POV: Falconkit (3.5 Moons Old)

           "What do you smell?" Snowkit demanded jokingly, standing sternly on all four paws, trying to look important and menacing, but only succeeding in looking so hilarious I had to hold back a laugh. 

           "Um..." I raised my nose into the air, sniffing furiously. "Cat."

           "And?" Snowkit prompted. She sat down and watched as I struggled to find the answer she was looking for. Snowkit was the best mentor ever, she never got mad at me for getting something wrong, but never did something for me like telling me what a scent was without explaining how she did it.

            "Herbs?" I tried again, picking up scents of poppy seeds from Vineleaf's den.

            "Try again." She encouraged, giving me a warm smile.

             I sniffed yet again, this time picking up the faint smell of a beetle. "...Beetle?" I asked nervously, covering my eyes with my paws but accidentally falling over, Snowkit catching me just in time. I was two and a half moons old, and it was getting annoying that I kept falling and she kept catching me. There was always that second before I stood up and looked away awkwardly. There was always that second that made me feel that Snowkit really cared. The second that gave me determination. That second that made me feel loved.

            "Correct!" She exclaimed, and I noticed that her smile faltered a little when stood up and took a step away from her, almost like she enjoyed that second as much as I did. "Now," Snowkit started. "How old is the scent?"

              "Um..." I sniffed the air again. The scent was faint, so it had to be decently old, but if it was too old of a scent it would've faded completely. "Four days." I guessed.

               "Three." She told me. "Close, though. Especially since you can never know for sure."

                "Then how do you know?" I teased. 

                 Then I heard a meow from behind me, "does it matter?" I spun around to see Rainkit. "You're just a broken kit. What'd you do with that kind of information?"

                   Before I could reply, Snowkit hissed, taking a step toward Rainkit. "Get lost, Rainkit. Falconkit's not broken. And it's not his fault that the clan is too strict and you're too scared to scared to even think something different than them." To my surprise, Rainkit actually backed off.

                    "I'm just saying," she said before padding away. "No matter how much you try, he'll never be an apprentice. Listen to Smokestar sometime. Falconkit's just a mistake lucky enough to stay in the clan."

                                                                  * * *

                   I was fading into sleep when I heard Rainkit and Snowkit whispering to each other. Look, I'm not the kind of cat to poke through someone else's business, and I was actually about to try to ignore it and fall back asleep when I heard my name. So, I snuck out of the nursery, being careful not to put any weight on my bad leg so that I didn't stumble and make noise. When I exited the nursery, at first I thought I was hearing things, since I couldn't see either of the other two kits, and the talking had stopped. My second thought was that I was going crazy when I heard their voices again, but still couldn't see either of them. Then I heard rustling in one of the bushes beside me, followed by a, "shut up! Someone might hear us!" From Rainkit.

                And a sarcastic, "sorry." From Snowkit. Curious, I searched around the edge of the bushes and, sure enough, I found an opening that was big enough for a warrior to fit. I quickly glanced around to see if anyone was watching, then hurried into the opening in the bush, almost stumbling in my haste, but catching myself just in time. The first thing I noticed was that it didn't lead straight into a small opening, as I had expected. There was a tunnel twisting and turning, leading into even larger, underground tunnels. As I padded through, the voices grew louder, so I knew I was getting close, so I continued on. When I reached Rainkit and Snowkit after a minute of walking, I almost stumbled right into the opening, but caught myself and hid around a bend to listen. Rainkit was standing with her back facing me, and Snowkit was facing Rainkit, but was too focused on their conversation to notice me.

                 "Why do you hang out with him anyway?" Rainkit asked, probably referring to me.

                 "He's sweet." Snowkit replied angrily, clearly unhappy that Rainkit was saying bad stuff about me. "And smart. And he's been doing so well adapting to the way his body works."

                  "Look," Rainkit meowed, sensing Snowkit's anger. "Don't make me the villain here. I'm sure he's doing great, but you need to focus on yourself. You can't be a respected warrior if you hang out with him. You said he's great at adapting, well, he can do it on his own."

            "No." Snowkit answered sternly. "They'll respect him. Neither me nor Falconkit will have to worry about that... I hope." With her last two words, my determination faltered. If Snowkit didn't believe in me, then maybe I didn't deserve to be in the clan.

            "I'm just saying," Rainkit told her. "I know your future can be bright if you just give up on him now."

            "I won't. I'll have faith in him forever, even if no one else will." Snowkit growled, shoving Rainkit aside and walking into the tunnels. The only problem was; I was in the tunnels. Snowkit bumped right into me, jumping back in shock. "H... how much did you hear?" Snowkit mumbled.

            "Everything." I told Snowkit. I brushed my pelt against her's. "But it's okay." I nuzzled Snowkit. "Thanks for standing up for me."

            Snowkit nuzzled me back. "Of course." She purred. "Anytime."

You're very welcome for the long chapter! Haha, I ship it!