The Littlest Addition {OPEN!}

This leaf-bare morning had been cold, a light dusting of snow still fresh on the ground. Tufted ears twitching, a grin spread on the cat's face. This was an exciting moment. SkyClan was going to love him, why wouldn't they?

After having spent the better part of her morning at Fourtrees, Breezebranch was ecstatic to come back home. Though, her Clanmates were in for quick a shock. The broad tortoiseshell-tabby padded in softly, casting her head over her furry shoulder to mew to an unseen creature behind her, "Hurry up, Ice! We're almost there!" Swinging her fluffy head back around, she scanned the clearing for her Clanmates.

Padding all the way in, she sat down and waited for her tiny white bundle of kitten fluff to catch up. "Everyone?" She yowled loudly, hoping to gain their attention, "I've brought someone I'd like you to meet." She explained calmly, as if this was a normal, everyday affair.

Silverstar was laying on top of one of the ledges jutting from the side of the camp, half asleep. The familiar voice of his clanmate, Breezebranch, fully woke him up and struck his curiousity. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw the she-cat with an unfamiliar white kitten following behind. For a moment, the tom studied the kitten carefully. White fur, different colored eyes, certainly nobody he'd seen before. The leader got up and off the ledge and slowly started to approach the two and stopped about a fox-length away. "Breezebranch?" he paused for a little bit before his gaze went to the white kitten, "Who's the little one?".

He wasn't alarmed by the kit, it wasn't like she brought a badger into the camp. It was more surprising than anything. Numerous questions bounced around in his mind, but he just stuck with the one for now.

Ice was paying absolutely no attention to where they were headed. His sole focus was on leaping between the deep depressions in the snow left behind by Breezebranch's pawsteps. He bounced happily after the queen, eventually making a game of trying to copy her every move. Ice's coat was so pure white, however, it it weren't for his boundless energy, his form might have disappeared among the background. Still, he was careful to stay close.

As they reached the camp, Ice's colorful gaze finally turned upward at the sound of an unfamiliar voice. It belonged to a tall tom. Fearful of the stranger, Ice crept close to Breezebranch and hid beneath her white chest fur with only his eyes giving him away.

Shrikepaw was just waking up from a nap after hunting early that morning. The black and white she-cat padded out of the apprentice den, stretching her limbs. It didn't take her long to catch an unfamiliar scent, and her green eyes narrowed. Straightening, she walked over to where Breezebranch and Silverstar were standing, wrinkling her nose. It took her a second to even see the kit, but when she finally spotted him her eyes narrowed even further, her face perhaps even more unfriendly than usual.

"What's with the mouse?"

As Silverstar approached, Breezebranch dipped her in respect. This was the big moment. Would he accepted Ice? Already the queen felt a maternal attachment to the kit, the need to shelter and protect him. Silverstar's eyes gave nothing but curiosity away, and Breezebranch nearly sighed at the fact her leader was so hard to see through. At the sound of her leader's question, her ears perked up. "This is Ice. I found him at Fourtrees. He's from far away, and he has no family he can remember. I was, well, I was hoping you'd let him stay in SkyClan. He's very good at jumping!" She explained, suppressing an amused purr as the snowy kitten hid under her chest floof.

When she saw Shrikepaw's expression, her ears pinned behind her head. "Don't be rude, Shrikepaw! He is a kit, not a mouse!"

Silverstar shot a quick glare towards Shrikepaw, but then looked back towards the pair of eyes hiding in Breezebranch's fur. A rogue kit? Being left in the middle of leaf-bare? What sort of cat would do that? His tail tapped onto the ground.  "Ice, is it?" he said, "My name's Silverstar. I'm SkyClan's leader." He then stared back up to the she-cat the kit was hiding inside. It was clear that Breezebranch cared greatly about Ice. It did make him feel a bit bad for the kit. The fact that the kitten was found alone in the forest. He wasn't sure what to do here. Would Skystar let the kit in?

"Alright..." the numerous different thoughts finally settled. He turned around and hastily rushed towards High Ledge. He swiftly hopped onto the ledge and stared towards Breezebranch and Ice. "Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the High Ledge for a clan meeting!" he called. Once he had the attention of his clanmates, he continued. "I gather you here to have this kit, Ice, join our ranks," he spoke, "So long as he is loyal to the clan, then I would welcome him as SkyClan blood. So, unless anyone insists otherwise..." He waited a moment to see if anyone would object, "...Then from this day on, he shall be known as Icekit."

Shrikepaw shrugged off the reaction of Breezebranch, her expression never changing as she watched the scene unfold. She knew Silverstar wasn't pleased with her reaction, but someone in the Clan had to speak sense. Personally, she didn't always think her Clanmates did quite that. The time of letting outsiders in was over with, StarClan surely wouldn't approve of what Breezebranch was asking?

Following them over to the High Ledge, Shrikepaw rolled her eyes. Was this for real? "But he's not one of us!" She muttered, loud enough that it could be heard, but soft enough that there was an option of just...pretending she hadn't spoken.

Silverstar swished his tail side to side. He stared towards Shrikepaw, barely hearing her speak. Mentally shrugging her words off, he just looked back at Icekit. "When SkyClan first arrived in the forest, many rogues, loners, and kittypets came with them under the guidance of StarClan. Many of those cats, with so-called non-SkyClan blood, became some of the most loyal warriors I've ever met. I believe that a warrior's loyalty comes from what they do, not where their parents come from, because only one of those can be controlled. But unless StarClan wishes to intervene-" he paused for a second. The cloud covered sky remained still and silent. Silverstar just blinked and nodded, "...Then Icekit is a SkyClan cat."

Ice looked up at all of the cats from underneath Breezebranch. His mismatched eyes were wide with curiosity. After of moment, every eye looked upward at the sky, seemingly waiting for the deceased to reject Silverstar's proposal, but the spirits were quiet. "I'm up there," the kit muttered so quiet that it was barely audible.

Shaking his head, Ice shifted his gaze to look at Breezebranch. "Breezebranch, I want to stay with you. Please can I stay?" he asked the queen. Hers was the first face his eyes had seen and everything about her felt safe. He didn't want to lose that.

"Of course you can stay, dear. You're SkyClan now, Sliverstar said so." She mewed gently, giving his head a gentle lick. "I won't ever leave you lonely. I promise. And SkyClan cats never break their promises!"

Looking up at Silverstar, she blinked her gratitude. What would she would have done if he said now. Suddenly, she realized the kit might not know his new name. "Now that you're a Clan cat, you get a new name, just like me! You're Icekit now. You get a den in the nursery too. The nursery Queens and kits, Blizzardkit and Longkit, will keep you company." The tortoiseshell-tabby molly explained. She hoped that the kit wasn't scared of sleeping without her. She was scared of letting the kit sleep with the other queens, but she would never voice that fear. Maybe she could temporarily move to the nursery, just until Ice-- er, Icekit-- was an apprentice.

"Icekit," the little white fluff ball repeated. He looked around at the clan, his gaze resting on Shrikepaw. "I don't think she likes me very much. Hey Breezebranch, who are Blizzardkit and Longkit?" Icekit asked as she mentioned others. Would they be like him?

Silverstar looked towards the she-cat. "Breezebranch. If you wish to stay in the nursery to care for Icekit until he is old enough to be apprenticed, I will allow you to do so, but I'll leave that up to you," he spoke. That would make SkyClan down a warrior, but it'd make him feel bad to leave Icekit without parental figures the kit could trust. That sort of absence made Silverstar himself feel... empty. Like a part of him was missing. He couldn't imagine making another go through that, let alone a kit. His head tilted up a bit to address the entire clan. "I expect you all to treat Icekit as one of us. Be proud of being one of SkyClan, but placing yourselves over others based on blood alone is not a warrior's pride, just blind prejudice and arrogance."

He then hopped off the High Ledge and approached the kit again. "Blizzardkit and Longkit are the other kits in SkyClan. They're very nice cats, I'm sure they'll like you," he explained to the kit. Silverstar looked up to Breezebranch. "Would you show him to the nursery?" he requested.

Breezebranch dipped her head to Silverstar. "Yes, of course, Silverstar. I'd like to stay in the nursery, I think I'd miss Icekit too much. I can still help out with hunting during the day. Thank you, Silverstar. I knew you'd accept him." She whispered the last part, smiling sincerely to her leader. "Shrikepaw will come around, she's always like that. Don't bother her, the other kits will adore you. Come along, dear, follow me. I'll show you to the nursery." As Breezebranch led the snowy white kitten over to the nursery, she gave Silverstar one more grateful smile.

Blizzardkit had been spying on the gathering from the nursery borders, barely hidden out of clear sight, knowing that only grown-ups were allowed to attend but too curious to not try and listen as well.

She looked at the tiny kit that came from the mysterious place that made up the outside of the camp with wide hopeful eyes. The thought of him not being of clan blood didn’t really cross her mind…she didn’t even know he code and the overall status quo of the clans all that well just yet after all, so outsiders weren’t really enemies on her eyes just yet.

And so, all she could see was a kit from those far away mysterious lands that were forbidden for her to visit, someone that had the potential of carrying all kinds of stories and-

Uh-oh…

They were coming closer!

The young she-cat quickly rushed back inside the nursery upon noticing this, not wanting to be caught in the act and potentially scolded for it. She scampered towards her nest, basically throwing herself on it and trying to get into a comfortable looking position as fast as possible to make it look like she hadn’t done anything.