Rise of Nightclan
Prologue
It was a nice and calm newleaf morning on the Thunderclan grounds. The sun was rising from the east, telling the spirits of the dead cats who fought in the dark forest battle that it was time to rest. All the cats were still in their dens, resting their heads on their nests. Except for the activity in the nursery den, there were sounds of newborn kits coming from the nursery. And the noise kept part of the clan awake. The noise didn't seem to bother some of the apprentices in the apprentice den, they sometimes can sleep through anything. Some of the elders in the elder warrior den didn't mind the noise at all, and just accepted it. But the cats in the warrior den, took the noise too seriously, and wanted it to pipe down.
In the nursery, two kits were born into Thunderclan, for the youngest queen, had just given birth to her first litter. It was two kits, both female, one cream as the flowers, and the other was black as night, and white as the moon. The youngest queen, Oceanheart, who had blue eyes and cream fur, felt pretty happy to be a mother of two young kits. "What do you think Dewleaf? Are they healthy" she asked the medicine cat.
Dewleaf, a grey tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes, and dark grey fur, was checking the two young kits if they're healthy. She stood off the ground and turned her head over to Oceanheart. "They're healthy as ever Oceanheart." she answered after examining the kits.
Oceanheart smiled. "I'm so proud of you Oceanheart." complimented one of the queens.
"Thanks Mintfur. I can't wait for my two angels to become great warriors." she thanked.
"If only your mate was here, he would've been so happy to see his two little bundles of joy." mewed another.
"Too bad he's with Starclan now." sighed Oceanheart.
"Don't worry, I'm sure he's smiling down at his kits from the stars." Dewleaf mewed comforting her.
Oceanheart smiled. Even though her mate was in Starclan, he will always be with her.
"You know Oceanheart, you should think of a name for these two." mewed Dewleaf.
Everyone else nodded. Oceanheart thought of what to name the two she-kits. "Well, this one is sunny and happy from her smile, I'll call her Sunkit." she mewed before she licked Sunkit on the forehead.
"What about the black and white one?" Mintfur asked.
Oceanheart thought of what to name the other kit. "Well, she is black as night, and white as the moon. It's either Nightkit, or Moonkit." she answered.
"How about Nightkit. Her fur is mostly black, and only her face is white with a pattern, and her back paws are white too." mewed the medicine cat.
The youngest queen nodded. "Well, it's decided, my two kits are Sunkit and Nightkit." she smiled. The two kits mewed, liking their names a lot. Nightkit crawled up closer to her mom and cuddled her, and was later joined by Sunkit. They both yawned and closed their eyes. (Even though their eyes are already closed).
"Alright everybody, we need to give Oceanheart and her kits sometime to rest." Dewleaf mewed as everyone including her left the three alone.
Oceanheart watched everyone left the nursery and out into the open of the grounds, then she turned back to her kits, who were sleeping serenely. She looked down at her kits with love, and petted them. "They look cute when their eyes are closed." she thought. Oceanheart yawned and laid her head down, she looked at her kits before she closed her eyes and fell fast asleep.
…
A few seasons had passed, it was the beginning of leafbare in the clan grounds. Sunkit became a medicine cat apprentice of Dewleaf and was now named Sunpaw. For her sister, Nightkit, became a Thunderclan apprentice, now named Nightpaw. Yet a bit of sadness too, for their mother was coming down with greencough. It was a very cold leafbare, and it was worse than the other leafbares in the past. Sunpaw had to retrieve some herbs for the cats who had white or greencough to temporarily or permanently make the sickness go away, while Nightpaw, and the other apprentices had to find much food as possible in this leafbare for the clan.
"Nightpaw, Treepaw, I want you two to find some prey the best you can." commanded Boltstorm, the deputy of Thunderclan. Boltstorm was a tom-cat with white fur, and black stripes.
"But Boltstorm, we've tried hard yesterday, and we came back with no fresh-kill." mewed Nightpaw.
"I know how hard it is to find food in this leafbare Nightpaw, but we can't let any other elder, queen, or kit starve to death. Understand?" mewed Lightningstar, the leader of Thunderclan. He had tan fur and tabby stripes, and yellow eyes.
"I understand Lightningstar." understood Nightpaw as she and Treepaw left with the other apprentices to hunt.
"What will we do Boltstorm, this moon's leafbare is worst than the last." worried Lightningstar.
Boltstorm was quiet. "I wish I knew Lightningstar. These are hard times for Thunderclan. All of our prey has left our territory, a few of the queens, elders, and kits and some of our greatest warriors have white or greencough, and a few of our cats had died a few moons ago." he worried.
"At least Dewleaf and Sunpaw will do everything they can to treat them." mewed the leader as Dewleaf, walked up to the two tom-cats.
"Ah, Dewleaf, is there anything we can help?" asked the deputy.
Dewleaf's fur quivered along with her ears, and her eyes became dark. "Follow me." she mewed.
Lightningstar and Boltstorm followed the medicine cat tortoiseshell. When they arrived in the medicine cat's den, they saw Oceanheart lying on the ground, very sick and weak with her greencough. Lightningstar's ears pricked down. Sunpaw was right beside her, giving her mint dew leaves.
"No Sunpaw, I….don't need my….medicine right…now." mewed Oceanheart very quietly.
"You have to take it Mother, you only have a few minutes to live." Sunpaw mewed as tears went into her blue eyes.
Oceanheart caressed her daughter on the cheek as her tears went down as the trio were watching.
"Oceanheart has less than a few minutes before her spirit joins Starclan along with her mate. We tried to make her take her medicine, but she said she would rather die than live." sighed Dewleaf.
Boltstorm grew a little serious. "Oceanheart! You need to take your medicine, your kits want you to live!" Boltstorm mewed with a little stern tone.
Oceanheart shook her head. "No Boltstorm, I have decided that I want to join Starclan along with my mate, even if my two she-cats will miss me so." she whispered.
Everyone gasped.
"Please...no...I can't lose you!" cried Sunpaw.
Oceanheart looked at Sunpaw one last time as tears let out even more from her. "Sun…paw…..when...Nightpaw….comes back…..tell her….that I….joined…Starclan…and I….will always…..be…with….her…..and...you..." she mewed as she smiled and closed her eyes with her body remaining motionless.
Sunpaw started to cry. She then lifted her head up high and mewed in sadness.
The toms and she-cat drooped down their heads. "Oceanheart, you were a great mother for these two apprentices. Great Starclan, give thanks to Oceanheart for her life, and may she rest in peace along with her mate, among the stars." Dewleaf prayed.
Sunpaw hugged her dead mother's body.
"We shall keep a vigil with Oceanheart's body for the day before we bury her at sundown." mewed Lightningstar as Boltstorm picked up the dead body on his back and went out into the Thunderclan grounds and called the rest of the clan to mourn the dead.
As Nightpaw and Sunpaw shared tongues along with the clan with Oceanheart one last time, Nightpaw felt bad for not seeing her mom one last time before her spirit joined Starclan. Tears ran down from her yellow eyes, as she shared her tongue with Oceanheart.
Later that night in the apprentice den, every apprentice laid low, except for Nightpaw. She was still awake and was staring at the stars as Oceanheart laid among them.
"Oh great Starclan, if you can hear me pray, I some day will make Mother proud of me and become a great warrior, even if she is with you. And if I am exiled from Thunderclan, I will find another clan…..or start one of my own." Nightpaw prayed hoping they could hear her plea.
She laid down her head and closed her eyes as the moon shined bright in the night sky.