Sunlight filtered through the oak trees of a Clan camp, creating spotty shadows in the clearing. A light gray tom was pacing around the clearing, his tail held high behind him. His eyes were focused on the ground in front of him, unblinking and full of restlessness. Will she be okay? he worried as he paced. After what seemed like moons, he heard the best news of his life.

"It's a tom!" a sweet-sounding voice called from under a juniper shrub—the nursery.

The tom hurried to the nursery and saw  the Clan medicine cat, Palestream, sitting next to a dark brown tabby she-cat, who had the kit between her front paws.

"Eaglewing, what will you call him?" Palestream asked the queen.

"I think Russetkit would be a good name for him." meowed Eaglewing.

A deep purr of approval came from another side of the nursery.

"That's a fine name for him," purred the light gray tom, his light blue eyes shining with pride.

"Thank you, Owlstar," replied Eaglewing.

"I only want the best for my queen," Owlstar's purr rumbled in his throat. He nuzzled his deputy and licked the top of Russetkkit's head.

* * *

The camp was a busy place for a kit, and Russetkit wanted to explore it all. He scrambled out of the nursery, trying to discover what lay beyond the camp.

"Russetkit! Where are you going?" Eaglewing meowed, her paws hitting the ground lightly with every stride.

"I wanna see what's outside of the camp!" Russetkit mewed. Eaglewing had caught up with him at the edge of the camp.

"Russetkit, you are only a kit! You won't be going on adventures this early in your life!" Eaglewing explained, flicking her tail to the nursery. "Come along; let's get back to the nursery."

"But I can see a squirrel over there!" Russetkit protested, flicking his tiny tail on the forest floor.

"What squirrel? I don't see one. You must be tired, Russetkit. Let's go back now." Eaglewing was concerned for her kit's well-being, as all queens should, to a certain extent.

"No, I see a squirrel by that flat rock! Don't you see it next to the bigger rock?" squealed Russetkit.

Eaglewing took a better look at the flat rock.

"You're not kidding around, Russetkit! There is a squirrel! How did you see it so quickly?" the queen marvelled.

"I dunno. I guess I have good eyes." her kit answered.

StarClan, you must have a great destiny for my little kit. You gave him keen eyesight, so you must be telling me that my kit's skill should not be ignored. I will talk with Owlstar about this, Eaglewing thought to herself as she picked Russetkit off the ground and carried her back to the nursery. Maybe I'm overthinking this, but who knows what StarClan has in store for us?

* * *

"Spirits of StarClan, you know every cat by name. I ask you now to take away the name from the cat you see before you, for it no longer stands for what she is. By my authority as Clan leader, and with the approval of our warrior ancestors, I give this cat a new name. From this moment on, he will be known as Hawkkit. We honor his enthusiasm and determination." Owlstar's announcement sparked a new step in Hawkkit's life.

"Hawkkit! Hawkkit!" the cats of OakClan chanted. Hawkkit felt as though his ears were on fire.

"Owlstar! Eaglewing is expecting kits!" a meow called from the nursery. The chanting died down as Owlstar made his way to the nursery with Hawkkit at his paws.

"Palestream, is she going to be okay?" Owlstar's eyes were filled with deep concern for his mate.

"Yes, Owlstar, she will be fine. Hazelpaw and I have this under control," the medicine cat responded.

* * *

"Dawnkit! You opened your eyes and wow! Your eyes look cooler than mine!" piped Hawkkit, "You have to see the camp now!"

Dawnkit purred with amusement at her brother's reaction. She followed Hawkkit out of the nursery, their mother watching from the nursery entrance.

The two kits became close to one another as kin and best friends. They could tell each other everything from what they saw through the bushes when making dirt, to what cat they thought looked better than another in the Clan. Nothing could ever separate the two kits.

It was leaf-bare, and Hawkkit had already discovered snow. He was waiting for Dawnkit to open her eyes so he could show her what snow was.

"It's cold!" Dawnkit squealed when she put one paw in the snow.

"I know! It's weird!" Hawkkit replied, excitedly.

They played in the white snow until Hawkkit looked across the OakClan camp. Past the bushes and towards CloudClan, a dark-colored cat, who had to be as old as a warrior, was glancing over the border at Hawkkit, its amber eyes shining through the snow-covered trees. Hawkkit jumped back on his paws and slipped on the snow.

"Hey, Hawkkit! What's wrong? What happened? What did you see?" questioned Dawnkit.

"A-a CloudClan cat was looking at me." Hawkkit stammered.

"What did they look like?" asked Dawnkit, wondering what frightened her brother so much.

"They had dark-colored fur and eyes with the same color as my pelt," answered Hawkkit, eyes wide as an owl.

"Are you sure it wasn't Hollytail?" Dawnkit mewed, her tail flicking towards the warrior's den.

"I'm sure. I saw them. They were just...staring." Hawkkit shuddered

Eaglewing padded over to her kits, who were still sitting in the snow. The tabby queen noticed Hawkkit's shocked expression, picked him up by the scruff, and carried him into the nursery, with Dawnkit following behind.

"So what did you see this time?" asked Eaglewing.

Hawkkit shook his head to clear it up, then stood up.

"It was a dark-colored cat from CloudClan. They looked like a warrior, I think," he explained.

Eaglewing's amber eyes widened quickly. She muttered something under her breath, then stood up, looking over at a light brown tabby queen in the nursery.

The light brown tabby queen knew what Eaglewing was thinking; it must have been a thing between queens who stayed in the nursery with each other for moons.

The queen nodded and padded over to lie down next to Dawnkit and Hawkkit. Eaglewing left the nursery.

"Where's she going?" asked Dawnkit.

"She'll be back. That cat won't be peeking over at our camp for a while. Don't worry." assured the tabby queen. Hawkkit wasn't sure about that. Somehow, he knew, that the CloudClan cat would get to the Clan in the future. And it wasn't good.