Logically, this is Jewelsky's story.

Shadeflower sighed. She didn't know why she'd fallen for him, with his seemingly everlasting smile… that annoyingly terrible, mocking, beautiful smile, perpetually stuck there for eternity. She wondered sometimes if it was some curse brought on by StarClan to make her feel guilty. I know about all of the sins I've committed, thanks… but… why can I not pull myself away from that joyful face of his? He's so annoying; I can't stand it!
"Hey, Shadeflower."
Oh no, it was that awful voice again… light and soft as a feather, sweet and kind… how could such a thing ever bother Shadeflower?
"Hi, Goldenpine." She stood up, stretching out casually. "Why'd you follow me this far out into the forest?"
Goldenpine was evidently trying much too hard not to blush, but a sickeningly amazing smile was still plastered on his enthusiastic face. "Figured you wouldn't want to be out by yourself."
Shadeflower gave him a dry laugh, quickly detecting his lie. "You thought I wouldn't like being alone? To think we call each other friends!"
"W–what?" Goldenpine's ears turned. "You… we're actually friends? I've tried to be your friend for months! I thought you didn't like anyone, and I annoyed you or something, didn't I?"
"Well, we're friends now." Shadeflower's voice sounded so gentle for that moment that it was almost unearthly. "Now, what's the real reason you came here?"
There was that smile again. "I… I wanted to talk to you. Your company just makes me… happy, you know? It's a bit strange, because you aren't usually that happy yourself…"
"Like you're sad." Shadeflower's tone was cold, and she rolled her eyes unfeelingly.
Goldenpine's smile faded for a moment, his green gaze growing distant, but then reappeared. "We can… talk about other things later; I just have one thing on my mind right now, and I have to say it, it's just that…" He paused for a moment and shook his head, almost as though some kind of great courage would come to him in that moment. "… Oh, great StarClan, help me to say this, ugh—Shadeflower, I love you…!"
Shadeflower emotionally snapped at his sudden confession. "You… Goldenpine…" she breathed out of complete disbelief, "I know you didn't just say that."
His eyes sparkled.
"I…" Shadeflower let go of every emotion holding her back, trying to be calm despite everything rushing madly through her mind in a flurry of confusion. "I love you, too."
Shadeflower mentally swore to StarClan that she saw a tear rush out from Goldenpine's exuberantly glittering eyes. "You… you do?"
She felt her face burning up. "I thought nobody could ever love anyone as horrible as me! Of course I love you… you're the only one who cares—"
"Horrible…? Really?" Goldenpine gave her that warm smile again. "You're brilliant in every way."
"Don't lie like that!" Shadeflower retorted.
"I'm not lying…" He nuzzled her, and the warmth of his fur brushing up against hers like that made her feel so happy. "I really do think you're great."
"Great StarClan, you guys are in love!" A rather high-pitched, excited voice rang out. It was Lilypaw, Goldenpine's apprentice, spying on them! "I knew it!"
Shadeflower half-expected Goldenpine to become enraged, despite how calm and well-mannered he generally was, and she nearly lashed out at the apprentice herself. However, he just laughed good-naturedly. "Yes, Lilypaw… you should go back to camp now, okay? We'll come along with you."
As they headed back to LightningClan camp, Shadeflower forgot about every one of her worries. It didn't matter that she'd let Waterpaw, her sister, fall off of the cliff in order to save her own life, even when they were still only young apprentices. It didn't matter that she'd watched her own father, Branchfrost, be hit and killed on the Thunderpath without even shedding a single tear. Honestly, it didn't even matter to her that she was probably going to become a queen now. Goldenpine made her happier than anything in the world.
//
Two tiny blue eyes opened up slowly for the first time.
"She's beautiful…" breathed Shadeflower.
Goldenpine smiled again. "She's the last to open her eyes, yes? So all of the three's eyes have opened now."
"I suppose we should name them," Shadeflower noted as she picked up a very small and horribly fluffy black-and-white kit. "This one looks rather delicate… We'll name her Featherkit."
"Jewelkit sounds like a good name for the ginger one who just opened her eyes. They're as luminous and as vivid as tiny jewels." Goldenpine licked Jewelkit's head, and she let out a small mew.
"And for the tom… He's pure black; how about Crowkit?" Shadeflower suggested.
Goldenpine nodded. "That sounds nice."
Shadeflower closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Their kits were beautiful. Most certainly, she and Goldenpine would live a very long, happy life together with them. StarClan could absolutely not deny her of this chance that she would have once passed up completely. They were kind, not cruel. She knew that their intentions were always good and pure.
"I'll go get something for you from the fresh-kill pile." Goldenpine bounded away, and it made Shadeflower purr with satisfaction as she watched him. She could finally be happy now… she had a reason to smile, a reason to live. She didn't have to seek out the negativity in the world anymore, not when she had now been exposed to so much of its light and happiness… Because of Goldenpine and their three little innocent kits, Shadeflower had been saved. She now understood why Goldenpine could smile so much. The world around her was amazing and filled with wonder! Even as a young kit, she hadn't taken the time to appreciate that. What a fool I was… she thought to herself, but now, I know that I will never have to be that foolish again.
Goldenpine returned with a plump squirrel in his jaws. "Here you go, Shadeflower," he meowed as he set the squirrel down before his mate.
"Thanks," responded Shadeflower, taking a bite of the squirrel. She could feel playful Crowkit tugging at her tail with his tiny needle-sharp claws, but she didn't care. Actually, it was a bit endearing, even. How could she have ever hated something like this?
After all, this was the key to eternal happiness, wasn't it?
Shadeflower smiled.

"Hey, Jewelkit, your eyes are turning amber!" yelped Featherkit.
"Really?" Jewelkit was filled with complete wonder. Featherkit's eyes were turning green, and Jewelkit and Crowkit were getting amber eyes like their mother, Shadeflower. They were two moons old now, so their permanent eye color was beginning to set in.
Amber was one of Jewelkit's favorite colors. She had been born in leaf-fall and loved the beautiful colors of the leaves, which were often varying shades of orange and amber, like the new color of her eyes. She also admired it for it being her mother's eye color and close to her father's pelt color, both of whom she loved very much.
But now, leaf-bare was coming in, and prey was getting scarce… still, there were a few perks about it, like—
"Guys, look around!" Crowkit came rushing up to his sisters, his eyes welling up in amazement. "I think it's snowing! Shadeflower told us about this, remember?"
Featherkit laughed as soon as she realized it. "Yes! That's amazing!"
Jewelkit nodded in agreement, too stunned and excited to speak. The three of them began to play around in the new, frozen sensation of snow. Somehow, it connected to Jewelkit's young soul… it made her feel relieved, like everything was all going to be okay. Scary things like badgers and foxes no longer existed in this optimistic state of mind. There was only the fun of this moment and the chilling comfort that each minuscule bit of crystallized ice brought to her.
The kits didn't stop playing until the snow was almost up to their tiny knees. They would've continued, but Shadeflower called them in to go back to the den.
Shadeflower purred as she licked Crowkit's black-furred head, speckled with thousands of melting snowflakes (which were courtesy of Jewelkit). "How did you three like your very first snow?" The tone of her voice was very warm, soft, and inviting, as always. It brought another sense of peace to Jewelkit.
"It was great!" Jewelkit enthusiastically bounded up and down. "I… I really like snow!"
"Yeah, snow is great!" Featherkit agreed as she giggled with happiness.
Crowkit grinned. "I liked the snow okay. It's just really cold… and I can't hide very well in it," he noted with a tiny chuckle, staring down at his pure charcoal-black pelt. "But it was super-fun! I tossed a ton of the snow on Featherkit's head!" he laughed mischievously.
Jewelkit rolled her eyes. "I avenged her for you, though, you mouse-brain!"
"Well… that was fun, too!" Crowkit shot back playfully, and all of them began to laugh.
"Sounds like you guys were enjoying yourselves, then." Shadeflower smiled pleasantly. "Well, kits, when the snow is over, I've got a surprise for you!"
Featherkit squealed. "Ooh, what is it, what is it?"
"Please, please tell us!" Jewelkit begged, feeling as though she could die from the curiosity.
Crowkit was trying a more creative approach to nagging at Shadeflower for the answer—he was clawing at her tail and repeating several unintelligible words along the lines of what Featherkit and Jewelkit had said.
"Calm down, everyone!" their mother sighed, and, for fear of the consequences of disobedience, the kits did so. "If I told you, then it wouldn't be a surprise anymore, now, would it?"
"Awww, come on," moaned Crowkit pathetically.
"You only have to wait until the snow stops, and it's beginning to die out already. Patience is a virtue." Gently, Shadeflower licked his ear.
Jewelkit was horribly bored in her wait, but Shadeflower had indeed been correct—the snow ended relatively quickly, and the kits had only needed to wait for a few minutes.
"Follow me," instructed Shadeflower with a friendly flick of her tail, and the four of them headed out of the nursery and into the snow.
Shadeflower came to an abrupt halt once she and her kits had reached the fresh-kill pile, sheltered from the snow, causing Featherkit to bump into Jewelkit.
"Hey, watch it!" Jewelkit yelled to Featherkit in a joking tone, her eyes gleaming childishly.
Shadeflower seemed to take no notice of her daughters. "You're old enough to eat prey now, I believe… and you haven't eaten yet today, so you must be rather peckish, yes?"
The kits nodded. Featherkit's gaping mouth watered, and Crowkit hungrily licked his lips, nodding dreamily, as though he were only half-awake.
"I've decided that it's time for you to try some mouse." Shadeflower dragged a mouse out of the pile, bringing it before her three hungry and curious kits.
Crowkit was the first to take a bite out of the mouse, and his blueish amber eyes welled up with satisfaction at the delicious taste of it. He seemed to be enjoying it as he chewed and swallowed in a manner that was far from delicate.
Featherkit quickly followed suit, taking a slightly smaller bite from the mouse. Delighted, she happily savored it, and, after swallowing, licked her lips in a dazed manner. "Jewelkit, come on, try some! It's really good," she encouraged, beaming.
"Uh… Okay." Jewelkit slowly took a nibble of the mouse, and its unfamiliar taste flooded her mouth, although it certainly wasn't repulsive. The new flavor of the mouse was actually kind of… tasty. She took another larger bite of the meat and chewed it slowly, savoring each juicy bit of it.
Once the kits had gobbled up the whole mouse, Shadeflower purred. "Do you like it?"
The full-bellied kits nodded in reply.
"Then come, let's go back to the nursery. We had a busy day today, didn't we?" Shadeflower beckoned for her joyful kits with her tail, and they all proceeded to make the short journey back to the nursery through the snow.
When they had arrived back at their den in the nursery, Jewelkit suddenly found herself to be very tired. From the looks of it, her brother and sister were also beginning to grow drowsy.
"Shadeflower," Jewelkit mewled with a quiet yawn, "I'm really tired right now. Can we take a nap?"
Shadeflower nodded with a small, affectionate smile. "Sure. You three should all go to sleep; you look exhausted." Amusedly, she added: "Having so much fun can make you quite a bit weary, can't it?"
"Yeah," Crowkit murmured in lazy agreement.
Shadeflower nuzzled her kits out of motherly love, and they all curled up. Sleep seemed to come extremely easily—almost immediately—for most of them, but Jewelkit was having a little bit of trouble with it. She tried to close her eyes and calm herself to the best of her ability.
You know, I bet we'll have a lot more fun as we get older and Shadeflower allows us to do more things… when we become apprentices, every day is going to be enjoyable!
With that hopeful thought (perhaps unrealistically so), Jewelkit was soothed enough to let herself slip away into an unconscious world filled with nothing but fantastical dreams.

As the last of the snow was disappearing, evaporating into some invisible dimension unseen to anyone's eye, it left a brand new, completely living world for the now five-moon-old kits to explore. They were a bit more feisty now, and they appeared to enjoy nagging at Goldenpine about when they could go out on patrol with him. The answer was always a strong and calm "not until you're apprenticed," but they had enough determination to keep trying, despite how futile their efforts might have been.
Newleaf was wonderfully enjoyable. The only problem was that Jewelkit couldn't stop sneezing and coughing all the time, and she wasn't sure why. Her siblings had already begun to call her Jewelsneeze, which usually initiated a playfight between them. Still, it was all in good fun, and Scissorleaf, LightningClan's medicine cat, had been giving Jewelkit some herbs to help.
"Scissorleaf?" Jewelkit mewled, a bit hoarsely, in an attempt to get the medicine cat's attention.
Scissorleaf turned around, and Jewelkit mentally celebrated her minor victory. "Yes, Jewelkit?" Her sparkling, violet-hued eyes blinked twice in a slightly inquisitive manner.
"Are you ever going to take an apprentice?" Jewelkit wondered, hoping that the answer was a yes. LightningClan couldn't be without a medicine cat!
"Of course!" Scissorleaf nodded. "Don't worry. I'll have trained a new apprentice by the time I'm in StarClan. I'm certain of it."
Jewelkit sighed in relief. "Okay. That's good." Scissorleaf is super-nice. Maybe… rather than becoming a warrior apprentice, I could be a medicine cat apprentice instead? That would definitely be really fun!
Jewelkit slowly and carefully strolled out of the medicine den. She wasn't in any hurry, and she wasn't going off to anywhere in particular. I'm just going for a short walk through the forest. I'll certainly be back soon enough… won't I…?
The overly fragrant smell of pine needles attacked Jewelkit's nostrils as soon as she entered the colossal forest, despite how clogged-up and filled with snot they were. There are so many pine trees here… it sorta reminds me of Goldenpine! She giggled to herself as her paws trudged on through the soft bed of pine needles beneath them.
After several minutes of trudging through the thick LightningClan forest, Jewelkit found herself amidst a vast meadow filled with flowers and grass that was immeasurably taller than her miniature legs could ever dream of reaching. All of the pollen made her sneeze quite a bit—however, the flowers were spectacular! She marveled at the height and beauty of the towering blossoms above her.
Should I go in any further? Jewelkit wondered to herself. After all, my nose is itching to death… and I'm not sure where exactly I am; couldn't I get even more lost? Besides, should I even be out here in the first place? Is that breaking the rules? I hope it's allowed…
Jewelkit shook her head. No. It's not worth it. I don't need to go any further. In fact, I don't even need to tell anyone I was here… it was just a walk, right? I don't want to get in trouble just because of a simple walk.
The young kit was about to head back to camp when she noticed a rustling in the tall grass out of the corner of her eye. Before she could make a single move or even think a single thought, something jumped out and pounced on her.
"Get out of our territory, mouse-brain!" snarled the unfamiliar voice as it unsheathed its long, pointed claws and viciously slashed them across her face. Jewelkit let out a shrill wail of pain, and when she managed to regain a bit of her sight, she saw that her attacker was a dark gray cat only slightly smaller than most of the warriors in LightningClan. The gray cat mercilessly thrust its paws on top of her ginger-and-white pelt, spattering it with blood of a vivid scarlet hue.
Suddenly, Jewelkit heard a rather familiar voice—the powerful, yet high-pitched voice of a brave and confident Featherkit, ready to avenge her sister. "You're a heartless coward! Step away from her at once!" Despite Featherkit's relative frailness in comparison to her siblings, the courage in her voice was obvious and unwavering.
"Stop hurting our sister!" This time, Jewelkit heard Crowkit's voice, relieved that she had two defenders to save her. All of her senses were obscured, so she wasn't quite sure how it happened, but she eventually felt the gray cat's piercing grip on her release.
Another voice was heard shouting—this time, quite unknown to Jewelkit—but to her reassurance, the voice was scolding her attacker. "Cinderpaw! What in StarClan's name made you think that it would be okay to abuse a kit like that?"
Without saying another word, Cinderpaw darted back into the tall grass, and Featherkit and Crowkit trudged in the opposite direction back to LightningClan camp, nudging their weakened and battered sister before them.
"I was just talking to Featherkit, and there weren't any warriors near us, so we had to save you alone… but when we heard a scream coming from this direction, we came as fast as we could!" Crowkit described.
"I… I think I'd stumbled into StormClan territory…" Jewelkit panted, her small, hoarse voice heavy with exhaustion, as soon as she regained enough energy to speak.
"Yeah, I think so, too!" growled Crowkit. "That apprentice had no reason to attack you like that!"
Featherkit nodded in rage-filled agreement. "They have no right to act like such snakehearts!"
"I'll be fine, though," Jewelkit murmured. "I wasn't injured that badly; I'm just scratched-up and limping a little… nothing Scissorleaf can't fix."
"You might be right," replied Featherkit with a nearly unnoticeable note of worry tainting her voice, "but for now, you look very tired. You need some rest. You're probably in a lot of pain, aren't you?"
Jewelkit answered her sister with a slow, fatigued nod.
Crowkit was making an obvious effort to keep his voice steady and unwavering. "Hey, look. LightningClan camp is right up ahead."
Indeed, he was right—Jewelkit had been too lost in her thoughts, agony, and thoughts about agony to even notice at all when they had gone through the pine forest. She had been far too distracted even to let the intensely powerful scent of the pine needles surge through her nose again.
The eyes of all the cats were on Jewelkit as soon as she and her siblings entered camp. She heard gasps and murmurs arising from everywhere in her surroundings, hoping that there weren't going to be any rumors going around about her that were too bad. Quite unhurriedly, the three of them trekked over to Scissorleaf's medicine den in hopes of healing Jewelkit.
"Oh my goodness!" Scissorleaf gasped in shock as soon as the worn-out Jewelkit entered her view. "How in the world did that happen to you, Jewelkit…?" Immediately, as though through some sort of magical instinct possessed only by a medicine cat, she began to frantically gather some herbs, clearly in a rush.
"She wandered off into StormClan's territory by accident, and an apprentice there attacked her." Featherkit explained.
Scissorleaf set her herbs down on the ground once she had collected all of the medicine that she had needed. "That's so brutal… here, Jewelkit, lie down on that moss bed over there… I'll fix your wounds up…"
Jewelkit limped over to the bed of moss as she was told, collapsing as soon as she reached it.
"You poor thing…" muttered Scissorleaf, proceeding to chew some of the leaves up into a poultice and rubbing the mixture on Jewelkit's wounds. "You have a lot of scratches, but fortunately, they aren't that deep and shouldn't become infected or scar if they are given proper treatment," she told the kit as she began to secure the poultices with cobweb. "But because you're so beat-up, I'm putting a lot of herbs into this remedy. There's horsetail, goldenrod, comfrey root, tormentil, dock—not a lot of dock, so it shouldn't sting—and some oak leaf to prevent infection. If you stay in here and rest, and I reapply this poultice to your wounds every day, then you should heal in time for your apprentice ceremony." Scissorleaf took a deep breath as soon as she was finished speaking. "Do you have any questions?"
Weakly, Jewelkit shook her head, though she was extremely glad to know that her apprentice ceremony would not be delayed because of this.
Scissorleaf blinked calmly. "All right, then. You'll be spending the next few days with me."
Jewelkit's siblings spoke with their medicine cat and their sister for a bit, and after a while, Goldenpine and Shadeflower came in to see their injured daughter.
"Jewelkit!" Shadeflower gasped. "Are you okay?"
"She'll be fine," was Scissorleaf's soothed response. "Just wait a little bit for it to heal."
Goldenpine strolled up to Jewelkit and nuzzled her head. A wave of loving warmth surged through her from the tip of her tail to her little wet nose. "I'm sorry that I haven't been spending a lot of time with you and your siblings. LightningClan needs me to hunt."
Jewelkit blinked. "I understand," she rasped. "You still love me, don't you?"
"Yes," The care in her father's glowing green eyes was so comforting. "I will always love you, Jewelkit, no matter what happens."

Lazily, the passage of time trudged on, with each minute becoming a slowly-moving, boring eternity of unfathomable length. Only when Jewelkit had company to visit her could she manage to do anything at all, and Scissorleaf wouldn't let her do anything more than lift her head.
"Soon," Scissorleaf would always promise, "I'll let you stand up and walk around for a bit. You will need exercise after doing nothing but sit there for several days, after all."
Still, it felt as though Jewelkit would only be able to wallow in boredom until she was freed from this, which seemed to be ages from now. She tried to think of something fun to do in her head, but nothing came to her. She had nobody to play with, and usually, nobody to talk to, because when Scissorleaf actually wasn't out collecting herbs, she would only tell Jewelkit that she should take a nap to help heal her wounds. The injuries didn't even hurt that much anymore! Scissorleaf had successfully prevented their infection. Why was she still so fussy and insistent on Jewelkit's tedious stay in the medicine den? It didn't make any sense. Jewelkit knew that her medicine cat had good intents and was only trying to help, but she was beginning to grow restless. Even when other cats came in to speak with her, they all asked the same questions, like how she was doing, or if she felt okay. It was all just so annoying! Couldn't anyone ever let her do anything?
After several days, Jewelkit began to feel very lethargic and hopeless. Her eyelids drooped down, and she couldn't help but drift away into the mysterious world of sleep…
Jewelkit tried to take in her ethereal surroundings. This was weird. She was actually dreaming. She'd fallen asleep a thousand times before and never once had a dream where she was in the misty forests of StarClan. Could this mean something?
She glanced down at her paws, which appeared to be completely unscathed. Hey, I don't have any scratches! I guess that must happen in StarClan… it'll be great to go there someday, won't it?
Only then did she notice the tall, lean cat towering over her. His pelt was thick, but not fluffy; it was a very appealing shade of silver, tinted with a small amount of something that seemed to be blueish, a light cerulean, perhaps. He had tabby stripes, which were as black as charcoal, and paws the color of a fresh winter snow. His eyes were a very vivid color of azure—something that could be called icy if not for the noticeably passionate flare within them. There was a nick in his ear that seemed as though it had been from a battle far, far in the past, yet so close to the present, though it didn't even look to be anything more than a simple illusion, all at once. This cat was so incomprehensible, and that was just from the looks of him… was he merely her mind playing tricks on herself out of her own loneliness? No, he himself seemed real somehow… but who was this? Familiarity and caring for him lingered deeply in Jewelkit's heart, but she'd never recalled ever knowing a cat who looked like this before. How could this be possible?
Before Jewelkit could even open her mouth to say a word, his brilliant, glistening eyes blinked one time, fixating her to her spot in something resembling a trancelike state, though she figured that she was still perfectly conscious; she was merely extremely confused. Honestly, she couldn't be sure if he was going to cry. He looked like a very strong cat, but there was a certain aura of regret to those incomprehensible sky-blue eyes of his… the watery, painful way they reflected and distorted the marvelous array of stars scattering the night sky… What could he be thinking? Does he know me?
There was silence.
"I'm sorry," he murmured, his voice so quiet that Jewelkit wouldn't have even noticed he'd said anything if she hadn't been sitting so close to him.
"Wait… why? What are you sorry for? What did you do?" questioned Jewelkit in a state of panic. I have to know what he means… I have to! I'll forgive him no matter what; that's the right thing to do! "And… and who are you?"
"I'm sorry," he repeated in an even smaller whisper, squeezing his eyes shut. He then began speaking at an easily audible level, making a quite evident yet somewhat successful attempt to make his face appear solemn. "You must be so tired if you're seeing me… or… you will be soon enough. I'm willing to bet that you don't even think I'm real."
"Well…" Jewelkit allowed herself to respond once again. "I'm not really tired anymore. My wounds are healed now that I'm in StarClan, see? I guess that's just temporary, though." She rolled her eyes. "And you seem sorta like a delusion… that's what it's called, right? I don't know, you might be real. It's kinda hard to tell."
The blue-gray cat shook his head. "Don't worry about me, okay? You shouldn't even be seeing me right now. In fact, when you wake up, you won't even remember that I was here. That's for the best, isn't it?" His voice sounded so… uncertain. It was making Jewelkit feel a bit uneasy, although she knew subconsciously that his presence should have been more comforting than discomforting to her.
"Wait… what's your name? I don't even know who you are!" pleaded Jewelkit.
"That doesn't matter. I told you, you'll wake up and forget. You'll never have to think about me again. This was nothing but a mistake, yeah? So I'm making sure that you don't have to worry about someone like me for no reason." he explained, his unsteady voice wavering in reluctant unison with the breeze.
The northern wind blew more fiercely against Jewelkit's pelt, battering her with the stinging cold. It's newleaf! Why in StarClan's name is it so chilly? "No, that's not okay! I have to know who you are! Please don't let me forget…"
"Hey, it looks like you're waking up right now." His words were accompanied by the most depressing smile Jewelkit had ever seen. He paused for a moment, as if to reconsider what he was about to say next. "I'll see you later."
Jewelkit yawned, her eyes blinking open. Good morning, Jewelkit. I'm sure you're going to have so much fun today, she told herself sarcastically. She resisted the urge to stretch out her weary muscles, for she knew that Scissorleaf would only yell at her.
"Jewelkit!" Scissorleaf called out in an uplifting, singsong voice. "Today, you'll finally get to walk!"
The tiny kit's dazzling amber eyes lit up as they filled with blazing excitement. "Really?"
"Absolutely! I think you've spent enough time healing up. It has been several days, hasn't it?" Scissorleaf purred charismatically.
Jewelkit sprung up out of bed. I was right, and Scissorleaf was wrong! Ha! That didn't hurt at all! I'm okay! Her wounds were still visible, but they'd be gone soon enough. They didn't hurt, and that was what mattered the most at this moment. "Oh, my goodness… this is great!" She dashed around the medicine den, laughing as she ran around in circles. "It feels so good to be running again!"
Scissorleaf chuckled. "I'm glad to make you so happy. I knew you would be very enthusiastic about being able to move around again. And think about it—in under half a moon, you and your siblings will be apprentices!"
"I know! It's fantastic!" Jewelkit giggled as her newfound energy surged through her, joyfully bounding up and down. "I couldn't be any more excited than this!"
"Go on, run to the nursery! Tell your family about this!" Scissorleaf urged Jewelkit, and so Jewelkit did.
"Yay, Jewelkit's out of the medicine den!" Crowkit squealed with delight.
Featherkit tackled Jewelkit, preparing for a playfight. "I missed playing with you so much!"
Jewelkit playfully batted at Featherkit's miniature pink nose. "I missed you guys, too!"
"Do you want to play moss-ball?" Featherkit queried.
"Yeah, playing it with two kits is no fun!" added Crowkit.
"Sure thing!" replied Jewelkit with a huge smile on her face. Nothing could go wrong today!
As the three of them laughed and played moss-ball together, the sun began to set, and eventually, they had to go to sleep. Jewelkit was rather exhausted and quite content to rest again, but she was completely oblivious to her dream from earlier.
But it wasn't as if that mattered.

This was it. Today was the day that Jewelkit, Featherkit, and Crowkit would finally become apprentices! She couldn't contain her excitement; they'd waited for this day for such a long time; and it had come at last! Jewelpaw… that sounds really nice! I can't wait to see who my mentor will be…
"Come on, kits!" Goldenpine urged them. "Let's go to the clearing so we can be ready when Cheetahstar calls you!"
Energetically, the kits scampered out into the clearing, as close to the Highrock as possible. In their wait for Cheetahstar to appear, the restless kits joked around and bragged to each other.
"My mentor is going to be the best! They'll train me harder than any of the other apprentices!" claimed Featherkit.
"Ha! You'd probably be too weak to keep up with them," Crowkit scoffed with an air of childish doubt in his voice. "I'll be the strongest and best apprentice all by myself, no matter who my mentor is!"
Featherkit rolled her eyes. "Well, I'll be more clever than you!"
"Please!" Jewelkit laughed. "I'm going to be more clever than a fox! And I'll be fast, too."
"Fast? Have you looked at the length of your legs lately?" questioned Crowkit rhetorically. "I don't think you'd be able to outrun a tortoise."
"Hey! Watch what you're saying there!" Jewelkit swiped at Crowkit's muzzle, careful to make sure that her needle-sharp claws were sheathed. She knew that she was slower than her siblings, but she also knew that her mentor would be able to train her.
"Guys, hold on—we don't have time to fight right now! It sounds like Shadeflower and Goldenpine are talking about something important," Featherkit whispered urgently.
The kits quickly fell silent in order to eavesdrop on their parents' conversation. How can they possibly not realize that we're listening to them? wondered Jewelkit. They're right next to us! When I have kits, I'm not going to be so ignorant around them.
Jewelkit heard the voice of her father. "I know from my medicine cat training that something's been bothering Jewelkit for sure." Goldenpine had once been a medicine cat apprentice for a while before he decided that being a warrior was his true destiny, and the Clans in this part of the forest were well-known for not only identifying, preventing, easing, and curing physical injury and sickness, but emotional and mental damage, as well. Still, it made Jewelkit confused. Nothing had been bothering her, really. She was anticipating her apprentice ceremony with great joy. She certainly wasn't bothered!
"What do you think the source of it is, then?" Shadeflower's tender voice was thick with worry for her kit.
"I think she may have had an unsettling dream," was Goldenpine's fearful reply.
Unsettling dream? In a fast-paced, frantic state of panic, certainly far less than thorough, Jewelkit racked her mind for any strange dreams. I only remember those really cool dreams, like when I caught a squirrel, and… ooh, when I became the leader of the Clan!
Jewelkit listened on intently, feeling nothing but uncertainty. "Are you sure? She seems okay!" Shadeflower retorted.
"Of course! She's hiding it. Do you see the hidden anxiety behind those shining amber eyes of hers?" Goldenpine sighed. "It's really quite obvious."
"Goldenpine, it isn't like you to get all worked-up and frustrated like this!"
"I just don't understand why you don't believe me! Something's troubling her, I'm sure of it!"
"Guys, stop it!" Jewelkit yelled. Her parents fell silent and turned around to face her, their faces asking silent questions that could not be put into words.
"I haven't had any weird dreams. I'm not upset or anything. I don't know why you're making such a big fuss over something that isn't even there," Jewelkit huffed in annoyance.
"It could very well have been traumatizing enough to be forgotten, lingering only in your subconscious, and—" A glare from Shadeflower shut Goldenpine up right away.
"My kit is just fine. She and her siblings are about to become apprentices!" Shadeflower growled. "Jewelkit is perfectly all right, aren't you, Jewelkit?"
Jewelkit nodded, partially out of obligation.
"Are you guys done arguing?" whimpered Featherkit.
Goldenpine took in a long, deep breath to refresh himself. "Yes." His reassuring purr and affectionate lick on Featherkit's head even made Jewelkit feel more at peace.
"Hey, guys… look!" Crowkit squealed out of nowhere, his jubilation uncontainable in his words. "Cheetahstar is coming over the Highrock!"
"Oh my goodness…!" Jewelkit breathed, attempting the nearly impossible task of staying quiet and solemn in an extremely important and thrilling moment such as this one.
"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather around the Highrock for a Clan meeting!" Cheetahstar's strong, powerful voice resounded through the air.
Knowing what was to happen next, the three kits scrambled up to the Highrock with their parents' warm eyes on them. Jewelkit couldn't help herself from beaming. She was too excited not to smile!
Jewelkit had been born last, even though Featherkit was scrawnier than she was, so her ceremony would come last. She listened intently to her siblings' ceremonies, hearing that Lilystorm (She had been Goldenpine's old apprentice!) was appointed to be Crowpaw's mentor and that Featherpaw's new mentor was Flamewing, Lilystorm's brother. I hope my mentor is Fawnwillow… Jewelkit fantasized to herself, until she realized that at last, her turn had come. Her eyes were wide as Cheetahstar strolled up to her with a calm smile on her face, proceeding to take a deep breath and begin to speak the ceremonial words.
"Jewelkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Jewelpaw. May you bring great joy and pride to LightningClan in your days as an apprentice. Your mentor will be Stealthvixen. I hope Stealthvixen will pass down all she knows to you."
Stealthvixen? She didn't even cross my mind! Excitement flooded over Jewelpaw. My mentor is going to be a fox! This is wonderful!
Stealthvixen leapt up to the Highrock with a composed yet gleeful look on her face. At least, that's what Jewelpaw thought… she wasn't used to reading the facial expressions of foxes, seeing as there was only one in the Clan who she hadn't even spent that much time with. I guess that's going to change now.
Cheetahstar gave the beaming pair a small, calming grin of her own, as if it was her wish of good luck with training for the two. The LightningClan leader then began to recite the words for the mentor ceremony, her spotted fur swaying gently in the breeze. "Stealthvixen, being an honorable member of LightningClan, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Oceanbreeze, and you have demonstrated the wonderful qualities of loyalty and patience. You will be the mentor of Jewelpaw, and I expect you to teach some of these qualities to her, showing her how to become a warrior of LightningClan."
When Cheetahstar had finished speaking, Stealthvixen gave her a solemn nod. "I promise to train her to the best of my ability." It seemed as though the fox could hardly contain her excitement, though, as she was quick to touch noses with Jewelpaw. Wow! Fox noses are so much bigger than cat noses! Jewelpaw noted aimlessly in her rushed, exuberant thought process.
"Crowpaw! Featherpaw! Jewelpaw!" the vast crowd of cats chanted repeatedly. Proudly, Jewelpaw glanced out over all of them. She was always going to remember this as the best day of her life! Well, until she became a warrior. Or… the leader of LightningClan! That would definitely become the best day of her life.
The three new apprentices hopped off of the Highrock and chatted with their mentors for a bit. Jewelpaw was especially looking forward to having a conversation with a fox.
"How's it like, being a fox and all?" Jewelpaw asked her new mentor, thoroughly intrigued.
Stealthvixen laughed in a slightly awkward manner. "It's fine. It can get a little weird sometimes, knowing that I'm the only fox in the Clan, but in the end, I know everyone here accepts me as though I'm part of their family."
Jewelpaw nodded in acknowledgement. "I'm really happy to have you as my mentor! Have you ever trained an apprentice before?"
"Nope. First time," Stealthvixen responded with a little shake of her head. "But I'm looking forward to training you. I feel like we could both learn something from it."
Jewelpaw was about to open her mouth to reply when she noticed Goldenpine sitting next to her. "Hi, Stealthvixen. I'm Goldenpine, Jewelpaw's father… we never talked much, so I'm not sure if you'd recall me." Her father's introduction was cordial, yet far from graceful. He'd been quite a bit socially awkward as an apprentice and young warrior before he got used to things, and it could still show on occasion.
"I certainly remember hearing about you," Stealthvixen chuckled. "It was huge news when Shadeflower confessed her love to you. There wasn't a single member of LightningClan who didn't hear about it."
"Yeah, it was a pretty big deal, I guess," Goldenpine replied, also with a bit of a chortle in his voice. Jewelpaw could predict a long, boring warrior conversation coming from a mile away, so she quickly began to leave. Now that she thought about it, something was nagging at the back of her mind, at least a little bit. Perhaps Goldenpine's assumption had been correct after all. I think I'll go for a walk in the forest again. And this time, I'm not going anywhere near StormClan's territory.

The golden sunlight that shone through the branches of the pine and oak trees was nearly blinding to Jewelpaw, loudly informing her that sunhigh had come. She squinted a bit and tried to keep moving. Her walk was going to be enjoyable, even with that light nearly blinding her when she dared to look up. She couldn't let something that small get her down, could she?
By this point, she had been walking for a couple of minutes, enjoying everything from the subtle chirping of the birds to each individual blade of grass she stepped on. This forest was brimming with life… there was not a single place she could look and find anything lacking in it. A simple thought such as that brought her to daydream of becoming a warrior as she walked, with each pawstep bringing her farther away from the rich, though insufficiently so, reality that she dwelled in.
At last, the newly appointed apprentice began to notice a dwindling amount of trees, with the amount of trees growing fewer and fewer until no trees were left at all.
"Great; it's going to be really bright now," Jewelpaw muttered to herself. "Maybe I should go—"
As if trying to deliver a message to her, an icy breeze from the north suddenly battered against her pelt, causing her to shiver a bit. That's odd. Newleaf doesn't usually bring winds this cold, especially not when it's this sunny out! And with a gasp, that thought made her recall something she probably shouldn't have.
For only a split second, the image of a silvery blue-gray cat with elegant black tabby stripes and pure white paws came into her mind. However, the most remarkable feature of him was his eyes—perhaps this was because Jewelpaw always inspected the eyes of cats before anything else for whatever reason, but nevertheless, the eyes he had were exceptional.
In that single moment, Jewelpaw could detect all sorts of things in his eyes. It felt wrong to call their coloration turquoise, but a bold yet very inoffensive cerulean suited them more. These windows to the soul, so to speak, were luminous and bright, but again, not in a way that was over-the-top. Their dramatic mirroring of the clouded sky (which was nearly their exact same shade) was done in more of a traumatic and sorrowfully reflective manner than anything else. However, this was only a depiction of their unique hues. The emotions displayed within them were as magnificent and uncountable as the stars in the night sky, despite the heartrending confusion that they hopelessly clung to. Jewelpaw did not even have names for a good portion of the feelings that she saw—felt—noticed—sensed—detected—whatever the right word was for that. She could, however, locate and recognize a very deep regret and a strong sense of agony, as though by merely looking at her, that cat was emotionally broken down. But why was this? She didn't even know who this cat was! Wait… was that a crystal-clear, miserable tear rolling down his delicate face? Oh, no, please… was she making him cry? And if so, how? Who even was he? Why was he here? How did he get here?
"Don't cry…!" Jewelpaw cried out, futility enveloping her call, as she realized that by the time she had tried to reach out to him, her momentary vision had already vanished from her sight.
Okay… so… that wasn't real, right? Jewelpaw tried to tell herself. But… why did I see that, then, if it was all fake?
Jewelpaw madly searched the depths of her brain for some reason, any reason at all, that she could have seen that cat, but nothing came up. She found not a single answer to any of her thousands of questions, not one fragment of forgotten memory that she could use to piece everything together. Several times, Goldenpine's irrational worries about her from earlier that day came to her mind, but she still couldn't recall a dream that actually troubled her to confirm his suspicions.
It's nothing but your wild imagination. And he's one of the cats crying with joy at your warrior ceremony, I bet. Don't get too impatient about that! the apprentice rationalized, far too easily shaking off her previous doubts. I should just head back to camp before the others start worrying about me. She did so with the previous event now completely off her mind.
Upon her arrival at camp, Jewelpaw encountered a frowning Crowpaw. "Where have you been?" he questioned, obviously frustrated, yet probably internally relieved that his sister had returned. "Featherpaw and I wanted to do apprentice training with all three of us, but we couldn't find you."
"Sorry about that… I was just taking a walk out in the forest," was Jewelpaw's embarrassed and shameful reply.
Crowpaw quickly grew frantic. "Seriously? You shouldn't be out there! Remember what happened last time you decided to take a walk out in the forest? What in StarClan's name would happen if it happened again, and Goldenpine and Shadeflower found out about it?"
"I'm sorry—I just like it a lot, and I was being careful—see? I'm fine! Nothing's happened to me. There's not a scratch on me. Just look!" Jewelpaw defended herself fiercely.
Doubtfully, Crowpaw inspected Jewelpaw's pelt and then shook his head. "Okay, you're right. You don't have any injuries. But you aren't going out in the forest alone again if anyone in the family has anything to say about it."
Jewelpaw sighed. "Fine. That'll be fine." At least it wasn't the most important thing in the world. It was only something cool to do. Spending time with other cats and making new friends was often a lot better than walking around alone. And, to be honest, walking in the forest could get boring after a while. Still, even though it might not have been too much of a bother to her, she wasn't feeling on top of the world about it.
"Come on, let's start training now," Crowpaw instructed with a flick of his charcoal tail. "Featherpaw has been getting a bit worried," he added as the two of them began to head over to where their sister was.
"I'm sorry," Jewelpaw mumbled again, mentally scolding herself for being such a mouse-brain, but barely had time to do so before Featherpaw rushed over to her siblings.
"Jewelpaw! Where were you?" she demanded, her viridescent eyes filled with much sternness and much concern. "I was afraid you'd been attacked again or something…!"
"I was walking in the forest, but I'm fine," responded Jewelpaw, guiltily glancing down at the ground. "Can we just—can we please train now?"
Sighing, Featherpaw nodded her head. "Just—promise me you won't ever do that again."
"I promise. Crowpaw's already talked to me about it. Now can we please just get to our first training session?" begged Jewelpaw. "I really want to see what it's like!"
Featherpaw nodded once more. "All right. Our mentors are already waiting for us in the training hollow."
"You guys can follow my lead. I'm the only one who's actually explored the training hollow before," stated Crowpaw as though it were nothing.
"Really?" Jewelpaw couldn't help but let out a little bit of a laugh. "When was that?"
"Snuck out once during leaf-bare. It was night, and there wasn't a lot of snow, so nobody caught me." He grinned. "But don't tell anyone!"
"We won't," Featherkit promised with a smile.
The ebony-colored apprentice smiled back and then glanced at his sisters. "Are both of you guys ready for this?"
They nodded.
"Then let's go."

Stealthvixen and Lilystorm were already sitting in the training hollow, waiting for their apprentices with huge smiles spread across their faces.
"Are you ready to begin training?" queried Stealthvixen.
Jewelpaw bounded up and down eagerly. "Yes, of course! I'm so excited!"
Featherpaw didn't seem as happy as her sister. "Well, I would be, but… Where's Flamewing?"
"He's late to everything," scoffed Lilystorm, playfully rolling her eyes. "You know toms."
"Hey, I'm a tom! You're gonna pay for saying that!" Crowpaw yowled, instantly springing up to Lilystorm. Though the small apprentice tried to pin her down, he was no match for his new mentor, who simply chuckled and pushed him back.
"At least you've got the fighting spirit in you! We'll work on your technique a bit as soon as Flamewing gets here," she mewed.
Almost as if on cue, a shorthaired ginger tabby with white-tipped back paws rushed into the hollow. "Sorry I'm late!" He grinned in a slightly awkward way. "I was busy talking to Pinesage about stuff."
Upon this cat's arrival, Featherpaw definitely looked more at ease. "Oh, great! Now we can st—"
"Who's Pinesage?" Jewelpaw butted in, letting her curiosity get the best of her. Sounds like Goldenpine!
Lilystorm's face burned with shame. "His imaginary friend… oh, for StarClan's sake, Flamewing, you're a full-grown warrior! Why do you still have an imaginary friend again?"
"For the thousandth time, he's real! You just can't see him!" Flamewing retorted childishly.
"Stop acting like such a kit! Come to think of it, you've held onto this friend of yours since you were a kit, haven't you? It would explain the terrible name!"
"I wouldn't ever choose to name him something as mouse-brained as Pinesage! I swear, he's real, you've just never—"
Stealthvixen coughed. "Can we please move things along?"
"Aw, but that was such a fun argument!" Crowpaw's vocal expression was somewhere between a laugh and a moan of complaint.
Jewelpaw softly brushed her tail against Flamewing in an expression of empathy. "Don't worry. I believe that he—Pinesage, right? I think Pinesage is real."
Suddenly, the gears in her mind all clicked together. If this Pinesage cat was real—that probably meant he had been the mysterious cat whom she had seen for only a moment earlier, right? Of course! Maybe she could try to strike up a friendly conversation with him, and they could become friends, too!
"Jewelpaw! Jewelpaw, are you listening to me?"
"Hm?" The ginger apprentice shook her head, breaking free of her zone-out session to see Stealthvixen staring down at her. "Oh! Um… no, not really…"
"All right; I'll repeat my directions, but I'd like you to pay more attention, okay?" The fox sighed and smiled to ensure that she did not appear hostile. "To start off with, we're going to learn basic swipes and kicks for combat. We'll be getting into the basics of hunting and catching prey tomorrow."
The three siblings nodded in acknowledgement.
"I'll demonstrate our first move on Flamewing." Lilystorm proceeded to simply yet tactfully swipe her paw across her brother's face.
"It's a very basic but effective move," Stealthvixen explained. "It's an easy way to catch your opponent off guard—a blow to the face is often one of the best moves to use in battle."
Flamewing laughed. "I'll bet you guys have already used this a lot during playfights."
"It's one of Crowpaw's favorite moves." Featherpaw stared down her older brother, who could reply with nothing more than a guilty little chuckle.
"Well, try it out on us!" Stealthvixen flicked her bushy, snow-tipped tail. "I know we're giants compared to you, but it's good to get used to having an opponent who can really size you up."
"Make sure you sheathe your claws, though," warned Flamewing. "This is only training, so it would really be a shame if anyone were seriously hurt."
A little bit nervous, Jewelpaw stared down at her tiny white paws and then back up at her canine mentor. She managed to plaster determination both on her face and in her heart, though, finding the strength to crouch down and leap back up to bat at Stealthvixen's long muzzle. For a fraction of a second, she felt her soft, pink paw-pad touch the fox's wet, black nose in a peculiar signal of success.
"Well done! You're all doing very well at this," praised Lilystorm, causing the unmistakable feeling of pride to well up warmly within Jewelpaw's chest.
In fact, Jewelpaw and her siblings all had such a great time that they hardly noticed how much time had passed until the sun had begun to set.
When the first few warriors of StarClan had made themselves visible in the sky, Featherpaw was the first to point it out. "Is anyone else getting tired? It's kinda dark out now."
"My goodness, you're right!" Stealthvixen gasped.
Flamewing looked sheepish. "I hardly noticed… All this training has been so much fun!"
"So it's over now?" Crowpaw asked with a big frown on his face.
Stealthvixen tried to put a more optimistic spin on the situation. "I'm afraid so, but that just means that you can get some rest to start training again with us tomorrow, right?"
"Training was really fun today! I'm looking forward to learning how to hunt tomorrow," purred Jewelpaw, beaming with genuine eagerness.
"See you then!" Featherpaw waved her tail in farewell, then flicked it toward her siblings. "Let's go."
Suddenly, Jewelpaw remembered something she had wanted to discuss with Flamewing. "Hold on a second, guys; I need to talk to Flamewing for a bit."
"But Flamewing's not even your mentor!" Crowpaw's call was barely noticed by his youngest sister, who had already strolled up to Flamewing.
"What is it? Is it about Pinesage?" the warrior questioned. His green eyes lit up at the mention of the imaginarily real cat's name.
Jewelpaw stifled a giggle. Read my mind perfectly. "Yeah, I just had one question, really… What does he look like?"
As though it were a difficult, thought-provoking question to answer, Flamewing paused and glanced around a bit in what seemed to be deep thought. After a long pause, he finally drew in a breath and replied.
"Well… He's… not exactly visible. Not normally, anyway. You mostly just hear him, but you could touch him, I guess—I've never really tried to, myself. You'll always know for sure when he's there, even though he's invisible… It's a really strange sensation. I don't know if I could describe it very well."
Utterly puzzled, Jewelpaw felt herself starving for some kind of clear answer. "How does he… How does that work? Like, how is that even possible? Why can't you see him?" Does that mean he's not the cat I saw? Or could he still be?
Flamewing shook his head. "I don't know. He's really mysterious, and for some reason, nobody else even notices he's there. I can tell he's around when I'm with other cats sometimes, but he never says anything until we're alone, so I doubt you'd ever meet him. But he's fun to talk to, even if he won't tell me anything about himself."
"Well, maybe I will see him someday. Who knows?" Jewelpaw meowed in a lighthearted tone. "I may as well go now, but it was nice talking to you!"
"Thanks for believing me, Jewelpaw." The warrior just barely smiled.
"Jeez, how do you believe in that cat?" Crowpaw inquired embarrassedly as Jewelpaw bounded back to them. "There's no way he isn't totally kidding you!"
"I think Flamewing could be right, but… I think you're giving him too much credit, Jewelpaw," muttered Featherpaw.
Shocked by the disbelief of her siblings, Jewelpaw began to stammer out a response. "B–but I always give others a chance. I always have to believe them."
Crowpaw sighed, the shame he felt for his sister not fading one bit. "You don't have to. You just want to. You care about others too much."
"Too much?" Jewelpaw felt her eyes begin to grow watery. "How can I care too much? You just don't care enough!"
"Hey… hey, guys…" Featherpaw murmured quietly, trying to interrupt the argument. "It's our first night sleeping in the apprentices' den. Aren't you excited?"
Jewelpaw's ears suddenly perked up, as though she had entirely forgotten the quarrel she was having with Crowpaw. "Oh, yes! Absolutely! I've been looking forward to this for so long."
Somehow, Crowpaw managed to erase the frown on his face. "Yeah, I guess we all have."
"We should go, then! Last one there's a piece of crowfood!" Featherpaw sprinted away before Jewelpaw could even process her words.
"Hey, wait up! No fair!" laughed Jewelpaw as she tried her best to catch up. As expected, she arrived last at the den, panting.
"Guess you're crowfood, then." Crowpaw smirked.
"If I weren't exhausted, I'd attack you!" Jewelpaw limply swiped a paw at him in a weak attempt to display some sort of fierceness.
Featherpaw yawned. "I'm pretty tired at this point, too."
"Come on; let's get some sleep," instructed Crowpaw, flicking his coal-colored tail. "We've got plenty of work to do tomorrow."
And so the apprentices slept.