Song of a Willow's Stream

by Mimi Daughter of Zeus

Willowkit is born into SparrowClan, and Chosen to be leader. But what happens if she doesn't want to be leader? What happens if her sister is exactly what she wants to be? Follow her story and Birdkit's as they try to switch their Chosen places, and follow their destinies. Rated T because it's Warriors and because I feel like it.

1. Prologue

Hi everyone! This is Bluebird, my new pen name. This is a new story I'm writing. It took me about three days to finish this prologue! Anyway, here it is!

Disclaimer:

I do not own Warriors. Warriors is owned by the Erin Hunters. I own all cats, (sorry if I accidentally used a cat's name, it happens), their territories, and the Clans (yes, I made up my own).

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Prologue:

A yowl sounded through a dark clearing. The murmuring and loud whispering ceased, and now the clearing was lighter, with a bright full moon showing. The cats all looked up in unison, seeing a cloud being driven away from the moon. The clearing was in the middle of a forest, and sparrows chirped still, even though night had fallen and a gust was blowing through the clearing. A brook passed through the middle of the clearing, pooling at the center, and then continuing on through the forest. Where the brook pooled, there was a large tree, with four branches sticking out over the clearing. A cat was standing on each branch, with one's mouth still agape from the yowl. The wave of dark and light pelts became slowly more unique, with glowing amber, yellow, dark, blue, and green eyes glowing around the clearing. All of those pairs of eyes were focused on the four cats standing on the branches. One of those four cats, a pure white tom with green eyes, yowled,

"Cats of all Clans! StarClan is angry with us for fighting. Let us settle this debut calmly, with words, not teeth and claw. It is StarClan's will."

Another cat on the branches stepped forward, a fiery red she-cat, with blazing green eyes. She looked tall, and proud, and not afraid to defend her clan. Yet, there was calmness in her eyes behind the defiance. She hid it well, but those who looked closely in those bright green eyes could see it. The she-cat yowled, her loud meow sounded even more clearly through the clearing than the white tom's had.

"Snowstar speaks true! StarClan is mad at us for breaking our vow of peace, it is against the warrior code to be hostile at a gathering, is it not?"

A cat in the wave of warriors reared up on his hind legs. He had a gray tabby pelt, with amber eyes. He had a confidence that almost no cat could waver. The cat yowled, his own voice adding to the last rings of the she-cat's yowl.

"Yes, Flamestar! I don't know about the other clans, but SparrowClan follows the warrior code."

The fiery she-cat, Flamestar, hissed and retorted,

"Stormclaw! Be quiet! SparrowClan follows the warrior code, and I'm sure GustClan, BrookClan, and NightClan does as well."

The gray warrior – Stormclaw – looked subdued, but only StarClan knew as too how long. Two other cats stepped out from the shadows of the tree where they had been whispering quietly. One of them, a brown tabby tom with amber eyes, exchanged a glance with the other, a tortoiseshell she-cat, then spoke,

"The gathering is over. GustClan is leaving."

The tortoiseshell spoke up as well,

"Yes, Eaglestar. NightClan is leaving now."

Roughly half of the cats in the clearing stood and some stretched their sore muscles. Those stretching were undoubtedly elders. As those standing began to follow Eaglestar and the tortoiseshell leader, Tawnystar, the white tom, Snowstar, leaped up and yowled,

"Do not leave yet!"

Tawnystar whipped around, with Eaglestar, who was farther along, a split second later. All eyes were now on Snowstar, no one's attention divided in any way. Snowstar's green eyes gazed around the clearing, settling on GustClan and NightClan. He began to talk, quietly but strongly, without a hint of doubt in his voice.

"Have you forgotten about the choosing?"

Eaglestar, always smooth, replied back,

"Of course not."

Flamestar was unable to suppress a snort of disbelief. Snowstar shot a glare at her before turning back to the cats about to leave.

"Come back into the clearing, NightClan and Tawnystar, GustClan and Eaglestar. We must perform the choosing."

Tawnystar and Eaglestar raced back into the clearing, their cats a heartbeat behind them. Flamestar started the ancient Ritual, which had been done since the dawn of SparrowClan, BrookClan, NightClan, and GustClan. The flame-colored she-cats voice was soft, yet full of spiritual power behind it, and nothing in the clearing sounded as she spoke,

"Cats of SparrowClan, NightClan, GustClan, and BrookClan. This is an ancient ceremony, one that has been used since the dawn of our clans, and will be used until the dusk. Every 20 seasons, each leader and medicine cat retires. It has been 10 seasons since the last retirement, and at this gathering, two kits from each clan will be Chosen."

Flamestar's soft voice stopped abruptly, and Snowstar stepped forward, continuing the Ritual.

"Once these eight kits are ten seasons old, they will become leader or medicine cat. If one of these eight kits were to die, a backup kit, also Chosen today, will succeed them. The queens of each clan are to help bonding between the Chosen kit and backup kit, as is Ritual."

Next, Tawnystar stepped forward, her amber eyes glimmering as she recited the words she had learned from the past NightClan leader, Shadestar. This would be the only time she said them, so she made sure to get it perfectly.

"Our ancestors did this, ever since the dawn of NightClan, BrookClan, GustClan, and SparrowClan. Our first leaders, Nightstar, Brookstar, Guststar, and Sparrowstar decreed this many, many seasons ago, before even our elder's elders could remember. Legend has it that the four leaders came together one half moon at the Light Pool. StarClan had told them each to speak with them at that time."

Tawnystar smiled and sat down, shifting her gaze from sweeping the clearing to Eaglestar. The brown tabby leader stood, stretched sore muscles, and padded forward, speaking his part in the story.

"The four leaders met with StarClan, each demanding why they had been set up like this. StarClan told each of them how they must have a Ritual, to spare the clans of fights for power. They also said that past leaders would become advisors to the new ones, until they die or their advisees are succeeded. Then, the advisors become warriors again, or retreated to the elder's den. For medicine cats, the succeeded cat would become an advisor to the new one, then they would become a warrior or retire."

Eaglestar stopped speaking, and the other leader stepped forward, each speaking in unison,

"This is the Ritual."

Flamestar stepped forward, beginning the Choosing. She waiting until the other three leaders had sat down, before beginning.

"I, Flamestar, leader of SparrowClan, call upon Jaystar, my predecessor, and StarClan to help me with this difficult choice. First, I honor Jaystar, thanking him for the wise teaching he gave me, and I promise to pass down this knowledge to the Chosen kit as he did to me. I was once Flamekit, Chosen by Jaystar to succeed him. Now I chose a kit to succeed me. I, Flamestar, leader of SparrowClan, ask StarClan to recognize this kit and my clan's future leader. The next leader of SparrowClan will be Willowkit. She was born one moon ago. She is the daughter of Nightfeather and Birchblaze, and is my choice. Willowkit's backup will be Lionkit, who would be a great leader, and will become more mature and self controlled with time."

Flamestar stopped, waiting for Snowstar. It was Ritual for each Chosen leader kit to be called first, then the Chosen medicine cat kit. Snowstar stepped forward, and Flamestar sat. Snowstar called out,

"I, Snowstar, leader of BrookClan, call upon Streamstar, my predecessor, and StarClan to help me with this difficult choice. First, I honor Streamstar, thanking her for the wise teaching she gave me, and I promise to pass down this knowledge to the Chosen kit as she did to me. I was once Snowkit, chosen by Streamstar to succeed her. Now I choose a kit to succeed me. I, Snowstar, leader of BrookClan, ask StarClan to recognize this kit and my clan's future leader. The next leader of BrookClan will be Ripplekit. He was born two moons ago. He is the son of Leopardspots and Stonepelt, and he is my choice. Ripplekit's backup will be Reedkit, a strong, healthy kit, yet he lacks some courage. Reedkit will achieve this over time."

Snowstar took a deep breath and stepped back, sitting down. Tawnystar looked up, her energy seeming to have dissolved. Surely, by the end of this gathering, she would have to deal with the Chosen kit's parents being frightened for them, and the backup's parents being sad that their kit wasn't chosen. She sighed, and stood.

"I, Tawnystar, leader of NightClan, call upon Shadestar, my predecessor, and StarClan to help me with this difficult choice. First, I honor Shadestar, thanking him for the wise teaching she gave me, and I promise to pass down this knowledge to the Chosen kit as she did to me. I was once Tawnykit, Chosen by Shadestar to succeed her. Now I choose a kit to succeed me. I, Tawnystar, leader of NightClan, ask StarClan to recognize this kit and my clan's future leader. The next leader of NightClan will be Pinekit. He was born one and a half moons ago. He is the son of Snowfeather and Tigerpelt, and he is my choice. Pinekit's backup will be Olivekit, for although she lacks imagination, she is strong and wise, and have more ideas with time."

Tawnystar looked anxiously into the crowd, seeing Tigerpelt's green eyes wide with surprise. He didn't seem angry though, just surprised and a flash of worry clouded his eyes for a moment, before turning back up to Eaglestar. Seeing that, Tawnystar remembered that she needed to sit down, and did so. Eaglestar stepped forward, glancing at her before speaking,

"I, Eaglestar, leader of GustClan, call upon Graystar, my predecessor, and StarClan to help me with this difficult choice. First, I honor Graystar, thanking her for the wise teaching she gave me, and I promise to pass down this knowledge to the Chosen kit as she did to me. I was once Eaglekit, Chosen by Graystar to succeed her. Now I choose a kit to succeed me. I, Eaglestar, leader of GustClan, ask StarClan to recognize this kit and my clan's future leader. The next leader of GustClan will be Crowkit. He was born three moons ago. He is the son of Featherwind and Swiftsparrow, and he is my choice. Crowkit's backup will be Fallowkit, for she is smart, yet a little to enthusiastic and playful to be leader. She will mature with time."

Eaglestar paused, showing that his speech was over, but then continued,

"This ends the Chosen leader kit Ritual. Now, Flamestar will begin the Chosen medicine cat kit Ritual. Begin, Flamestar of SparrowClan."
Flamestar stood, as Eaglestar sat. Her flame colored pelt shone in the moonlight, reminding everyone of why she was named Flamestar. She shook her head, then began,

"I, Flamestar, leader of SparrowClan, call upon Berryfern, the current medicine cat, and StarClan to approve my choice. I salute Berryfern for the hard work she has given, saving SparrowClan more then once. The next medicine cat of SparrowClan will be Birdkit, for she is wise and gentle. Birdkit is littermate to Willowkit, the Chosen leader kit. Birdkit's backup will be Sandkit, who is gentle, yet needs the extra wisdom that Birdkit possesses. Sandkit will achieve that over time."

Snowstar stood and waited for the whispering to die out. He sighed quietly, loud enough for Flamestar to hear as she sat down. She shot him a sympathetic glance, knowing full well how hard this was. The leaders all shared a special sort of bond. The four clans weren't really enemies, but not friends. There weren't tensions, but they didn't live in harmony. Snowstar snapped from his thoughts, realizing that the clearing was silent. He ran over the names in his head and spoke,

"I, Snowstar, leader of BrookClan, call upon Petalfall, the current medicine cat, and StarClan to approve my choice. I salute Petalfall for the hard work she has given, saving BrookClan more than once. The next medicine cat of BrookClan will be Runningkit, for he is compassionate and sympathetic. He was born two moons ago to Leafstream and Swiftriver. Runningkit's backup will be Mosskit. Mosskit is gentle, yet she is not confident of her decisions, which will come in time."

Snowstar sat, feeling glad that his choosing speeches were over. He waiting while Tawnystar got to her paws, and smiled at her. She blinked amber eyes at him, and then spoke,

"I, Tawnystar, leader of NightClan, call upon Duskberry, the current medicine cat, and StarClan to approve my choice. I salute Duskberry for the hard work he has given, saving NightClan more than once. The next medicine cat of NightClan will be Maplekit, for she is kind and has a special connection with StarClan. She was born four moons ago to Briarfern and Hawkgaze. Maplekit's backup will be Dovekit. Dovekit is caring, but is too independent. She will learn to know that she can fall back on her clan if she needs to in time."

Tawnystar took a deep breath, and sat down. She knew very well that when she got back to camp Snowfeather, Dovekit's mother would confront her. She would want to know why Dovekit was backup and not Chosen. Snowfeather was like that, always thinking her kits were the best. It would certainly please her that her kit Pinekit was chosen, but she would be annoyed when she found out that Dovekit was not. Tawnystar looked up from her paws just in time to see Eaglestar standing and beginning his speech.

"I, Eaglestar, leader of GustClan, call upon Heatherpool, the current medicine cat, and StarClan to approve my choice. I salute Heatherpool for the hard work she has given, saving GustClan more than once. The next medicine cat of GustClan will be Lightkit, for she is humble and gentle. She was born one moon ago to Foxfur and Sandblaze. Lightkit's backup will be Swiftkit. Swiftkit is kind, but he lacks the compassion needed to be a medicine cat. He will learn that in time."

Eaglestar waiting patiently for the other three leaders to push themselves to their paws so that the chanting could commence. He nodded to Flamestar, telling her to repeat SparrowClan's Chosen kits names. Flamestar blinked back, and yowled,

"The Chosen leader kits of SparrowClan are Willowkit and her backup Lionkit! The Chosen medicine cat kits of SparrowClan are Birdkit and her backup Sandkit!"

The cats in the clearing began to yowl, their voices ringing around open space.

"Willowkit! Lionkit! Birdkit! Sandkit! Willowkit! Lionkit! Birdkit! Sandkit! Willowkit! Lionkit! Birdkit! Sandkit!"

Finally the chanting died down, and Snowstar yowled across the last murmurings, silencing them.

"The Chosen leader kits of BrookClan are Ripplekit and his backup Reedkit! The Chosen medicine cat kits of BrookClan are Runningkit and his backup Mosskit!"

BrookClan, GustClan, SparrowClan, and NightClan took up the chant again, calling out the names of the Chosen kits.

"Ripplekit! Reedkit! Runningkit! Mosskit! Ripplekit! Reedkit! Runningkit! Mosskit! Ripplekit! Reedkit! Runningkit! Mosskit!"

Tawnystar stretched out her tortoiseshell fur and yowled across the clearing for silence. She called out,

"The Chosen leader kits of NightClan are Pinekit and his backup Olivekit! The Chosen medicine cat kits of NightClan are Maplekit and her backup Dovekit!"

Again chanting broke out across the space, honoring the choices that Tawnystar made.

"Pinekit! Olivekit! Maplekit! Dovekit! Pinekit! Olivekit! Maplekit! Dovekit! Pinekit! Olivekit! Maplekit! Dovekit!"

Eaglestar yowled for silence a bit too early, cutting the chanting a tad short. The cats had just begun Pinekit's name, so they awkwardly finished to Dovekit's before quieting.

"The Chosen leader kits of GustClan are Crowkit and his backup Fallowkit! The Chosen medicine cat kits of GustClan are Lightkit and her backup Swiftkit!"

"Crowkit! Fallowkit! Lightkit! Swiftkit! Crowkit! Fallowkit! Lightkit! Swiftkit! Crowkit! Fallowkit! Lightkit! Swiftkit!"

The chanting died down, and, as Ritual, the four clans left the gathering that night, without sharing tongues. They left in silence, the older cats guiding the younger ones out, with a tail tip pressed to their mouth. The leaders lead their clans away, and the gathering was over.

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Well? Did you like? I won't know unless you review, so please do!

-Bluebird