AN: First of all, this chapter turned out to be a lot longer then I planned. And darker too. .-. I assure you that after the prologue, the chapters will be more light-hearted. (And maybe shorter.) Also, HUZZAH, FIRST WARRIORS STORY! AND HUZZAH, FIRST STORY I FEEL LIKE I'VE WRITTEN WELL! :D
Prologue Part One
Once again, Goldenkit was woken out of a good dream by the sound of laughter. Goldenkit growled softly and snuggled into his mother's fur, hoping that whatever the kits in the corner were scheming would have nothing to do with him.
Four dark little shapes were huddled in the corner, speaking in low voices about their next prank. It was becoming a bit of a hobby now. The leader of the four kits was a dull black tom with pale blue eyes, and a splash of white in his chest. His name was Batkit, and he was the first to find the thrill in agitating others.
His consultant was a glossy black she-kit with bright green eyes- Ravenkit. She came up with their best -and worst- 'games'.
The third kit was a large kit who shared his sister's pelt and eyes. His name was Beetlekit, and although lazy, he always supported his brother's word, even if it was wrong.
But then there was the last kitten, Sootkit. Since birth he had been odd one of the litter. He didn't even have his siblings' black fur. Instead it was gray, a very dark gray, but still not black. His eyes were a dull blue, like wilting periwinkles, and his underbelly was a ghostly white. He loved pranks as much as his siblings, but he was far more hesitant, far careful more than them, that it made him a bit of a black sheep.
"I know, I know!" The Ravenkit chirped, fidgeting with excitement.
"Let's go on an 'adventure'. We'll have all sorts of 'fun', we can set up all sortsa 'games' and get the whole Clan to freak out!" Her mouth hung open, showcasing sharp little white teeth bared in an impish grin, qnd looked expectantly at Batkit. Sootkit bristled, seeing the flaws in the plan already, but Batkit's eyes clouded in thought, his head swimming with thoughts of adventure and thrill and big tough warriors scared out of their wits after a couple of kits. A smirk spread across his face, and Sootkit knew it was pointless to argue. His brother had already made up his mind.
Goldenkit tried to fall asleep, but there was no point. He already heard their plan. He already knew what kind of trouble they were trying to stir up. Now he just had to wait for it to unfold in the morning.
He hated how they talked the most. It started out as a way to keep the older cats from learning about their future pranks, but now it was simply how they thought of their antics. 'Fun.' 'Games.' 'Adventure.' What was so 'fun' about making others angry?
No one is going to like those kits. Even when they grow up. He just knew. Who would like four cats who seem like their only enjoyment in life is to be so troublesome?
Goldenkit awoke from a troubled, dreamless sleep. Yawning, he picked himself off his feet and surveyed the nursery. The corner was empty, with the four dark kits gone. Goldenkit narrowed his eyes, but did nothing more. Everyone was asleep. Nobody will notice yet. He had plenty of time before the chaos began.
Turning his back to the corner, his eyes fell on the sleeping shape of his mother. Even in the darkness he could see her golden tabby fur. Snuggled into her side were his two sisters Lionkit and Lilykit. His bigger sister, Lionkit, was tawny and lean, like the great LionClan she-cats long ago. His much smaller sister, Lilykit, was tawny as well, but looked more like his mother, for she had a golden tint and faint tabby markings that made her look fierce.
In comparison to his sisters, he was nothing special, save for his large size. He was golden, with a white underbelly, and blue eyes.
But in comparison to the Clan, they were all different then most, and that made him feel very proud.
Normally, when he woke up early like this he'd rose his sisters and they'd take the chance to goof off and do things they'd never get to do when the Clan was awake. But those four troublesome kits made it seem like a such a crime now!
Scowling, he slumped back down onto his mother's belly. Why would they want to play tricks outside in leafbare anyways? Maybe the cold would force them back into camp.
"It's cold!" Sootkit squealed as he stumbled after his three siblings through the snow.
"And I could be sleeping right now," Beetlekit grumbled, "do you have to bring all of us along all the time?"
The Batkit stopped walking and turned to face his siblings.
"I know you're cold and sleepy," he mewled, "but it'll all be worth it! Think of all the stuff we could do! Besides, we didn't climb outta the stone hollow for nothing! We got 'work' to do, right Ravenkit?" He turned to face his sister. And of course, she played right along.
"Yes we do Batkit! It's our duty as kits to do this kinda stuff!" Ravenkit mewed, her small chest puffed out with pride. The glossy kit continued to mutter darkly to himself, his tail lashing in annoyance.
But Sootkit wouldn't give up.
"And it's wet" mewed Sootkit, "and the snow's getting in my fur!" Batkit didn't even bother to turn around as he mewed,
"You're never gonna have any fun if you keep being such a mouse-heart Sootkit! The cold won't hurt us if we keep moving."
"Mouse-heart, mouse-heart!" Beetlekit mewer.
Sootkit sighed. Why did Batkit have to be such a bossy furball?! This was a bad idea, he could feel it all the way to his bones, and more then just because it's cold. But his stupid brothers and sister weren't listening!
Batkit maneuvered his little kit patrol through the forest, stopping at the roots of a tall oak tree. His mouth twisted open in a toothy grin, he turned his head to look expectantly at his siblings.
"Now Beetlekit, this is a really big tree don't ya think?" He asked his larger brother, his tail quivering in excitement. Oh boy, it was the round-routine. Batkit loved being repetitive.
"This is a really big tree Batkit!" Beetlekit announced, clambering up a root to stare up at the branches in awe. Looking at Ravenkit, he mewed "What do you think we should do Ravenkit?"
Ravenkit circled around the tree, inspecting ever little ring, root, and rift in the tree. Sootkit shivered, both from the cold and dread.
"Would you just hurry up?!" Sootkit cried. His sister ignored him as she came back around to join Beetlekit on a root and stare up at the branches. Once she was satisfied with her investigation, she faced her siblings.
"Well, we could hide in one of the little dens beneath the roots and then pop up to scare people?" Ravenkit mused.
"Wouldn't they smell us?" Batkit asked.
"Wouldn't they follow our scents and end our 'fun' in general?!" Sootkit mewled testily.
Turning a blind eye to her smaller brother's protests, she mewed,
"It's too wet out here for others to smell anything, so we should be fine." Beetlekit nodded briskly. Sootkit kneaded the ground.
Batkit had second thoughts about it.
"Hmm, I dunno. I want to leave some time to do something extra fun, and I don't want to waste our time to do something bigger by doing stuff we just could do in camp. Those plans aren't quality." Batkit thought aloud, swiveling his large ears. Beetlekit again just nodded in. Sootkit could tell Ravenkit took offense to this, but she said nothing, eyes stormy, tail lashing.
Sootkit turned his attention from his sister to Batkit. He could see Batkit's frost-colored eyes glistening with an inteligence he reserved only for scheming.
"Well, maybe we should climb the tree- no, scratch that- never mind the tree. Save it for another day. How about we explore the territory- no, go on a rival Clan's territory- no wait, go on their territory and prank rival warriors!"
Batkit was on a roll now.
Beetlekit, being the yes-man as always, just nodded vigorously- sharp white teeth bared in a smirk,-while Ravenkit had seemed to forgotten her anger, and her green eyes shined with a devious light.
Sootkit gaped.
"What?!" Had his siblings gone insane?! This could put their apprenticeship in jeopardy for StarClan's sake!
Batkit shrugged, his face infuriatingly flippant.
"They can't punish us that much right?" Batkit simply mewed. Beetlekit nodded for the umpteenth time.
"B-B-B- but they can punish us-" Ravenkit sighed, shaking her head.
"Sootkit, are you coming or not?" She mewed, "Times a wastin' and it's frigid out here!"
Sootkit blinked in surprise. Splitting up the four?
... Why hadn't he thought of that earlier?
"You know what, I think I'm not coming. This is too far." He meowed, turning to leave.
"See ya." Batkit mewed flatly.
Snorting, Sootkit walked off into the distance. Light snow began to fall, and as the little gray kit stormed away from his kin, a small smile formed on his muzzle. They sure were fools to let him go! Now all he had to do was hurry up and tell on them and this mess would be over before it even happened! Quickening his pace, he squinted to see the paw prints left behind by his siblings. A snowflake landed on his nose, chilling the flesh until it felt a little numb, and he sneezed violently. It began to snow harder.
Shaking his body to release a cloud of flurries; he almost wished he talked his siblings to coming back with him. Their dark pelt were far more pleasant to look at than the blinding snow, and now it felt colder than ever. To make things worse, the steadily falling flakes were beginning to cover his siblings' tracks.
Sootkit really didn't know how to get back to camp otherwise.
This was going to be harder than he thought.
Lilykit was having that dream again. But then again, it was more like a nightmare.
Heavy gray fog writhed around her body, like a snake constricting it's victim. The putrid vapors seemed to flood every opening in her body, filling her lungs and reaching every inch of her. Her dark blue eyes could see nothing but darkness, all consuming, pitch-black darkness. Her pelt pricked with unease as she felt eyes burning into her, watching uncaringly. Lilykit tried to scream, but nothing but a raspy cough escaped her mouth. Lilykit tried to run, but her small paws slipped on squashy mud. Her heart lurched as her oh-so little body began slipping down the muddy slope, at first mockingly slow, but then she slid faster and faster... Lilykit clamped her eyes shut, her claws unsheathed and dragging through the mud as if that could slow her down Her heart pounded against her rib cage, threatening to burst out. She skidded down the slippery slope with such dizzying speed it made her head spin. Lilykit wanted to shriek, she really did, but there was no point. That would only let more fog in.
Gagging on the vile tasting mist, her head felt light. Air! I need air! StarClan, help me!
Finally, Lilykit cracked. She opened her mouth and let out out a scream of pure terror. At that moment, it seemed as if time moved faster than she could process. She was whisked down the hill quicker than a lightning strike, and she violently crashed against the trunk of the tree with a sickening crack!
And when it did, the the fog seemed to just drain away. Sucked out of her lungs, streaming out of her mouth, billowing out of her ears. The last of the sinister fog was blown away from view. But it was a little too late for that, wasn't it?
Not that it mattered anyways. Her sight was bleary and edged with black, like she was peering into a tunnel. Freeing a long, tired sigh, her head dropped roughly to the ground. Her body felt so delightfully numb. She could pretend she was anywhere but lying on a forest floor plastered with mud, when she couldn't feel her limbs. Giggling to herself, Lilykit let her eyelids droop, and droop, and droop...
But they shot open when she noticed the cold amber eyes peering down at her, the same eyes that had been watching so indifferently as she suffered.
AN: And that's a wrap! I wanted to write more, at least so I had written in Beetlekit and Ravenkit's point of view but it was getting too lengthy. I didn't want to overwhelm anyone... Well, it would be really short if it was a real book, but this is a fanfic, so yeah, it's pretty long.
Some nice things to keep in mind:
In this fic, no protagonist (Goldenkit, Lilykit, Batkit, Ravenkit, Sootkit, and Beetlekit,) are more important then the other. But Beetlekit may be my least favorite.
Because I haven't finished reading Omen of the Stars, and to be honest, to go along with the plot, many events/details from OotS aren't considered canon.
I'll complete the allegiances after the prologue and before the first chapter.
I'm lazy and write slowly.
Ciao for now!