AN: Yes! First chapter for "Thunder's Echo" is out!

This one is probably going to be as long as "Tale of Tansy", but I'm not sure yet.


Prologue

"All cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the Highledge for a Clan meeting!"

Morningstar's summons still hung in the air as an excited gray kit bounced around her mother's head.

"Momma! Momma! Can we go to Faithkit's apprentice ceremony? Please?"

"Echokit! Settle down. Of course you can, but you have to be quiet and good. Okay?"

Echokit bounced to a stop in front of her mother's ear. "Yes, momma." she replied meekly.

"Okay. Dawnflight!" she called to one of the other queens.

"Tansyfeather!" Dawnflight called back.

"Is Faithkit almost ready?" she asked.

"Yes, and she'd better have a good mentor." Dawnflight growled.

Tansyfeather chuckled. "Well, I thought Ripplewind was a good mentor." she replied.

"Yes, well, I did too. But I like my daughters to have good mentors." said Dawnflight.

"I know." Tansyfeather blinked. "Well, me and my kits are off. Let's go!"

She herded her three kits together and brought them outside into the stone hollow where ThunderClan made it's camp.

Echokit stared around at all the other cats, captured by fancies. Her sister, Dawnkit, and her brother, Nightkit, sat beside Tansyfeather and waited for the meeting to start.

It did quickly. "We have come today to appoint a new apprentice to learn the ways of the warrior. Faithkit, come here, please."

Faithkit stepped out of the nursery, her silver fur groomed to a shine, her blue eyes shimmering.

"Faithkit, you have reached the age of six moons and are ready to become apprenticed. From now till ever you will be known as Faithpaw. Learn well and train hard."

Morningstar looked through the crowd and said, "Firebreeze, come forward."

The flame-point she-cat looked startled, then came up to the Highledge.

"Despite coming to our camp as a kittypet, you have proven yourself to be a useful and dedicated warrior. I hope that all you learned from Fernstar will come in to help you train Faithpaw."

Firebreeze gazed down at Faithpaw and touched noses with her. Then Firebreeze led her over to the other warriors and sat down. Faithpaw followed suit.

"Faithpaw, Faithpaw!" the Clan called her name and welcomed her.

Faithpaw smiled and looked across the hollow at her mother.

Dawnflight's eyes sparkled with pride for her youngest daughter. Her mate, Cloudflash, stood beside her and said, "Look. Now all our kits are growing up. Especially Tansyfeather, with her kits! It's an odd feeling, at first. Then..." he paused, "then you feel so proud."

"It's too bad Stormshade couldn't see this." said Dawnflight.

Tansyfeather winced. Stormshade was her brother. He had died in a fight with a fox before her kits had been born. Tansyfeather still didn't like to talk about it.

Echokit pawed her mother's side. "Momma, can we go back now?"

Tansyfeather purred. "Yes, honey, we can. Go on."

She nudged the three kits into the nursery.

Songwind, the last queen, looked up as they came in. "Oh, hi, Tansyfeather!" she greeted. "Who's Faithpaw's mentor?"

"Firebreeze. I think it's a good choice. She still needs to prove herself to some of our Clanmates." Tansyfeather said.

"I think she's a great warrior, and she's already proven herself. But having an apprentice is always a good thing." Songwind said.

"Yes. Well, I have to feed my kits now."

"Okay. They're growing up so fast, aren't they? Especially Oakkit, look at him!"

Tansyfeather glanced at the little ginger kit, who was already bigger than his sister, Breezekit.

"Imagine, in four moons they'll be apprentices! Isn't that exciting?" Songwind continued.

"I guess. Wait- Dawnflight?" Tansyfeather called.

"Yes?"

"Since Faithpaw is an apprentice now, does that mean you're going back to the warriors' den?" Tansyfeather asked curiously.

Her mother shook her head. "No. I'm staying here. I'm not as young as I used to be. I won't be able to keep up with the patrols, and I'm useless in a fight. I'll stay here, to help queens with their kits."

"Okay. Good." said Tansyfeather, relieved. She'd hoped her mother would stay in the nursery, but she hadn't known for sure.

"Well, I'm gonna take a nap. G'night."

Tansyfeather lay down with her kits, and dropped to sleep.

AN: There you go. First chapter all done.

Also, check out my profile to see the cats. I'm not sure I got the links right, so tell me if I did or didn't.

Review, please!

~ Bou