Hello, my name is Shearclaw. Did you know I had kits? Well, I had two.
My dad, Furystar, leader of Owlfurclan, had chosen me as deputy. I was so excited! I was on night patrol with Greenleaf, Lionpelt, Goldenpaw, and Furystar my dad. When I heard a rustle in the bushes and said, "Um dad. I think there's something in those bushes I'm going to check it out." My dad replied, " Ok but catch up to us when you're done." "Ok" , I mewed back. I stepped towards the sound slowly so whatever it was wouldn't get scared away. Then, out of nowhere something jumped and pinned me down.
"Who are you?", I asked. Then I realized it was a cat- a Shadowclan cat. "You want to know, huh? Well I'm Darktail. Who are you?", Darktail asked calmly. "I'm I'm Shear-Shearclaw.", I replied. Darktail let me go. We stood there, staring into each others eye's. Then I heard a purr. It was coming from Darktail. I couldn't control myself. I purred, stepped forward and rubbed my cheek against his. Then I touched noses with him.
"Sorry, Shearclaw. I couldn't help myself.", Darktail meowed suddenly. "No, it's ok. I couldn't help myself either.", I purred, " By the way what are you doing in Owlfurclan territory?" I asked. "My leader Tigerstar, sent me to spy.", He answered.
"Spy?", I said with shock. "Yeah.", Darktail meowed, ashamed of himself. Then I heard my father's voice, "Shearclaw! Shearclaw, where are you?"
"Oh no, my dad! I have to go, Darktail. Let's meet again at the border of our territories, okay?" I mewed.
"Okay," Darktail replied. "Bye Bye," I said. I touched noses with him again. I gave my self a quick wash before I caught up with my dad. "Shearclaw, where have you been?" my dad meowed, worried. "Um...uh...um.., it was nothing. Whatever it was got away. I tried following it but I couldn't catch up with it." I meowed. Then my dad mewed "Come on. We have to get back to camp."
That night, I couldn't stop thinking about Darktail. I finally got to sleep. I appeared in the nursery, and I was laying down. I felt something moving in the curve of my belly. I looked down and saw two kits.
One was a black she-cat. She looked like Darktail. The other one a tom, and his fur was reddish-brown with black. Then I heard a voice, "Shearclaw." Darktail appeared at the nursery entrance. "Darktail! What are you doing here?", I asked. He replied, "I've come to see my beautiful queen", He touched noses with me, " and my two beautiful kits."
Kits? When did I give birth to Darktail's kits? Then, the black kit mewed, "Daddy, when will we be apprentices?" "Soon, Swiftkit. Soon.", Darktail meowed. The reddish-brown with black tom asked, "In how many moons, daddy?" Ten Darktail replied, "Let's see, Shadowkit. You both were born 4 and a half moons ago and you have to be at least 6 moons to be an apprentice. How much time is left?" Both kits were silent for a moment, but then Swiftkit shouted, "1 and a half moon!" "Right. Good, Swiftkit!" then Darktail meowed to Shadowkit, "Don't worry. You are not a mouse-brain." Shadowkit smiled.
Then I heard Lionpelt's voice, " Shearclaw. Shearclaw, wake up waiting for you to organize the patrols." The dream faded and I woke up with a jolt. "Oh. Right, Lionpelt. Patrols.", I mewed. I stepped out of the warrior's den and yowled for everybody to quiet down. I started organizing the patrols, "Lionpelt will lead the dawn patrol. Lionpelt, take Fernpelt and Sandpaw. Honeyflower, you will lead sunhigh patrol. Take Ashfur and Mosspaw. Yellowfang, you'll lead night patrol. Take Goldenpaw. You may all hunt for the clan after you are done patrolling." Then the camp got busy again.
After the dawn patrol came back, I went to the border of Owlfurclan and Shadowclan territory. Darktail was waiting for me. "Darktail!" I ran toward him. We both purred and we touched noses. I nuzzled him. "Oh, Darktail.", I purred, "Let's go walk in around." We walked around for a while. Then we heard noises in the bushes. I lifted my muzzle and sniffed. "Riverclan!" I hissed.
I looked at Darktail with worried eyes. "Come on. Let's hide under that thornbush. We crouched low so our bellies would touch the ground. I nuzzled Darktail. "What is a Riverclan patrol doing here?" he asked. Darktail must have felt me shiver because he gave me a comforting lick on my ear. "Do you smell something, Waterfur?" asked a pale gray tom. "Yes I do, Rainwhisker.", Waterfur replied. Waterfur lifted his nose. "Strange. Owlfurclan mixed with...Shadowclan!?" Waterfur meowed puzzled.
"We are at the border.", meowed a silver she-cat. "You're right, Silverstream. We are at the border." Rainwhisker mewed, "But something is weird. It seems as if the Shadowclan scent is coming from the Owlfurclan side."
"You have to get out of here now, Darktail!" I pleaded. I got an idea. "Stay here." I mewed. I got up and got out of the thorn bush. I acted as if I never heard the patrol. I walked out of the shade of the thorn bush. When I saw the patrol, I arched her back, fur lifting along my spine and hissed. Then I relaxed, "Sorry, I thought you crossed the border." I meowed. Rainwhisker sneered, "Why would Riverclan, the greatest clan of all, cross into a Half-clan's territory?" I started bristled, "What did you say?"
"Owlfurclan are not Half-clan! How dare you say that?!" I spat. "It's true," Rainwhisker retorted. "You eat mice and birds like Thunderclan and rabbits like those scrawny Windclan flea-bags!" "We eat fish like you guys!" I hissed. "It's a good thing you don't eat frogs and lizards like Shadowclan." Rainwhisker meowed after a long pause. "Rainwhisker, come on. We have to continue patrolling." Silverstream pleaded. "Just because you're Crookedstar's daughter, doesn't mean that you're our next leader!" Rainwhisker snapped.
"Hello? Don't act as if I'm not here!"I yowled. "Anyways, we can't eat frogs and lizards because we don't have any!" "Silverstream's right. We have to keep patrolling." Waterfur meowed. "Ok. Let's go."Rainwhisker meowed, sheering at me. "Really sorry." Waterfur meowed. Rainwhisker spun around. "Don't apologize to that half-clan warrior!" "Deputy!" I shouted after them.
As soon as the patrol had gone I raced back to the thornbush. "Darktail, before you leave, I need to tell you something."I hesitated. Finally, I told him about my dream about the kits. When I finished,Darktail mewed "Do you think it means something? You know like a prophecy?" "I don't know, Darktail." I meowed. "Anyways, you should give yourself a wash. Hey, how did you get out of camp?" "I told my dad I was going out hunting." I replied. "Me too! But that means we have to hunt on our own territories."Darktail meowed. "Bye." "Bye."
Once I could carry all that I could, I headed back to back to camp. Everything was so peaceful. "Tigerpaw, Swiftpaw, and Tornpaw play-fighting outside their den. Who were being imitated by Swiftkit, Blackkit, and Frostkit, while Snowkit and their mothers watched. The warriors sharing tongues. The elders gossiping and telling stories. Furystar, Honeyflower, And Greenleaf sharing tongues together.
I walked towards them after I put down my fresh-kill on the fresh-kill pile. "Guess what, Shearclaw." Furystar meowed. "What?" "Tornpaw, Tigerpaw, Swiftpaw, Mosspaw, Goldenpaw,and Sandpaw will be warrior!" "Where are Mosspaw, Goldenpaw, and Sandpaw?" I asked. "Out hunting with Fernpelt, Ashfur, and Yellowfang." answered Honeyflower. "So, when is their warrior ceremony?" I asked. "Right now." meowed Greenleaf.
Furystar leaped up on top of the Meeting Den and yowled the summons. Just when Furystar was about to speak. Sandpaw, Goldenpaw,and Mosspaw walked through the entrance with Fernpelt, Yellowfang and Ashfur. At once the apprentices ran to their spots, nearly bowling over Waterlight, the medicine cat.
"Watch it, you dumb fur-balls!" He spatted. The apprentices ignored him.
"I, Furystar ,leader of Owlfurclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code and commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Fernpelt, Ashfur and Yellowfang, have Sandpaw, Mosspaw and Goldenpaw understood the ways of the warrior code?" "Yes." answered all the mentors at once. Furystar leaped down in front of the apprentices. "Mosspaw, Goldenpaw and Sandpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?"
"I do," meowed all the apprentices. "Then by the powers of Starclan I give you your warrior names. Mosspaw, from this moment on, you shall be know as Mossfur, to represent your tortoiseshell fur. Goldenpaw, from this moment on, you shall be know as Goldenfur, to represent your golden pelt. Sandpaw, from this moment on, you shall be know as Sandpelt, to represent the sandy color of your fur." "Mossfur! Goldenfur! Sandpelt!" everyone yowled the warrior's names.
Furystar moved on. "Greenleaf, Shearclaw and Honeyflower, have Swiftpaw, Tigerpaw and Tornpaw understood the ways of the warrior code?" "Yes, they have." I answered for all the mentors. "Swiftpaw, Tigerpaw and Tornpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" "I do." meowed the apprentices. "Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior names. Swiftpaw, you shall be known as Swiftwind. Tigerpaw will be known as Tigerstripe. And Tornpaw will be known as Tornear." "Swiftwind! Tigerstripe! Tornear!" I saw Swiftwind and Tigerstripe talking. Then Tigerstripe padded to Furystar. Furystar leaped to the top of the Meeting Den again. "One more announcement. Tigerstripe and Swiftwind are mates!"
I saw Tornear's eyes grow wide with disbelief and anger. I knew that Tornear loved Swiftwind fiercely. Tornear was Dustkit before the accident. But that's another story.
"Swiftwind! Tigerstripe! Swiftwind! Tigerstripe!" everyone cheered. Swiftwind shifted and studied her paws, while Tigerstripe sat proudly beside her. They were young, but they were old enough to have a mate. Tigerstripe licked the tortoiseshell's ear. She pressed up against him. The meeting was over. I headed to the warrior's den. "Congratulations, Tigerstripe and Swiftwind." I turned my paws towards them. "You were a great mentor, Shearclaw." "Thank you for turning my mate into such a great warrior," meowed Swiftwind.
"You're welcome."
2 moons passed. I kept meeting Darktail. Turns out, I'm gonna to have his kits. Speaking of kits, two of them died: Blackkit and Frostkit. They died during leaf-bare. If they hadn't died, they would have been made apprentices with Swiftpaw and Snowpaw. Swiftwind will have Tigerstripe's kits... or kit. Waterlight said so.
Waterlight has an apprentice: Oneclaw. I've recently moved to the nursery. That means I can't go out of camp. "Your kits will be born any day now, Shearclaw. You can't go out of camp." Oneclaw had said. "Okay." I said. Right now, I'm grooming. Then my kits gave a few kicks. I crouched down as a spasm clutched me. Furystar saw me at once. "Shearclaw! Are you going to have your kits?" "Yes! Get...Oneclaw!" He dashed away.
I lay on my side in the nursery, flanks heaving. Oneclaw and Waterlight looked at me. "It's okay, Shearclaw. You'll be fine."Oneclaw said gently. Waterlight was with Swiftwind when the stick in her mouth splintered. The next heartbeat there was a kit that looked like Tigerstripe, only brown, next to Swiftwind's belly. "A tom." mewed Waterlight. "He's beautiful. I'll name him...Bramblekit." I gasped as another spasm shook me. "The first one is coming!" Oneclaw mewed. The kit slithered out. Just like Darktail. Just like in the dream! I realized. "The next kit is coming!" The next kit slithered out just as another spasm came. With every scrap of energy left in me, I licked the two kits. "I'm sorry, Swiftwind you'll only have one kit." Waterlight sighed. "Shearclaw has two. A black she-cat and a reddish-brown with black tom. What are their names?" Oneclaw mewed. I replied "Swiftkit is the she-cat and the tom,Shadowkit."
Swiftkit and Shadowkit were born.