Olmkit was curled up asleep in his own nest as the first rays of dawn crept through the nursery roof. He yawned and opened his eyes to see snow piled up outside. "Wow." he breathed. Olmkit stood and padded through the camp. The leaf-bare air was cold and crisp. It seeped into his bones, making him shiver from cold. "Are you lost?" a jeering voice interrupted. He turned to see Almondpaw sitting, smiling acidly at Olmkit with a resentful gleam in her green eyes. Her bushy, cinnamon-colored fur was dotted with white spots and her fluffy tail curled around her paws. "It's too cold for kits to be out. Get back to the nursery, kit." Almondpaw placed an unnecessary amount of emphasization on the last word. Olmkit hissed at her before retreating to the nursery. Shadetail was awake, sitting majestically by the entrance. Her white fur, blemished only by dark gray spots, was fluffed out against the cold. "It's far too cold for kits to be out," she confirmed. "Almondpaw was right." "But she's so obnoxious!" Olmkit complained. Shadetail raised an eyebrow at him, a clear signal to be quiet. "You're not my mother," Olmkit grumbled under his breath as he lay in his nest and curled up. "Why should I listen to you?" He closed his eyes, and fell asleep. Olmkit opened his eyes to see that he was in the forest. The trees all seemed to glow, somehow. The forest smelled of the night sky, and fire and- and pine trees, and something that he'd never scented before but desperately needed, and he lifted his head to try and take it in. "What are you doing, little kit?" A voice interrupted gently. Olmkit lowered his head and noticed a pair of cats sitting together, looking at him lovingly. One of them, a tom, had black stripes on his paws and golden eyes, like him. The other, a she-cat, had reddish-brown fur, just like his. "I am Calypso." the she-cat said softly. "And I am Milo." the tom added. Olmkit didn't need to ask to know that they were his parents. "Why?" he asked simply. Calypso and Milo looked taken aback by his question. "Well," Milo said, "You see-" "Why would you leave me alone, in the forest? Why didn't you give me to someone you knew, when you knew you would d!e? WHY?" Olmkit's rage bubbled up inside him like a monster that clawed at his insides, wanting out, out of this cage, this prison, until he was blinded by fury and- And then Milo was beside him, and Calypso, and they were hugging him, and Calypso was crying. Olmkit's anger shuddered to a stop and he started crying, too. "We never wanted to leave you, Loki." Milo whispered. "But Calypso was sick, and- oh, Calypso will tell you." "I was a housecat- sorry, a kittypet," Calypso said, drawing back and looking at him lovingly. "I stayed with my mother, while my brothers left for other housefolk. My mother, Circe, she loved me very much, but she didn't like the forest much. She said it was full of shadows and spirits, and wild cats. I'd sit on the fence and look at the forest all day. Meanwhile, your father was an apprentice, and he'd go hunting in Tallpines. His name then was- oh, what was it? Finchpaw. One day, he was hunting nearby my fence. I was restless, that day, and paced along the fence. Finchpaw, he was stalking a mouse and he saw me, balancing with ease on this fence. We were friends, and every day he'd hunt in Tallpines and we'd sit and talk. One day Circe came out and saw us. I was in trouble than, wasn't I? But I wasn't. Circe took me inside and told me that my father was a wild cat. She really couldn't blame me, when she'd fallen in love too. By then we were in love. I decided to leave my home for him. But ThunderClan didn't need or want me. I was just a kittypet. Finchpaw told me to wait until he had his warrior name, and then we'd leave the Clans and be loners in love. In a few moons, Finchpaw was Finchtail, and we left. Together, at last. Soon I was expecting, and it was leaf-fall. Leaf-bare came too soon, and I had you. We named you Loki, after my brother. But then you were only half a moon, and we were starving, and I was sick. Finchtail, who had renamed himself Milo, was dead, and I didn't know how to hunt. Out of desperation, I tried to take you to my old housefolk, but on the way, it was snowing too hard to see, and I must have fallen, and then I dropped you. I was hallucinating, and stumbled off, and collapsed. I was reunited with Milo, and we guided ThunderClan to you. We knew you'd be safe and they'd take you in, and you'd be fed, even if you didn't know who we were. We loved you when you were Loki. We still do, now that you're Olmkit. Goodbye, Olmkit." Olmkit was shaken awake by Shadetail. "I brought you fresh-kill," she said, and turned away, muttering, "Still think I'm not your mother?" Abandoning his fresh-kill, Olmkit barreled into Shadetail. "I'm sorry I ever said that!" he said. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Shadetail was surprised, but still hugged him back. "I love you too, Olmkit."
ThunderClan still misses Milo, and Olmstar was their greatest leader. Except for Firestar. The End.
