Stick with me you guys, the prologue (first 200 words or so) isn't written in warriors format, in fact, you can understand human speech but it was necessary to explain exactly what Safari is so I hope that I can be forgiven for my transgression.

Extended summary: A twist on the typical Warriors story-Safari, a curious F1 Savannah Cat kitten (Half serval) joins SolarClan. But before he can learn to be a Warrior, he must first learn about the Clan through the eyes of a kit. Join Safari and his friends and Clanmates in combatting possibly the biggest risk to the forest yet.

CLANS: SolarClan, MoorClan, NightClan, MistClan

LEADER:

Snowstar: Gray-white main coon.

DEPUTY:

Boldstripe: Toyger cat

QUEENS:

Mooncloud: White-furred, blue eyes, american short hair. (Ivykit and Orangekit)

Smalltail: Manx-mix, shorter haired tortoiseshell with amber eyes. (Adderkit)

WARRIORS:

Littlefoot: Cream tabby, copper eyes.

Banditpelt: White with brown van and face. (Rosepaw)

Eagleclaw: Golden-shaded tom with green eyes. (Blossompaw)

Redfern: Red and white speckled she-cat

Whitetail: White she-cat with gray paws and yellow eyes (Lightningpaw)

Oakfur: Senior brown tabby warrior (Badgerpaw)

APPRENTICES:

Blossompaw: Siamese appearance with longer fur.

Lightningpaw: Black with white paws and yellow eyes. A troubled cat.

Rosepaw: Reddish-orange with brown eyes.

Badgerpaw: Black cat with a gray stripe down his back.

Sparrowpaw: Kind, brown tabby.

ELDERS:

Gyrofoot: Blue smoke tortoiseshell tom.

Smokepelt: Gray she-cat, recently retired

MEDICINE CAT:

Silverleaf: Blue lynx point cat, deep blue eyes.

The kitten jumped up onto the countertop to retrieve the mouse toy. Instead, he was scooped up into a teenage girl's arms and was presented to her friend.

"He's a Savannah Cat," the girl explained, setting the squirming kitten down on her lap and adjusting her skirt.

"He doesn't like being held much does he?" The other girl asked hesitantly.

"None of them do. That's because he's exotic. Safari is an F1 Savannah which means his dad was a Serval and his mom was a house cat so he's 50% African Serval. You wouldn't believe what he cost my parents." She laughed, holding the kitten.

"Aren't you worried he'll scratch you?" Her friend asked retracting her hand from where she reached to pet him when he moved too quickly.

"A little but he's going to be declawed next week so after that I won't have to worry about his wild tendencies. But it's just a risk of having a hybrid, I guess." The girl shot her friend a self-important smile and opened her notebook to start reviewing for a group project. "You know, Safari's only five months old now. He already weighs six pounds. My exotic pet vet says he could grow to weigh twenty-five pounds."

Safari had finally had enough and nipped her hand, almost escaping her grasp but being grabbed again roughly at the last second.

"Aww, he hates to cuddle. Let's bring him outside." The girl attached a retractable leash to Safari's collar and hooked it around a peg in the garden.

"It's against the law to have a loose Savannah Cat because they tend to follow prey for miles and have trouble finding their way back. Plus if they start to get in with all the stray cats around here, they could carry on the Serval bloodline and make the strays even more of a nuisance." She said, closing the sliding glass door behind them, leaving Safari outside but tethered to his master's world.

Chapter 1: The Forest Over The Fence

Safari romped around in the garden as far as the leash would allow him to go, twisting himself up in the thin string and chewing on flower stems out of spite. Suddenly, his large rounded black and white ears twitched as they heard an interesting sound. A bird had landed on the other side of his leash range, pecking at the ground. Safari unsheathed his claws with excitement and crept over as quietly as he could. He was only 5 feet away before the bird startled and took off. Instinctively following it, Safari crouched and leapt after the flushed sparrow, reaching out to grasp it with his forelegs.

Suddenly, he was at the end of his rope and as he felt his leash pull him back to the ground, his claws closed around the tail feathers of the bird. Safari landed on his side but bounced back into a standing position a moment later, back arched in agitation. He tried a few pulls against the collar but he couldn't get free.

"I had that bird!" He grunted, still struggling against it.

"That was an impressive leap, Kittypet." A rumbling voice came from the top of the tall fence surrounding the backyard.

Safari jumped in surprise, standing tall and fluffing his relatively short, striped tail. Sitting easily on the fence was the largest cat he could remember seeing. He looked to weigh at least 15 pounds and had broad shoulders and a dark amber coat. The cat looking down at him looked just like a Tiger.

"Who are you? Why are you trespassing on my territory?"

"This would be the Twoleg's territory, wouldn't it? Besides you look a little too young to have your own territory."

"Who are you?" Safari tried again.

"I'm a wild cat. My name is Boldstripe."

"Are you a tiger?" Safari narrowed his eyes to examine the cat above him.

"No, of course not." Boldstripe said, giving Safari a strange look. "But I noticed you trying to hunt. I can tell you don't know what you're doing but your jump was impressive, especially for a kit of your size.

"I'm not a kit! And my name is Safari."

"Do you like being a kittypet, Safari?" Boldstripe changed the subject suddenly.

"Do I like being kept inside or kept on a rope?" Safari asked, baffled. "Why would I? I want to hunt and I want to play with other cats!"

Boldstripe seemed mildly surprised by the ease of his answer and after looking cautiously around the garden, he leapt down and approached Safari. Safari was just over half Boldstripe's size. The older cat was bulkier, more muscular but had a shorter build while Safari had long, lean legs and neck.

"And what about a warm nest? And shelter when it turns cold? Constant feedings?" The older cat pressed.

Safari felt his confusion and excitement conflict inside him. What was this strange cat really asking? "The luxuries I have here aren't worth my freedom."

Something changed in the striped cat's eyes. "Then come live with us. In SolarClan. We are a group of cats who live and fight by each other's side united by our freedoms. We have no Twolegs or leashes to bind us but in return we suffer hunger and drought and fight with our Clans to protect our young. Do you still think it would be worth it to a cat like you?"

Safari's tail twitched back and forth in excitement. "Yes. I'll come."

—

It took several minutes of Boldstripe pulling and tugging Safari's collar back and forth before his collar fell uselessly to the ground.

"Come on, we must leave now before your Twoleg returns." Boldstripe prepared himself for a moment before leaping straight up and hoisting himself onto the brick fence four feet above him. Safari's ears twitched nervously. He hadn't tried jumping this high before. Boldstripe crouched down, ready to help him. Safari bunched his muscles, taking several seconds to prepare himself before jumping straight into the air, stretching his body out to full length. Just as he saw over the fence, he felt Boldstripe's teeth closing around his scruff and steadying him on the fence.

"Let's get out of here." He grunted, hopping down on the other side. Safari followed suit and followed the quick, dark tabby into the forest.

Several minutes later, Safari had found his stride. He couldn't match Boldstripe's speed but he was always able to keep him safely in sight as he ran by hopping as the tall grass in this part of the forest touched all the way to the tops of his ears. Finally, the grass height lowered to about mid-leg for him and the terrain became more craggy and they began an increasing incline through the ever-dense forest.

Then Boldstripe slowed to a trot. Up ahead was a plateau of some sort, only about three feet tall. "This is our camp. The others will probably all come out of their dens when they smell the kitty pet on you but it's alright. I've had my eye on you for a moon now and I've cleared it with Snowstar, he's more or less on board with having you join us.

"Snowstar?" Safari asked, hopping onto the soft stone plateau and following Boldstripe through a small gap in the bramble.

"Our leader."

To his surprise, the bramble bushes were relatively thin and he was now standing before a community. Several shelters lay across the mossy, grassy stone. Thick bushes that seem to be hollowed out, a large wooden crate turned on its side, a rocky alcove at the tallest point on the plateau, an ancient looking dead tree that had ingrown onto the huge stone slab and had been hollowed out, whether by cats or natural causes, Safari could only guess. In the center was a pile of mice and voles and birds and other small animals he didn't recognize. And there were cats everywhere. Cats or all shapes, sizes and colors. Looking at him with curiosity, confusion, apprehension or even aggression. A golden brown tom was the first to approach Safari.

"What's a kittypet doing in our camp?" A cat yowled.

"Kittypet, how did you get here?" The cat leaned in close to Safari's lean snout.

"Relax, Eagleclaw, I knew he was coming." A cat with long gray-white fur jumped down from the alcove and padded over to them. When he was close to Safari, he sniffed curiously. "I've seen a lot of kitty pets in my days. And he doesn't look like he was cut out for that life." He turned to Safari. "I'm the SolarClan leader, Snowstar. If you do well, you will be made an official member of our clan. My deputy, Boldstripe has demonstrated a lot of faith in you so I've decided to let you try your life here."

Safari wasn't sure what to think. A part of him protested at how fast his life was changing. But at the same time his paws still tingled with the exhilaration of being able to run without worry of hitting the end of a rope or being able to play without worry of being grabbed.

"Safari, this life of a warrior is not an easy one. We fight hard against other cats to defend our territory. We must hunt for every bit of meat and provide for our elders and queens first. We must uphold our warrior code of standards. Are you willing to comply to such things?" Snowstar rumbled. The growing crowd of cats around them was starting to intimidate him. He couldn't remember ever seeing more than two or three cats at any given time.

"I understand and I want to take part in this clan." Safari lashed his tail back and forth in excitement. Cats around him murmured.

"How old are you, Safari?" Snowstar meowed.

"Five months."

"I see. Well then you will not begin learning about clan life from an apprentice's perspective but rather a kits."

"What do you—"

"Prove yourself to us, Kittypet." Snowstar turned around and jumped on the rock ledge a few feet above the cat's heads.

"May all cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below the rock ledge. Today a new cat joins SolarClan. Safari, you are willing to live as a Clan cat and learn our ways?"

"Yes, of course." Safari tried hard to push down his excitement but he was practically bouncing on his toes.

"Then you will be apprenticed in ten suns with Adderkit. Until that point I rename you. Safari, for your spotted golden coat that reminds me of the legends of LeopardClan roaming these sunny forests, you will be known as Sunkit. Smalltail, please look after him as you do Adderkit."

Sunkit stood stunned. He had a new name. The last evidence of housecat had been lost in this forest. Surprisingly, a few voices rose out of the crowd, quietly and only politely but they still cheered. "Sunkit, Sunkit!"

After the ceremony a she-cat with short tortoiseshell fur and a short tail came and found him. Sunkit guessed she was Smalltail before she introduced herself. Then she noticed how overwhelmed he looked by the stares of the Clan cats and ushered him into a thick heather whose bottom branches had been broken off to make a den. Inside was lined with soft moss.

"This is SolarClan's nursery, Sunkit. You'll be staying here with us for the next quarter-moon or so." Smalltail said warmly. A kit a little bigger than himself with short black and white fur bounded in after her.

"Mom! He's really gonna stay with us? I don't want another kit hogging the moss!" The cat's yellow eyes opened in surprise when he saw Sunkit standing there.

Smalltail cuffed his ear. "Adderkit don't be rude."

"Sorry. I guess. My name's Adderkit." He looked back at his mother, who gave him a meaningful glance. "And it's nice to meet you." He said in an overly-rehearsed tone.

"You too." Sunkit put it shyly.

"Sunkit? You must have had a busy day. Would you like to take a nap?" Smalltail asked gently.

"I'm not tired at all." Sunkit shook his head enthusiastically.

Adderkit watched him carefully. "Want to go bother the apprentices?"

"Adderkit, no!"

Sunkit blinked his wide green eyes. "Sure."

"We'll be back later!" Adderkit shouted, nudging Sunkit out the nursery entrance. Outside in the clearing, cats were still milling around but most were laying in the shade sharing prey. "It's sunhigh so no one's active right now but usually there are patrols coming and going and cats are refilling the fresh-kill pile." Adderkit explained, gesturing to the stack of mice and birds. The realization that these cats caught food entirely for themselves finally hit him. If they were to fail, they would starve.

"Sunkit, don't be such a scatterbrain! Come on!" Sunkit followed the larger kit into a thick bracken. The must of several young cats wafted from the bush. Three cats lay inside, getting away from the stifling heat.

"Hey guys, it's Sunkit!" A black cat with a gray dorsal stripe cheered. "I'm Badgerpaw. In two moons I'll be Badgerpelt. No surprise there."

A medium-furred white cat with a gray face and tail tip and deep blue eyes purred. "Badgerpaw you have to stop telling cats that."

"Why are cat's names changed?" Sunkit spoke up, then blushed and looked away in embarrassment.

A red-orange she-cat with brown eyes responded. "Typical kittypet—doesn't know anything about Clan life .Kits have 'kit' in their name. Sunkit, when you become an apprentice, you'll become Sunpaw. Just like we became Rosepaw, Badgerpaw, Sparrowpaw and Blossompaw. Then after four or five moons, you receive your warrior name. Snowstar picks it for you depending on your personality or," Rosepaw looked pointedly at Badgerpaw, "your appearance."

Another cat, larger than the others but not muscled like a grown cat entered the den. He had bright yellow eyes and was entirely black except for white paws and a small spot on his chest. He slowly assessed the cats in the den, whiskers twitching. "Silverleaf is looking forward to meet you, Sunkit. Adderkit, will you take him?"

"Sure. Come on, Sunkit."

Sunkit waited until they were out of the den before whispering to Adderkit. "Who is that?""

"That's Lightningpaw. He's almost a warrior now. He's actually my older brother."

"What, really?"

"Yeah but having being siblings doesn't make a big difference in the Clans unless you're littermates. Anyway, here's the Medicine Den." Adderkit led Sunkit into the hollowed out tree. A pretty white she-cat with gray striped legs and face batted some leaves across the floor. She looked up and walked up to Adderkit and Sunkit. In seconds, she sniffed Sunkit and appraised him.

"Snowstar said you were five moons?"

"Yes."

"You're almost as big as Adderkit and he's nearly a moon older. Your long legs, you'll make a fast hunter. Probably a good jumper too. Welcome to SolarClan."

Please review! Who is your favorite character?