The Greenleaf sun shone down on Sunning Rocks, heating the old stones as a few creatures lazed about peacefully, some sharing tongues, others sleeping, and one staring at the river, thinking about the past and enjoying the heat on his silvery-gold pelt. These creatures were cats; more specifically, they were elders of ThunderClan, one of four Clans that lived in the old forest. To them, ThunderClan was the best of the four Clans, the bravest, the strongest, and, best of all, the kindest. The elders of the Clan knew this better than most, but they also knew how ferocious the Clan could be. How wrong it could be.

Scorchclaw, an elder of ThunderClan, took his gaze off of the river and directed his attention to his grey-tipped fur, imagining what it used to look like when he was younger. It had once been a glorious pelt, a beautiful gold color with a tabby pattern, but it had aged since his days of hunting and fighting, and there were now faded scars, the largest being one on his right thigh. It was a quite irritating wound, one that had never quite healed fully. It gave the old cat a painful limp, which hindered him from walking effectively. Still, he had grown fond of the wound, and loved to tell the tale of the battle to young kits.

Scorchclaw looked up at the sun, watching it sink lower on the horizon. "Alright, friends, I'm heading back. The old wound is acting up again." He leapt down from his perch on one of the lower rocks, wincing slightly as pain shot through his leg. He had worked the leg as much as he could when he had first gotten his injury, succeeding in getting most of the pain to stop when he moved it, but once in a while, the wound would act up, and it would pain him. He guessed that it had to do with aging and pushed the thought away, padding back to ThunderClan's camp.

Scorchclaw was sleeping outside the old fallen log known as the elders' den, relishing the morning sun's rays. However, he was awoken by a strange tickling on his ear. That same ear twitched as he opened his eyes, noticing a small butterfly gliding hurriedly away from him. He chuckled slightly as he watched it. Butterflies were quite odd creatures. Sighing contentedly, he wondered where his friend, sibling, and fellow elder, Foxleaf, had gotten to. She'd probably be helping around the medicine den right now. While she may have trained to be a warrior, at heart, Foxleaf would always be a medicine cat. She'd even memorized most of the herbs! She was the one who tended to his leg every morning. Scorchclaw had fallen asleep while she was rubbing some sort of mixture onto it, massaging the sore spot. How good Foxleaf was to her brother. She had been a sour kit from the start, not enjoying his company one bit, but he'd somehow managed to worm his way into a soft spot in her heart.

The old elder was yanked out of his thoughts by the sound of excited mewing. It was a kit's mewing, and, more specifically, it was young Leopardkit. She trotted into the clearing, calling out to another kit. Scorchclaw guessed it was Patchkit before the black and white, dirty kit entered the clearing. Those two were inseparable.

Leopardkit shook dust out of her black, fuzzy pelt, her green eyes sparkling. She stepped right up to Scorchclaw, looking very happy.

"Scorchclaw, will you tell us your story?" she asked, looking up at him with hope. "Please?"

Acting as gruff and grouchy as he could, Scorchclaw said, "Why would I do that, young 'un? You heard it just two sunrises ago."

"'Cause Patchkit hasn't heard your story before!" she replied, glancing at her partner-in-crime.

Patchkit glanced at the ground, his ears flattening in embarrassment. "It's fine if you don't, Scorchclaw, sir. It's really no problem at all. We can go play with Bluekit and Snowkit if you don't wanna be bothered."

Leopordkit glared at her brother. "No, you gotta hear Scorchclaw's story!"

Scorchclaw quieted the duo with a swish of his tail. Still acting quite grouchy, he said, "Alright, alright, I'll tell you, but only if you go and fetch me some fresh-kill. Make it a nice, juicy vole, too. A plump one, at that! I'm absolutely famished!"

Leopardkit nodded excitedly and raced out of the small clearing, heading towards the fresh-kill pile, leaving Patchkit to sit there, seeming very awkward and uncomfortable. The golden tom knew that Patchkit was a shy kit around the elders, but he wasn't sure why. Why would such a brave little kit be terrified of old cats?

Scorchclaw didn't get to think on that for very long, as Leopardkit was obviously quite eager to listen to the story again. She was attempting to drag the vole she'd selected to Scorchclaw, but she had a small problem. The vole was nearly as big as she was!

The elder looked at Patchkit, chuckling slightly as he nudged the young tom forward with his tail. "Well, go help your sister carry that thing here!"

The kit obliged, obviously quite relieved to have another beast in the clearing. He bit onto the vole's head, walking backwards as he and his sister tried to bring it over to Scorchclaw. They succeeded in their task, but by the time they got the gigantic thing to the tom, the vole looked less than appetizing.

Scorchclaw cleared his throat, suggesting, "Why don't we eat it together? I don't think I'll be able to finish this by myself!"

The two kits nodded happily, seeming not to care if the poor creature was covered in dust and twigs or not. Scorchclaw reluctantly took a big first bite, knowing that they wouldn't start eating until he'd eaten first. He chewed it slowly, trying not to taste the flavor of dirt as he swallowed. He nodded for them to start eating, saying, "You two had better eat that or I'll not be able to speak."

Leopardkit jumped up and down, bursting with energy. "Ooh, tell us the story of when you were a kit, Scorchclaw!"

"Er, please, would you?" Patchkit added, flashing a glare at his sister for forgetting her manners.

The she-kit was now the one to flatten her ears with embarrassment. "Please will you tell us the story of when you were a kit?"

Scorchclaw's whiskers twitched with amusement, and his eyes were filled with merriment. He missed being a kit: Listening to elders telling stories, playing 'ShadowClan's Attack' with his littermates, tossing the moss ball around, and not having a care in the world. How he missed those times.

The old tom wrenched himself from his memories yet again, cleared his throat and said, "Oh, alright, but you must sit still and be quiet."

Both kits immediately sat and locked their glistening eyes onto the elder, shutting their mouths and nodding silently.

Scorchclaw nodded. "Good," he said, lying down. "Now, for my story." He leaned close to the young kits, his face becoming animated as he started.

"My story began in these very woods, many seasons ago."

"How many seasons ago?" Patchkit interrupted, causing his sister to gasp. No cat interrupted Scorchclaw when he was telling one of his famous stories!

The golden tabby looked down at the black and white kit, saying sternly, "Many. Now, shall we continue, or would you like to ask a few more questions?"

Patchkit opened his mouth again. "Well, I did have one question…"

Leopardkit glared at her brother. "Shut it, mouse-brain!" she exclaimed.

Patchkit's ears flattened once again, and he dropped his head. "Sorry," he mumbled.

Scorchclaw rolled his eyes. "Anyway, many seasons ago, when Redstar was leader of ThunderClan, I was a young kit, just about your age. I was probably one of the most cautious and timid kits in ThunderClan. I didn't like strangers, and whenever one of the warriors or apprentices would talk to me, I'd just freeze up!"

Patchkit gasped. "You were a scaredy-mouse?"

Leopardkit swatted the young tom's ear with her tail. "Shut up, furball!"

The elder ignored Patchkit, continuing his story. "As I was saying, I was probably the biggest scaredy-mouse in the forest. I could never get anything right. One newleaf, though, that all changed for me. It was the hottest newleaf the Clans had ever seen, and Foxleaf—Foxkit at the time—and I were incredibly bored…"

Thanks for reading, guys! Please, give me reviews! I'd love to know how I'm doing on this. This is my first fanfiction (that I've actually displayed on here, of course), and I'd love it if you guys told me what you think of it!