Chapter 1

I poke my head out of the den. Shinepaw stirs behind me. She mumbles something. She says it louder...Still nonsense. I go over to the stream and smell... Moonclan... Darkclan... Oh no. I whip my head back and whisper, "Why is this happening?" I suddenly smell blood and hear yowling from the forest around me. We're being attacked! On my first day as an apprentice! I don't know how to do the warriors' fighting moves! what am I going to do! A warrior of another clan, Moonclan I think, slashes his claws across my chest... I scream in pain. I am practically a kit! What am I supposed to do! The warrior slashes repetitively and I lay down, playing dead, though I am just inches away from not playing dead. With blood pooling around me, I realize this is not a warrior attack. It's not even a camp! How did I get here! I wake up in my camp, safe, Not even a scratch. I had been dreaming. The scent of blood had been...NO! Shinepaw! I forgot about my sister's sickness! It makes her cough up all the blood in her body, slowly killing her. She cannot live in the apprentice den; she has to stay on the edge of camp, where no one ever goes. In a makeshift den that wouldn't be there if Starclan were on my side. She will not survive to see the warrior games. No one calls her Shinepaw but me. they all call her a kit, a shameful thing for them to do. They know she is miserable and cannot do anything about it. They say she is a "helpless kit" and say things like, "call her Bloodmouth for her warrior name, if she gets one!" I run over to her den to say goodbye. I find that our mother and father are already there with their heads bowed. "Is she..."

"Yes." says our mother, Blueflower. "she is."

Chapter 2

Shinepaw! No. I won't believe she's dead. I try to wake up. I cuff myself over the ear. Still not waking up.

"Listen, Deathpaw I-" says my father before I cut him off.

"I don't care." I walk out of the den. Outside of the camp I go to the sacred spring. I take a drink and say out loud, "WHY, STARCLAN? IT WASN'T HER TIME!"

"Saying that won't help at all. She is not gone within you. Look inside yourself. She is right in front of your nose but you're too busy looking to see it." A voice says behind me.

"You speak words of wisdom, Redblossom. If I get chosen, you'll help me, right?"

"If it is necessary, yes." Redblossom is the old cat that told me about Shinepaw's illness. I was devastated, and had been ever since. She used to be in BlazeClan; the former deputy in fact. "I have educated you in the strong ways of the ancient cats. If you remember, you will have more of a chance than the other cats. I will teach you the basic ways of healing when you need it. Just search your memory when you are asleep. I'll be there at the darkest hour." And she disappeared. What did she mean by 'the darkest hour'? I heard the ring of the shine stone deep in my ear when I remembered that the choosing was today. I run back to camp.

Chapter 3

We're walking along the lonely road to the Crystalstone. The remainder of the burnt trees slowly sway in the slight breeze. "Hey Deathpaw, your little friend used to live in the grove."

"I know, she told me."

"Loonypaw should be your name! Furzepaw is joking! You don't really still have imaginary friends, do you?"

"She's not imaginary, is what's wrong with that idea, Foolpaw"

"So I suppose that Your sister knows your little friend too?" the smug she-cat snorts. "Speaking of Bloodyfur, where is your little blood clot?"

I gulp the words into my mouth. They're as foul as bile. "She's..." I can't say the words without my eyes tearing. I bite my lip. I won't cry in front of these mousehearts who bully for authority and end up being the star scavengers of the forest. "My sister is dead and she is not a BLOOD CLOT!" All eyes are on me now. I shrink down and stay quiet until we arrive at the grove.

We were a small band of cats, because we didn't have many apprentices. We got to the grove where I saw a gray cat with blue stripes and black spots. The only other spot was next to her, so I sat down. Leaves of the sacred oak rained down on the clans, blocking visibility. Whispers of ancient cats and beauty wreathed us. As the leaves cleared,a cat descended from the sky. A great voice boomed from the top of the Great Oak. "WELCOME, TO YOUR SEVENTH WARRIOR GAMES! I AM YOUR HOST THIS YEAR, STARSHINE!" the cat from the sky says, his fur sparkling against the bark of the tree.

"Starshine! Starshine!" the clans shout.

"THE WARRIOR GAMES, AS YOU HAVE HEARD, MANY TIMES, HAVE BEEN CHOSEN TO TAKE PLACE WITH CONTESTANTS BEING THE YOUNGEST CATS IN THE CLANS, EXCLUDING KITS. THE YOUNGEST APPRECNTICES ARE AS FOLLOWS:"

"THE MOONCLAN APPRENTICES, OAKPAW, GREENPAW, AND GRAYPAW!"

"Oakpaw! Greenpaw! Graypaw!"

"THE LIGHTNINGCLAN APPRENTICES, THORNPAW, BRIGHTPAW, AND LEAFPAW!"

"Thornpaw! Brightpaw! Leafpaw!"

"THE DARKCLAN APPRENTICES ARE SHADOWPAW, LIGHTPAW, AND VENOMPAW!"

"Shadowpaw! Lightpaw, And Venompaw!"

"LAST BUT NOT LEAST, THE BLAZECLAN APPRENTICES ARE, DEATHPAW, POOLPAW, AND IVYPAW!"

" Deathpaw! Ivypaw! Poolpaw!" All twelve apprentices step up the shining ramp of branches that has been there for as long as I can remember. I'm in the warrior games. I don't know a single move. someone tries to volunteer for me, Furzepaw, maybe. Taking pity on a small wimp like me, but I don't let them. If anyone is going to die, it will be me. I've lost my most prized possession. I don't have to live. There's no one to want me to. I don't care. I'll go.

Chapter 4

Thornpaw was the midnight blue apprentice I saw back at the grove. She had seen how brave I had been, refusing to be volunteered for. She had asked me if I knew any moves, I said no, and she had been training me since then. She had made up some moves of her own, like the lightning slash. (that move required using balance on front paws and usage of back claws.)

At preparation, when they got you ready for the games, they put golden liquid on your claws, which they hardened to a long, sharp, point. It was strong!. They used glistening silver bark to sharpen them to a finer point. The medicine cats there also worked dark berry juices into your fur that made you blend in to the dark forests. It wouldn't wash off in the rivers either.

Then came the testing. They had you attack towers of strong, heavy rocks with a leaf mold coating. They gave you a rank; Good, Great, Poor or Excellent. Then the attack manager taught you how to use better attack posture and a few moves. they tested again. I got a Great thanks to the lightning slash. With all of her other awesome moves, Thornpaw got an Excellent. These ranks described the chance you would have in the Games.

We got to spend one more night in our clan dens. The next day, bright and early, would be the start of the games. I had quite a few supporters. They sometimes gave you gifts that would help you. In the morning, I reported to the outfitting room to get a nest supply, (which was just a fluffy, evergreen leaf) a water bowl, (which was a smooth bowl carved out of wood and bark to store water in) a satchel (a flexible , fine pressed bark bag that kept prey from spoiling too quickly). Now, it was time for the games.

Chapter 5

The arena, a big forest or desert, usually, included, scenery wise, a vibrant forest, A big lake, cliffs, and rivers of assorted size. If it was this pretty, there were sure to be quite a few large threats.(e.g. Dogs, large river monsters, etc.) We stand on silvery leaves. A big yowl signifies the start of the games. The bigger cats run to the big hole in the ground where the prey and herbs are. The cats back at home called it the bloodbath. They called it that because cats killed one another for the largest pieces, and sometimes even, Deathberries. I see Thornpaw's pelt shiny with blood. No! I won't let her die like my sister did! I race into the straggle. It is the cat named Venompaw, He's got her by the back of the neck, the target area for the death bite.

He's thrashing her back and forth like a dog would. He throws her aside and I rush over to her. Blood is pooling around her rapidly. my claws have the golden liquid on them. I insert one of them into the bitten area. I lift her by her scruff and take her to one of the cliffs. The area I've selected has a small sheltered pond on the top of it. I start building the camp. I use all of the supplies, the evergreen leaves, the water bowls, I even work the satchels into it! the camp is very sturdy after a good day's work on it. Thornpaw wakes up in the middle of the night and nearly scares the fur off of my skin. ( it would be good bedding, but, I would be very cold.) I tell her where she is and that she is safe in the camp but she is hurt. I feed her a piece of prey that I caught yesterday. I give her an herb to help the pain in the back of her neck. I hear a rustle from the bushes of the escape tunnel. A black cat with white splotches comes in to the den. she yowls when she sees us. I know her... I know this cat... "Wait, don't be scared, I've seen you before! We won't attack you!"

"No! Don't hurt me! I'm not threat... wait, what?"

"We won't attack. Even if we did, I'm not that strong and Thornpaw is hurt."

"Huh? 'omeody all y ame?"

"Thornpaw! No! who did this? was it this wimp? nononononononono!"

"No, it was Venompaw of Darkclan. She's a little groggy from the herbs I gave her and-"

"Yeah the grogginess is a given I'd think. I could give you a couple pointers on how to make them taste better and reduce the grogginess some. On the condition you let me travel with you. You seem like good company. Also I could travel with my sister and protect her."

"This is your sister?"

"Well, yeah. I'm Oakpaw from Moonclan. I'm a practitioner. Thornpaw is from Lightningclan. She knows my father, I don't."

"You can travel with us. I'll go hunt. I hope you have your supplies and the time to expand the den. There's barely enough room in the den for only two of us."

"I have all the time in the world." He grinned. This career was scared at first, but now he was our... basically guardian. I would hunt, sleep and watch Thornpaw the next day. I looked forward to it.

Chapter 6

I don't mind Oakpaw traveling with us. NO cat bothers to even approach until... Then. On a bright day about a week later, Thornpaw is fit to travel. We pack up the camp and load our shares into the satchels. We load the satchels onto our backs and set off. We are heading to the top of the mountain, where there will hopefully be more prey. Oakpaw spots some berries that look familiar... "NOOO!"

"What? They look tasty! You know we can't travel, fight or survive in general without a good meal."

"A good meal of doom? These are yew berries. You must never eat them unless you want to die, and we don't want that, now do we?"

"Oh. These deathberry things we hear about? Are these them?"

"Yes, now let's move on. The day isn't getting any longer!" I snap.

"All right, all right, who made you clan leader?"

"No one!" In my franticism, I could swear by Starclan I had scented Venompaw. "I scent Venompaw, all right?

Thornpaw looked up meekly. "Umm, guys? Look behind you!" She sounded as frantic as I felt.

I turned around, feeling as enclosed and scared as a mouse. Sure enough, peeking through the thorn bush behind us, were the savage, blue, eyes of Venompaw, ready to kill at the slightest funny look.

Author's note: That last sentence didn't make sense... heheh.