[This chapter was rewritten!]

"Can you not bite so hard!"

Another cry came from the playful tussle that was Ravenkit's littermates. The tiny tom whined and nuzzled himself deeper into his mother's milk-smelling fur. He could barely get any sleep with their 'battle cries' thundering about.

"Beetlekit, Halfkit. Please, can you keep it down? Your brother is trying to sleep."

"But we can't go out and play!" Ravenkit recognized Halfkit's voice.

A few seconds passed before their mother answered: "You can go out. Just stay close to the nursery. If you see Mousekit and the others, ask if you can play with them."
Excited purrs came from his littermates were shortly followed by the quick scurrying of paws and then there was the relief of silence in the nursery.

"When is Ravenkit gonna come around, then?" meowed a familiar queen. "He's a late bloomer."

"In his own time, Breezesky."

'But when will my own time be?' thought Ravenkit. 'I want it to be now!'

Ravenkit forced his eyes open. He was immedietly met by nothing but darkness cause his face was still dug into his mother's fur, but when he turned his head he saw light for the first time. Everything was blurry and out of focus for a few seconds, but after a few quick blinks and adjusting his eyes to the new light he saw the interior of the nursery.

The nursery was huge! Atleast for Ravenkit. The thick bramble walls protected the queens and kits from any harsh winds or potential predators. The only thing that penetrated the defensive walls was the warm rays of sunshine to shine down on Ravenkit.
Multiple beds of moss was scattered around the nursery which all were occupied. A black and white queen was curled up her nest in the middle, and in a corner laid a dark gray queen with a large, swollen belly. And then there was his own which was shared with his mother and littermates. His mother, Cherrytail had also curled up with her tail around her belly, blocking Ravenkit from escaping. All the queens seemed relaxed to finally have some silence.

Ravenkit started to carefully stand up on the soft bedding. His legs wobbled and he fell down with a small 'thump' against Cherrytail's underbelly. That was all it took for her to wake up and she raised her head from her paws and looked down on Ravenkit. She blinked and bent her head down to lick Ravenkit across his face.
"Look at you! You've opened your eyes." purred Cherrytail. "Beetlekit and Halfkit have already opened theirs a few days ago, so they are out playing."
Ravenkit purred proudly and stood up, stretching in his most dramatic pose. "Now I've opened them!" He widdened his eyes as wide as he could so his mother could admire them.

"You have." smiled Cherrytail and gave him a soft nuzzle. "Do you want to go out and play with Halfkit and Beetlekit?" She pointed with her nose to the exit of the nursery.
Ravenkit turned and stared at the exit of the nursery. It was much brighter outside and probably alot more places to explore. He felt excitement prick his tail and he started to crawl his way over his mother's tail and out of the nursery.
"Do you want me to come with you?" called Cherrytail after him. Ravenkit turned to Cherrytail and shook his head. "No," he answered, then he suddenly stopped in his tracks. "Its not dangerous, is it?"
Cherrytail chuckled softly and shook her head. "Of course not. Just look for your siblings, and take care of eachother."

Ravenkit nodded and pressed his way out of the nursery. The sunhigh sun immedietly shined down on him and Ravenkit squinted to prevent the sun from blinding him. The fresh wind carried many new scents for him and it made him dizzy.
With squinted eyes he scanned the camp. Many cats he had never smelled in the nursery before either alone or in groups carried out duties or relaxing in the shade of their dens, sharing tounges or eating fresh-kill. Ravenkit didn't notice Halfkit or Beetlekit among them, so he attempted to use his ears. For a few moments he couldn't hear anything but mumbles from other Clanmates, but then a nearby, familiar voice came from behind him.

Ravenkit turned and noticed the sound came from behind the nursery. He started to pad slowly behind the large den and peeked around a sharp bramble.
Halfkit and Beetlekit sat together with three other kits. They were much larger than them and defiently had more muscle.
"Good hunting crouch, Halfkit." meowed a tabby. His black, thin tail ran over the dust he sat on. "Just watch your tail. You look a bit like a hedgehog."
Halfkit nodded and let her tail drop to the ground. "Like this?"

A white and black she-kit nodded in agreement, but suddenly her head shot in the direction of Ravenkit who was still hiding behind the bramble. "Oh, is that Ravenkit?" she growled softly.
Beetlekit and Halfkit turned to Ravenkit and recognized their brother quickly.
"Ravenkit! You've opened your eyes!" Beetlekit purred. He ran up to Ravenkit and nuzzled his shoulder. "Come on, Mousekit, Rushkit and Shredkit are teaching us apprentice stuff!"
Ravenkit followed Beetlekit out of his hiding spot and sat down beside Halfkit who also gave him a loving nuzzle.

"Hi, Ravenkit!" the blue and white kit smiled. "I'm Shredkit, and that's my brother; Mousekit—" she pointed her tail to the tabby tom. "—and my sister; Rushkit." and then the white and black she-kit.
"We are soon gonna be made into apprentices" Mousekit mewed. "Any day now, actually. The other apprentices have teached us some simple stuff already when they aren't doing their duties."

"Want us to teach you how to do a hunting crouch? It's a good start." Rushkit suggested. Ravenkit quickly nodded. He wanted to be as strong as his littermates and didn't want to be left behind!
Rushkit crouched close to the ground, her paws close to her white chest and her tail low, yet it didn't touch the ground. Ravenkit tried his best to copy Rushkit's pose, but it felt like he defiently did something wrong. He was still wobbly since it was his first time out of the nursery, also with all the new scents. He would surely tip over if something more would come at him.

"Good." Rushkit sat up and looked at her own littermates. "When would Pricklepaw be back from the patrol?"
Shredkit shrugged. "She said sunhigh, but I don't see or smell her."
Rushkit sighed and stretched, shedding his claws and scratching them against the dry ground. She started to make her way back to the front of the nursery, closely followed by all the others, including Ravenkit, Beetlekit and Halfkit. The sun was still warm in camp and the wind soft against their fur.

Ravenkit pricked his ears when the entrance of camp started to rustle. The thorn tunnel shook momentarily til a patrol padded out one by one. The patrol was lead by a large red tom with supposingly his apprentice by his side, Pricklepaw who Rushkit had mentioned cause she suddenly got excited.
"Pricklepaw!" called Rushkit to the apprentice. The gray she-cat turned her head and waved her tail in greeting when she recognized her friend. She had a large squrriel between her teeth.

Pricklepaw's mentor noticed them too. His sharp green eyes turned to them, but his eyes locked onto the smaller kits, that being Ravenkit and his littermates. Ravenkit felt a chill run down his spine as the large tom gave them the cold shoulder and continued to the fresh-kill where he dropped a robin amongst the other fresh-kill. The rest of the patrol dropped their catch and retreated to the shade where they hid from the sun.
Rushkit and her littermates ran across camp and met Pricklepaw at the apprentices' den who had dropped to the ground on her side. She seemed so relieved to finally get away from the sun that Ravenkit enjoyed so much.

"Should we join them?" mewed Beetlekit who still stood in front of the nursery with Ravenkit.
"Mousekit said only apprentices are allowed near and inside the apprentice den, the same with warriors in the warriors' den and kits in the nursery." responded Halfkit.
Ravenkit's ears pricked when he heard someone coming out of the nursery. All of them turned to see Cherrytail.

"Oh, there you are!" purred Cherrytail, bending down to give each of them a raspy lick on the head. "Have you met Breezesky's kits?"
"Yep!" Ravenkit answered. "They're with the apprentices now. Rushkit teached me how to do a hunting crouch!"
"They teached all of us." added Beetlekit, giving Ravenkit a little nudge on the shoulder.

"Can you show me?" Cherrytail laid down and stared at them, a bright smile across her muzzle.
Immedietly the kits started to show of their newly teached trick, which eventually escelated into a play fight between the three of them.

"Good one." a deep voice meowed.
All of the kits froze for a second before tumbling out of their play positions and started to stare at the newcomer. A broad dark tabby had approched them with not a single sound. He laid down beside Cherrytail and gave her a lick across her muzzle.
Ravenkit suddenly recognized his scent. He had been in the nursery before he had opened his eyes. His scent was a bit different from before, as if he had just been in the forest.
"You're our father, right?" mewed Halfkit before Ravenkit could say it. The tom nodded.

"You all had great hunting crouches, but I'm sure they become even better when you're true apprentices and have your own mentors." meowed Barkclaw.
"But that's not until you're six moons." purred Cherrytail. "You have much to explore in camp before you become apprentices."

As Halfkit and Beetlekit began to play with Barkclaw's tail, Ravenkit prepared to lunge at his ears. But before he did that, he felt a stare at the back of his neck. He saw a cream tabby walking across camp with a bundle of herbs between his teeth. He had wide green eyes and they were staring straight at him.
Ravenkit attempted to give him a sort of comforting smile, but the older tom turned his eyes away when he noticed Ravenkit had noticed him and continued walking across camp staring at something else.

Ravenkit slowly looked away from the other tom and back at his mother.
"Who was that?" he asked.
"Oh, That's Hollowpaw, the medicine cat apprentice. He's a bit jumpy, that's all." answered Cherrytail.
Ravenkit decided to ignore this 'Hollowpaw' and pounce at his father, biting at his ears, but he still felt the ice at the back of his neck from the stare he had recieved.

Hollowpaw had certainly seen something else in him.