Robinear woke to a kit tripping over her tail.

She blinked her eyes open, her gaze falling on Brownkit, who dipped her head and looked away. She, her sister Greykit, and her brother Mottledkit were all Quailwhisker's kits, and they were almost as adorable as her own.

Almost.

As if on cue, Yellowkit yelped something happily and raced toward her, nearly tripping over her own tail in the process.

"Mama! Thrushnose is here!" chirped Yellowkit, tumbling over her mother. "Mama, wake up!"

"I'm awake," Robinear purred, standing up and gently shaking Yellowkit off. "Now, where's your brother?"

"Over there!" mewed Yellowkit, pointing with her tail toward the entrance. Sure enough, Whitekit stood there, quietly speaking with Thrushnose.

Robinear squeezed her way through the nursery, taking care not to step on any of the kits. With her two kits, Gingerfur's four, and Quailwhisker's three, one could barely move without stepping on a kit. Thankfully, Gingerfur's were almost old enough to start testing, but still...five kittens and two full grown cats was quite a lot.

"Thrushnose!" she called, a warmth filling her heart. She ducked out of the entrance and nuzzled Thrushnose happily. "How'd you get out here?"

Thrushnose purred. "Well, I maybe went hunting on this side of the river," she mewed, gesturing at the three mice behind her. "And then I got...distracted by my friend in the nursery." She purred. "And Owltalon came as well."

The brown tabby waved his tail from beside Thrushnose, and Robinear blinked in embarrassment. She'd been so excited about seeing Thrushnose that she hadn't even seen Owltalon there.

"Quailwhisker!" Owltalon called.

"Owltalon?" came the excited reply. The tortoiseshell picked her way carefully across the den before burying her nose in Owltalon's fur. "You rascal! You haven't come and helped me at all! These three are a lot of work!"

Owltalon purred. "Exactly why I left them to you, dear."

"Hey!"

Robinear suddenly felt a tiny pair of teeth latch onto her tail, and she lifted it so and plopped the offender in front of her. Yellowkit blinked at her innocently, and Robinear huffed in mock exasperation. "Yellowkit!"

"What?" mewed the tiny she-cat. She suddenly turned and saw Thrushnose. "Mama!"

"Shhhh!" hissed Robinear frantically, glancing to Quailwhisker and Owltalon. They both nodded in assurance that they wouldn't tell, and Robinear's shoulders sagged in relief.

Thrushnose purred. "Hello, Yellowkit!" she mewed.  The little kitten poked at Thrushnose's tail curiously, sneezing loudly when her head was practically covered the the fluff of the tail. Thrushnose purred again and withdrew her tail. Yellowkit chased after the fluffy, white tail, leaping at it, but Thrushnose kept it just out of her reach.

A paw prodded Robinear's leg hesitantly, and Robinear looked down to see Whitekit looking up at her. "What is it, little one?" she asked. 

Whitekit looked up shyly. "Is Thrushnose our mama too?"

Robinear's heart nearly burst with love for her kits. "Yes," she mewed. "But don't tell."

Whitekit nodded solemnly. "I won't," he mewed. He padded over to Thrushnose and buried himself in her fur. With his white fur and yellow eyes, he could've been a copy of Thrushnose.

Of course, Robinear knew who he really was a copy of.

Willowbranch.

Thrushnose's tail suddenly wrapped around Robinear's own. A flicker of warmth shot through her, and she felt truly at peace.

That peace, of course, was almost instantly broken by Yellowkit tackling Whitekit, who yelped a protest and began tussling. 

Orangekit poked his head out of the nursery curiously, then darted out when he saw the commotion. "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!" He was quickly joined by his sister Blackkit, though she seemed more amused than anything.

Gingerfur, sighing, guided them back toward the den with her tail. "No, Orangekit, Blackkit."

"Awwww," Orangekit complained. "But it's exciting!"

Blackkit snorted. "And hilarious."

Gingerfur sighed again and herded them back in with her tail, shooting Robinear a pitying glance.

"And it won't be happening much longer," muttered Robinear, bending down and prying Yellowkit off his brother. "Yellowkit, you know better than this!" she scolded.

Yellowkit blinked innocently. "But it's fun!"

"And good training for when we're Testees," added Whitekit, shaking the dirt out of his pelt.

Thrushnose shook her head in mock disapproval. "And to think I thought you were the sensible, rule-abiding one..."

Whitekit stuck out his tongue at her and ducked into the nursery. Yellowkit shook free of her mother's grip and bolted after him.

Testing...

I forgot.

Sure, it wasn't that soon, but the fact that Whitekit already knew about it caused a shaft of worry to flash through her. Tankit had been in the back of her mind for moons, but this one sentence brought him to the front again.

A limp body on the sand of the Battle Testing Arena, blood turning it red...

Robinear forcefully shoved the memory back to the den in her mind where it belonged. She refused to succumb to it. She couldn't let it get to her.

Taking deep breaths to steady her, Robinear still couldn't get the idea of Testing out of her mind. Yellowkit dove and Whitekit, who dodged and ran straight into Quailwhisker. The tortoiseshell broke away from Owltalon and hissed in annoyance, shooing him him off with a flick of her tail. 

Yellowkit pounced on him and pinned him, purring with amusement.

"Help!" yelped Whitekit. "I'm being attacked by a vicious rogue!"

Mottledkit shot over, hissing at Yellowkit. "What are you doing on FloraClan territory?"

Yellowkit purred. "I'm going to destroy FloraClan!"

"No!" gasped Brownkit, joining in. She threw a fake swipe at Yellowkit, who gave a yelp of pain so realistic Robinear briefly worried that she'd actually been hurt.

"Ahh! You have wounded me!" mewed Yellowkit dramatically, falling over and sticking her tongue out.

"Haha! We've defeated the rogue!" yowled Brownkit triumphantly. 

Whitekit quickly got up and prodded Yellowkit cautiously. Yellowkit's tail flew up, smacked him across the face, and then fell limp. Whitekit sneezed loudly and backed away. "Hey! Dead cats don't move!"

Yellowkit purred and stuck out her tongue at her brother, who huffed haughtily and turned away.

Blackkit suddenly hurried over, hackles raised in a mock battle stance. "Not so fast, Clan scum! You killed my friend! Prepare to die!"

Another scuffle broke out, Yellowkit magically coming back to life to join the chaos. Eventually, all nine kits were engaged in a mock battle, though half of them seemed to be constantly switching sides.

Gingerfur padded carefully around the kits and joined Robinear and Thrushnose. "Lively, aren't they?" she purred.

Robinear nodded. "And adorable," she agreed. Even though she'd never wanted to have kits, the sight of them almost made her forgive their father.

Almost.

Watching Yellowkit try to tackle Whitekit, Robinear felt a surge of warmth surge through her. Her kits' friendship reminded her so much of hers and Tankit's...

Tankit.

Suddenly, a fear she hadn't even considered came through her. She'd had a sibling die in Testing, and nothing seemed to have been done to improve the security. And it wasn't a one-time thing, either, as Quailwhisker also had a dead sibling...

What if her kits...

Surely nothing will happen to them...

Of course nothing would.

They had a Leader for a father.

Her tensed muscles relaxed slightly-- as the offspring of a Leader, they'd probably be treated quite well. No one would want to risk the wrath of an angry, Leader father.

But the others...

Robinear glanced over to one corner of the battle, when Gingerfur's kits tussled. Orangekit, Goldkit, Blackkit, and Silverkit-- and awful lot for one cat to manage. Robinear felt a surge of admiration for Gingerfur. She had enough trouble with her two, but four...she couldn't even imagine.

I wonder if one of them will die...

And image of a kit, laying unmoving, came to her mind once more. The other three watched the kit die, horror carved in their expressions.

No....NO....

The colors started to shift to the pelt coloring of her siblings, but Robinear shoved the memory back angrily.

NO! I will not let it win!

Shivering, Robinear tried to banish the thought of Testing from her mind, but to no avail. 

Thrushnose leaned over and draped her tail over Robinear's back. "What is it?" she asked, worried. 

Robinear exhaled. "Testing," she mewed simply. Her mew trembled slightly, and she winced at the sound.

You're weak, weak, weak, weak...

Thrushnose sighed in sympathy and twined her tail with Robinear's. "I'm sorry," she mewed. She paused, then asked, "It's Tankit, right?"

Robinear nodded mutely, fighting hard to keep the memory at bay. "I miss him," she whispered. "I really miss him." A series of choking noises escaped her, her grief spilling out to the one cat she trusted- Thrushnose.

She'd never truly grieved for Tankit. She'd focused on forgetting him, on getting through life.

But sometimes, you have to take time to grieve.

A noise of sympathy escaped Thrushnose's throat, and she pulled Robinear close. "I'm sorry," she mewed in her ear, her breath ruffling Robinear's fur. "I'm so sorry. Just remember...I'll always be here for you."

There, in Thrushnose's embrace, Robinear felt truly safe.

Who's excited for the conclusion of this book? I'm actually considering finishing it all the weekend! (Why? Because I can. ;))

So, who are your favorite new characters here? I hope you found the kits adorable <3 and I hope you also enjoyed the RobinThrush moment!

Dedicated to DuskyKat for editing the chapter, and constantly promoting it (despite my protests) for me :)

~Ember