“You have to play nicely with your sisters.”
Her nose scrunched up as she mocked the scolding words of her father, Koipetal. Her paws thumping on the ground in annoyance, dust clouding up at her feet. They didn't even listen to me, it wasn't my fault. The four sisters had gotten into a scuffle over who was going to get their uncle Leapingfish as a mentor after overheard Koipetal speaking to Rainysky about who he wanted to potentially mentor their daughters even if they still had plenty of time before they became an apprentice. Spottedkit didn't mean to hurt Flashkit, but it wasn't her fault that her sister was such a baby. The girls made friends with Snowfeathers litter of tom kits, Spottedkit often tumbled with the older nursery cats, she liked playing rough with them.
Huffing the small calico kitten waddled her way out of the nursery,
“Spottedkit you know we love you but injuring your sister is not the way to get what you want. Tomorrow, you are going to take lunch to the elders and spend the day with them.” Koipetal didn't want to punish his children, he loved them so much, but he was still so new to parenting and only knew of the way the clans punish the apprentices.
Shoving her nose into the fresh kill pile, trying to find the best piece to take to them, Maybe if I bring them the biggest, bestest prey they will let me go early and I can play with Snowfeathers litter before bedtime. Licking her lips, she spotted the best piece of food ever, a nice shiny fish sitting atop the pile. Her eyes flashed with determination, her tail wiggled as she prepared to scale what seemed like a mountain to just a little kitten. Her first leap failed her as she just barely missed the tail fins of the fish. Her front paw slammed to the ground, angry at the fish for being so far out of reach. Giving it another try she repositioned herself before jumping for it again, this time her teeth latched onto it. The fish and herself tumbled down the pile of prey, some of the fresh kill pile scattering behind her, flinching as she saw the damage she caused. Nervously her eyes darted around the camp, no one had noticed her.
Spottedkit had to tug the large fish by its tail fin in a small burst of pulling actions in order to transport the fish from one spot of the camp to the elders' den. Bursting into the elders' den, “Hello? My daddy told me I had to bring you some prey?” Spottedkit hadn't ever seen any of the elders but from the stories that Edgefrost had told all the nursery kits, she was nervous about seeing them for the first time. He had said that elders were all old, stinky, and would bite your ear off if you spoke to them the wrong way. Ha, I'm not scared. "My name is Spottedkit, I have a nice big fishy here for you."
“Please don't eat me!” Using the fish as an obstacle to hide behind. Surely whatever monster was lurking in the shadows of the elders' den would eat the fish first and maybe be too full to eat her. Her ears pinned to her skull, her body pressed flat on the den floor to appear smaller than she already was. Spottedkit wanted to believe Koipetal that everyone in Riverclan was nice but Edgefrost had filled the kit's head with stories of the elders she couldn't help but believe him.
Spottedkits body relaxed when the elder simply took the fish from her and didn't eat her. Actually, she got a little excited when she found out the elder had the same part of her name as well. “Spottedfish?” She repeated with a slight tilt of the head. Was she named after her? Spottedkit had no clue, her fathers never mentioned anything about any of their kittens being named after someone. “Daddy Koipetal and Rainysky named me Spottedkit.” Her whiskers visibly twitched as she thought about whether she could have possibly been named after her. Koipetal often mentioned his own mother, Wist….wisteria, however you say it, Spottedkit always struggled with getting the name out.
Here was her chance, she could impress Spottedfish and potentially get let off early and go play with Sleetkit, Galekit, and Jaykit. Spottedkit stood up straight, puffing out her chest, “Yes ma’am, I brought the biggest fishy from the fre-” Her words came to a pause, seeing an opportunity to make the fact that she brought the fish to the elders even better. Clearing her throat, Spottedkit crouched into a ‘hunting’ position that Galekit had taught her, though from a proper point of view it was clear that Spottedkit had no clue what she was even doing. “I caught it myself, the biggest fishy Riverclan has ever seen.” Having the short attention span that all kittens her age had, Spottedkit moved on rather swiftly from bragging about her ‘catch’ whipping around to face the calico elder, “Do you have any siblings? It seems kind of lonely in here. I'd give anything to be alone sometimes, I have three sisters. Flashkit, Starkkit, and Urchinkit, but they aren't as talented as me.”
S P O T T E D F I S H
The old molly was resting, her nose tucked under her paws from where she curled up in her nest, lined softly with tender moss. Now-a-days, her time seemed to be spent mostly napping, chatting, or, well, eating whatever she could stomach. Of course, after years and years of dedicating her life to her Clan as a healer, Spottedfish had earned her rest time. Though, that didn't mean her daily life felt any less dull. Her mate had passed, her friends were gone, and her kits were too busy with their own lives to visit her as much as they used to.
A squeaky little voice awoke her. Golden eyes blinked awake to find a little kitten holding a fish that easily outweighed her, doing her best to drag it into the elders den. "Oh, why, is that for me?" Her raspy mew greeted the kit. It wasn't often that kits did the apprentice's duties. Maybe this little one wanted to get ahead of her siblings? She seemed quite young still though, she likely had a few moons before she would be able to start warrior training.
"Is that so, Spottedkit?" She purred a chuckle, gratefully accepting the fish that had been offered to her. The retired healer took the fish from the kit, effectively freeing her load. "Were you named after me?" the calico feline teased, "My name is Spottedfish."