Prologue
Rain poured over the forest as night fell. Thick bands of clouds traveled fast, and the wind picked up. Along the undergrowth was a small stream that trickled through slowly. Leaves swirled around as the wind blew them across the stream.
Shadows suddenly moved along the undergrowth, oblivious to the storm that raged around them. They were used to weather like this. More often than not they took shelter in the large cave that made up their home.
The sound of a kit wailing had stopped them in their tracks. A light brown tabby she-cat stepped out of the undergrowth. Her ears were pricked forward as she tried to locate the source of the sound.
"What's a kit doing out here in this storm?" growled a black and white cat. He was younger than her, but already he was almost her size.
"Hush Patchpaw, perhaps the kit had no choice," she hissed.
At last she finally spotted the young kit in question. It was cowering in a small abandoned badger's den. Ferns and bramble surrounded the den, forming a barrier around it. The she-cat stepped forward carefully and looked down at the kit.
"We should kill it before it draws too much attention," a dark brown tabby tom muttered crossly.
"Go and be stupid somewhere else, Brownpelt," the she-cat snapped. Brownpelt didn't even look hurt by her harsh words. It seemed as though the two of them were constantly arguing. "It's okay little one, I won't hurt you," she added to the kit, noticing that it didn't even look a moon old. "I'm not like those mousebrains," she added as she pried away the brambles.
Her teeth ground together in pain as one of the thorns snared her pelt. The kit looked terrified as she managed to make enough room for herself. Gently she picked the kit up by the scruff, not even noticing the tiny nubs on the kit's shoulders.
"Ferntail, I'd say you have bees in your brain for bringing this back to camp," Brownpelt scoffed as she padded out of the den. Ferntail ignored his statement and continued marching back towards the cave.
"Would you rather become a heartless killer?" she demanded, her voice muffled by the kit's fur. Brownpelt seemed to consider her words, than thought better of it as he too followed her back to the cave.
When she reached the cave there were curious looks thrown her way. No cat expected the border patrol to return with a kit. Ferntail ignored their looks and headed straight for the medicine cat's den, which was far in the back of the cave in a den on it's own.
"Darktail, look what I found!" Ferntail yowled as the old medicine cat turned to her voice. Darktail was a gray tom with an even darker gray tail and paws. His appearance had made him stand out, which was why he'd chosen to become a medicine cat. "This kit was all alone when I found her," she added after gently putting the kit down.
"Why would anyone wish to abandon a kit?" Darktail wondered as he gave the kit a curious sniff. "CaveClan is the only Clan in the area… a rogue must have dropped her off."
Ferntail nodded in agreement. She hated knowing that a kit could have died because of some heartless rogue. She was thankful she had saved the kit's life. But a more pressing matter concerned her. The Clan might not accept the kit because she was an outsider.
"Do you think she'll be accepted?" she asked quietly.
"I do not know," Darktail admitted. "Only time will tell if she is truly accepted among the Clan."
Again Ferntail nodded and gently picked the kit up. By now the kit had fallen asleep. Ferntail was impressed with the fact that this kit could sleep through all of this. She wished she had that kind of sleeping ability.
When she reached the nursery she saw three queens laying around on their nest. One queen had kits that were almost six moons old now. Another had kits that were about a moon old. And the last was expecting her kits.
"What are you doing here with a kit?" one of the queens, a tortoiseshell she-cat, looked at Ferntail suspiciously. "I hope you've told Shadestar about this already."
Ferntail winced. Technically she hadn't told the CaveClan leader her news. She was planning on telling once she made sure the kit was properly cared for.
"I'll tell him once I explained everything to you, Redflower." The tortoiseshell narrowed her eyes but didn't argue as Ferntail told her what happened. "All I ask is for you to care for her, she is about your kits' age." She nodded to the two tiny one moon old kits nestled at Redflower's belly.
"Very well," Redflower sighed after giving it some thought. "I suppose there's no harm in taking care of her."
Ferntail nodded gratefully as she handed the kit over. Already the kit was nestled in and suckling. She noticed how white the kit's fur was compared to the other two. This kit would stand out during hunting patrols.
"I think her name will be Skykit," Ferntail murmured. Redflower gave her a doubtful look before giving the kit a lick. That was when she noticed the tiny nubs on the kit's shoulders. Her eyes narrowed once more when she noticed how different they were compared to her own kits. "She'll be safe with us."
Redflower was doubtful the kit would even survive that long. But she had to keep her hopes up. For Ferntail's sake and the kit's sake.
Allegiances
CaveClan
Leader: Shadestar - dark black tom with green eyes
Deputy: Marshfoot - dark gray tom with black paws
Apprentice: Windpaw
Medicine Cat: Darktail - gray tom with a darker gray tail and paws
Apprentice: Dapplepaw
Warriors:
Mallowpelt - dark brown she-cat with amber eyes
Duskfur - light brown tom with amber eyes
Gorsewhisker - gray and white tom with amber eyes
Apprentice: Whistlepaw
Brownpelt - dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes
Ferntail - light brown tabby she-cat with amber eyes
Burstripe - dark gray tabby tom with amber eyes
Dustnose - light gray tom with a darker gray muzzle and amber eyes
Patchwhisker - black and white tom with dark amber eyes
Silverfur - silver gray she-cat with amber eyes
Apprentices:
Windpaw - light brown tabby tom with amber eyes
Whistlepaw - brown and white tom with amber eyes
Dapplepaw - dark tortoiseshell she-cat with green eyes
Queens:
Redflower - tortoiseshell she-cat with amber eyes. Mother of Leafkit, Brackenkit and Skykit.
Frostpelt - silvery white she-cat with amber eyes. Expecting.
Kits:
Leafkit - dark ginger she-cat with amber eyes
Brackenkit - light brown tom with amber eyes
Skykit - white she-cat with blue eyes
Elders:
Rustpelt - dark ginger tom with amber eyes
Quailnose - dark gray she-cat with amber eyes
AN: I know that I already have like, four other stories going on at the moment, but I really wanted to post this. Basically this is what I think would happen if a Clan found a kit with wings. I also have about half of it finished already, which means updates might be fairly quick depending on whether or not my computer doesn't spazz out on me. My iTunes account wouldn't close for me and of course shutting it down didn't help so... yeah. Enough ranting, please let me know what you thought, and see you next chapter!