the positive here. But... I have to admit that it's hard to let go of something like that."

"Where has Spiderfur been since yesterday?" Redwing growled suddenly.

"Timberfang told me he was grieving heavily." Hickorypelt responded softly. "Remember that he helped bury them."

"It doesn't matter if he's grieving." Icefeather argued. "He's hasn't visited since yesterday, he's barely looked at his live kits, and you shouldn't be going through this alone!"

"It's not just that, you two. I think he blames himself for Owlkit and Acornkit's deaths." Hickorypelt sighed.

Silence followed her claim.

Redwing opened her mouth to speak. Nothing but broken sounds came out.

"Listen." Hickorypelt sighed, her voice strained as if she was losing her patience. "I'm not trying to force you to automatically respect Spiderfur. I'm just saying that you shouldn't overlook everything he has done for me just because he needs to cope alone for a while."

"...You're right." Redwing said slowly. She stayed silent for a while before standing up and padding towards the entrance of the den.

Icefeather stayed silent, whether out of reconsideration or spite the cats couldn't tell.

Redwing paused at the entrance of the den, raised her head, and wondered aloud, "I just can't stop wondering where he found that catmint."