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Waking, Furzekit could feel her mother's stomach rising and falling rythmically against her flank and the other queens were snoring. A newleaf breeze stirred the bramble walls of the nursery and drifted through the gasps. It chased away that stuffy of moss and milk and warm, sleeping fur. For the first time, she stretched open her eyes, blinking against the shafts of light that poked through the bramble roof. The nursery was huge! When her eyes had been closed, the nursery felt small and cozy, but now she could see the brambles arching overhead. The most familiar scent that came from the nursery was behind her. Wriggling around, she gazed at her mother. The sun that poked through the bramble roof dappled her mother's black and silver pelt. Do I look like her? Furzekit looked over her shoulder to look at her own pelt. It was fluffy, not sleek like her mother's fur and her pelt was gray-and-white. The white from her chest and belly curled upwards and cut through her gray fur, making her scruff white. Her legs were white as well and her tail tip was a lighter gray color. She blinked her eyes as her mother opened her bright green eyes. A purr rumbled in her mother's throat as she looked down at her only kit. "You've opened your eyes!" she exclaimed. She bent down and licked between Furzekit's ears. "What color are my eyes?" she asked Silverwhisker. "Amber, just like your father," Silverwhisker purred happily just as the other queens began to stirr in their sleep.

Furzekit puffed out her chest as her mother looked her over as if she had only seen her that morning for the first time. "Really?" Furzekit asked. Silverwhisker nodded and began to lap at her own chest. "Hey! You opened your eyes!" a sqeal sounded from behind Furzepaw. She hadn't managed to wriggle around before a soft pile of fur bundled her over. "Yes!" Furzekit replied happily as she stared up at bright blue eyes. Thrushkit, one of Bluefeather's kits, was only a few sunrises older than Furzekit, and she spent most of her day playing with him and his sisters. "I want to see!" Rosekit mewled as she tried to squirm between her much bigger brother and Furzekit. "Wow! They're Amber!" Rosekit said. "I want amber eyes," she complained. Silverwhisker purred and wrapped her tail around Furzekit before she could bundle Rosekit over. "you all have equally pretty eyes," she purred. Furzekit hopped over her mother's tail and landed clumsily on her stubby paws. "Can we go out and play?" Thrushkit asked Bluefeather. Bluefeather looked at Silverwhisker and the queen nodded. "As long as you don't leave the clearing!" she called after her kits. Furzekit looked up at her mother with hopeful eyes. "Can I go to?" she asked. Silverwhisker nodded. "Why don't you ask Rosekit and Thrushkit to show you the camp?" she suggested. But Furzekit was already mewling with delight and racing out of the nursery.

The brambles scrapped against Furzekit's pelt as she wriggled out of the nursery. When she stumbled into the camp clearing, sunshine stung her eyes. She blinked until the glare disappeared,and the camp opened up infront of her life a dream. A vast, sandy clearing stretched to a rock that cast a shadow so long it almost tpuched her paws. Beyond that lay a fallen tree, its tangled branches folded on the ground like a heap of skinny, hairless legs. Several tail-lengths away from the nursery a wide, low bush spread its branches over the ground. Ferns crowded a corner at the nursery's other side, and behind them rose a barrier of gorse so tall that Furzekit had to crane her neck to see the top. Her paws pricked with excitment as she looked around. Would she ever know her way around? "Hey Furzekit!" a voice called.

"Furzekit! Are you coming?" Rosekit yowled as they bounced towards the elder's den. "We're going to see the elders!" Furzekit bounded after the two kits as they disappeared into the elder's den. She ducked into the fallen tree that was the elder's den and sat down next to Rosekit. "Kits!" a she-cat exclaimed happily. "Its about time to! It felt wrong walking to the fresh-kill pile without tripping over a bundle of fur." Another elder, a tom, added.

After listening to the elder's stories and roughousing with Thrushkit and Rosekit, Furzekit curled up against her mother' warm belly for a nap. "But I don't want to nap!" Thruskit wailed as Bluefeather tucked him to her belly. "I want to play!" she objected, jerking away. "Thrushkit, you're going to be crabby if you don't take you nap now," Bluefeather explained in a soft, but firm voice. Thrushkit grumbled and lay down in his mother's nest. With a happy sigh, Furzekit shut her eyes and was thankful for the silence once more.

(ThunderClan?)

Furzekit heard a yowl and was instantly awake. "What's going on, Silverwhisker?" she asked her mother. Beside her, Thrushkit was bristling next to his mother. "I bet it's a ShadowClan invasion!" he hissed and arched his back. Bluefeather smoothed out the fur along his spine with a brush of her tail while Rosekit wailed. "Now, now, little ones." She rose to her slender paws. "Lets have a peek outside," she said, beconing the kits with her tail. Furzekit bounced out after them and blinked. Who's that strange cat in the camp? she wondered.