"Viiiiioleeeet!" a squeaky voice sang loudly. The gray and white she-kit being bothered ignored the voice. The voice, however, did not like that.
"VIOLETKIT!" the voice yowled as loudly as possible as Violetkit felt a sharp ripple of pain spread across her body as someone jumped on top of her.
Violetkit shoved her sister off as she hissed. "Ow, Rosekit! Why did you do that?!"
     Rosekit chuckled. "Because I wanted to."
    Despite the darkness, Violetkit could make out the dark gray and white she-kit starting to bounce around like a maniacal rabbit as she squealed with joy. Violetkit found the loudness to be quite annoying. It was quite the headache, literally.
     She trotted groggily out of her den and into a larger cavern, after walking through a tunnel that lead to it. In the center were two of the guards chatting with each other. She could barely make them out to be Icestorm and Sandstep, and they were having their typical everyday antics first thing in the morning.
     Sandstep began to hiss as she walked forward irately. "Icestorm, tell me what kind of trouble you are getting into today! I am not in the mood for your tiresome antics, so tell me!"
Icestorm had a tendency to...create havoc in the area. A prankster by definition. Very much alike with Rosekit. Sandstep reminded Violetkit of herself. Proper and tidy, and nothing can have been messed up. No mistakes allowed. Most certainly, no goofing off.
Icestorm started to chuckle nervously. "Sandstep, what are you on about? I haven't even had my day planned out yet?"
"That's a load of mouse-dung, Icestorm!" Sandstep yowled. "Just tell me what you are about to do, and I'll leave you alone!"
Despite the darkness of the cavern, Violetkit could barely make out Icestorm's tail twitching with annoyance. For once, he was telling the truth.
"Sandstep," Icestorm began. "I have not even planned out my day. I make up pranks on a whim, and plan where I want them to be. Does it look like I have the mental capacity to plan my day out after having almost no sleep?!"
     "Gee, I wonder! It is not like I can barely see your stupid face in the darkness or anything!" Sandstep retorted with venom in her words.
     Home sweet home, Violetkit thought to herself. Violetkit began to walk towards her parents' den unnoticed while the two guards bickered. Sandstep was going to beat herself over her own mistake. There were more than four guards on the Capital Island, but most of them were on a mission to open communications with other groups of cats just beyond the mountains to their north.
     As she almost reached the tunnel that lead to her parents' den, Violetkit almost tripped over a rock—gaining the attention of the guards.
"Who's there?!" Sandstep yowled.
     Violetkit groaned as she meowed out loud. "Just me!"
     Icestorm and Sandstep began to walk up to her, and Icestorm meowed to her. "You do realize you aren't allowed outside of your den this early, right?"
"I know, I know," Violetkit sighed. "I just needed to get away from Rosekit..."
Through the thickness of the darkness, Violetkit could see Icestorm's whiskers twitch with amusement. "Did Rosekit jump on you again?" the white tom asked.
     Violetkit looked away as she grumbled. "Yes, she did."
Violetkit could feel something touch her shoulder, and she looked up to see—what appeared to be—Sandstep, and the older she-cat spoke warmly. "Siblings tend to like to get on the other's nerves. I have never had that problem growing up as I have spent most of my life away from my brother in Gorge Colony. Last time we met, he had recently became their deputy. That was nine moons ago. You are very lucky to be born a member of the royal family. You don't have to run the risk of being torn from your family, unless you choose to mate with a cat in one of the colonies."
     Icestorm meowed out in agreement. "What Sandstep just said is very true. I got lucky as my sister and I both had gotten the opportunity to become guards of the royal family, and passed with flying colours."
     The white tom turned his attention to Sandstep, speaking with a slightly worried tone. "On the note of my sister, do you know where Splashmist and Goldendash are?"
Sandstep turned to Violetkit pretty damn quickly, which was quite the coincidence. "You should head out real quick. As annoying as your sister may be, you two should go find something to do."
     Violetkit looked at the two with confusion, but surrendered and retreated to her den with Rosekit. With one glance back, she could overhear a small bit of their conversation.
"Icestorm," Sandstep began to speak in a low, hushed voice. "Mountain Colony just attacked the northern Gorge Colony and western Forest Colony borders again. Splashmist and Goldendash were sent off to make a compromise to the situation before the situation escalates to a full out war. Stonestar is set to visit the Capital Island in a few sunrises."

Violetkit finally reached her den, but she saw, from the corner of her eyes, her uncles not far away. A faint amount of light was now shining into the tunnels and caverns, and she could see the two in deep conversation. Thymeleaf's fur was bristling as Grayclaw spoke to him. There wasn't any doubt in Violetkit's mind that it had to do with what was going on with Mountain Colony.
Mountain Colony was always known for its aggressiveness towards the other colonies. Why they were aggressive remained a mystery. Her father often tried to do as much as he could to keep Mountain Colony in line. The last thing he wanted to do was send cats to battle when there could be a diplomatic approach. It likely explained why the Mountain Colony leader was going to visit the Capital Island.
     War may not have have been something seen in the Maple Empire since its founding, but there were rumours of outside forces having constant wars and battles. Especially five groups, not far away; passed the mountains, where a lake rested in the middle of two opposing alliances.
     Thymeleaf flickered his eyes to his right, and saw Violetkit staring at him and Grayclaw. He moved his head to Grayclaw, said something, and Grayclaw turned his head to Violetkit before the two walked away.
     Violetkit moved her eyes slowly to the entrance of her den. As much as she wanted to know her uncles' opinions on the subject, she knew she would get in trouble if she went against what Sandstep told her to do. It also wasn't Violetkit's thing to get in trouble. Only ever defying the rules when it was really unnecessary in the moment, like not being able to see her parents to get away from Rosekit's annoying antics.
     This time, though, she would have to deal with Rosekit as she didn't want to look bad to Sandstep. In all honesty, she saw Sandstep as a role model. Calm and collected, and despised being annoyed. She really did see her and Sandstep as being the same.

-/-
This first chapter may be shorter than most of my other first chapters, but I quite like how each character has been introduced so far. Also, not going to lie, Violetkit is a bit of an asshole. Anyways—

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Thanks so much for reading this chapter, and I wish you an excellent day!
(October 2, 2021)